Festival Stories

Blue State Coffee is currently collecting suggestions for worthy local organizations - this progressive coffee company will donate 5% of their quarterly profit to the four groups who receive the most votes, and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas is a contender! Buy a delicious Blue State coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate, or scone) and cast your vote for the Festival. But hurry: Blue State’s ballot closes this Monday, April 6!

To vote, visit Blue State Coffee at 84 Wall Street (between College Street and Temple Street) in New Haven. Votes must be cast in person.

Thank you for showing...

By MARY LOU ALESKIE
Executive Director

Let's face it. The Festival really is all about free stuff. So much stuff that if I took the time to tell you about every detail here, we wouldn't have time to actually organize the Festival.

The New Haven Green is the center of gravity for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas....has been that way since our founding 14 years ago. While we do hope you will make time to see as many ticketed events as possible, we have scheduled our program in a way that allows you to actually experience everything. Oh, you may have to miss an Ideas program or...

Starting Tuesday April 7 at 9:30am, all ticketed Festival events will go on sale to the general public. You will be able to order tickets online or at the Shubert Theater Box Office (203-562-5666 or 888-736-2663).

You can save time and money by purchasing the See Everything Package to enjoy all the wonderful ticketed performances the Festival has to offer. The "See Everything Package” schedule also makes it possible for you to attend outstanding free performances on the New haven Green.

The Festival Member advance sale period ends this Friday April 3 – you only have three days left to purchase discounted $25 tickets for all performance programs! Becoming a Member is easy:

• Join Online

• In person at the Shubert Theater Box Office (247 College Street, New Haven)

• By phone at 203-562-5666 or 888-736-2663

If you are (or would like to become) a Festival Member, and would benefit from personal insight into the 2009 Festival programming, join the Festival staff on Thursday April 2 from 5:30pm to 7pm in the Shubert Theater lobby (247 College Street, New Haven) for happy hour. Festival staff will answer all your questions and help you place your discounted ticket order. The Festival Member advance sale period ends on Friday April 3.

Starting on Tuesday March 24, Festival Members will be the first to be able to purchase tickets to seven different Foodie Tours , which typically sell out well in advance of June. And tickets to hear The Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London will be available to Festival Members for a discounted price of $10. This special Festival Member ticket price will be in effect until Friday April 3. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 7, 2009.

Tickets for these events will be available for purchase online at www.artidea.org with a Festival Member password, in person with a...

This Saturday, March 21 and Sunday March 22, the public is invited to take part in
the final weekend of workshops hosted by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange:

Saturday March 21 from 8pm to 9pm - Celebration/Pizza Party with
Elizabeth Johnson of the Dance Exchange at Center Church Parish House, 311 Temple Street.

Sunday
March 22 from 1pm to 3:30pm - Final All Come Dance Workshop / Ideas Lab at Broadway
Rehearsal Lofts, 294 Elm Street.

By TIFFANY HOPKINS
Multi-Media Producer

One of the great joys of working for the Festival is the opportunity to meet so many interesting people and truly compelling artists. A few months ago, we were delighted to play host to Raymond Keane, artistic director of Barabbas Theater Company in Dublin, Ireland and director of Circus, their critically acclaimed show that we will be presenting this summer. He was in town to meet with our staff, confirm details about the show, and tour the space we would be presenting it in.

His first evening in town, a number of our staff took him out to one of the...

Today is the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Mark Morris' Dido & Aeneas. The International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven is the only place where Dido & Aeneas is scheduled to be performed this year (June 25-26, 2009). $25 tickets for these performances are currently on sale to Members of the Festival, so become a Member now for a chance to get the best seats! Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 7, 2009.

By ANDRIA MATTHEWS
Community Programs Manager

On February 21, an incredible group assembled for a dance workshop, Process, Principles and Performance with the Dance Exchange and Wally Cardona. Dancers on foot and on wheels, young and old, professionals and non-professionals all joined together to meet Wally Cardona and hear about his project Really Real.

The workshop also offered the Festival an opportunity to bring two dance companies with different perspectives about art-making and performance together: the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, which created Radical Prayer for the 2008 Festival,...

Celebrate poetry during the 2009 International Festival of Arts & Ideas! The public is invited to attend an organizational meeting for the "Favorite Poem Project" on Friday March 13 at 9am at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, 15th Floor conference room of the New Alliance Bank Building in New Haven, located at 195 Church Street. The "Favorite Poem Project" is dedicated to celebrating, documenting and encouraging poetry's role in Americans' lives. Please RSVP to amatthews@artidea.org to attend the organizational
meeting, or if you’d like additional information about the "Favorite
...

By MARY LOU ALESKIE
Executive Director

The tunes were there Little Rootie Tootie, Crepuscule with Nellie,'Round Midnight...the ones we immediately associate with Monk...but the surprise in Jason Moran's tribute IN MY MIND: Monk at Town Hall 1959 was the seamless and compelling story told in the music, recordings and visual images that flowed together to paint a portrait of the man. So beautifully constructed yet so natural in its unfolding, this celebration of a true American hero was made more immediate to us as Jason shared personal connections and inspirations with Monk. The arrangements...