2023-24 Arts
At UMD, the arts are at the heart of campus life, from cutting-edge performances and innovative exhibitions to dynamic collaborations between students and faculty. ARHU is proud to be home to the Arts for All initiative, bridging the arts with science, technology and other fields to inspire dialogue and action.
Terrapin Community Music School
Assistant Clinical Professor Allison Durbin ’15, Ph.D. ’23 and music education major Paige Peercy ’25 regularly played music for the children in the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital in Baltimore as an initiative within the newly established Terrapin Community Music School.
Read the full storyNew Captioning System
A new captioning system at School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’ theater performances allows audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing to follow every line in the show. Theater design MFA student Tim Kelly is leading the project.
Read moreHelen Hayes Awards
Professor of Dance/Theatre Design and Production Misha Kachman, Frank Labovitz MFA ’10, Alberto Segarra MFA ’15, Kelly Colburn MFA ’18 and Dylan Uremovich MFA ’16 received Helen Hayes awards, which celebrate phenomenal work in the theater community of D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Read the full story.
National Orchestral Institute
The National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic played a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Washington National Cathedral, conducted by Music Director Marin Alsop and featuring soloists from the University of Maryland School of Music: soprano Adia Evans B.M. ’19, mezzo-soprano Jazmine Olwalia M.M. ’20, tenor Lawrence Barasa Kiharangwa M.M. ’23 and Associate Professor of Voice & Opera Kevin Short. The Washington Post noted, “It’s no small feat to fill Washington National Cathedral, whether we’re talking about people or sound. But a sold-out performance … managed, rather gloriously, to do both.” Read more.
Arts for All Initiative
Inaugural Residencies
Hannah Smotrich, an associate professor of art and design at the University of Michigan, and Ari Melenciano ’14, studio art, an artist and creative technologist, were the first faculty members to hold residencies through the Arts for All initiative. They taught classes and conducted research to address questions about some of the most pressing issues of our time: the health of American democracy and the ethical and creative use of artificial intelligence.
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Quantum Research Fellowship
Ten faculty members and five graduate students from units across campus received a total of $112,500 in funding from Arts for All through its inaugural Faculty and Graduate Student Fellowship. And quantum researchers in UMD’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences partnered with ARHU scholars on seven research collaborations with grants totaling $54,650 from the Division of Research and Arts for All.
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Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Program Competition
Through a partnership with Arts for All, the 2024 Sadat Arts for Justice and Peace Program relaunched as an expanded competition that included music and poetry works in addition to art. Students affiliated with the School of Music, Department of English and Department of Art were invited to submit works focused on the theme of self-expression and freedom of speech.
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“Moving With Screens + Machines” Symposium
The “Moving With Screens + Machines” symposium explored the relationship between embodied practices and technology, bringing together multidisciplinary experts and enthusiasts to explore how screens and machines shape our experiences and interactions. The symposium was presented by the University of Maryland Immersive Media Design Program, the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and Arts for All.
Learn moreMaya Brin Artist In Residence
Internationally renowned Russian playwright and screenwriter Mikhail Durnenkov was the 2024 Maya Brin Artist in Residence, as well as a visiting faculty member in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) for the Spring 2024 semester. TDPS produced Durnenkov’s “Are We at War Yet?,” directed by Yury Urnov, as part of its mainstage season.
Terrapin Community Music School
UMD launched the Terrapin Community Music School: High School Academy to offer affordable music education to high school students in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. Each week, students received one-on-one lessons in their instrument from School of Music graduate students and amped up their experience with a group musicianship class.