Students From the College of Fine Arts and Communications Travel Internationally to Gain Real-World Experience and Share Their Talents While Studying Abroad, Competing, Interning and Performing
Each summer, students in BYU’s College of Fine Arts and Communications take the knowledge and skills they have learned in the classroom and make their mark on communities.
This year, six BYU performing groups set off on their first extended tours since 2019. Other students traveled to enjoy mentorship and experiences they can’t often find in Provo. From the Carolinas to Cordoba, these students are having inspiring learning opportunities all over the country and around the world.
Read more about how students from the College of Fine Arts and Communications answered President Kevin J. Worthen’s call for inspiring learning during May 2022.
BYU Chamber Orchestra Tour
After a three-year hiatus from performance tours, the BYU Chamber Orchestra—composed of 46 students, director Kory Katseanes, and several tour leaders—performed in seven cities across the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy. Continuing its reputation as one of the most traveled university orchestras in the world, it presented a meticulous classical repertoire that showcased the ensemble’s energy and refinement. Along with performing, the group visited some of Europe’s finest attractions, such as Hofburg Palace, Old Town Prague, and Michelangelo’s David.
In Prague, the group played to a sold-out audience at the renowned Smetana Hall. In Vienna, they performed a concert at Minoritenkirche and a humanitarian concert for Ukarinian refugees, called a Musical Prayer for Ukraine (see BYU Photo coverage of this event here). The group performed with a local community orchestra, the Mondsee Sinfonietta, in Salzburg. It played concerts at the Sant’Antonio Abate cathedral in Milan, Italy, and Ognissanti cathedral in Florence, Italy. The orchestra also played a concert at Sapienza University in Rome as part of an exchange program between orchestras from Sapienza University and BYU.
Communications Black 14 Project
Journalism students Caroline Clark and Carly Wasserlein traveled to Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina with lab staff Melissa Gibbs and Alan Neves. The students were given a tour of the CNN studios in Atlanta, then spent the rest of the trip working on a documentary and magazine on the Black 14 and the work they are doing with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to curb food insecurity across the nation.
Clark and Wasserlein honed their journalism skills by gathering interviews, video and photos for the project. Gibbs said, “The days were long but the trip was extremely successful. The students were not only able to develop their journalism skills but they were also able to witness and be part of a miracle,” explaining that the group’s arrival brought much-needed donations to a food bank in South Carolina. In addition to this powerful experience, Gibbs said, the students “will also have an opportunity to share the story of that miracle.”
Young Ambassadors Tour
On tour in South Korea, the Young Ambassadors performed in six cities, including Seoul, Busan, and Daejeon. Their show, Thank You for the Music, was a celebration of the great musical hits of radio, stage and screen. The group also split their time between performing and sightseeing with multiple culture tours and museum visits. In addition to performances, the group led workshops for high school students.
COVID-19 has changed the group’s tour experience in interesting ways. The Young Ambassadors performed a devotional, originally planned to be live, as a livestream, reaching a much bigger audience as a result. The group’s performances also marked the first in-person events since covid in several areas.
At the end of each performance on the tour, the Young Ambassadors surprised the audience by singing a traditional Korean song, “Arirang.” Audience members expressed their gratitude and joy to the Young Ambassadors for their performance during a meet and greet after the show. One audience member commented, “‘Arirang’…made me cry! As soon as I heard [it] sung by foreigners, the painful history of Korea that I learned in school history class passed by my head. It wasn’t on the list, so it felt like a surprise for Koreans. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it definitely touched me a lot.”
London Film Study Abroad
Theatre and Media Arts students participating in the London Film study abroad were exposed to repertory programs, thorough retrospectives and the most wide-ranging commercially distributed film offerings in the world. The group enjoyed the films themselves along with a host of resources (lectures, artist interviews and scholarly notes) from the British Film Institute.
The program had access to some of the world’s great art institutions, staying in flats in the heart of London’s main cultural district, within easy reach of some of the world’s great parks, museums and theaters. As film students engaged with London’s rich history and its inexhaustible supply of great plays, paintings, buildings, landscapes and design, they gained a deeper understanding of English culture and film.
Ballroom Dance Company Tour
The Ballroom Dance Company toured Europe, where it performed in nine cities spread across Belgium, France and Germany. Garnering national and international acclaim, the group’s new show, Come Alive, presented ballroom dance in a theatrical environment, with innovative choreography and a contemporary point of view.
The group’s performances included a concert for European Union ambassadors and dignitaries at the Wolubilis Theatre in the Netherlands, performing at a NATO base in Mons, Belgium, and a benefit show for a children’s charity in Germany.
The group balanced performing with sightseeing and service activities. Along the way, students also received mentorship from world-class artists and BYU alumni and hosted workshops for community members.
Highlights of the trip included exploring Museum Dunkerque, the Palace of Versaille, the Eiffel Tower, the ruins of the Burg Lichtenberg castle, Neuschwanstein Castle, Alpsee Lake in Bavaria and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site.
BYU Singers Tour
This spring, the BYU Singers toured and performed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In between giving performances, the group enjoyed sightseeing and cultural experiences, including Toompea Castle, Kaarli Church, a production of My Fair Lady in Estonian at the Estonian National Opera House, Naissaar Island and the historic Korosta Prison. They also participated in several benefit concerts and service projects for local groups including an orphanage in Keila, Estonia, and Ukrainian refugees who have relocated to Estonia.
In Klaipėda, Lithuania, the BYU Singers competed in the 22nd International Stasys Šimkus Choir Competition. They were awarded first place in the mixed choir category, first place in the sacred music category, and first place in the folk choir category. They received special prizes for best performance of the compulsory piece and best performance of a contemporary composition. The group was also awarded the Grand Amber Prize (best choir overall) and named winners of the Grand Prix finals. After the awards ceremony, the judges invited the Singers to perform four pieces for the participants of the competition.
Art in Spain and Portugal Study Abroad
Students in the art program experienced the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Spain and Portugal while learning about and making art. Students in Intro to Art and Drawing, Watercolor and Advanced Studio classes made full use of the museums, artists and cultural institutions in these two countries to develop a greater awareness of art and its development throughout history.
The trip particularly focused on art and culture of the Iberian Peninsula, both historic and current, and Spain as a meeting place of the diverse cultures of North Africa and Western Europe. Stops and sites of interest included Lisbon, Portugal; Alhambra; Great Mosque of Cordoba and Madrid, Spain.
Living Legends Tour
BYU’s Living Legends toured Mexico, performing in seven cities, including Cancún, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Their show, Storytellers, presented nine stories that celebrate and honor the native cultural heritage of North America, South America and the South Pacific in a vibrant spectacle of energy, music, costume and dance.
The group’s tour began with performances at Teatro Hidalgo in Mexico City, which were opened by students of Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández, a renowned Mexican folklore ensemble in Mexico City. In Puebla, Mexico, the group performed at the Día de la Batalla de Puebla celebration, sharing the stage with Danza Folklórica MAASO as the two groups performed dances from a variety of cultures. The group also performed for large crowds in Puebla, Mérida and Cancún.
The tour also included activities for local youth, cultural exchange presentations and sightseeing. Memorable stops included Chichén Itzá, a cenote and a cultural exchange at Universidad Anáhuac México in Cancún.
Vocal Point Tour
Vocal Point, BYU’s renowned nine-man a cappella group, toured across the American Midwest, with performances in Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois and ending in California. Along the way, Vocal Point hosted a high school workshop, saw sights in Chicago and shot a music video in Los Angeles. They also workshopped with local youth and visited sites that are meaningful for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Liberty Jail and Winter Quarters.
In Kansas, the group performed at Witchita’s 100-year-old Orpheum Theatre, a historic site that has hosted hundreds of A-list performers, including Louis Armstrong. This show was followed by a sold-out performance at the Liberty Performing Arts Theatre in Liberty, Missouri. Other performances followed in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Chicago, Illinois. The final leg of the tour took place in Southern California, where the group filmed a music video, performed in San Clemente and celebrated a year of studying the history of Disney music with a trip to “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Vocal Point director McKay Crockett stated, “Music has such a unique and singularly powerful way of connecting hearts and minds. Barriers of language, distance, disagreement can be minimized and removed by the power of music… I feel grateful for the gift of music that—one heart at a time—continues to build connections and friendships to last a lifetime.”