Festival Stories

Kronos Quartet celebrate the music of Pete Seeger in Music for Change: The '60s - The Years that Changed America. Learn More >

Pete Seeger’s contribution to folk music, both in terms of its revival and survival, cannot be overstated.

With the possible exception of Woody Guthrie, Seeger is the greatest influence on folk music of the last century. Born in New York City, he was the son of musicologist Charles Seeger. He took up the banjo in his teens and in 1938, at the age of 19, assisted noted folk archivist and field recorder Alan Lomax on his song-collecting trips through the American South....

On Wednesday, March 20th, our Artist in Residence Toto Kisaku visited Quinnipiac University class “Drama 101: Introduction to Theatre”, taught by none other than Arts & Ideas’ own Lousie Endel Community Engagement Manager, Aleta Staton. Read the student reflections below, following Aleta’s opening remarks.

Students in my Theatre 101 class at Quinnipiac University were exploring a section focused on Social Justice and Intersectionality in the Theatre when they were visited by Arts & Ideas 2019 Artist in Residence Toto Kisaku, who hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He shared with...

On what would have been her father Johnny Cash’s 87th birthday, Rosanne Cash was warmly welcomed with applause at the 9th annual Visionary Leadership Award luncheon. She was humbled and inspired by the praise and insight of past VLA winners and New Haven female leaders presented through video before she took the stage.

Moderator Butch Rovan, Faculty Director of the Brown University Arts Initiative, composer, media artist and performer, opened the conversation by asking Cash’s opinion on how music enables activism. “Music is activism,” she answered. “All art is political.” Cash shared her...

Does the acquisition of an identity change our being? Does looking for and discovering our identity strengthen or weaken our capacity for personal and community development?

When I talk about this with other people, some who share my African origin, some of them artists, I often hear them say “I am looking for my identity.”

The question I’m asking myself is what kind of research does that involve? And what identity are we looking for? If we are looking for our own identity, when did we lose it, and how? Or do we accept being simply informed by a regular person or a group of individuals who only...

Meet our new Community Engagement Manager, Aleta Stanton, in this second half of our interview in which she talks of how her 35 years of teaching experience has shaped her life. Her passion and open perspective continue to inspire as she shares how theater translates to everyday life.

Aleta Staton, past project manager, artist services and community programs associate at our festival, is stepping up as our new Community Engagement Manager. Besides working as an educator for 35 years, she has also worked in arts administration, business management, and staff supervision. We are excited to have...

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is excited to introduce our new year-round Community Engagement Manager. As a part of our dynamic team, the candidate needed to be a hard-working individual who values the diverse arts and culture within our global and local community. The Louise Endel Community Engagement Manager is expected to oversee the design, management, and evaluation of audience engagement programs. They must work to extend the values of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas to wider populations and broaden community relationships. The Community Engagement Manager will...

‘Home’ can mean different things to different people. For me, home is where the heart, bed and eggs are. But for Geoff Sobelle, the creator and director of HOME (presented at Roslyn Packer Theatre as a part of Sydney Festival) home is a spectacle of ridiculousness, chaos, repetition and deeply odd beauty.

HOME oversees the building of an entire house on stage, with sections and materials brought in variously by actors and stagehands. The performers, Geoff Sobelle, Sophie Bortolussi, Ching Valdes-Aran, Justin Rose, Ayesha Jordan, Luke Whitefield, and Elvis Perkins, live in the house – with...

Composer and current Yale Quantum Institute (YQI) artist-in-residence Spencer Topel will discuss how site-specificity, notably in architecture, is inherently linked to experiential art installations — and how this informs his practice as a sound artist — in a talk on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Titled “Immaterial Waves: Light, Sound, and Architecture,” Topel’s talk will examine recent artistic works and research in relation to the historical emergence of phenomenological art forms in the 1960s and 1970s in the work of Alvin Lucier, Maryanne Amacher, James Turrell, and others. He also will present...

Join us in celebrating singer-songwriter and activist Rosanne Cash as the recipient of our 9th annual Visionary Leadership Award on Tuesday, February 26th. The Award Luncheon and Conversation will help raise money for the exciting programs to come to the Festival this June. Since 2010, the award has been given to a Visionary Leader whose trailblazing work is impacting the world, in honor of Festival co-Founder Jean M. Handley.

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Rosanne Cash’s latest album, She Remembers Everything, touches on love, loss, and dream-chasing, but does not hold back on heavy themes of mortality,...

No Kids is much more than a play. It’s an argument, a discussion, a life decision. An exchange between real-life couple Nir Paldi and George Mann, No Kids asks a simple question that hangs over the hour-long performance as it does their relationship: should they have children?

Despite what the title of the play might suggest, the question is not a simple one for this couple to answer. First, as a gay couple, debating whether having a child via a surrogate is ethical dominates the conversation. Then, alternatively, how would an adopted child adapt to having two dads, and no mum? The couple...

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is proud to welcome its first official Artist in Residence this January. The Festival looked for an artist who is passionate about the ways arts and culture build and strengthen cities, building and maintaining relationships with the community, and working collaboratively within an organization that values the diversity of our city and state. The Festival’s Artist in Residence works with staff and community members to explore the creative process, demonstrating the ways in which practicing artists can be of relevance and value to other sectors...

Join us at our annual Visionary Leadership Award Luncheon and Conversation on Tuesday, February 26th. The Award Luncheon raises money toward the dynamic and inspiring programs presented at the Festival in June. Established nine years ago in honor of Festival co-Founder Jean M. Handley, the award is given to a Visionary Leader whose trailblazing work is impacting the world. This year’s award is presented to Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter, activist, and anti-gun violence advocate.

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Finding herself bombarded by constant news of violence, Rosanne Cash shares her feelings of shock...