Essential College Arts

We see the arts as important social practices that challenge us to think from new perspectives, feel outrage or empathy, and cultivate a kind of civic imagination. Students and faculty study and make documentary and narrative film, radio, 2D and 3D visual art, and experimental theatre and performance art. They make art to express, question, confront, and empower. We encourage and support students to explore new mediums and to find synergies with other disciplines and to engage with broader political and social ideas.

It's a rare university that can offer you innovative art, design, and theatre programs within a vibrant, Christian community, but Cedarville is just such a place. As part of the School of Arts and Humanities, our art, design, and theatre programs will develop your skills and inspire creativity.

Whether you love oils or Photoshop, sculpture or web animation, performance or set design, we've got something for you. When you graduate, you'll be prepared to pursue excellence in the workforce as a contributor to contemporary culture and an ambassador for Christ.

The Central State University Chorus is the flagship choral ensemble at Central State University. It is committed to the advancement of music as an artistic and academic discipline, a viable professional field, and as a prominent presence in the national and international choral ecosystem. The Chorus boasts a rich tradition of choral excellence. Performance locations include the White House, Germany, China, Prague, South America, and extensively throughout the United States.

The mission of the Music unit is to prepare a diverse group of learners for success in performance, education, and music technology by readying them for graduate studies or today’s job market. Through rigorous study in the music core, graduates are ready to be effective K-12 teachers, classical and jazz performers, and commercial artists. The unit promotes the music of underrepresented composers and arrangers and equips students to successfully navigate diverse working environments. Music faculty seek to maintain a high level of performance and scholarly activity in their respective areas. Teaching, performing, and scholarly activity occur live on campus, in various venues throughout the nation, and online.

Performance majors focus on acting, voice, movement, as well as general education theatre topics like theatre history and script analysis. Performance students will most likely transfer to a university program with a performance focus or may choose a non-technical theatre area of study like playwriting or directing.

Students have the opportunity to perform in theatrical productions each semester in either the Turner Studio Theatre or Kuss Auditorium located in the Clark State Performing Arts Center. Students majoring in Performance must audition for program productions as part of their coursework.

Edison State Community College’s Stagelight Players routinely take on ambitious projects that include William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In further support of the arts, throughout the year the Anne Vaccaro and David Myers Gallery on campus hosts various art displays for public viewing.

Ensembles are the public face of Miami's Department of Music. In a given semester more than 10% of all Miami students participate in a music ensemble or performing group. Student ensembles frequently travel and have been received warmly from the halls of Europe to Carnegie Hall. Vocal ensembles include our Chamber Singers, Men’s Glee Club, Choraliers, and Opera. Our eight instrumental ensembles range from our jazz and wind ensembles to our symphony orchestra and marching band. In addition, we can't think of a better way to explore, articulate, and share our stories than through theatre and dance. On stage and in the classroom, we explore theatre and dance as mediums for personal growth and social change.

As one of the few community college theatre departments in the country to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre National Festival (KCACTF), we offer our students and our fellow community members quality theatre education and rewarding production experiences. Whether you enroll in the university parallel program, participate in one of our many productions, or simply take a single class, you can expect to have an enriching and positive experience at Sinclair. In addition, Sinclair's Music Department offers a quality and varied choir experience for music majors, non-music majors, community singers, and our greater Dayton area audience. Also, our Community Bands are composed of woodwind, brass and percussion musicians from Sinclair and the greater Dayton area. Membership includes students from high schools and colleges, music educators, and instrumentalists from a wide variety of professions.

Our program provides a liberal arts tradition, creating performance with purpose through interdisciplinary discovery. We engage talent in the service of community, leading through the arts to problem-solve.

The theatre is where we discover who we are, affirm our values, aspire to be better, and seek solutions. It's where we play "what if?" in the face of "who cares?" It's where we engage in collaborative, creative inquiry that reminds us what it is to be human, to be flawed, to be transformed. The theatre is the site of embodied democracy, where entertainment entertains emergent ideas - because we all have stories to tell.

Our ensembles perform regularly on and off campus and are open to students from all academic majors. Ensembles are featured in the annual Celebration of the Arts performances at the Schuster Performing Arts Center, Dayton's premier performance venue.

Wilberforce University provides a wide array of musical and artistic productions. These include the marching band, WU Jazz Band, WU Singers, percussion ensemble, WU Pep Band, and several other ensembles.

Theatre and dance invigorate every corner of Wittenberg’s campus, from contact improvisation exploding across the stage to experimental pieces in alternative spaces, from major Broadway musicals and ballet to student-written plays and hip-hop dance. Wittenberg’s diverse course offerings grant student artists and scholars robust classroom and laboratory environments. Throughout each year, Wittenberg students perform mainstage shows, dance concerts, one-act plays, and a variety of other activities and events. All performances are open to the community.

As a major component of a balanced curriculum of music performance, applied music, music history, music theory, and music education, the School of Fine and Performing Arts offers a wide range of performing ensembles. These ensembles, including bands, choirs, chamber ensembles, an opera theatre, and orchestras, are open to all students at the university, regardless of major, and, in some cases, to community members. In addition, the Musical Theatre Initiative (MTI) at Wright State University celebrates and explores the history, culture, and craft of the musical theatre through guest artist residencies, concert performances and international conferences.