Anthea Scouffas, director of education at the Lied Center, will be talking about the upcoming Lied Center season and outreach efforts at the performing arts center. Lied Center events can be found here.

Moderator

Hi, everyblody Anthea Scouffas, director of education at the Lied Center, is here to answer your questions about Lied Center programming today. I’m your moderator for the afternoon, Terry Rombeck, a features reporter here. Go ahead and post your questions throughout the chat.

Anthea Scouffas

Good Afternoon All!

Moderator

First off, could you give us just an overview of the upcoming Lied Center season?

Anthea Scouffas

Sure! We have a fantastic season including Broadway, contemporary dance, and a great deal of classical musical events. We also have events that take place in conjuction with these scheduled performances. For instance, we will have dinners prior to all of the Concert Series performances. Folks can purchase a dinner ticket and enjoy food that relates to the theme of the performance as well as a speaker providing some contexualization of the genre or the culture. And we have a number of other educational activities related to many of the events.

Moderator

Let’s get to some reader questions. Here’s one about the first show of the season.

christy_l

I’m excited about “Fireworks” coming up. Will it be kid-friendly, and can you tell me more about what the show will be like?

Anthea Scouffas

Yes, Fireworks is definitely kid-friendly! The group has done their research on some of the classical cartoons from Disney and Warner Bros. and have discovered that many of the sound tracks were pieces written by some great composers…and some not so well known. The second half of the Fireworks concert will be focusing on these works. While they are playing, some of the classic cartoons will be projected behind them. It should be great fun for all. The groups is also going to be working with elementary music students from USD497 the following day.

abeecher

Can you tell us a little bit about the different education and outreach activities going on at the Lied Center? There are a lot of interesting things that go on at the Lied besides the performances themselves and I’d like to hear about some of those additional activities.

Anthea Scouffas

We do indeed have many activities throughout the year. Many of the artists that come to the Lied also provide what we call, residencies. A residencies can be anything from one master class with piano students to a weeklong workshop where the artists work with a specific group of youth or adults either exploring a type of performance art: dance, theatre, music, or possibly a theme. Many times at the end of this experience there is some sort of performance or demonstration of what was learned, exlored, experienced.

One of our upcoming outreaches will be with Cantus. They will visit every voice group in the USD497’s Jr and Sr high schools.

There are too many activities to specifically describe today, but you can always check out our website for information on all these interactions. Or contact us and we can fill you in on what will be upcoming.

ScottK

Hi Anthea,

I see that the Lied Center’s website has a new/fresh/different look to it these days. Can you tell me more about what I’ll find on the site?

Anthea Scouffas

Hey! Yes, we have a new look that we are very excited about. We of course have the same info we had on the older version including performance information and other activity info. On the new site we have included an area where you can find out additional info on the artists as well as hear some sound clips and see video clips (when available). We also will have online polls you can take and also a chance to win free tickets by correctly answering questions. These questions will change on a weekly basis.

We are working hard to make the site more active and engaging while still providing information you are use to receiving.

I want to also note that on the Education page we have study guides that anyone can access. Our school performances have guides for the school children who will be attending our school time performances and we also have guides associated with our Studio Lied program. This program is for older students, high school plus, and anyone else who would like to learn more about the artist, art, themes that the specific artists will be addressing in their work. We have choosen four Studio Lied performances this season. Check them out! The web address is www.lied.ku.edu. Let us know what you think!

christy_l

What dance programs are coming to the Lied this year?

Anthea Scouffas

Hi Christy,

We have a variety of dance this season. The first will be a company from the Philippines called Bayanihan Philippine Dance National Dance Co. They are premier company and will expose us all to a variety of dance styles from the Philippines.

We also have the amazing Miami City Ballet, Riverdance and one of the most talented of our young dancers, Savion Glover with his new show entitled, Classical Savion.

We have two contemporary companies (my favorite!) in this year: Armitage Gone!Dance (Lawrence’s own homegrown Karole Armitage) in March and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in February. I have worked with Dayton before and they are not only amazing artists but also great people and educators. They will be presenting a lecture/demontration with some of our local school kids that I am very excited about. They will be presenting three pieces developed by three of outstanding African American choreographers in the US: Rennie Harris, Reggie Wilson and Donald Byrd. All three pieces will be in relationship to the Harlem Renaissance visual artist, Jacob Lawrence. Should be an amazing visual experience.

Moderator

That will do it for today’s chat. Thanks, Anthea, for coming in today to answer readers’ questions.

Anthea Scouffas

Thank you, Terry. And if you all have any other questions, please give me a call or send me an email (anthea@ku.edu) and I will be glad to continue the conversation. Have a good one!