April 6-14, 2018
A showcase of creativity, innovation and collaboration
UCF Celebrates the Arts is an annual eight-day showcase of music, performances and interactive visual displays at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando.
The festival opens with a tribute to American composer, conductor and educator Leonard Bernstein (Bernstein’s MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers) and closes with a concert featuring major jazz artists, the UCF Orchestra and Flying Horse Big Band celebrating UCF President John C. Hitt’s contribution to UCF and Orlando.
Ongoing Exhibits
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Ongoing • Off-Site
Individual Theorem
How do you remain yourself in a complex society? UCF's Emerging Media graduate students weigh in through their artwork.
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Ongoing • Della Phillips Grand Lobby
Gaming Cabinets
Experience new, interactive games from game design track SVAD undergraduates housed in custom-built classic arcade cabinets.
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Ongoing • Della Phillips Grand Lobby
Collaborative Assemblage Totem Sculptures
3D Design classes from the School of Visual Arts and Design incorporated everyday objects into six-foot tall totem compositions.
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Ongoing • Della Phillips Grand Lobby
Theatre UCF Costume Exhibit
Explore costume pieces curated by UCF faculty member Kristina Tollefson to find out what happens behind-the-scenes.
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Ongoing • Della Phillips Grand Lobby
SVAD Banners
View massive banners displaying School of Visual Arts and Design student artwork. Includes images from drawing, painting, printmaking, graphic art, architecture and animation.
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Ongoing • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
Character Animation Film Presentations
Presented by the School of Visual Arts & Design (SVAD), visitors will experience student-created animation over the past five years.
Scheduled Events
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April 6 – April 13, 2018 • Della Phillips Grand Lobby
Tableaux Vivants
An exhibition of the collaborative work of more than 160 School of Visual Arts and Design students.
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April 6 – April 7, 2018 • Walt Disney Theater
Bernstein's MASS
Join the UCF Symphony Orchestra, UCF Choirs, Theatre UCF singers and dancers, and School of Performing Arts alumni for a tip of the hat to classical music icon, Leonard Bernstein! Also runs on April 7.
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Saturday, April 7, 2018, 6:00 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
A Celebration of Arts, Storytelling and Technology
One night of exhibitions showcasing work that weaves together arts and technology, featuring interactive displays, demonstrations of digital storytelling and tools for videogaming.
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Saturday, April 7, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
Project Spotlight's Play It By Ear
A play by UCF graduate student Daniel Romano about a group of 20-somethings trying to figure out how life works while living in NYC.
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Sunday, April 8, 2018, 3:30 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
The Refugee Plays: A Staged Reading
A series of short plays that explore the experiences of refugees and undocumented immigrants in the United States.
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Sunday, April 8, 2018, 5:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
UCF New Music Ensemble
The Collide Contemporary Music Series presents the student-based UCF New Music Ensemble in a concert of world premieres of original music by UCF composers, performed by UCF musicians.
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Sunday, April 8, 2018, 7:00 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
Quadruple Stuffed Oreos
A student-produced sketch comedy group inspired by Saturday Night Live.
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Sunday, April 8, 2018, 7:30 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
UCF Choral Concert
The UCF Women’s Chorus, Men’s Ensemble, University Chorus, and Chamber Singers treat guests to a musical performance with a social justice theme.
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Monday, April 9, 2018, 6:00 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
The Assassination of the American Dream
A theatrical collage investigating how the issues surrounding the #MeToo movement, immigration, and gun violence push us to interrogate what it means to be American.
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Monday, April 9, 2018, 7:30 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
UCF Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band
Featuring a performance by the UCF Wind Ensemble of the Zodiac Concerto with world-renowned solo artists, William Caballero, Principal Horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Roger Oyster, Principal Trombone with the Kansas City Symphony and former Principal Euphonium with the United States Marine Band: The President’s Own.
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Monday, April 9, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
Blackberry Winter
To raise awareness of caregiving in its various forms for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other conditions, Orlando Shakespeare Theater is remounting their production of last season’s Blackberry Winter by Steve Yockey as a staged reading with a post-show talkback with the playwright, caregivers, and performers.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 5:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
15th Annual Writes of Spring: Mystic Glen
Central Florida K-12 students were given the writing prompt, “From My Perspective: Let Me Tell You About…” The best submissions have been transformed into the show Mystic Glen, a collaboration between Theatre UCF graduate students and the Orlando REP.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 5:30 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
UCF Rising! Applied Bystander Prevention Workshop
A workshop combining theatrical skills with victim advocacy and prevention training. Selections from Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and One Billing Rising will precede the workshop.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 7:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
Choral Invitational Concert
UCF Choral faculty, UCF Music Education and UCF Choral students host 400+ students from seven school choral programs in a day of choir workshops led by Dr. Kristina Caswell-MacMullen. There will be a final concert performance open to the public.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
Just Like Us
Orlando Repertory Theatre presents a staged reading of Just Like Us by Karen Zacarias, inspired by the nonfiction book by Helen Thorpe. This documentary-style play follows four Latina teenage girls in Denver—two of whom are documented and two of whom are not—through young adulthood.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 4:00 p.m. • DeVos Family Room
K-12 Fine Arts Showcase
K-12 students from public and private school fine arts communities of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Lake, Hillsborough, and Seminole counties gather for performances, shows, and presentations.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 7:30 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
Percussion Festival Concert
A day of workshops and performances culminates in a celebration featuring guest artist Anders Åstrand and the UCF Percussion Ensemble.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
UCF Woodwind Ensembles
The UCF Flute Knights, Clarinet Choir, Saxophone Ensemble and Oboe Trio come together for an evening of woodwind chamber music.
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April 13 – April 14, 2018 • Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater
Opera Double Feature: Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost
UCF Opera and the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra commemorate the centennial of Puccini's comedic opera Gianni Schicchi with a performance of the aforementioned. Michael Ching's Buoso's Ghost will follow.
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Friday, April 13, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
Imagine Something Wonderful: The Flying Horse Big Band meets the UCF Orchestra
The Flying Horse Big Band partners with the UCF Orchestra for a swinging evening of music.
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Saturday, April 14, 2018, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Theater
An Evening with Mayim Bialik
Acclaimed actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik shares her keen scientific mind and her wonderful sense of humor as she explores the work of the brain, of behavioral development, of her life as an actress and scientist, and of the special relationship that exists between The Big Bang Theory and its audience.
About the Festival
UCF Celebrates the Arts, a festival showcasing creativity, innovation and collaboration from Orlando’s hometown university, occurs annually at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in April. The event is hosted by the UCF College of Arts and Humanities and features the faculty and students from the School of Performing Arts and the School of Visual Arts and Design, as well as work from the humanities departments and other units from around the university. Partnership, one of UCF’s long-standing values, is brought front-and-center at UCF Celebrates the Arts, with many events showcasing the collaborative nature of the university and demonstrating how UCF is both in and of the Central Florida community.
Program Book
Browse the program book or download with the link below.