FINE ARTS

Top: Gustavus Wind Orchestra (April), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Feb.); Bottom: Spring Dance Complex (April), An Active and Urgent Telling exhibit in Schaefer Art Gallery (Feb./March)

MEETING YOU WHERE YOU ARE

Spring was all about going to where the audience was—outside or in homes.

COVID-19 created opportunities for experimentation in the artist-audience relationship. Students stretched to deliver in multiple mediums: live outdoor events, pre-fi lmed events, livestreamed performances, and virtual walkthroughs of visual art exhibitions. All o ered new ways to create and enjoy the fi ne arts.

“[This year has] been a good lesson in adaptation all the way around,” says dance professor Melissa Rolnick. “In theatre and dance, what we teach is so challenging online. And I think we’ve done good work. We’ve been pushed, but I think we’ve been successful. The logistics have been challenging, but everyone’s attitude has been fantastic.” This spring, Rolnick’s students performed live after more than a year of cancelled concerts and fi lmed performances. The performances were held outside, dancers stayed distanced, and they did not have physical interaction with one another.

James Patrick Miller, the Douglas Nimmo Professor of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, and Brandon Dean, Jon and Anita Thomsen Young Distinguished Chair in Music and Conductor of the Gustavus Choir, reached audiences through virtual concerts. Livestreamed and archived performances accomplished many of the goals of a more traditional tour. In particular, that meant showcasing the talents of Gustie students and sharing the power of music with the world. And with recorded concerts that are archived for anytime viewing, a new benefi t emerged. Many Gustavus music performances are accessible to anyone with digital streaming access, not just those who can be present in person at one place during one moment in time.

For Gustavus Fine Arts, the moment in time that is COVID-19 has been trying and tumultuous. It is also a driver of innovation. Through it, we have discovered and honed ways to reach audiences—like you—across the world and in your own homes.

Music

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra released their new album digitally this summer. Heroes: Facing Adversity and Destiny is the result of spring’s virtual tour, recorded and livestreamed in April. The album includes music from major Hollywood productions such as How to Train Your Dragon, Schindler’s List, and Star Wars. “To create a virtual tour video and release an album across all streaming platforms while seated six feet apart, masked, and using bell covers is a success unlike any I have seen in my 17 years as a professor,” says conductor James Patrick Miller.

The Gustavus Choir also recorded and streamed a virtual tour this spring, singing an eclectic program of choral repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to today. The program also included the world premiere of “Kouraj,” a work written for the choir by Haitian composer Sydney Guillaume. The Gustavus Choir held rehearsals in the Torrey Atrium of Beck Hall, where student musicians were able to spread out across three floors to ensure social distancing while wearing custom masks designed for singing. “We all have a greater appreciation for what it means to make music in community,” says conductor Brandon Dean. “It has been really healing.”

Music professor Masayoshi Ishikawa collaborated with taiko and shinobue performer Eien Hunter-Ishikawa on a powerful tribute to the 10th anniversary of the tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated Tohoku and Fukushima in Japan. Ishikawa grew up in Fukushima. The piece, titled Haseru—馳せる—, was composed by Ishikawa, who also plays piano.

The GWO album can be streamed on most services and purchased via iTunes. The video performance can be found at youtube.com/ GustavusFineArts. The G Choir video performance can also be found there. Haseru—馳せる— can be found on the Gustavus website, search “Tohoku and Fukushima.”

Theatre & Dance

The Department of Theatre & Dance presented Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters (a new version translated in 2009 by playwright Sarah Ruhl). Directed by professor Amy Seham and shot as a filmed stage production, it streamed in May. The production was the honors project of Jordan Johnson ’21. She played Olga, the oldest of the three sisters. “She keeps trying to contain her emotions, keeps wanting to control herself as much as she can, knowing that the other two sisters in her life are so passionate and emotional that she needs to be that rock,” Johnson says. For the first two weeks of rehearsal, the cast and crew met online to work on lines and understand the historical context of the piece. They also participated in “acting for the camera” workshops with New York-based actor Robert Galinsky. Alum Nick Campbell ’18 returned as the videographer for this production.

After more than a year of Zoom classes, the Gustavus Dance Company presented a Spring Dance Complex in April. “We changed the title because the venue/forum is different,” co-director and professor Melissa Rolnick said. Unlike concerts of years past, this one was performed almost entirely outside at different sites. Tickets were available to Gustavus students, faculty, and staff. The outdoor locations made the concert more difficult, but also more exciting. “I’ve never been a part of a concert with so many pieces in different locations, so that’s a really unique aspect,” says dancer Megan Setterlund ’21.

Art & Art History

Four senior studio art majors were featured in the exhibition 6 Feet Apart at the Hillstrom Museum of Art and online: Hannah Calkins, Bryanna Filip, Darby Rose Hurlbert, and Claire Strohmeyer. Junior art majors and sophomore art majors and minors had exhibits this spring in the Schaefer Art Gallery.

Online exhibitions can be found at gustavus.edu/finearts as well as gustavus.edu/hillstrom. COVID-19 restrictions for Gustavus galleries have been lifted. Check the websites for updates on COVID-19 visitor restrictions.

UPCOMING

Art for All: The Swedish Experience in Mid-America (co-organized with the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas) runs Sept. 13 through Nov. 7 at the Hillstrom Museum of Art. For more, including updates to COVID-19 restrictions, visit gustavus.edu/hillstrom.