WCC's Fine Arts Festival to be Thursday evening
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 7, 2016 10:32 AM
This year's Winter Fine Arts Festival at Wayne Community College takes on a slight twist -- it will also include "WCC's Got Talent."
The public is invited to the free event Thursday evening in Moffatt Auditorium, said Brad Collier, music instructor and co-director along with Angie Waller, art instructor.
The Fine Arts Festival has been going on for at least 17 years, he said, featuring the same accompanist, Tom Casey.
The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. with the arts portion, an exhibit of Ms. Waller's students' work in the areas of drawing, painting and design.
Student musicians will also be playing music in the atrium of the Wayne Learning Center, Collier said.
The choral concert starts at 7 p.m. and incorporates the local version of the talent show.
"The good thing is, we usually tell our students, no cell phones in class, those kinds of things, but this time we want people to vote," he said. "So the actual audience will be voting for the winner of the talent show.
"We encourage all the contestants to have their friends and family come out, bring your laptops, bring your iPads, bring your iPhones because at the time of the show, after all the contestants have performed, we will have a live link on the WCC website. People can go and actually vote for their favorite contestants."
His chorus students have been working on selections for the holiday program all semester, he said.
Auditions for the talent show aspect were held in August, pared down during rounds of competition, and the finalists will choose a holiday song to perform on Thursday.
"We did 'WCC Idol' two years ago and then last year," Collier said. "This is probably the third time we've done a talent competition.
"We want to expose talent on campus and give the students a way to get involved with the arts. A lot of students aren't able to take chorus because it conflicts with their other classes."
This marks the first time the finale show and the fine arts festival have been combined, he said.
"I work with the chorus, I do all the music part of the festival," he said, adding, "(Students) have been doing not only the festival but also we've had a monthly coffee house. Other students are also able to come perform music or sing or read poetry, recite free verse, whatever they want to do."
In addition to an evening of art and music, the audience will get to choose this year's talent show winner, Collier said.
"It's all based on votes, who gets the most votes, and then at the end of the night they're crowned the winner and they receive their prizes," he said. "We figured this year we would spice it up, we would do something kind of different and not only get the chorus involved but get the other people involved who have talents on campus but can't take chorus class.
"My philosophy is just because you're not in chorus, you're still a part of the music program. Those who sing or play and want to be a part, they can still be a part of the program without having to commit a whole semester to class."
Plans are in the works to do something similar in the future, to provide even more opportunities to bring talent to the WCC stage, Collier said.
"This spring is going to be another first," he said. "We'll have the fine arts festival, May 4, and the concert is going to be a Broadway review, 'Broadway Through the Ages.'
"I'm partnering with Danny Rollins of the English Department, in acting, costuming, staging and a lot of Broadway music."
The semester-long effort will culminate in the May festival, he said.
Anyone interested can participate by signing up for Music 131, Chorus 1, or through the continuing education class. Both start Jan. 5 and are held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-11:50 a.m.
"We're trying to build this program," Collier said. "That's why we also do it through continuing education."