by Stephanie Marshall
Staff Writer
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, An Appalachian Summer Festival
ushers in the new chancellor beginning July 1 and running through
July 31.
Presented by the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA), An Appalachian
Summer Festival started in the early 1980s and has been nicknamed
App Summer.
“App Summer is the university’s month long arts celebration
and it takes place in the summer here on campus usually during the
month of July,” OCA’s Public Relations and Director
of Marketing Denise R. Ringler said last Friday.
App Summer is a mix of music, dance, theater and visual arts programs;
the four art disciplines that are presented by OCA during the academic
year in its Performing Arts Series.
“It’s unique because it’s not uncommon to find
art festivals around the state that are one or two of those disciplines.
To have one multi-arts festival that encompasses all four of those
disciplines is very unique. We are proud of that distinction and
that it is a unique type of festival for our state,” Ringler
said.
Ringler said App Summer was started because the university wanted
to create some kind of summer event that would appeal to the community.
The university was searching for a way to reach out to people who
were visiting the mountains, including the seasonal residents.
“The university and some of our seasonal residents in the
community put their heads together and out of that grew the idea
for a summer arts festival and the rest is history. It’s been
20 years now and it keeps getting bigger every year,” Ringler
said.
App Summer has continued to be a mixture of famous, up-and-coming
and local artists.
“The festival program features artists who are very well known
and whose reputations are truly world-wide—but at the same
time, strives to showcase emerging artists, who are destined to
be the stars of tomorrow,” Ringler said.
This year’s festival promises to make “artistic headlines.”
“What is special about this year are both the individual programs
and the synergy they create as a series of events. Audiences can
usually expect a programmatic mix of old and new with festival favorites
alongside less familiar work. The festival continues to make artistic
headlines as far away as New York and Europe,” OCA’s
General Manager Sali Gill-Johnson said last Saturday.
This year the festival will start off with the Broyhill Chamber
Ensemble on July 1 in the Rosen Concert Hall at 8 p.m. The Atlanta
Ballet will perform July 3 in Farthing Auditorium with a special
greeting to the new chancellor.
“Although we do not generally program within a particular
theme, this year we have invited several artists back for encore
performances in recognition of our 20th anniversary season. Perhaps
most notable to many this year is our departure from the familiar
country genre for the outdoor concert.” Gill-Johnson said.
This year the outdoor concert at Kidd Brewer Stadium will feature
The Platters, Beary Hobb’s Drifters and Cornell Gunter’s
Coasters.
Other events include Peter Sckickele, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago,
Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra with pianist Andre Watts, Preservation
Hall Jazz Band, NC Symphony Pops, Doc Watson and Dirk Powell, APPropos,
Peter Serkin, the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra and several others.
Appalachian’s Dean of Students and Associate Vice Chancellor
of Student Development Susie L. Greene said Friday that the Appalachian
Summer Festival is “a wonderful experience for students, staff
and faculty” and it compliments all the other fantastic programs
Appalachian State University has.
“The programs don’t just entertain, they enrich. The
difference being that its not just about feeling good, it also about
creating deeper experiences for people,” Ringler said.
Each event has different ticket prices. To order tickets visit www.oca.appstate.edu.
For more information call 262-4046.
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