UCI announces upcoming arts schedule

This post has been corrected, as noted below.

UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts recently revealed its upcoming season.

The program extends from Oct. 3 to early June and highlights multiple disciplines.

According to communications director Lesly Martin, program titles, such as UCI Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble concerts, Dance Visions, Physical Graffiti, New Slate and UCI Small Groups, remain the same from one year to the next. The content always changes, though, be it choreography, compositions, casts, guest performers or directors.

In the coming months, multimedia activities will take center stage at the school’s Experimental Media Performance Lab. The lineup features “Far-Flung follows function,” a theater performance that blends human actors and Internet data, “Virtual Venues: The Distributed Body,” a dance media installation utilizing video and audio to connect the Contemporary Arts Center with participants in other locations, a celebration of composer Richard Wagner’s 200th birthday and more.

The Music Department will invite pianist Malcolm Bilson to unveil its new custom-made fortepiano Oct. 19. The Drama Department, meanwhile, plans to orient its events around a specific theme.

“This season, the Drama Department has launched a new approach to its repertoire, using the themes of citizenship and justice as a focal point in our play selections,” Department Chair Gary Busby said in an email. “In approaching the season this way, we will be presenting works that are not only powerful and timely in their own right, but also speak to one another in continuing dialogue throughout the season.”

Such decisions are made by a production committee, which comprises academic department chairpersons, faculty, a box office manager, a marketing director, an assistant dean and others, Martin noted. Planning begins a few years in advance, while particulars are ironed out in the year leading up.

The finished schedule also represents a balance between technical factors like equipment, costumes and staging, plus budgetary constraints.

“It’s a complicated process because, unlike professional venues, our events also have a pedagogical purpose,” Martin said.

For a complete schedule, visit https://www.art.uci.edu/calendar.

[For the record, 1:40 p.m. July 24: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Gary Busby’s last name.]