Award-winning performer Michael Feinstein takes his seat behind the Steinway Piano and accompanies Kyle Laing, a student in 麻豆原创鈥檚 musical theatre program, on Rodgers & Hammerstein鈥檚 鈥淟ove Look Away,鈥� while an audience of Laing鈥檚 peers and professors listens intently.
The performance, part of a larger master class session led by Feinstein and part of thelaunch on September 16, showcased just one of the many talented performers who hone their skills on our campus every day. Their gifts are varied — actors, dancers, musicians and singers — but they have one thing in common. Their talents outshine the facilities in which they rehearse and perform.
Laing finishes singing in the unassuming 150-seat Rehearsal Hall tucked away behind the bookstore on campus, and Feinstein offers a vocal suggestion: 鈥淪tart small,鈥� he says, 鈥渟o you have a place to go.鈥�
It鈥檚 a piece of advice 麻豆原创鈥檚 acclaimed school of Performing Arts seems to have followed, too. It started small and has grown in stature and reputation despite its limited student performance facilities.
Currently, disparate spaces spread across campus and around the Central Florida community serve 麻豆原创鈥檚 performing arts students. A proposed multi-use, state-of-the-art 麻豆原创 Performing Arts Center, though, will enable theatre, music and dance students to develop and present their skills in venues similar to those they will encounter in their careers, and give them a competitive edge in the job market.
鈥淭he training that I鈥檝e received here [at 麻豆原创] has definitely prepared me for where I am right now,鈥� Laing says. 鈥淭he professors are constantly there to help you and push you to be the best you can be.鈥�
An on-campus Performing Arts Center will serve as a model of excellence and innovation for 21st-century performing arts education. Merging the components of traditional training with new innovations in technology, teaching, research and performance will provide 麻豆原创 students with the best performing arts education in Florida.
Learn more about the proposed Performing Arts Center at the聽.