BYU students in the College of Fine Arts and Communications enjoyed opportunities to work with Alan Menken, Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra and other performers as part of the BRAVO! Series

Every year, professional performers are welcomed to Provo as part of Brigham Young University’s BRAVO! Professional Performing Arts Series. The series provides opportunities for students to not only see world-class performances, but have firsthand experiences working with industry professionals in workshops, masterclasses and lectures. Because of the variety of performers BRAVO! brings, the events appeal to students from every department of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.

The 2017-2018 season included a forum with Disney composer Alan Menken, which filled every seat in the Madsen Recital Hall. Menken discussed his career, shared advice for aspiring composers and performed a medley of songs spanning 30 years of film and television scores.

“Be willing to work in any way possible,” Menken said, “in collaboration, on your own or standing on your head. Whatever it takes to get your work done, do it.”

Composition majors received a more intensive experience with the Grammy Award-winning group Roomful of Teeth. The vocal ensemble sight-sang compositions by students before providing feedback.

Music student Caleb Cuzner reflected on what it was like to have his piece performed and critiqued. “Working with professionals in this setting was a remarkable opportunity to get feedback about musical techniques that no other group would have been able to demonstrate. Roomful of Teeth is a very unique group. They provided an opportunity to work with styles of singing that I would not have had an opportunity to work with in any other way.”

Theatre students taking advanced acting were treated to a workshop session with Shakespearean actor Chris Donnelly, who visited BYU with Actors from the London Stage. Donnelly coached students on the two-person scenes they had been working on during the semester.

“We were all able to find a greater depth of character,” acting major Stephen Moore said of the experience, “but also a greater understanding of acting as a whole. We received an outside perspective from someone who is very skilled, which helped me take a step back and re-evaluate what my process is as an actor as well as some of my bad habits.”

Two Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra members, Chris Crenshaw and Marcus Printup, worked with music students when the orchestra came to Provo to perform with Chick Corea. Crenshaw and Printup demonstrated their own skills, discussed the craft and critiqued a small ensemble of students. Student Kelly Oja was asked to play bass in the ensemble at the last minute and was glad she did.

“This is one of my favorite experiences at BYU,” Oja said. “I want to make a career out of jazz music and the workshop helped me meet other people that made this their career. It also helped me see what I can become and what it takes to get there. But there are also technical aspects I take away.”

Broadway singers Renee Elise Goldsberry and Kelli O’Hara, and opera star Lawrence Brownlee all taught master classes. Along with providing training on technique, the singers gave advice on developing a career and on life in general.

“You are bigger than your career,” Brownlee said in his masterclass. “Always be a student. You always have something to learn and new places to go.”

The 2018-2019 BRAVO! Series has recently been announced and will continue to bring opportunities for students to learn from professionals in their prospective fields. Read more about the upcoming BRAVO! Series at https://arts.byu.edu.