Whether acting, singing or playing an instrument is your forte, chances are that there is just the right club for you at Quinnipiac.
There are plenty of opportunities at Quinnipiac for students who are interested in the arts. Arts clubs available here include the Jazz Ensemble, the Choir, Theater Workshop, Pep Band, Theater for Young Audiences, Act One and The Dance Company.
The Theater Workshop gives students opportunities to explore many different aspects of the theater. Students may learn acting, directing and stage-managing skills.
The only mandatory requirement is the aspiration to become involved. This club produces a student-written play each year. It is currently holding a contest for the best one-act play, which will be performed in the Buckman Theatre sometime in the spring.
Productions planned for this year include stage readings. Closer by Patrick Marber is being performed on Nov. 8 and The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh on Nov. 9, both at 8 p.m.
The Theater Workshop is co-sponsoring two performances of The Vagina Monologues with G.L.A.S.S., the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Supporters club on campus.
The members of the workshop is planning a big musical production in April, which will be the first musical performed here since 1998.
“Our goal is to affect the campus community in positive ways through theater,” said L.J. Atie, the group’s president. “We in the group believe that we can use the stage as a platform to positively bring across certain themes and points through our performances.”
The Theater Workshop meets every other Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in Buckman Theatre. For more information, contact Atie at [email protected].
The choir has been in existence at Quinnipiac for thirty years. Professor Fred Rossomando leads the choir. From pop to rock, gospel to folk, the choir has a wide variety of musical styles.
The choir is planning a winter concert on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Buckman Theatre. Also, a spring concert is planned for April 28.
To become a member of the choir, no audition is required. A desire to sing and regular attendance, however, are musts, according to Rossomondo. There are currently 44 members in the choir.
“I truly love their enthusiasm,” said Rossomondo.
He said many of the students currently in the choir have come from excellent high school programs.
“They have experience, and it shows,” he said.
The choir hopes to continue to grow and hold regular performances at Quinnipiac. To join, contact Rossomando at 288-3136, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Rehearsals are held every Monday from 6:35-9:20 p.m. in Tator Hall room #120.
The pep band at Quinnipiac is a group that helps rev up the sports teams, particularly the hockey team. This group started in the spring of 1998 and it has been growing and gaining a well-deserved reputation here on campus since then.
There are a variety of instruments in the pep band, ranging from the flute to the oboe and the trombone. A person does not, however, have to be an accomplished musician to join. Several students in the band are now learning to play instruments for the first time.
“I was in my high school band and found the QU Pep Band the perfect opportunity to help me meet people and continue to have fun playing music in a social setting,” said freshman Allison Corneau, a clarinetist in the Pep Band.
Tara Faldman, president of the Pep Band said, “The friends you make in the band are amazing and they stay with you for life.”
She said the Pep Band aspires to one day become as well-known as the Duke Pep Band.
“We are becoming well-known, though, and much more respected,” said Faldman.
To join, contact Faldman at Tara.Faldman@quinnipiac .edu or the recruitment chair at [email protected]. The group meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in either Alumni Hall or SC207. Faldman said they are anxiously waiting for their room to be built in the new gym.
Theater for Young Audiences (TFYA) is another theater group here at Quinnipiac. TFYA is for students interested in performing and working with young children. This group was founded in the fall of 2001. TFYA has worked with the Highville Mustardseed School, a charter school in New Haven. The group helps younger students create plays.
These plays are called “Peace Plays,” which are about the students’ experiences after Sept. 11. The plays were performed last spring as part of a Model United Nations event, and Quinnipiac students are participating in this same event this year.
For more information, e-mail the president of TFYA at [email protected].
Other arts programs Quinnipiac offers are Act One, and the Dance Company. Act One promotes student-oriented theater. Members are able to direct, write or act in productions. The Dance Company is a student-run group open for all students interested in dancing, but has a limited amount of spots open each semester. This organization showcases performances twice a year.
These varied clubs and organizations are growing and expanding, with hopes that the Quinnipiac community will enthusiastically embrace the arts.
“We would like the campus community to embrace the importance and need of a true theater program here at Quinnipiac University, ” said L.J. Atieh.