2023 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
April 13, 2023
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I’d like to invite you to experience the music, dance, theater, and artwork that will soon transform the Brandeis campus during the upcoming 2023 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, which will take place from Friday, April 21 through Sunday, April 30.
This year’s festival celebrates “Art in the Year of Climate Action.” Festival producer Ingrid Schorr and her team invited students, artists, scholars, and community activists to consider the arts as a means to creating positive change. A few of this year’s highlights include:
- A concert by Israeli-based musician Gili Yalo, who infuses his Ethiopian roots with the sounds of soul, funk, psychedelia, and jazz
- Concerts by ensembles from the Department of Music
- Culture X, a joyful dance, music, and spoken word showcase produced by the Intercultural Center
Theater in the Year of Climate Action: new plays produced by The Parsnip Ship (Iyvon Edebiri ‘13, is the artistic director and cofounder) - Super Sunday, April 23rd, which features performances and activities for all ages
- The Festival of the Arts honors its founder, the great American composer, conductor, and Brandeis faculty member Leonard Bernstein, and his remarkable legacy as an artist, educator, activist, and humanitarian.
Bernstein once said that, “Art cannot change events. But it can change people. It can affect people so that they are changed... And because people are changed by art—enriched, ennobled, encouraged—they then act in a way that may affect the course of events...by the way they vote, they behave, the way they think." In short, art can have a major, positive impact for good. We celebrate that truth here at Brandeis, as an institution dedicated to bettering our world.
I encourage you to check out the festival's schedule for a listing of all of this year’s events. There are many to choose from. I look forward to seeing you around campus celebrating our university’s creative spirit, during what promises to be a fun-filled and inspiring time.
Sincerely,
Ron Liebowitz