Grammy and Tony award-winning music and theater producer Sean Flahaven, a 1995 Boston College graduate, will return to his alma mater next week as the special guest and alumni honoree at the University鈥檚 23rd annual Arts Festival.
The appearance of Flahaven, who will participate in special Arts Festival programming and receive an alumni arts achievement award, is among the highlights of the Arts Festival, which was held virtually last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year鈥檚 vibrant, three-day event鈥擜pril 29 through May 1鈥攔eturns with the theme 鈥淎 New Wave of Creativity鈥� and听 comprises some 40 in-person events and more than 30 online and recorded presentations.
鈥淲e all need a lift for our pandemic-weary lives, so get ready: The 吃瓜网 Arts Festival is alive and well with a fresh new look,鈥� said 吃瓜网 Associate Professor of Theatre Crystal Tiala, chair of the Boston College Arts Council, which organizes the festival. 鈥淭here will be plenty of opportunities to safely experience art in person at the Stokes Campus Green main tent, outdoors on O鈥橬eill Plaza, or walking to various locations for visual art. There will also be opportunities to see creative work and performance streaming online. This will be nourishment for our souls.鈥�
The festival brings the 吃瓜网 community together to celebrate the arts, showcasing creative achievements and highlighting the arts on campus鈥攊ncluding music, theater, dance, poetry, film, painting, and sculpture鈥攁nd the work of students, faculty, and others. More than 600 members of the University community, including approximately 28 student groups, 19 faculty-led groups, and 16 individual groups, will participate.
In-person events will be open only to 吃瓜网 community members, with pandemic protocols in place to ensure the safety of festival participants, staff, and attendees. All events are free, but virtual tickets are required and available via the . The public is invited to attend online events, which include music video releases, a cappella podcasts, music ensemble livestream concerts, Zoom literary readings and artist talks, virtual art galleries and McMullen Museum of Art tours, and virtual activities for children. 听
We all need a lift for our pandemic-weary lives, so get ready: The 吃瓜网 Arts Festival is alive and well with a fresh new look.
Alumni honoree Flahaven鈥攚hose talents also include writing, composing, orchestrating, and conducting鈥攊s chief theatricals executive of Concord Theatricals, the fifth-largest music company in the world, which provides comprehensive services to creators and producers of plays and musicals. Representing more than 10,000 plays and musicals, and many iconic and contemporary songwriters and recordings, Concord develops and produces shows for Broadway, West End, and internationally. The company won its first Tony Award in 2019 as co-producer of Best Musical 鈥淗adestown.鈥�
Sean Flahaven
Prior to his current position, Flahaven was founding worldwide chief executive officer of The Musical Company, and senior vice president of theatre and catalog development for Warner Chappell Music. He has worked with Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim for 25 years, and served as producer on more than 30 albums, 12 of which were nominated for Grammys鈥攊ncluding the Grammy-winning, chart-topping hit 鈥淗amilton.鈥� He has produced or managed more than 100 shows, concerts, workshops, and readings on- and off-Broadway, and was general manager and director of music and marketing for theatrical rights worldwide, and a music editor for Music Theatre International and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.
Flahaven鈥攁 member of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program while at 吃瓜网鈥攚ill receive the Boston College Arts Council Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement, presented by Associate Professor of Music Jeremiah McGrann, at an awards reception on April 30 at 4 p.m. in the performance tent on Stokes Campus Green. At 12:30 p.m. the next day, Flahaven will participate in a career-related interview program with Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor of the Practice Luke Jorgensen titled 鈥淚nside the 吃瓜网 Studio,鈥� also in the tent on Stokes Campus Green.
Awards recognizing artistic accomplishments and contributions also will be presented at the festival to English Professor of the Practice Christopher Boucher鈥� author of three novels praised by prominent writers, and the editor of writer Jonathan Lethem鈥檚 nonfiction collection鈥攁nd to undergraduates Angelos Bougas 鈥�21, Tiffany Brooks 鈥�21, Annabel Hodson-Walker 鈥�21, Luke Martin 鈥�21, Nana Kusi Minkah 鈥�22, John Mohler 鈥�21, Ethan Starr 鈥�21, and Nova Wang 鈥�21.
听Other festival highlights:
鈥he University Wind Ensemble will present an immersive musical experience featuring works by Katahj Copley, a young Black composer, and the digital storytelling of The Loop Lab, a BIPOC-led, Cambridge-based nonprofit social enterprise specializing in media arts internships and digital storytelling. Inspired by FACES鈥� 2019 The Race Against Racism challenge, this project is a step towards the Boston College Bands鈥� long-term goal of regularly performing and promoting works by BIPOC and womxn composers. (April 29 and 30, 7-8 p.m., Stokes Campus Green)
鈥n oClimate Creatives, Inc., in an immersive online workshop. Apply art and design-based methods in micro-collaborations to make a community digital quilt that connects the 吃瓜网 community by exploring urgent topics. No prior experience required. (May 1, 1鈥�2:30 p.m., registration required)
鈥aw Waaw 吃瓜网 is the newest addition to 吃瓜网鈥檚 robust ensemble performance program, sponsored by the Music Department and African and African Diaspora Studies. Players include 吃瓜网 community musicians, non-musicians, students, faculty, and staff. Waw Waaw 吃瓜网 specializes in the West African sabar, a centuries-old drumming and dance style of the Wolof people from the Greater Senegambian Region. Its repertoire consists of dances and compositions derived from the inclusion of music styles from the different ethnic groups in the Region who constitute today鈥檚 pan-ethnic Wolof people. (May 1, 11 a.m.鈥�11:30 p.m., the Plaza at O鈥橬eill Library stage)
For information about events, registration for online and other programming, COVID safety protocols, and other details, visit the . Festival schedule is subject to change.
Rosanne Pellegrini | University Communications | April 2021
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