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Expanding on its previous and current dramatic offerings and education, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will present the inaugural SIUE Performing Arts Initiative on Wednesday, Jan. 22, according to Marc Schapman, DMA, professor of voice and chair of the Department of Music. 

The new series of performances and workshops will begin on Jan. 22 in the Dunham Hall Theater and will feature Chamber Project Saint Louis (CPSTL), with the University’s own Professor of Cello Marta Simidtchieva. 

Ticket prices are available here. 

“The mission of the SIUE Performing Arts Initiative is to provide low-cost, high-quality, cultural and educational programs directed at a wide cross-section of the community,” said Schapman. “We want to bring performances to the area that residents would otherwise have little opportunity to attend and provide a variety of points of view and diverse artistic experiences. We feel this is an asset to SIUE and the community.” 

Last spring, Schapman, Simidtchieva and Kristin Best-Kinscherff, associate professor and chair of the Department of Theater and Dance, began brainstorming the idea and are the key contributors in shaping the initiative. 

“Bringing this project to fruition has truly been a collaborative effort between the Departments of Music and Theater and Dance,” said Schapman. “With our long history of successful partnerships, this collaboration feels like a natural next step. Looking ahead, we hope to expand and collaborate with additional disciplines in future years.” 

The initiative is primarily funded by a General Operating Support Grant from the Illinois Arts Council. “While we will need to reapply for this funding annually, we hope to continue receiving the grant in the coming years to support the growth of the initiative,” he said. 

This academic year, the programming will focus on musical, theatrical and dance art forms. “We are thrilled to kick off the season with our first concert featuring Chamber Project Saint Louis,” shared Schapman. “Professor Marta Simidtchieva is an internationally acclaimed cellist, as well as a wonderful colleague and teacher.” 

“I am excited to bring Chamber Project St. Louis to our community and to share and perform the diverse body of music with our students,” said Simidtchieva, who will be performing as part of the group. “I will play Jennifer Higdon’s ‘Celestial Hymns’ for violin, viola, cello, clarinet, and piano. (Jennifer Higdon is a prominent American composer who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto.) I will also be involved in the Illinois premiere of Jessica Flannigan’s piece for clarinet, cello, and piano, ‘And the Sky Opens.’ I’m also very excited to play Carlos Simon’s quartet, ‘Warmth from Other Suns.’” 

“Our students and community deserve high-quality cultural and educational programs,” added Simidtchieva. “This concert provides the innovative and diverse programming that CPSTL has made its mission for the last 17 years. The concert ‘Celestial Counterpoint,’ featuring the group in different chamber music combinations, presents a valuable experience because it fulfills the lack of presentation of works by female composers and showcases music by African American composers.” 

In addition to Chamber Project St. Louis, the initiative will host artists Emily “Lady Em” Culbreath and Joshua “Bboy Supa Josh” Culbreath on Friday, April 4. Their performance group, Snack Break Movement Arts, is a performance duo specializing in Hip Hop dance education, event curation, and interdisciplinary performance works inspired by street dance. Snack Break seeks to pay homage to the integrity of African-American vernacular dance, while also challenging the way audiences consume street dance through the utilization of theatrics, the concert stage, multi-media, and contemporary movement practices. They aim to build community through the power of storytelling and the excavation of intersectional identities.  

Finally, the initiative will underwrite solo artists for a concert performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana,” an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni, with the SIUE University Orchestra and Choirs from Friday-Saturday, May 2-3. 

The project is actively seeking additional support from the SIUE and surrounding community. Those interested in collaborating with or supporting the SIUE Performing Arts Initiative contact Schapman at maschap@siue.edu. 

Photos:
SIUE Professor of Cello Marta Simidtchieva.
Chamber Project Saint Louis will kick off the inaugural season for the SIUE Performing Arts Initiative.