OFA names Arts First grant winners

Arts First, Harvard’s annual festival of students in the arts, will celebrate its 15th anniversary May 3 through May 6. Sponsored by Harvard University’s Board of Overseers, the festival involves more than 2,000 students presenting some 200 concerts, theatrical and dance productions, multimedia presentations, exhibitions, and public artworks.

The Office for the Arts (OfA), which produces the festival, has recently announced its sponsorship of 32 of the many projects taking place during the Arts First weekend.

Funded projects combine artistic merit, artistic experimentation, and educational benefit to undergraduates. They must also provoke a ripple effect within the University, involving the undergraduate population and providing visibility for their artistic efforts.

OfA will also offer grants for projects taking place during the fall semester 2007. The deadline for OfA Grant applications for projects occurring in the fall is May 9. For further information, visit http://www.fas.harvard.edu/ofa.

OfA grants for dance

Harvard Ballet Company, Jessica Becker ’09: OfA Grant for a performance featuring works created by members of the company.

Arts First Dance Festival 2007, Crimson Dance Team, Kristin Calandrelli ’10: OfA Grant for the Crimson Dance Team’s presentation of routines incorporating elements of jazz, funk, gymnastics, and ballet.

“Caichawu — The Tea Pickers,” Kevin Koo ’07: OfA Grant for a dance depicting tea pickers from the Jiangnan region of China harvesting green tea.

Harvard Bellydance Initiative, Anna Resnick ’09: OfA Grant for a performance featuring examples of Middle Eastern dance.

Harvard Bhangra, Kunal Raygor ’10: OfA Grant for a presentation of Bhangra culture and dance from the South Asian state of Punjab.

OfA grant for literature

Arts First poetry reading, “The Gamut,” Emily Vasiliauskas ’07: OfA Grant for a reading by student poets.

OfA grants for multidisciplinary arts

“Art In Progress,” Tuesday Magazine, Andrea Jonas ’08: OfA Grant for a display of artworks seen at different stages of their production.

“Identity Check,” Harvard College Student Advocates for Human Rights, Ohnmar Khin ’08: OfA Grant for a performance piece exploring the idea of subverted identities.

OfA grants for music

“A Tchaikovsky Showcase,” Mozart Society Orchestra, Lisa Choe ’09: OfA Grant for a concert of selected excerpts from the works of Tchaikovsky.

The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD), Paul Mumma ’09: OfA Grant for THUD’s annual Arts First performance.

“All Your Bass Are Belong To Us: Exploring the Tuba,” Harvard University Tuba Ensemble, Maxwell Mishkin ’09: OfA Grant for a concert spanning works from the Baroque period to modern.

Chamber concert, Brattle Street Chamber Players, Matthew Schwede ’10: OfA Grant for a concert featuring student chamber groups.

Harvard Brass Lite performance, Zachary Vaughn ’10: OfA Grant for the concert debut of a new student group, including student-written compositions.

Harvard Percussion Quartet, James Collins ’09: OfA Grant for a concert featuring several works for percussion ensemble, including “The Third Construction” by John Cage.

Mahler’s “Symphony No. 2 in C Minor,” Holden Choirs and Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra, Christine Li Barron ’09: OfA Grant for a performance of one of Mahler’s most popular pieces.

“Music of the Thomaskirche,” Holden Chamber Ensembles, Saee Gopal Paliwal ’07: OfA Grant for a concert featuring a program of sacred music composed by J.S. Bach’s predecessors at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.

Harvard Pops Orchestra performance, Anne Lewandowski ’09: OfA Grant for the Harvard Pops Orchestra’s performance for the Arts First showcase, a preview of the orchestra’s 10th anniversary concert (scheduled for May 6) featuring fan favorites and student-composes film scores.

“Scenes and Arias Concert,” Dunster House Opera Society, Matthew Spellberg ’09: OfA Grant for performance of selections from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and other popular opera selections.

“Harvard Musical Winds,” Harvard Wind Ensemble, Grace Schroer ’09: OfA Grant for a concert featuring repertoire highlights as well as works composed or arranged by Harvard alumni or faculty including Leroy Anderson ’29, A.M. ’30 and Leonard Bernstein ’39.

“Shape-note Songs at Arts First,” Dudley Sacred Harp Singing, Neil Strickland ’08: OfA Grant for a performance of sacred harp singing.

“Music for Percussion,” Harvard Percussion Quartet, Danielle Lehle ‘07: OfA Grant for a concert using various instruments featuring jazz-style, drum-intensive, and mixed percussion pieces.

“Swing to Spring,” Harvard Sunday Jazz Band, Brett Harrison ’10: OfA Grant for a performance including works of Count Basie and others for the Arts First picnic (May 5).

“Peer Gynt and The Magic Flute,” Harvard University Flute Ensemble (HUFE), Rose Mason ’09: OfA Grant in support of the ensemble’s participation in the Arts First performance fair.

The Schoenberg Chamber Project, Giancarlo Garcia ’08: OfA Grant for a performance of Gustav Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” in an arrangement completed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1920.

OfA grants for theater

“Hansel and Gretel,” Sunken Garden Children’s Theater (SGCT), Mary Birnbaum ’07: Estate of Timothy S. Mayer Grant for SGCT’s 11th annual Arts First performance.

Immediate Gratification Players’ Improv Comedy Dinner Party, Jonah Kanin ’08: Estate of Timothy S. Mayer Grant for an improv comedy show in which everyone in the audience is a guest at a dinner party.

“The Boxing Match: An Arrangement of Short Plays,” Aileen Robinson ’08: Estate of Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a production of six short plays by Bertolt Brecht.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Olivia Benowitz ’09: Estate of Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a Loeb Experimental Theatre production of Edward Albee’s classic.

OfA grant for traditional cultural arts

Qian Hong, Asian-American dance troupe, Diana Lu ’09: OfA Grant for a performance of a traditional fan dance in the style of the Han tribe of China fused with modern dance and ballet influences.

OfA grants for visual arts

“Closing the Loop: Recycled Art,” Resource Efficiency Program (REP), Meredith Lanoue ’07: OfA Grant for a sculpture made by freshman “eco-Rep” volunteers of the Resource Efficiency Program. REP is a green-living program composed of undergraduate students who serve as environmental and sustainability representatives and resources for their Houses, using reclaimed materials, including aluminum cans, glass and ceramic shards, discarded CDs, and old incandescent light bulbs.

“Exposing Nooks and Crannies of Harvard,” Sonali Palchaudhuri ’07: OfA Grant for a student photography exhibit to be part of Eliot House’s Arts First exhibit.

“Night at the Sackler,” Organization of Undergraduate Representatives of the Harvard University Art Museums, Anna Chen ’09: OfA Grant for an event at the Sackler Art Museum designed to provide an introduction to and create an interest in the Harvard museums.

Sustainability photography collage, REP, Hayley Fink ’08: OfA Grant for a large photography collage supporting the benefits of sustainable living by exploring diverse visions of sustainability at Harvard.

“Vend a Friend,” Sabrina Chou ’09: OfA Grant for a project that explores human interactions on a large scale, through the creation and vending of life-sized, cardboard cutout “friends” throughout campus.

“Without Words, Without Translation,” Stefan Rubin-Zebrowski ’08: OfA Grant in support of a photography exhibit featuring Italian life and landscape.