Boston University College of Fine Arts
Encyclopedia
The Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is unit of Boston University
. The College consists of the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. Each of the individual schools offer degrees in the performing and visual arts at the undergraduate and graduate level. Among the College of Fine Arts faculty are artists, scholars, and performers of national and international reputation. Since the College of Fine Arts is integrated into Boston University, students at CFA may choose courses in the other undergraduate colleges at Boston University. CFA students can also apply for the Boston University Collaborative Degree Program (BUCOP), where students simultaneously earn undergraduate degrees at CFA and in one of 14 undergraduate colleges of the University. The college offers a study abroad program in London, England, and Dresden, Germany. Students can spend a semester at the Royal College of Music
, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, or at the Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik. Visual arts students can spend a semester in Venice, Italy, studying graphic design at the Scuola Internazionale di Graficaa or a summer in Tuscany, Italy, through the Tuscany Landscape Painting Program.
Admission to the College of Fine Arts requires a live or pre-recorded audition for music and theatrical performance majors and a submission of a portfolio for visual arts and technical theatre majors.
and composition, musicology
, music education
, historical performance, and conducting
. The School of Music offers special degrees such as the Performance Diploma and the Artist Diploma. The Performance Diploma is a non-degree program for students who want a continued education in music performance at the post-Masters level. The Artist Diploma is restricted only for unusually gifted students.
The School of Music has about 150 faculty members (professors, assistant professors, adjunct professors, and teaching associates). The large number of professors allow the students to get individual studio instruction. Some notable music professors include: Edwin Barker
(double bass), Lukas Foss
(composition), Anthony di Bonaventura
(piano), Ann Howard Jones (conducting), George Neikrug (cello), Tim Genis
(Percussion), Simon Estes
(voice), Andre de Quadros
(music education) and Roman Totenberg
(violin).
There is a wide variety of performance opportunities at the School of Music. Groups such as the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, Wind/Brass ensemble, and the Baroque Orchestra allow students from a wide range of concentrations to apply their skills in an ensemble setting.
The Boston University School of Music has a summer music festival for high school students known as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
(BUTI). The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is recognized internationally as an outstanding educational opportunity for young artists and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the great symphony orchestras of the world. Here, under the guidance of Boston Symphony Orchestra members, young people devote themselves each summer to an intensive and challenging training session.
The Boston University School of Music is also a pioneer in the field of online music education
, and by the end of 2007, more than 600 online
graduate students were expected to be studying for a Master of Music (MM) or Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree through this College, the first institution in the US to offer a doctoral degree in music entirely online.
, art education, sculpture, and painting.
Visits from distinguished artists and lecturers as well as a widely varied program of exhibitions broaden and enhance each student’s educational experience. Four on-campus galleries—the BU Art Gallery, the Commonwealth Gallery, the 808 Gallery, and the Sherman Gallery—provide exhibition opportunities for graduate students and alumni.
Facilities available to students include a computer lab, a new media room, a welding shop, a wood shop, and painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography studios.
The School of Theatre at Boston University offers a high-level of instruction in the theatre arts. The school offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA), as well as Artisan Certificates for technical theatre
students. Students can major in acting
, theatre arts, theatrical design and production, stage management
, theatre education, and directing.
The School has strong relationships with other theatre organizations in the Boston area, most notably the Huntington Theatre Company
, the professional company in residence. The Huntington's relationship with the University provides educational enhancement and craft development opportunities and makes internships available to the School's students.
The School's main operating facility is the Boston University Theatre, located across from Symphony Hall
on Huntington Avenue (Avenue of the Arts) in Boston. Built in 1923, the facility houses both the 800+ seat Mainstage Theatre and the black-box theatre known as the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Studio 210. In addition it is home to The Huntington Theatre offices, the University's Design and Production Center offices and classrooms, and scenery, costume and lighting shops shared by both organizations.
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. The College consists of the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. Each of the individual schools offer degrees in the performing and visual arts at the undergraduate and graduate level. Among the College of Fine Arts faculty are artists, scholars, and performers of national and international reputation. Since the College of Fine Arts is integrated into Boston University, students at CFA may choose courses in the other undergraduate colleges at Boston University. CFA students can also apply for the Boston University Collaborative Degree Program (BUCOP), where students simultaneously earn undergraduate degrees at CFA and in one of 14 undergraduate colleges of the University. The college offers a study abroad program in London, England, and Dresden, Germany. Students can spend a semester at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, or at the Carl Maria von Weber Hochschule für Musik. Visual arts students can spend a semester in Venice, Italy, studying graphic design at the Scuola Internazionale di Graficaa or a summer in Tuscany, Italy, through the Tuscany Landscape Painting Program.
Admission to the College of Fine Arts requires a live or pre-recorded audition for music and theatrical performance majors and a submission of a portfolio for visual arts and technical theatre majors.
School of Music
The Boston University School of Music was founded in 1872, which makes it the oldest degree-granting music program in the United States. The School of Music offers the Bachelor of Music (BM), the Master of Music (MM), and the Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA). All students have the option of concentrating in fields such as performance, music theoryMusic theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and composition, musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
, historical performance, and conducting
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. The School of Music offers special degrees such as the Performance Diploma and the Artist Diploma. The Performance Diploma is a non-degree program for students who want a continued education in music performance at the post-Masters level. The Artist Diploma is restricted only for unusually gifted students.
The School of Music has about 150 faculty members (professors, assistant professors, adjunct professors, and teaching associates). The large number of professors allow the students to get individual studio instruction. Some notable music professors include: Edwin Barker
Edwin Barker
Edwin Barker is an American double bass player who graduated from the New England Conservatory. He is currently Principal Double Bass with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Associate Professor of Music at Boston University College of Fine Arts.-Career:...
(double bass), Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
(composition), Anthony di Bonaventura
Anthony di Bonaventura
Anthony di Bonaventura is the Professor of Music at Boston University's College of Fine Arts.Anthony di Bonaventura began piano studies at three years old and gave the first professional concert at four years old. Then he won a scholarship to New York's Music School Settlement at six. At thirteen,...
(piano), Ann Howard Jones (conducting), George Neikrug (cello), Tim Genis
Tim Genis
Tim Genis is timpanist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Genis holds an undergraduate degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Roland Kohloff...
(Percussion), Simon Estes
Simon Estes
Simon Estes is an operatic bass-baritone of African-American descent who had a major international opera career since the 1960s...
(voice), Andre de Quadros
Andre de Quadros
André de QuadrosAndré de Quadros , conductor, ethnomusicologist, music educator, and human rights activist has conducted and undertaken research in over forty countries and is a professor of music at Boston University...
(music education) and Roman Totenberg
Roman Totenberg
Roman Totenberg is a Polish-American violinist and educator.He is the father of National Public Radio journalist Nina Totenberg...
(violin).
There is a wide variety of performance opportunities at the School of Music. Groups such as the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, Wind/Brass ensemble, and the Baroque Orchestra allow students from a wide range of concentrations to apply their skills in an ensemble setting.
The Boston University School of Music has a summer music festival for high school students known as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
Boston University Tanglewood Institute
The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is recognized internationally as the premiere summer training program for aspiring high school-age musicians and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras...
(BUTI). The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is recognized internationally as an outstanding educational opportunity for young artists and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the great symphony orchestras of the world. Here, under the guidance of Boston Symphony Orchestra members, young people devote themselves each summer to an intensive and challenging training session.
The Boston University School of Music is also a pioneer in the field of online music education
Online music education
Online music education is a recent development in the field of music education consisting of the application of new technologies associated with distance learning and online education for the purpose of teaching and learning music in an online environment mediated by computers and the internet.The...
, and by the end of 2007, more than 600 online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
graduate students were expected to be studying for a Master of Music (MM) or Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree through this College, the first institution in the US to offer a doctoral degree in music entirely online.
School of Visual Arts
Founded in 1954, the Boston University School of Visual Arts prepares students for professional careers in the art world as painters, graphic designers, sculptors, and art educators. The School of Visual Arts offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in areas such as graphic designGraphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
, art education, sculpture, and painting.
Visits from distinguished artists and lecturers as well as a widely varied program of exhibitions broaden and enhance each student’s educational experience. Four on-campus galleries—the BU Art Gallery, the Commonwealth Gallery, the 808 Gallery, and the Sherman Gallery—provide exhibition opportunities for graduate students and alumni.
Facilities available to students include a computer lab, a new media room, a welding shop, a wood shop, and painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography studios.
School of Theatre
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...
students. Students can major in acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, theatre arts, theatrical design and production, stage management
Stage management
Stage management is the practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel...
, theatre education, and directing.
The School has strong relationships with other theatre organizations in the Boston area, most notably the Huntington Theatre Company
Huntington Theatre Company
The Huntington Theatre Company is a non-profit professional theater company in Boston, Massachusetts. The Huntington has garnered six Elliot Norton Awards and three Tony Award nominations for productions that were transferred to Broadway after critically acclaimed productions in Boston...
, the professional company in residence. The Huntington's relationship with the University provides educational enhancement and craft development opportunities and makes internships available to the School's students.
The School's main operating facility is the Boston University Theatre, located across from Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall, Boston
Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999...
on Huntington Avenue (Avenue of the Arts) in Boston. Built in 1923, the facility houses both the 800+ seat Mainstage Theatre and the black-box theatre known as the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Studio 210. In addition it is home to The Huntington Theatre offices, the University's Design and Production Center offices and classrooms, and scenery, costume and lighting shops shared by both organizations.
Notable alumni
The College of Fine Arts have produced many students who have become notable in their fields:- Jason AlexanderJason AlexanderJay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
(Tony Award-winning actor; cast member of SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
) - Emily Deschanel (actress, BonesBones (TV series)Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
) - Ted AtkatzTed AtkatzTed Atkatz is the founder of and frontman for the Chicago-based alternative rock group NYCO. He is a former principal percussionist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra....
(Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Percussionist) - Velvet BrownVelvet BrownVelvet Brown is professor of tuba and euphonium at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 2003, she taught at Bowling Green State University , Ball State University , and served as an associate director of University Bands at Boston University. Ms...
(TubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
soloist, music educator) - Michael ChiklisMichael ChiklisMichael Charles Chiklis is an American actor, voice actor, occasional director and television producer. Some of the previous roles for which he is best known include Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish, LAPD Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield, Thing in...
(Emmy Award-winning actor; The ShieldThe ShieldThe Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
) - Geena DavisGeena DavisVirginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
(Oscar and Golden Globe winning actress) - Grant DrumhellerGrant DrumhellerGrant Drumheller is an American portrait, figurative and still life painter.- Biography :Drumheller earned his BFA and MFA degrees cum laude from Boston University. He also studied with Philip Guston, James Weeks and Reed Kay. Drumheller has taught at Boston University, the Art Institute of...
(painter) - Rosie O'DonnellRosie O'DonnellRoseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
(actress and talk show host) - Dan FoglerDan FoglerDaniel Kevin "Dan" Fogler is an American actor, playwright, and filmmaker.-Personal life:Fogler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the second child of Shari, an English teacher, and Richard Fogler, a surgeon. Fogler is Jewish...
(Tony Award-winning actor; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley...
) - Arnold Glimcher (Pace Gallery)
- Israel HicksIsrael HicksIsrael Theo Hicks was an American theatre director who produced works at regional theaters around the country and Off Broadway, and was best known for his stagings of the entire series of plays by August Wilson about the African American experience in the U.S...
(1943-2010), stage director who presented August WilsonAugust WilsonAugust Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's entire 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle. - Eugene IzotovEugene IzotovEugene Izotov is a Russian-born oboist and recording artist. He is currently the Principal Oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra appointed by Daniel Barenboim in 2005. First Russian-born oboist in any major U.S. symphony orchestra. Faculty member of DePaul University, Roosevelt University, ...
(Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Oboist) - Georgia Jarman (Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
soprano) - Penelope Jencks (sculptor, created the Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
Monument in Riverside ParkRiverside Park (Manhattan)Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
, ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, NY) - Ginnifer Goodwin (actress, Big LoveBig LoveBig Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
) - Yunjin Kim (actress, LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
) - Cynthia WatrosCynthia WatrosCynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
(actress, LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
) - Jerry LevineJerry LevineJerry Levine is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Rupert 'Stiles' Stilinski in the feature film Teen Wolf.-Career:...
(actor/director, Teen WolfTeen WolfTeen Wolf is a 1985 American fantasy comedy film released by Atlantic Releasing Corporation starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf...
) - Craig LucasCraig LucasCraig Lucas is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director.-Biography:...
(Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright and actor) - Yan Luo (screenwriter)Yan Luo (screenwriter)Luo Yan is a Chinese American actress and screenwriter. She was born in Urumqi, Xinjiang. After having a successful acting career in China, she came to the U.S. in the mid 1980s. She started her own business during the early 1990s and later became the first female Chinese filmmaker to produce,...
- Ola RotimiOla RotimiOlawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi regarded as one of Nigeria's leading playwrights and theatre directors.- Early life :...
(Award winning playwright and theatre director) - Christina McPheeChristina McPheeChristina McPhee is an American painter, new media and video artist. She currently lives on California's central coast and San Francisco, CA.-Art:...
(New Media artist) - Ikuko Mizuno (Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist)
- Julianne MooreJulianne MooreJulianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
(Oscar-nominated actress) - Ronan Noone (playwright)
- Konstantinos PapadakisKonstantinos PapadakisKonstantinos Papadakis is a Greek pianist. He has received the Golden Medal of superior talent. He has performed in worldwide major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. He studied with at Boston University...
(Concert pianist) - Anthony Paratore (pianist)
- Lee SheldonLee Sheldon (writer)Lee Sheldon is a game designer, book author, and television producer and scriptwriter. He is the author of the mystery novel Impossible Bliss, the non-fiction books The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game and Character Development and Storytelling for Games. He was lead writer on...
(videogame designer, author, TV writer/producer) - Anthony TommasiniAnthony Tommasini-Early years:Tommasini was born in Brooklyn around 1948 and raised on Long Island. He was admitted to Oberlin College's Conservatory of Music, but chose to matriculate at Yale University in order to obtain a broader liberal arts education...
(New York Times music critic) - Alfre WoodardAlfre WoodardAlfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
(Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress; - Marisa Tomei Marisa TomeiMarisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...
(Academy Award winning actress); - Brice MardenBrice MardenBrice Marden , is an American artist, generally described as Minimalist, although his work defies specific categorization. He lives in New York and Eagles Mere.Marden is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.-Life:...
(Painter) - Kurt Kauper (Painter);
- Krista VernoffKrista Vernoff- Television :Much of Vernoff's work has been in the medium of television, as a script writer.She has worked on a number of American television shows, including:...
(Emmy nominated writer) - Erica LeerhsenErica LeerhsenErica Lei Leerhsen is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the horror films Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Wrong Turn 2. She is often referred to as a modern day scream queen...
(actress)