Wyn Caudle and Amanda Crouse
A&E Editors
Over this past weekend, Oct. 18-20, The College of Wooster celebrated its annual Homecoming weekend (formerly known as Black and Gold weekend), featuring many campus events. One such event was the Celebration of the Arts hosted in McGaw Chapel on Friday at 4:30 pm. Three different ensembles performed in addition to members of the dance company and theater, showcasing what each of these groups have been working towards. The Celebration of the Arts is meant to be an opportunity for different performance and arts groups around campus to share why they do what they do and promote future events.
The Wooster Chorus started off the Celebration of the Arts under the direction of professor Lisa Wong and pianist Toni Shreve. The performance consisted of four songs revolving around hope and the idea of home, tying into the theme of the weekend. Some of the songs, such as Sarah Quartel’s “All the way home” took a more literal meaning of home while others, like “Caritas (Illuminare)” by Elaine Hagenberg embraced a more abstract meaning of the word.
The College of Wooster Dance Company also put on a performance. The piece titled “Rinse Cycle” included five senior dancers and was choreographed in the modern style by Emily Baird, one of the dance professors at the College. It was originally performed by Baird’s non-profit contemporary dance organization Drift Dance Collective. Aliza Sosin ’25, one of the performers, expressed that “dancing is always such a joy and getting this extra opportunity through the celebration of arts will be remembered. I am glad the school has provided an opportunity to showcase all types of art.” Those looking to see more should watch out for the Dance Company’s fall concert in late November.
Following the dance department, the theatre department put on a scene from “Boeing Boeing,” this year’s fall play. The scene was performed by Shannon Dunning ’27 and Tyler Buchanan ’27. On Oct. 25 and 26, the theater department will host “Boeing Boeing” in Wishart Hall (after its initial showing on Oct. 24) showcasing the students who auditioned for the piece as well as all the students working from behind the scenes to make sure the show runs smoothly.
Continuing the series of performances, a screen descended from the chapel’s ceiling to play the art and art history department’s visual art video. An amalgamation of hand-drawn animation, live-action clips and screencaps from virtual reality scapes put the department’s diverse array of artistic disciplines on full display. Illustration blended with the real world as a cartoon girl sat on a ledge at the end of the film, gazing out at a landscape that slowly faded into a clip of a flat field speckled with birds.
The Scot Symphonic Band performed three songs under the direction of professor Jeffrey Gershman. The band consists of over 50 students playing a range of brass to woodwind instruments. The upbeat songs were broken up with interludes of information about each piece.
Later that night, the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble performed a “Tribute to Nina Simone.” The concert began at 7:30 p.m. in McGaw Chapel and was the final performance of the night. The concert featured upbeat, jazzy music with vocals from Wooster alumna Bri Mosley ’24 supporting Dee Alexander, a returning jazz musician and friend of Director Lindberg. The vocalists discussed their performances and their joy of returning to the College to perform for an audience of students, alumni and parents.
“It’s always fun to perform, but this concert was special because we got to play with the jazz ensemble and some unbelievably talented singers,” violinist Alex Markland ’26 commented.
Homecoming weekend provided an opportunity for Wooster to showcase the wide variety of talents within the expansive community and encouraged students, alumni and parents to stop by and experience what the College’s music and arts departments have to offer.