SIUE Professor of Cello Marta Simidtchieva.EDWARDSVILLE - Expanding on its previous and current dramatic offerings and education, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will present the inaugural SIUE Performing Arts Initiative on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 according to Marc Schapman, DMA, professor of voice and chair of the Department of Music.

The new series of performances and workshops will begin on Jan. 22 in the Dunham Hall Theater and will feature Chamber Project Saint Louis (CPSTL), with the University’s own Professor of Cello Marta Simidtchieva.

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“The mission of the SIUE Performing Arts Initiative is to provide low-cost, high-quality, cultural and educational programs directed at a wide cross-section of the community,” said Schapman. “We want to bring performances to the area that residents would otherwise have little opportunity to attend and provide a variety of points of view and diverse artistic experiences. We feel this is an asset to SIUE and the community.”

Last spring, Schapman, Simidtchieva and Best-Kinscherff, associate professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, began brainstorming the idea and are the key contributors in shaping the initiative.

“Bringing this project to fruition has truly been a collaborative effort between the Departments of Music and Theatre and Dance,” said Schapman. “With our long history of successful partnerships, this collaboration feels like a natural next step. Looking ahead, we hope to expand and collaborate with additional disciplines in future years.”

The initiative is primarily funded by a General Operating Support Grant from the Illinois Arts Council. “While we will need to reapply for this funding annually, we hope to continue receiving the grant in the coming years to support the growth of the initiative,” he said.

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This academic year, the programming will focus on musical, theatrical and dance art forms. “We are thrilled to kick off the season with our first concert featuring Chamber Project Saint Louis,” shared Schapman. “Professor Marta Simidtchieva is an internationally acclaimed cellist, as well as a wonderful colleague and teacher.”

“I am excited to bring Chamber Project St. Louis to our community and to share and perform the diverse body of music with our students,” said Simidtchieva, who will be performing as part of the group. “I will play Jennifer Higdon’s ‘Celestial Hymns’ for violin, viola, cello, clarinet, and piano. (Jennifer Higdon is a prominent American composer who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto.) I will also be involved in the Illinois premiere of Jessica Flannigan’s piece for clarinet, cello, and piano, ‘And the Sky Opens.’ I’m also very excited to play Carlos Simon’s quartet, ‘Warmth from Other Suns.’”

“Our students and community deserve high-quality cultural and educational programs,” added Simidtchieva. “This concert provides the innovative and diverse programming that CPSTL has made its mission for the last 17 years. The concert ‘Celestial Counterpoint,’ featuring the group in different chamber music combinations, presents a valuable experience because it fulfills the lack of presentation of works by female composers and showcases music by African American composers.”

In addition to Chamber Project St. Louis, the initiative will host artists Emily “Lady Em” Culbreath and Joshua “Bboy Supa Josh” Culbreath on Friday, April 4. Their performance group, Snack Break Movement Arts, is a performance duo specializing in Hip Hop dance education, event curation, and interdisciplinary performance works inspired by street dance. Snack Break seeks to pay homage to the integrity of African-American vernacular dance, while also challenging the way audiences consume street dance through the utilization of theatrics, the concert stage, multi-media, and contemporary movement practices. They aim to build community through the power of storytelling and the excavation of intersectional identities.

Finally, the initiative will underwrite solo artists for a concert performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana,” an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni, with the SIUE University Orchestra and Choirs from Friday-Saturday, May 2-3.

The project is actively seeking additional support from the SIUE and surrounding community. Those interested in collaborating with or supporting the SIUE Performing Arts Initiative contact Schapman at maschap@siue.edu.

Central to SIUE’s exceptional and comprehensive education, the College of Arts and Sciences offers degree programs in the natural sciences, humanities, arts, social sciences, and communications. The College touches the lives of all SIUE students helping them explore diverse ideas and experiences, while learning to think and live as fulfilled, productive members of the global community. Study abroad, service-learning, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities better prepare SIUE students not only to succeed in our region's workplaces, but also to become valuable leaders who make important contributions to our communities.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high-quality education that powerfully transforms the lives of all individuals who seek something greater. A premier metropolitan university, SIUE is creating social and economic mobility for individuals while also powering the workforce of the future. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Home to a diverse student body, SIUE is situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis.