A Summer Musical Festival rehearsal in Mason Hall.
We're “even busier than before COVID."
That’s how active the summer months are at SUNY Fredonia.
Between Commencement and new student orientation in late August, more than a dozen outside groups and organizations will descend upon the campus to conduct a very wide assortment of activities.
“This will be an even busier summer than the summer of 2019, so we’re definitely returning back to pre-COVID years,” reports Kathryn Thies, special programs manager with the Faculty Student Association.
Among many groups with long tenures at SUNY Fredonia will be several first-timers that will utilize campus facilities while students are away. Some are here for a week at a time, others will be on campus for multiple weeks. Many participants reside in residence halls during their sessions.
“Not only do they bring revenue to the campus, many bring high school students who are potential SUNY Fredonia students, so it’s a recruitment opportunity for us as well,” Ms. Thies adds.
American Music Abroad will bring two groups of more than 100 high school musicians per ensemble to campus for separate three-day rounds of rehearsals before embarking on a European tour. Practices will be held in Mason Hall and Harry A. King Concert Hall with a farewell concert for parents and friends before leaving on their respective trips. Marc Levy, operations manager of Mason Hall, handled preliminary discussions and facility reservations with the organization. American Music Abroad is a cultural performance tour of western Europe for high school and college-age musicians.
The annual NASA GLOBE meeting, a week-long gathering, will bring as many as 200 students and guests from over 40 countries to campus and the College Lodge. The event is being hosted by SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Mike Jabot, recently announced as the Deputy of Education for the NASA GLOBE program.
Returning to campus after a four-year hiatus will be the New York State Summer School of the Arts program. The campus hosted its Visual Arts and Choral Studies programs in prior years. Visual Arts will be returning along with Media Arts and Theatre Arts that will be brought into the mix this summer.
Team CK Instructors, an English as a Second Language program from Japan, will be making its second trip in as many years to the campus, as will SKYUS, which will bring a group of students from Yachiyo Shion High School in Japan. Robyn Halicki, assistant director of the ESL and International Pathways Programs, coordinated arrangements to bring both programs to campus.
The Castleman Quartet, a unique summer program, will bring a number of musicians that will vary across a seven-week schedule. An estimated overall 75 to 80 musicians will attend.
Three local dance studios – Danza, Collage and McKenna – will stage multiple dance recitals in Robert W. Marvel Theatre.
Retired SUNY Fredonia diving coach John Crawford will return to run a pair of diving camps at the natatorium.
The long-running Fredonia Summer Music Festival, featuring high school and middle school levels, will also be back on campus for two week-long sessions. Band, vocal and piano are in the first week, strings in the second week.
Of course, SUNY Fredonia will host students in the long-running Upward Bound program and Educational Opportunity Program. The campus’ summer Jump Start/FRED Ready Days for incoming students begin in early July.
The senior classes of Fredonia and Dunkirk high schools will once again convene in King Concert Hall for their respective commencement ceremonies. BOCES will also hold its graduation ceremony in King.
