Fine Arts Department

Fine Arts Society

This society has been formed for the purpose of further educating the students of Franciscan University through exposure to the fine arts. We will endeavor to provide opportunities for the student body to attend cultural/fine arts events off campus (primarily in Pittsburgh, PA) and promote on-campus fine arts events. Yearly we develop and advertise a "Fine Arts Series", consisting of on-campus and off-campus events compatible with the mission of the university. Affordable tickets are offered to faculty, staff, students, and members of the surrounding community, along with free and/or inexpensive transportation. We believe that through exposure to the fine arts, our university community may be brought to a greater appreciation of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

Society Schedule of Events, Spring 2012

• BRAHM'S REQUIEM

  (Pitttsburgh Symphony)
  When: Sunday, February 5, 2012, 2:30 p.m.
  Where: Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: Student $8 for first 50 Franciscan University students, $15 for other students, $20 for faculty and staff and $25 for local community
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, January 28
  Hailed as a vital force of music with his powerful and impassioned voice, American baritone star Thomas Hampson makes a long overdue return to the PSO. The highly sought-after Grammy Award-winning soloist performs Dvořák’s beautiful Biblical Songs, a song cycle based on various psalms. Hampson then joins the all-star cast of angelic soprano Chen Reiss, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Manfred Honeck and the PSO in Brahms’ A German Requiem. This entrancing and magnanimous work, sung in German for dramatic effect, takes your breath away with its tender and quiet moments of sweetness and its powerful peaks of emotional intensity

• CIRQUE DE LA SYMPHONIE

  Wheeling Symphony
  When: Friday, February 10, 8:00 p.m.
  Where: Capital Music Hall, Wheeling, WV
  Buy Event is selling out–contact Wheeling Sympony to reserve your tickets soon!
  Ticket Price: Free for Franciscan University Students, half-price for faculty and staff (family not half-price)
  Deadline for ordering transportation: Friday, February 3
  The magic of cirque in the music hall! Back by popular demand – the incredible acrobats of Cirque de la Symphonie perform to the sounds of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra!

• AS YOU LIKE IT

  Pittsburgh Public Theatre
  When: Sunday, February 12, 2012 2:00 p.m.
  Where: O’Reilly Theatre, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $7.00 for the first 50 Franciscan students, $15 for other students. $26 for all others.
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, February 3
  Smart, feisty, and funny, the role of Rosalind is one of The Bard's greatest inventions in the play that is described as "the triumph of Shakespearian romantic comedy."

• CHILDREN’S BOOKS ILLUSTRATIONS

  Frick Museum
  When: Saturday, February 18, 2012 11:00 a.m.
  Where: Frick Museum, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $5.00 for all
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, February 10
  This exhibition explores 100 years of adventure, fairy tales, and animals as imagined by 41 artists who created works especially for children. Works from a who’s who of illustrators ranging from Ralph Caldecot to Chris Van Allsburg allow the exploration of technique, broad literary themes, and changing representations of society across time.

• MOTHER DOLORES HART

  John Paul the Great Fine Arts Lecture Series
  When: Friday, March 2, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
  Where: Gentile Gallery
  Ticket Price: Free and open to the public.
  Dolores Hart (born Dolores Hicks on October 20, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American Roman Catholic nun and former actress. She made 10 films in 5 years, playing opposite Stephen Boyd, Montgomery Clift, George Hamilton and Robert Wagner, having made her movie debut with Elvis Presley in Loving You (1957).

• PIANO FORTE WITH BIEGEL AND ZWILICH

  Wheeling Symphony
  When: Friday, March 9, 2012, 8:00 p.m. (Friday before Spring Break)
  Where: Capital Music Hall, Wheeling, WV
  Buy Selling out! Contact Wheeling Symphony soon to reserve your tickets.
  Ticket Price: Free for Franciscan University Students, half-price for faculty/staff (family not half-price)
  Deadline for ordering transportation: Friday, March 2
  The WSO goes global with Pulitzer Prize composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Shadows. Your orchestra joins other orchestras from all over the world for this co-commissioned work that reflects the migration of the human spirit.

• NATALIE MACMASTER

  Pittsburgh Symphony When: Monday, March 19, 2012 8:00 p.m.
  Where: Scottish Rite Cathedral , Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $5 for first 25 Franciscan students, $10 for all other students, $13 for faculty and staff
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, March 9 2012
  On the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day, revel in an impressive musical Irish heritage with your PSO! Celebrate in style with internationally-renowned fiddler Natalie MacMaster! Having recently won a Grammy for her recording collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, MacMaster has also worked with the likes of Paul Simon, Faith Hill, Eileen Ivers, Allison Krauss, Carlos Santana and more. Do a little jig along to Irish music favorites, including “David’s Jig,” “Blue Bonnets” and “O’ Carolyn’s Concerto.”

• TOSCA

  Pittsburgh Symphony When: Sunday, April 1, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
  Where: Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $5 for the first 50 Franciscan students, $10 for other students and $20 for adults
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, March 24, 2012
  Puccini’s melodrama Tosca (subtitled “Love and Sacrifice”) is the potent tale of an opera diva who defies the most powerful and corrupt man in Rome, in life and in death. Its gripping story, set amid the chaos of revolution, has resonated with audiences since its premiere, and remains one of his most popular works.

• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

  Broadway Series When: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 7:30 p.m. (NOTE: This is during Holy Week)
  Where: Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $10 for first 125 Franciscan University students, $17 for all others All $10 and $17 tickets are sold out. The next available tickets are $25.
  Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, this eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of over 35 million people worldwide. This classic musical love story is filled with unforgettable characters, lavish sets and costumes, and dazzling production numbers including “Be Our Guest” and the beloved title song.

• COPPELIA

  Pittsburgh Ballet When: Sunday, April 15, 2012 2:00 p.m.
  Where: Benedum Theatre , Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $7 for the first 50 Franciscan students, $15 for other students and $20 for adults
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, April 6
  Take one life size doll, two quarreling lovers and a disastrous case of mistaken identity, and you have ballet’s light-hearted masterpiece, Coppélia! Delight in the playful antics of this beloved classic that has been described by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a “classical dance dream…balanced with a contemporary sense of comedic timing.”

• BLUES IN G MINOR

  Wheeling Symphony When: Friday, April 20, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
  Where: Capital Music Hall, Wheeling, WV
  Tickets selling out! Contact Wheeling Symphony soon to reserve your tickets.
  Ticket Price: Free for Franciscan University Students, half-price for faculty/staff (family not half-price)
  Deadline for ordering transportation: Friday, April 13
  Canadian vocalist and actress Shakura S’Aida was a hit at the Heritage Music Blues Fest in Wheeling in 2010. S’Aida will serve as the cross-over artist the WSO has been searching for, appealing to blue enthusiasts and symphony-goers alike performing a blues orientated program with orchestration.

• THE PRIESTS IN CONCERT

  Pittsburgh Cultural Trust When: Sunday, April 29, 7:30 p.m.
  Where: Byham Theatre, Pittsburgh
  Ticket Price: $10 for the first 50 Franciscan students, $17 for other students and $22 for adults
  Deadline for buying tickets: Friday, April 20
  Fathers Fathers Eugene and Martin O'Hagan and Father David Delargy of Northern Ireland lead a hugely popular classical music ensemble and present a special holiday program. Accompanied by a full orchestra and choir, The Priests perform beautiful and uplifting works destined to lift the audience’s spirits.