Virginia House of Delegates Honors Acting for Young People and Mason Community Arts Academy

Emily Schneider — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:02:44 +0000

Virginia House of Delegates Honors Acting for Young People and Mason Community Arts Academy Emily Schneider Thu, 03/28/2024 - 14:02

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Delegate Kathy Tran presented Mason Community Arts Academy Executive Director Mary Lechter with House Resolution 804, in honor of Acting for Young People’s (AFYP) 25th anniversary in 2022. Co-signed by Delegate David Bulova and unanimously approved by the entire House of Delegates, the Resolution highlights AFYP’s long history in the surrounding community, and the even greater impact these programs have had, made possible in collaboration with Mason Community Arts Academy (MCAA).

Delegate Kathy Tran (L) presented Mary Lechter (R), founder of AFYP and executive director of Mason Community Arts Academy, with a commendation honoring the work of AFYP on March 19, 2024.

“I’m truly humbled by this honor,” notes Lechter. “This recognition is especially meaningful, as we have had the opportunity to work with children from both the Tran and Bulova families in our Acting and Music programs over the years. Perhaps most important of all is the feedback Delegate Tran shared in person, and includes in the Resolution itself, commending our staff and faculty for the authentic experiences they provide for our students. It has always been my goal to provide a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment in which students can learn and grow. I am touched that we’ve been acknowledged for this core value of our programs.”

Founded by Mary Lechter in 1997, AFYP started out offering classes for youth in the Fairfax area, gradually expanding to after-school and summer camp programs. In 2012, Lechter entered into a partnership with MCAA, bringing AFYP into the organization to become the theater education wing of the academy. Since that time, AFYP has received multiple area awards for its camps and year-round lessons.

The strength of this partnership is also evident in the ways that AFYP and MCAA weathered the impacts of the pandemic shutdown. Their fully online programming for summer 2020 consisted of 74 programs serving 1,023 students from 32 states and 11 countries. As the region emerged from the lockdowns and returned to in-person activities, MCAA and AFYP returned to pre-pandemic enrollment numbers by the summer of 2022, and are continuing to expand their enrollment and their impact throughout the region.

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Mary Lechter

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A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration

Emily Schneider — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:19:10 +0000

A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration Emily Schneider Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:19

In This Story

Lawrence M. Jackson

Dr. William Lake, Jr.

Growing up in the Black church, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Concert Bands, Dr. William Lake, Jr., deeply understands the power of music and movement.

After hearing Come Sunday by composer Omar Thomas, Lake dreamed of bringing this work to life with movement, bringing together the ��ӽ紫ý Bands and the School of Dance. Working on such a project would not only expand his students' musical vocabulary but also create an authentic and expansive cultural experience for the Mason community. Associate Professor of Dance, Lawrence M. Jackson, had similar experiences, growing up in “the southern Black church, a very charismatic church” and reflected on his own upbringing and research into African diasporic dance forms. This collaboration came to life onstage in the Center for the Arts on Mason’s Fairfax Campus on February 28.

Students from Mason's School of Dance performing with the Mason Wind Symphony to Omar Thomas's Come Sunday on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

As a composer, arranger, and educator, Omar Thomas works with some of the most respected names in composition and education, including multiple GRAMMY-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider, Ken Schaphorst, and Frank Carlberg. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York, Thomas pursued music diligently, completing his Master of Music at Berklee College of Music and becoming the first Black composer to ever receive the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for Come Sunday. His compositions are described as “thought-provoking, multi-layered masterpiece[s],” which made embarking on a partnership around this piece even more exciting for Jackson and Lake.

“I really hold dear my experiences as a musician in the Black church (I started playing the piano for my children’s choir around age 6) to my musical upbringing. Since I know gospel and other sacred music intimately, I can infuse the music with the extra nuances that can’t be described using notation but are true to the style. This piece has been performed by many great ensembles across the country… however, there hasn’t been a performance that centers movement and these great sounds.” said Lake.

Professor Jackson’s career often includes collaborations, a hallmark of his practice at other universities before coming to Mason in the fall of 2022. While the invitation to work with Dr. Lake at the end of the fall semester was a surprise, it also felt reassuring to find this partnership so early on and to begin exploring what this experience would mean for Mason students from both the School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

A student from the School of Dance smiles at the audience during the performance of "Come Sunday" by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony. Photo by Will Martinez.

Building a vocabulary for the dancers was an opportunity for Jackson’s students to explore the storied culture of the Black church's sacred space and develop an understanding of the types of movement vocabulary that would reflect the energy and history of these spaces and traditions. From watching Alvin Ailey’s Revelations and clips of a particular scene from the movie Blues Brothers, Jackson offered context to his creative process, “blending contemporary dance forms, African diasporic dance forms, and pedestrian movement that is derived from the Black church, all merged into an amalgamation of movement vocabulary uniquely designed for this work.”

“The Mason School of Dance students are excited to work with the musicians,” said Jackson. “These dancers, most of them, if not all of them, have never had the experience of working alongside a symphony or a band. I’m excited for them to experience the unique energy of the symphony and adapt in the moment.” All of the dancers performing in this piece are seniors in their final semester with the School of Dance, which made Jackson that much more eager to share this experience with them before they embark on the next stage of their careers.

The dancers are not the only ones expanding their understanding and skills with this performance. “The jazz and gospel musical vocabulary is foreign to my students,” said Dr. Lake.

“It’s inspiring to see how invested our students are in something that they realize is new and different. My hope is that through music and collaborations, my students have a gateway to appreciate cultures different than their own,” Lake adds.

Dancers from Mason's School of Dance perform Professor Lawrence M. Jackson's original choreography to Come Sunday by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

Unlike most concerts, the Wind Symphony will be moved further upstage than normal and without the acoustic shell to allow for the choreography to be presented downstage. This has resulted in the assistance of the Center for the Arts Artistic Staff to add audio, lighting, and stage-managing support. This unique concert has been chosen as one of the Mason Arts at Home features that will be captured via six cameras in the hall and even GoPros! Dr. Lake shared, “I’m jealous of the audience, I won’t get to experience the concert from their vantage point – I’m thankful that the School of Music and the College of Visual and Performing Arts have agreed to record, edit, and professionally mix our hard work”.

The duo is optimistic that this is just the beginning of collaborations between the Mason School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

You can watch an in-depth interview with Jackson and Lake on the College of Visual and Performing Arts YouTube channel, including behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals leading up to the performance.

The Wind Symphony’s performance from February 28, 2023, including Come Sunday featuring the School of Dance, will be available to watch from March 28 through April 28, 2023 exclusively through Mason Arts at Home.