The Arts Festival is Back and Better Than Ever
In the last few weeks before Pesach break, after the stress of midterms passed, the Arts Festival arrived at YU. The Festival provided an opportunity for students to showcase their creativity and talents to their peers and allowed students to learn more about each other. Often, we might know little about the people sitting next to us in class. But everyone has something unique about them, and the Arts Festival gave students involved in the arts a chance to express who they are outside of the classroom.
On Feb. 6, an email sent by Miriam Bluth (SCW ‘24), Office of Student Life (OSL) fellow, informed students that there would be an Arts Festival from March 23 to April 8, and that OSL was looking for students to form an Arts Festival committee. A later email gave students the opportunity to pitch ideas for events to be held within the Arts Festival.
The Arts Festival is “a series of creative and expressive events at YU spanning multiple mediums, allowing students to showcase their talent and artistry while gaining the support of their peers,” Bluth told The Commentator. While new to current students, the Arts Festival was a staple for many YU students in the past. To Bluth, the Arts Festival is important “[b]ecause the arts are awesome and there are so so many talented students at YU who deserve a platform to showcase their work, and what better place than among your own peers, at your own university?”
Bluth’s dedication to helping YU students showcase their work became evident as the Arts Festival played out, with almost a dozen events dedicated to the arts taking place over the course of these two weeks. The schedule for the Arts Festival, sent to the student body on March 24, contained events from a variety of artistic fields, including music, theater and poetry.
The Arts Festival began on March 25, with the Wilf Writing Center Open Mic Night and the AMC Club seeing “Snow White.” While the AMC Club saw the new live action version of this classic Disney movie, the Wilf Writing Center became a stage for over a dozen students to share their writing. The event was organized by the YC English Department and featured writers from The Maccabee Review, YU’s student-led literary journal. These writers started off the night strong, their pieces ranging from short stories to poems to songs. Following that, the floor was opened to all writers who wanted to share their work. Each writer spoke with a unique tone and message, many infusing into their work humor, life lessons and reflections on Jewish strength in the face of persecution. Ultimately, the open mic was a great opportunity for writers of any skill level in the YU community to share their writing with an audience.
The Festival continued on March 26 with the Jazz Ensemble’s annual Jazz Night, in which the YU Jazz Ensemble, a YC class taught by Professor Jon Schapiro, performs the pieces they’ve been working on the entire year. With Danny Kutin (YC ‘25) on drums, Daniel Lasry (SSSB ‘28) on guitar, Tuvya Macklin (YC ‘25) on bass, Yonatan Beer (YC ‘25) on piano, Noam Ben Simon (YC ‘26) on saxophone and Yosef Siegel (YC ‘26) and Isaac Epner (SSSB ‘25) as vocalists, the group masterfully performed a variety of jazz songs. The group played nine songs in total, with one of the most exciting moments being when the band played the “Pink Panther” theme song; audience members laughed in delight as the iconic melody filled the room.
On March 27, the Sky Cafe in Belfer Hall was transformed into yet another space for the arts. The dimly lit room set a welcome atmosphere for the dozens of guests who filed in for an evening of music and conversation with Israeli musician Ehud Banai. Organized by Professor Ronnie Perelis, this event truly showcased the unity that music can bring about. Banai proved to be not only a great musician, but also a deep thinker, a man seemingly in search of life, happiness and peace in a world that is so divided. Banai made audience members laugh, clap, sing and ponder life. It became clear that Banai views music as a way to simultaneously highlight diversity and bridge the gaps between people. He explained that music creates brotherhood and is a language that musicians use to bring light into the darkness of the world.
After a brief break for the weekend, the Arts Festival came back in full force, beginning with opening day for the YCDS play on March 30. “The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] {Again}” starred Kiki Arochas (YC ‘25), Ronnie Hidary (YC ‘27) and Shneur Levy (YC ‘25) and was performed four times over the course of the Arts Festival. The play was a masterful, humorous compilation of all 37 of Shakespeare’s works performed in 97 minutes. The actors played themselves as well as several other characters each. They spoke to each other both in character and out, blending Shakespeare’s works with meta conversations about their process of acting. One highlight was when the actors involved the audience, asking audience members to act out Ophelia and various parts of her psyche. Overall, the play was a huge success, leaving the audience laughing and quoting lines days later.
Coinciding with the second night of the YCDS play was SCDS’s annual musical theater Showcase. Rather than a full-length play, the Showcase featured 14 numbers from various shows and movies, ranging from solo acts to ensembles to groups of six people. Each song was part of the theme “Some Enchanted Evening: The Magical, Mystical, and Mythical.” Eliana Diamond (SCW ‘25) and Rivka Inger (SCW ‘25), SCDS co-presidents, were the MCs of the night, clueing the audience into each new song with clever puns and references. Each performance was spectacular, and it was a delight to see the amazing talent of the 21 performers. A particularly meaningful moment was the performance of “I’ve Got a Dream” from “Tangled,” in which Elisheva (Shevy) Szczupakiewicz (SCW ‘27), Sara Hellman (SCW ‘25), Maya Goldberg (SCW ‘25) and Talia Feldman (SCW ‘26) reminded the audience that the divides between humans are trivial when everyone has a dream. The divides between audience members faded as all students were united in music and friendship. The applause was thunderous after the enchanted evening.
The next event, while not officially on the Arts Festival schedule, definitely fit with the theme. On April 1, David Mamet, Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright, came to speak with students. He opened the floor to questions and shared insights into the creative process and following your dreams. Mamet posed difficult questions back to the audience. “What’s stopping you?” was his way of telling each person there that they are capable of writing the book, writing the play, shooting the video. When asked if writing was about imparting ethical principles, Mamet countered by asking if your favorite food imparts ethical principles. No, and he views his art the same way. It’s meant to entertain people, not teach them ethics. The reason he writes is, rather, because it’s “the only way to get my mind to shut up.”
April 1 also featured a concert with Dean Cypess. Promoted as “A Concert of Music for Baroque Violin,” the concert featured Israeli violinist Rachel Ringelstein, accompanied by Adam Cockerham on the theorbo and Dean Cypess on the harpsichord. Dean Cypess welcomed guests with a message gleaned from the verse “Awake, O harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn,” from Chapter 108 of Tehillim. Dean Cypess believes that this verse reminds us that engaging with the arts, specifically in hard times, reinvigorates us with the courage to face the world and its challenges. With this preface, the performances of pieces from the Baroque greats, Corelli and Handel, were even more captivating. The audience also learned about the unique early instruments. Between pieces, Cockerham explained the history and technology of the theorbo, and Dean Cypess elaborated on the similarities and differences between the harpsichord and modern piano.
The Arts Festival continued on April 3 with the Broadway Club going to see “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway and the SCDS annual Dramaton on April 4-5. The Dramaton featured Dr. Trapedo, SCDS play director Leah Gottfried, Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein and Elisheva Hirsch (SCW ‘23), former SCDS president. One highlight was the guest panel on Friday night where students asked questions about creativity, with specific topics ranging from how to stop procrastinating to how to be an Orthodox Jew in the arts. Ultimately, Shabbos was a time of reflection on the arts, a time of supporting each other, of applause and laughter and deep thoughts about the world and how to craft lives of creativity and meaning.
The Arts Festival came to a close late at night on April 7 with the Music Club’s annual Battle of the Bands, which featured 10 bands and 16 songs. Bands “Norville” and “After Rehearsal” tied for first place, as per voting from the audience. “After Rehearsal” performed “Tale as Old as Time,” providing a moment of calmness during an intense night. “Norville,” a trio playing experimental heavy metal music, performed a variety of songs, closing the night with a grand medley of previous “Norville” originals and opening the third eye of most audience members. “Pajamas,” the runner up, delighted audience members with their rendition of “Hot To Go.” Overall, Battle of the Bands was a night of exciting music, friends, great vibes and a farewell to graduating seniors, including Danny Kutin, legendary drummer and Music Club co-founder and president. As Kutin told The Commentator, “It’s been a really special 3 years with the Music Club, and I’m so happy to have been able to make so many great memories practicing and performing with such amazing people! I know that the music community at YU will continue to thrive, and I can’t wait to see the Music Club grow and become better each year!”
The Arts Festival was the perfect way to end off before Pesach break. Leaving students with a taste of the arts and in awe of their talented peers, the Arts Festival cultivated creativity and friendship as students had the amazing opportunity to create, perform and cheer on their friends.
Editor’s note: Brooke Kohl is on the board of the Music Club, one of the many clubs featured in this piece.
Chaya Trapedo contributed to this article.
Photo Credit: Brooke Kohl
Photo Caption: Audience at Battle of the Bands
