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April 28, 2008
Practice this summer for Emory Arts Competition

By kim urquhart

Students, staff and faculty have a homework assignment this summer: Be creative. Hone your musical skills, sculpt, paint — and practice. Because for the first time ever this fall, the University will host a campus-wide arts competition.

Building on the popularity of prime time’s “American Idol” and Hillel of Georgia’s “Campus SuperStar,” the Emory Arts Competition will showcase amateur talent but with its own twist.

“There may be a violinist playing a Tchaikovsky concerto, there may be an a cappella group, there could be an opera singer,” said Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives Santa Ono, noting that the competition isn’t restricted to “American Idol”-style popular music. There is also a category for visual arts.

With the final competition set for Nov. 8 in the Schwartz Center, the contest is open to all faculty, staff and students, who must be amateur contestants, Ono noted.

The competition is “a celebration of the arts,” said Ono, and is a way to spread engagement in the arts across the entire University. The idea for the event grew out of the Creativity and Arts component of the University’s strategic plan.

“We know the campus is full of creativity and arts,” said Rosemary Magee, vice president and secretary of the University. “This is an opportunity to highlight in expected and unexpected ways people from across the University.”

Early next fall contestants can submit their work via a Web site that is being created specifically for the competition. Elimination rounds are set for October.

While the early rounds of the competition will take place virtually, the finalists who continue on to the Nov. 8 competition will be performing and showcasing their work in front of a distinguished panel of judges — and a campus audience. There most likely will be an opportunity for the audience to vote as well, Ono said. A winner and a runner-up will be selected from both the arts and music categories.

Detailed information on how to enter will be announced in future issues of Emory Report and other campus communications, Ono said. Queries should be directed to sjono@emory.edu.