To us, an event is when we see that “I get it” moment in one child’s eye. Astoundingly, there’s even more.
A great Summer Camp, an upcoming musical theater performance, a successful exhibition at one of our noted museums or galleries? These are all worth noting and here’s where you can keep up with the events that define our current year. We welcome you to check in to take in moments we and our children find both fascinating. And important.
> Audition call to alumni Players for On the Town, summer 2013
Following in the tradition of Carousel, Guys and Dolls and Oklahoma! we're inviting SFArtsED Players alumni to audition for this year's summer production: On the Town.
Once again we will partner with the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony under the direction of Maestro Henry Shin, who has created the audition call. Click below to download the PDF.
Download On the Town audition information here.
Rehearsal and performance dates:
July 8-19, rehearsal 9am-3pm daily. Week of July 22, days plus evenings for sing-through, tech and dress.
Performances Friday, July 26 (Berkeley); Monday, July 29 (SF Conservatory of Music).
If you have any questions, please call the SFArtsED office at 415.551.7990.
> Visit our new INTERNATIONAL ORANGE: The Bridge Re-imagined web page: www.sfartsed.org/bridge
> Visual arts exhibit announced –
INTERNATIONAL ORANGE: The Bridge Re-imagined
We've all admired and traversed that majestic national landmark in our own backyard. You know, the one painted in shades of what's known as "international orange." But now it's time to see that gorgeous span through new eyes. [click on the INTERNATIONAL ORANGE logo below to see a gallery of works in progress.]
The San Francisco Arts Education Project, in cooperation with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy presents INTERNATIONAL ORANGE: The Bridge Re-imagined, a curated visual arts exhibition created by students from San Francisco public schools to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge
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May 14-August 4, 2012
The Mills Building, 220 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Part of the “75 Tributes” program involving civic, cultural and educational organizations celebrating the legendary span across the Golden Gate Strait, INTERNATIONAL ORANGE allows San Francisco children, working with professional artists-in-residence in their public school classrooms, to creatively explore and re-imagine the national landmark in their own backyard.
More than 150 students from 12 participating elementary, middle and high schools around the city will display paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, collages, multimedia creations and more honoring the bridge as architecture, as art, as icon, as history, as metaphor, as gateway to imagination.
In collaboration with Artsource Consulting, the exhibit will feature as many visions of the Golden Gate Bridge as there are artists thinking about it in new and wildly creative ways. You think you’ve seen this famous span, but you should think again.
Veteran SFArtsED Artist-in-Residence Richard Olsen curates the exhibit, which will take place in the Mills Building as well as in "Bridge Galleries" – an array of galleries museums and alternative exhibition spaces – all over the city.
A very generous donor has pledged a $10,000 matching grant in support of the INTERNATIONAL ORANGE artists if we can raise $10,000 from our community. It's easy to make a gift online. Click here to support the vision and imaginations of our young painters, sculptors, dreamers and bridge re-imaginers.
For more information about the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary, visit the official website.
Take a look at this gallery of INTERNATIONAL ORANGE artwork in progress from artists in elementary school, middle school and high school.
> Guys and Dolls hit the jackpot.
The cast was perfection. The orchestra sublime. If you were one of the lucky people in the sold-out crowd for SFArtsED's summer production of Guys and Dolls, you know what a special evening it was as 70 young performers joined with the 36-piece Berkeley Summer Symphony for a staged concert production of Frank Loesser's Broadway classic. Graduates of SFArtsED programs returned from college or high school to take on leading roles and serve as mentors to current members of the SFArtsED Players musical theater troupe and to students from this summer's Broadway Bound program. The results were magic, as you can see for yourself.
> We're rolled the dice on Guys and Dolls.
Nathan Detroit, Miss Adelaide, Nicely-Nicely Johnson and the gang began life as characters in Damon Runyon short stories before they inhabited one of Broadway’s greatest musicals. This summer, they’ll gamble, lament and dance through Havana in the capable hands of some impressive young San Francisco performers and a full symphony orchestra.
The San Francisco Arts Education Project is pleased to announce a special one-night-only staged concert performance of Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls on Monday, July 25, 7:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concert Hall, 50 Oak St., San Francisco. Tickets are $25-$45 and available at City Box Office. Click here or call 415.392.4400.
The production boasts a cast of more than 60 and features a wide array of our students:
- In the lead roles are alumni of SFArtsED programs: the Artists-in-Residence programs in the public schools and after-school programs; they serve as mentors to the younger students.
- In supporting roles are members of the SFArtsED Players, the youth musical theater program now in its 11th season.
- In the ensemble are students from the SFArtsED Summer Broadway Bound program, some of whom are making their stage debuts.
Let our alumni performers tell you a little about the show:
The performers are accompanied by the 36-member UC Berkeley Summer Symphony Orchestra conducted by Music Director Henry Shin. The production is directed by Danny Duncan, a celebrated local director and writer who has worked with SFArtsED for more than 20 years.
“Guys and Dolls is so iconic and so important in the history of musical theater,” Duncan says. “In my career, I’ve directed three productions of it with young people, and they love it. The music is fun, and the comedy is challenging. And it’s such a wonderful piece of Americana.”
“One of the wonderful things about our summer production is the return of our alumni, all of whom are off studying and performing and making their way toward great careers,” says Emily Keeler, SFArtsED artistic director. “They started their training with us and blossomed, so it’s gratifying to see them return and work with younger students who aim to follow in their footsteps. It’s absolutely inspiring to see the students become the teachers.”
Allen Darby, who is heading into his senior year as a theater major at the University of Southern California, began studying with SFArtsED more than 10 years ago. He’ll be playing Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and says that the experience made him want to study theater and be a performer. “I liked that the teachers treated us like professionals, which meant that you worked hard, had fun and impressed audiences. Hearing applause for the first time – it’s what I wrote all my college essays about. I started out as a kid with ADHD bouncing off walls, and it took the discipline of the directors to focus me and make me serious. At school, I was that ‘weird theater kid,’ which made me stand out, helped me mature and gave me a creative outlet. The arts can really change somebody’s life.”
Duncan says that seeing the older students working with the younger is a “crowning achievement” in his 20-plus years with SFArtsED.
“We’ve helped raise a group of children into adults who are so enamored of what was given to them that they feel it’s necessary to come back and give back tenfold to younger people,” Duncan says. “It makes me feel so blessed and so rich to see these kids return from university and work with us during the summer, fostering younger performers and helping them the way they were helped.”
The Guys and Dolls creative team also includes other veterans of SFArtsED programs: accompanists Diana Lee and Luba Kravchenko, choreographers Natalie Greene and Erin Hewitt and costume designer Linda Ricciardi.
With Guys and Dolls, SFArtsED is also raising $50,000 in support of SFArtsED Scholarships. We're more than halfway there with $35,000 raised so far. Watch this video and find out more about how you can become part of the Guys and Dolls Donor Circle and visit www.sfartsed.org/donate.
For more ticket information visit City Box Office here. The show will sell out, so get your tickets now.
> More than 50 young performers honor the legacy of show-biz legend.
Cole Porter, you're the top. You're the Colosseum. How gratifying to watch 54 kids, ages 9 to 16, pay tribute to Cole Porter, the crown prince of American song. Yet another generation has discovered and embraced the wonder of gorgeous melodies filled with clever, romantic and hilarious lyrics from the dazzling mind of Mr. Porter. Experience this newfound Portermania for yourself as the SFArtsED Players present the world premiere of Everything Goes! The Music of Cole Porter.
W H E N > February 4-13 — six performances only!
- 7:00pm, Friday, February 4
- 2:00pm, Saturday, February 5
- 7:00pm, Saturday, February 5
(includes the Players Family Benefit Reception hosted by cabaret star Craig Jessup) - 2:00pm, Sunday, February 6
- 2:00pm, Saturday, February 12
- 2:00pm, Sunday, February 13
W H E R E > Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco
T I C K E T S > $20 adults, $15 students and seniors ($40 for the February 5 Players Family Benefit Reception at 7pm). Visit www.cityboxoffice.com or call 415.392.4400
This all-new revue includes some of Cole Porter's best-known songs such as "Begin the Beguine," "In the Still of the Night" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" alongside some lesser-known gems such as "Live and Let Live," "Never Be an Artist!" and "Ritz Rock and Roll." You've seen and loved Cole Porter, but never quite like this.
Click here to watch behind-the-scenes rehearsal videos.
> Students from over 40 SF schools come together. Not a stadium in sight: Carousel.
This was another event that underlines the arts aren’t all about paste and glue. (Although tight collaboration might make you think so.) Last summer kids fiercely teamed together, trained with professional Artist teachers and performed a disciplined, researched concert musical called Carousel: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s own favorite.
The kids were SFArtsED Players and SFArtsED Summer Camp students attending Broadway Bound sessions. They joined 15 SFArtsED Players Alumni, returning from programs in colleges and universities all over the country to work toward live performances with the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. Go to our SFArtsED Players page for more.
You are the glue that keeps art education programs intact and that brings professional Artists-In-Residence to public schools — in every San Francisco corner and hill — all year long.
> The Players celebrates its 1st decade — performing what Time Magazine called the Best Musical of the 20th century — Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel!
Monday, July 19th is a very big deal for SFArtsED Players, Alumni, and the kids who’ve rehearsed long and hard at Summer Camp. They’ll be performing the concert version with the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. At the stunning San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Plan on being there in a celebratory mood! See the ticket options below and raise a glass with all of us at the VIP Pre Show Reception, sponsored by Taste Catering.
W H E N > July 19, 2010 • Reception @ 6:30pm • Show @ 8:00pm
W H E R E > San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco
Summer 2010 in the rearview mirror.
What a blast.
We can’t believe another year has gone by. But that’s what happens when you’re clowning, dancing, sculpting, cartooning and singing the summer away.
SFArtsED Summer 2010 started with less but we ended up with more:
over 100 kids (from among 40 different SF public schools,) received full Camp scholarships.
To capture three Sessions and six weeks in just a few more words, here’s what we did last summer. The new half-days were a big hit. And bigger still, were the number of kids who took advantage of our new Renaissance Artist schedule: picking any Visual Arts class in the morning and Broadway Bound’s singing, acting and dancing challenges in the afternoon.
Speaking of Broadway Bound, Artistic Director Emily Keeler noted that it was one of the most talented groups to date. In addition to this session’s being one of the most popular yet. Some 58 of these kids aged 9-14, went on to perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel in San Francisco and Berkeley with the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. See our SFArtsED Players page for more about that summer coup.
The Visual Artists who chose to take say, Cartooning & Illustration in the morning and Sculpture & Clay in the afternoon, experienced sessions with no less than 4 different professional Artist teachers per day. We could go on, but, on to next year with your interest, feedback and (thanks in advance) your donations.
So what makes SFArtsED Summer Camp tick going on its 16th year?
We have a 45-year-old track record of joining school children with proven, professional Artists who are passionate — and experienced — in bringing participatory art to kids.
We recruit these teachers because they are accomplished. Enthusiastic. And have years of teaching experience. We invite you to go to the Who We Are section of this website to get to know more about our kids, our Mission, History and our prized Artists.
Download our 15th Annual SFArtsED Summer Camp Brochure to see last year's Program descriptions, schedules and enrollment information. Stay tuned for 2011!
> Get your seats now for our own Fiorello! Not that you’ll be able to stay in them.
It is going to be quite a performance come February. A cast of 30 SFArtsED Players will sing, act and dance (including a fabulous tap number) in a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical. It’s a true story drama about New York’s turn of the century reformist Mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Have times changed? See for yourself.
JOIN US ON FEBRUARY 20th @ 2:00pm for our BENEFIT PERFORMANCE with host B.D. WONG, Tony Award winning actor and star of television’s Law and Order.
Tickets are on sale at cityboxoffice.com for February matinees and evening performances. For more information see our press release or call 415.551.7990.
> What happened with Henry?
We are delighted—but not at all surprised—to announce that Henry Shin, a Musical Director for SFArtsED Players, has just won a prize at the International Competition for Young Conductors at Besancon, France! He was the only American to make it to the semi finals, winning the Prix des Intenautes. A cash prize. And the honor of conducting a prestigious orchestra in Germany or France. Kids that know and adore him are high fiving it! As are we.
> The exclamation point is built in: “Fiorello!”
This is yet another first. SFArtsED Players will perform a choreographed big tap number, Gentleman Jimmy, as part of this production thanks to Katie Kerwin: a new member of the SFArtsED Players artistic team. A must, must see, if you’ve any first hand viewing of the princely talent our kids demonstrate through performance. (And especially if you haven’t.) Directed by our Master Artist Danny Duncan, rehearsals for the first act will be finished by Thanksgiving. And the cast of 25 will be performing “Fiorello!” at the Eureka Theatre in February: a spirited homage to the “little flower,” the 1930’s mayor of New York.
Keep checking here or on Facebook and we’ll let you know as soon as tickets go on sale at City Box Office. And we’ll answer this teasing question soon: who will the celebrity host at the Players Gala be???
> Can arts organizations work together? Just you watch.
There is no end to what kids celebrate when we combine resources, so valuable these days.
Watch: as Dan Krysten, Director of The School of the Arts Technical Theater, brings his students to build sets, design lighting and more, for SFArtsED Players’ Eureka Theatre performance of “Fiorello!”
Watch: the Theater Rhinoceros share sets with SFArtsED Players at the Eureka for their San Francisco premier of “Tick, Tick, Boom” as the SOTA students are mentored by their lighting designer.
Watch: as the Musical National Service chooses Paul Revere College Prep Academy to share their musical vision with SFArtsED Artists-In-Residence and kids. We’re one of only four American cities to be so honored.
> SFArtsED Summer Camp 2009. Past, and still very present.
It was a warm San Francisco summer. Three good floors for dance and circus skills. Big rooms that worked beautifully for visual arts studios, theater and rehearsals. A perfect little theater with great acoustics. And a summer the kids will not soon forget.
This was our first Summer Camp in the Mission, at Horace Mann Middle School. Kids were represented from over 85 schools, and 21 of them had students receiving scholarships!
Events for all of us? Taking our creative writing students to local cafes to compose like famous poets and novelists. Seeing showings of the kid’s final work viewed by scores of friends and families. The ability to give scholarships to 17% of our kids. And having our Superintendent of Schools, Carlos Garcias, come to see showings for our Broadway Adventure and tour programs with Horace Mann’s Principal, Mark Sanchez.
There was outdoor play spaces for the youngest Summer Camp students and ample room to display visual arts at the end of each of our sessions. And, we enjoyed 6 young former SFArtsED Players who joined to assist in the Broadway Adventure Camps with vocal coaching demonstrating in dance classes, choreographing and directing.
What did you do last summer?
> An event of a lifetime: Our own Henry Shin is off to an esteemed international conducting competition.
With us since 2002 Mr. Shin, a Musical Director for SFArtsED Players, is in France to compete at the International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon. It's perhaps the most prestigious of all conducting competitions — Seiji Ozawa and Lorin Maazel are winners from years past — and it closely equates to the Van Cliburn Competition for pianists. In all, 20 will compete for a Grand Prize and guest conducting opportunities all throughout Europe. We’re enormously proud of the caliber of talent at SFArtsED that Mr. Shin represents and we wish him all success. For more information, go to http://www.festival-besancon.com/index.php/concours/1
> Getting ahead of ourselves? Think not! Fiorello!, February, 2010.
Guts, yes. Honesty, yes. A great show of political promise and heart? Perfect timing. Once again directing for the SFArtsED Players, our musical troupe, is Mr. Danny Duncan, bringing us the rise to power of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. New York’s “Little Flower.” Originally produced in 1959, our “Players” will be also supported by the dynamic trio of Diana Lee as Musical Director, Natalie Greene as Choreographer and Robert Cowen as Vocal Coach.
Eureka Theater. First week of February. Stay tuned.