Unitarian Performing Arts Sub-Council

Unitarian Performing Arts Sub-Council

Chair: Patrice Fitzgerald

Members: Mattie Banzhaf, Chris Clocher, Jacques Lamarre, Edith Savage, Gail Syring, Nancy Mandly

Our mission: To bring a series of performance events to the Meeting House which will utilize our building, promote the arts in general, and enhance the Society’s status and visibility in the community.

At this time - On the heels of a very successful fall event, the well-attended Holly Near concert, UPA is in the black for the 2007-2008 program year. As budgeted, some of the proceeds from that concert are dedicated to the long-term plan of purchasing lighting equipment over a several year period, for the benefit of both UPA events and the congregation at large.

Next up on March 22 is Peterson Toscano in “The Re-Education of George W. Bush,” a satirical look at politics. The choice of this program has generated some healthy discussion within the USH community, and has required UPA to carefully examine its mission and the rationale for presenting a particular event. The Toscano performance has inspired a major electronic outreach to social justice and similar organizations throughout the region, in order to move the tickets.

The last weekend in March involves the Eighth Annual International Women Composers Festival. USH will host a Friday night performance by The Sound Alliance, which presents contemporary experimental and new music, followed by Saturday panel discussions and composer workshops. Saturday night is the Concert Pro Femina, featuring classical instrumental, vocal, and choral works by women. Sunday morning services will also involve music written by women, and Sunday evening brings Patrice Fitzgerald’s final graduate recital in connection with her Hartt degree, and will consist solely of songs by women composers, ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Alma Mahler and contemporary composer Libby Larsen.

April 26 is the date for Sankofa Kuumba, a dance and drumming troupe which will present an interactive program of African and Caribbean rhythms and stories. Designed for the entire family, this event will dovetail with this year’s congregation-wide theme of “Family.” The very next day, we plan to host UPA Cappella, featuring three accomplished close-harmony singing groups, including Men in Black, the 2005 International Collegiate A Cappella Champions. These back-to-back events will stretch the resources of UPA, but will pull in a diverse audience from throughout the region and beyond and should wrap up our 2007-2008 event year with a bang.

Plans are in the works for the 2008-2009 season, with a tentative September 27 date for an evening of opera from the graduate students at the University of Connecticut’s well-respected opera program. We are in search of an appropriate and affordable drama, and plan to add as our third event a musical group which features popular ethnic or folk music. Nearing the end of our third season, UPA is well-launched. We are pulling new folks into the Meeting House, giving back to the community, and are not, so far, losing money! We are in fact making a small profit, and along the way contributing to the regional reputation of the Society as a vibrant religious institution.

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 03/05/08)