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Arts Administration Program

Dean Bill Byrnes lectured on arts management in late May at the Institute for Languages and Economics (ISW) in Freiburg, Germany. He also plans to attend the ESTA Foundation Board meeting in New York City in July. Dean Byrnes will also be a panelist discussing “professional theatre companies on the university campus” at the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Annual Conference to be held in Denver, Colorado in early August. Lastly, he will be putting the finishing touches on the 4th edition of his book Management and the Arts, which is due out in October of 2008.

Matt Neves, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Director of the Arts Administration Program, participated in a panel discussion at the annual conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, an international organization that promotes the study of arts management, held in late April in Madison, Wisconsin. This summer Matt will be directing the 35th Anniversary production of the LDS-themed musical Saturday’s Warrior which will be combined with its sequel The White Star for a unique theatrical evening. This professional touring production will perform through the summer in Utah (including St. George in August), Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona.  Matt will also direct two shows, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Fools for the Neil Simon Festival this summer in Cedar City. 

Student and Alumni Highlights

Over the summer, the class of 2008 will be completing their capstone internships. Mark Baker will be with the Seattle Center in Seattle, WA, Sara Kelly will be at the famous Aspen Music Festival, Steve Lisciani will be working at the Maryland Shakespeare Festival, Sara Staheli will be working at the Hale Center Theatre in West Jordan, Utah, Josh Stavros will be the Tour Manager for Omega Productions’ Tour of Saturday’s Warrior and The White Star, and Alison Vandenberg will be the education intern at First Stage Children’s Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photos: top left, students from the Arts Administration Program; bottom right, Dean Bill Byrnes and Alison Vandenberg)

Julia Harker Hall, Arts Administration, MFA (07), recently returned from Africa with where she participated in the Mothers Without Borders program. She reports they were able to actively engage the communities they visited with programs in drama, dance, music, and art. Photos of her work in Zambia are available online at her Flickr™ website.

Elizabeth Van Vleck, Arts Administration, MFA (09), was awarded the Caroline H. Newhouse Scholarship from Career Transition for Dancers. Every year CTFD provides educational scholarships and entrepreneurial grants to hundreds of current and former professional dancers.