Recent News
Journalism Senior Roselyn Romero Breaks National News with Reporting on Fake Vaccination Cards
Sep 20, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Roselyn Romero
In August, headlines began emerging across the country about college students purchasing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to meet their schools’ vaccination requirements. Roselyn Romero, a Cal Poly journalism senior, broke the story during her investigative journalism internship at The Associated Press (AP).
Romero had only been working at AP for a few weeks as the Inaugural Intern for the Global Investigations Team when her story began gaining national attention. In addition to being republished by the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and ABC News (among many news organizations) Romero was invited to discuss her piece with multiple broadcast outlets, including an appearance on an episode of NPR’s All Things Considered.
Romero began investigating fake vaccination cards after hearing about vaccination requirements within schools and organizations, following her natural curiosity about how verification and enforcement would be handled on such a large scale. Through tireless research, Romero discovered multiple social media accounts selling fake vaccination cards to college students and reported the story that would reach a national audience.
She was initially surprised by the amount of recognition her article received. “I started receiving text messages from my family and friends who saw my story, or they saw my name in say, the Ventura County Star newspaper that I grew up reading,” Romero said.
As successful as her reporting was, though, Romero had overcome feelings of self-doubt to pursue her ambitions. “After all of this, it's reassuring to know that even though odds were stacked against me, I was able to conquer my fears and my doubts,” she said. “When I was applying to internships, I thought ‘I’m just going to apply everywhere and see if they will take me.’ But now, after those 10 weeks of my internship, I’m thinking ‘oh wow. I actually really like this, and I think I want to pursue investigative reporting in the future.’ I hope people can learn from my story that it’s possible for someone who is a woman and a person of color to have success.”
Out of all her recognition, Romero was most gratified by the positive changes universities made in response to the issues identified in her reporting. According to Romero, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released a statement soon after the story broke, stating that they had examined their records and were happy to report that no fraudulent vaccination cards were discovered among their students and staff.
Before her internship at AP, Romero spent two years working as a producer at KSBY while pursuing her journalism degree at Cal Poly. While most of her background is in broadcast journalism, her internship with the AP has caused her to heavily consider a career in investigative print journalism.
Already, Romero has received multiple potential job opportunities. According to Romero, editors from AP, the Ventura County Star, and other news organizations have reached out to her, encouraging her to stay in touch and apply for future job openings post graduation.
In addition to finishing up her journalism degree at Cal Poly this year, Romero is pursuing minors in Spanish, ethnic studies, and women and gender studies. She is also a member of the university’s Honors Program, and will serve as the incoming Political Affairs Coordinator for the Pilipino Cultural Exchange and as a student researcher for the Communications Department.
For the time being, though, Romero does not have any immediate plans to start another position in news reporting. “It was so bittersweet leaving, but I don’t have any journalism-related internships or jobs or goals in the near future. It’s my senior year, and I want to enjoy it for at least fall quarter.”
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Meet Cal Poly Arts’ New Director, Molly Clark
Jul 22, 2021
By Sophia Lincoln
Molly Clark
This fall, Cal Poly Arts’ new director, Molly Clark, will begin curating a new series of performances to host for the 2022-23 academic year.
Clark previously held a similar position as the artistic director at University of California San Diego’s ArtPower performing arts center. While Clark enjoyed her time at ArtPower, she said she is excited to start working at Cal Poly Arts and utilizing the Performing Arts Center.
“It’s a beautiful, beautiful facility that you all have there, and I feel so fortunate to be able to bring artists to that sort of space, where they are really able to perform at their highest level and have the space aid them with that,” Clark said.
In addition to curating the new series, Clark said she hopes to diversify the arts program here.
“I am really passionate about reflecting the diversity of a community with the artists that we bring, and also exposing audiences to cultures and identities that they may not have had experience with before,” Clark said. “And I think the performing arts, specifically, are a really powerful medium to do that.”
Clark also looks forward to participating in collaborations, both with Cal Poly and the local community, including workshops with Cal Poly art classes, master classes and more. Clark will manage the Cal Poly Arts staff, organize community outreach and communicate with current and potential supporters for the program.
“I think that it’s also going to be exciting to see what kinds of new community partnerships we can make,” Clark said.
Previous Cal Poly Arts Director Steve Lerian
Clark will replace Steve Lerian, who is retiring from the director for Cal Poly Arts position after 13 years. The fall 2021 performing arts season was programmed by Lerian, which Clark said she plans to learn from and potentially use as a model for future seasons.
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College of Liberal Arts Recognized at This Year’s President’s Diversity Awards Ceremony
Jul 20, 2021
By Sophia Lincoln
President's Diversity Awards Ceremony 2021
In May, several members of the campus community were honored during the annual President’s Diversity Awards Ceremony, celebrating achievements in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The event was hosted by the Office of University Diversity and Inclusion (OUDI) and featured six awards, including a faculty award, a staff award, a student award, a campus organization award, a student group award and the new Dolores Huerta Sí Se Puede Award for Transformational Leadership.
Among the award recipients was the College of Liberal Arts Student Diversity Committee, a student standing committee that is advisory to the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) dean and associate deans in areas related to increasing and enhancing efforts and initiatives related to DEI in the college. The group was awarded the Student Group Diversity Award.
Recent graduates Solena Aguilar, 2020-21 (Art and Design), and Miaya May, 2020-21 (Ethnic Studies), co-chairs of the College of Liberal Arts Student Diversity Committee, said the student group has worked hard over the past year to create two webpages with resources for first-generation students – one on the CLA website and one on the OUDI website.
“After we launched this first site for CLA, OUDI heard about it and took it on also, so it became a university-wide website,” Aguilar said. “I think we were also recognized because we went above our first audience base.”
Both sites offer a “one-stop shop” with resources relating to academic services, financial information, jobs, housing and more. The sites also link to a faculty page that the student group created, which students can use to contact various first-generation faculty and staff for support.
“We wanted to create one place where people could find what they’re looking for,” Aguilar said. “Then, they could also find all of these other things that they might not have otherwise known existed.”
2021 Student Group Diversity Award
“As I was compiling the information, I couldn’t help but recall moments when I didn’t really know what resources existed for first gen students on campus or where to find other first-generation folks outside of EOP, another program I’m a part of,” May said. “It encouraged me to get the page up and running, so other first gen students could have one organized source for resources that are at their disposal.”
Both alumnae said the awards ceremony was a positive experience and it was nice to be recognized. May said, “I felt honored when I found out that the student diversity committee had won the Presidents Diversity Award. It felt like our hard work was being recognized, which is something that doesn’t always happen. I’m just so proud of everyone on the committee and it felt so validating to be recognized”
“It was so empowering to be surrounded by so many people that are doing similar work as we are,” Aguilar added. “It really made me feel like I wanted to continue this work.”
Psychology and Child Development Professor Amber Williams received the Faculty Diversity Award at the ceremony. Williams is involved in several organizations that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, including the CLA’s Faculty Diversity Committee, the Academic Senate’s Diversity Committee and the university committee on Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Faculty, Staff and Students, as part of Cal Poly’s current reaffirmation process with their accrediting body.
Williams is also a member of the OUDI Advisory Board, and she co-led a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) assessment of Campus Health and Wellbeing over the last two quarters. Other work that Williams has done over the past year to promote diversity include her co-authoring two publications on racism and diversity in workplaces. She is also one of the College of Liberal Arts’ original 2017 cluster hire focused on DEI curricular coverage.
Similarly to Aguilar, Williams said the environment of community at the ceremony was inspiring. “I just feel really honored and fortunate to work with people who value this work, because that is not the case everywhere,” Williams said.
Williams also said she is looking forward to continuing her work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. “My teaching is constantly evolving to take into consideration current events and issues that are affecting marginalized folks today,” Williams said.
The other President’s Diversity Awards recipients include Multicultural Initiatives Coordinator Lilianne Tang, and Womxn and Gender Equity Initiatives Coordinator Olivia Tran (both lecturers in the Department of Ethnic Studies) who won the staff award together, graduate student Ashlee Hernandez (Sociology ’19), the Asian Pacific Desi American Islander Faculty and Staff Association (APIDA FSA). Director of Student Diversity and Belonging, Beya Makekau, won the inaugural Dolores Huerta award.
A full list of the awards and recipients is available in the June 9, 2021 Cal Poly Report.
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Journalism Alumna Publishes Book, Is Shortlisted for International Award
Jul 14, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Face, A Memoir
Since graduating from Cal Poly in 1978 with a degree in journalism, Marcia Meier has led a successful life as a journalist, author and writing coach.
Her latest book, Face, A Memoir, was published in January this year by Saddle Road Press, and quickly gained positive recognition. Along with being shortlisted for the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize, Face also received an honorable mention for in the memoir category of the awards.
Meier’s success, however, is notwithstanding a very challenging start in life. At age five, Meier was hit by a car, causing severe facial disfigurement and a chain of effects that impacted her childhood and even midlife.
She began writing Face, which analyzes this life-changing incident and its effects, fifteen years before it was published, when aspects of Meier’s life and marriage began “falling apart,” Meier said.
“I realized I had to go back in time and revisit the accident that nearly killed me,” Meier said.
After surviving the crash as a young child, Meier’s trauma continued, undergoing twenty surgeries, facing abuse at school, and being blamed and rejected by her mother. By the time she started college at Cal Poly, Meier had “pushed all those experiences down into a deep place and [she] tried not to think about them again,” she wrote in a summary on her website. As she confronted her trauma in midlife, Meier was finally able to begin in the healing process. “It was the beginning of my coming back to myself,” Meier wrote in the summary.
Meier said it felt “amazing” to receive such positive recognition for her story.
“I have written other books, but nothing this personal or with such vulnerability… It’s my hope that this story will encourage others who have experienced childhood trauma and lead to their own understanding and acceptance.”
Meier has published six books, along with poetry and essays. She also spent 18 years working at four daily newspapers in the Santa Barbara area, and she served on Cal Poly’s Journalism Advisory Board for many years.
In addition to being an author, she now works as a book editor and writing coach and owns her publishing company, Weeping Willow Books, to publish clients’ books.
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Graphic Communication Alumna Starts Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap Business
Jul 14, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Cindy Estes
Since graduating from Cal Poly in 1989 with a degree in graphic communication, Cindy Estes has worked as a freelance graphic designer, a children’s clothing designer and an entrepreneur.
While she enjoyed her work designing clothes for her children’s clothing line, Seam, a few years ago, Estes was ready for something new. Around that same time, Estes’ longtime friend Monica O’Neil came up with a business idea while Christmas shopping.
“I’m at the register with a lot of giftwrap, about to spend a ton of money and I looked at the cashier, looked at my cart, looked at the cashier and I said, ‘this is such a waste’,” O’Neil said. “I said, ‘do you sell reusable gift bags?’ and it was a store that sold a lot of giftwrap. [The cashier] said ‘no, that’s a really good idea’ and I literally got in my car, and I was like ‘this is a really good idea. I’m going to do this.’”
In need of a creative partner, O’Neil called Estes to tell her about the idea.
“Monica called and I had all of the contacts,” Estes said. “So, we used all those contacts and a lot of those fabric sources to reach out to a lot of people, and then, we actually took some of the old Seam fabrics we hadn’t used, and we put them into Rapt.”
Estes’ and O’Neil’s business, Rapt, offers sustainable, reusable giftwrapping fabric. It is based off of the Japanese art of gift wrapping, called Furoshiki, which uses a simple folding technique to wrap gifts.
“The more Monica and I played with snap tape and extra stuff and elastic, we realized that the easiest way was just to build a square and then place the gift on a diagonal in the center, which is part of the history of Furoshiki in Japan,” Estes said.
Rapt Gift Wrap
During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Estes began creating additional ‘accents’ to purchase with the fabrics, including pom poms made out of yarn and remainder ribbons and fabrics.
While her role at Rapt involves less design and creativity than some of her previous jobs, Estes says she is still able to utilize her graphic communication education.
“It came out in designing clothes [for Seam], and now, it’s coming out in designing the [Rapt] website, designing all of the printed materials and in photography,” Estes said.
Estes said that her main objective with Rapt is environmental.
“I feel like we really got into this from the standpoint of saving waste,” Estes said. “It feels kind of good all around, actually.”
Estes also said that the environmental priorities of younger generations makes her proud of Rapt.
“The other thing that’s been wonderful for us is that people in their teens and twenties are some of the people reaching out to ask about what we’re doing,” Estes said. “That is wonderful for us, as parents, to be able to know that we are doing something that means something to our children’s generation.”
Rapt offers three classic ensembles in red, navy and neutral, as well as seasonal ensembles, limited edition sheets, individual accents, gift tags and ribbon spools.
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Graphic Communication Alumna Starts Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap Business
Jul 14, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Cindy Estes
Since graduating from Cal Poly in 1989 with a degree in graphic communication, Cindy Estes has worked as a freelance graphic designer, a children’s clothing designer and an entrepreneur.
While she enjoyed her work designing clothes for her children’s clothing line, Seam, a few years ago, Estes was ready for something new. Around that same time, Estes’ longtime friend Monica O’Neil came up with a business idea while Christmas shopping.
“I’m at the register with a lot of giftwrap, about to spend a ton of money and I looked at the cashier, looked at my cart, looked at the cashier and I said, ‘this is such a waste’,” O’Neil said. “I said, ‘do you sell reusable gift bags?’ and it was a store that sold a lot of giftwrap. [The cashier] said ‘no, that’s a really good idea’ and I literally got in my car, and I was like ‘this is a really good idea. I’m going to do this.’”
In need of a creative partner, O’Neil called Estes to tell her about the idea.
“Monica called and I had all of the contacts,” Estes said. “So, we used all those contacts and a lot of those fabric sources to reach out to a lot of people, and then, we actually took some of the old Seam fabrics we hadn’t used, and we put them into Rapt.”
Estes’ and O’Neil’s business, Rapt, offers sustainable, reusable giftwrapping fabric. It is based off of the Japanese art of gift wrapping, called Furoshiki, which uses a simple folding technique to wrap gifts.
“The more Monica and I played with snap tape and extra stuff and elastic, we realized that the easiest way was just to build a square and then place the gift on a diagonal in the center, which is part of the history of Furoshiki in Japan,” Estes said.
Rapt Gift Wrap
During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Estes began creating additional ‘accents’ to purchase with the fabrics, including pom poms made out of yarn and remainder ribbons and fabrics.
While her role at Rapt involves less design and creativity than some of her previous jobs, Estes says she is still able to utilize her graphic communication education.
“It came out in designing clothes [for Seam], and now, it’s coming out in designing the [Rapt] website, designing all of the printed materials and in photography,” Estes said.
Estes said that her main objective with Rapt is environmental.
“I feel like we really got into this from the standpoint of saving waste,” Estes said. “It feels kind of good all around, actually.”
Estes also said that the environmental priorities of younger generations makes her proud of Rapt.
“The other thing that’s been wonderful for us is that people in their teens and twenties are some of the people reaching out to ask about what we’re doing,” Estes said. “That is wonderful for us, as parents, to be able to know that we are doing something that means something to our children’s generation.”
Rapt offers three classic ensembles in red, navy and neutral, as well as seasonal ensembles, limited edition sheets, individual accents, gift tags and ribbon spools.
Read the most recent CLA News stories
Four CLA Projects Receive Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities Grants
Jul 14, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Cal Poly’s Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education (R-EDGE) division recently awarded funds to 14 projects for the Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (RSCA) grant’s 2021-22 cycle, four of which are from the College of Liberal Arts.
Anuraj Dhillon
The RSCA grant is supported by funds from the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s Office and the Cal Poly Provost’s Office and is “designed to enable faculty to contribute new knowledge through robust programs of scholarship focused on strengthening California socially, culturally and economically,” according to R-EDGE.
Professors of Communication Anuraj Dhillon and Megan Lambertz-Berndt were awarded one of the grants for their project, “Interaction of Gender (Sex) and Race While Carrying the Burden of Relational (In)Equity: Relational maintenance strategies and coping mechanisms for mothers in higher academia during the pandemic.”
Lambertz-Berndt said the project examines how mothers in higher academia are handling the overlap between professional life and personal life during and after the COVID-19 pandemic while caring for children.
Megan Lambertz-Berndt
“We want to identify relational maintenance strategies, coping mechanisms and employer accommodations that have helped mothers working in academic achieve work-life balance,” Lambertz-Berndt said.
She and Dhillon hope to use the study to help provide practical advice for working mothers with children, which professionals can also analyze and help deliver.
“Additionally, universities like Cal Poly will be able to use these findings to better support their faculty members during challenging times,” Lambertz-Berndt said.
Another CLA project that received funding through the grants is Professor of World Languages and Cultures Silvia Marijuan’s study, “Documenting Bilingual Practices on the Central Coast: From Home to the Public Space.”
Silvia Marijuan
According Marijuan, this research project will analyze how Spanish interacts with English and indigenous languages at home, at work and in public spaces on the Central Coast, and how non-Spanish-speaking immigrant groups adapt to the use of Spanish in the community.
“Understanding the bilingual and bicultural practices of the Latinx population who live and work in this region is critical for Cal Poly students and others who interact with members of those communities,” Marijuan said.
Professor of Political Science R.G. Cravens was also offered a grant for his project, “The Politics of Queer Religion: Assessing the Effect of Religion on LGBTQ+ Identity and Political Development.”
R.G. Cravens
“For LGBTQ+ people, religion can be a source of identity-based conflict, especially after ‘coming out’,” Cravens said. “Namely, the coming out process often results in lived experiences that require LGBTQ+ people to ‘update’ their political and social behavior, contributing to distinctiveness from heterosexuals.”
Cravens said he plans to study this issue using “primary data collection by a faculty-undergraduate research team, where the students will learn survey design and data analysis to explore how the coming out process affects religious and political behavior among LGBTQ+ people.”
Lastly, Professor of Psychology and Child Development Kelly Bennion received a grant funding for her study, “Trigger Warnings and Exposure to Emotionally Provocative Stimuli: Implications for Education.”
Kelly Bennion
“We seek to investigate whether triggering material has a negative, lasting effect on individuals who have experienced trauma,” Bennion said. “By presenting individuals with upsetting content, we will determine how the framing of trigger warnings impacts emotional reactions, whether those with PTSD or triggering trauma-experience-exacerbated symptoms and whether distress levels depend on the similarity of the trauma to the presented content.”
The results of her study are expected to have practical applications for college-level instruction.
A complete list of all 2021-22 RSCA grant awardees is available on the R-EDGE website.
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Psychology and Child Development Professor Named Director of University Honors Program
Jun 18, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Jasna Jovanovic
Professor of Psychology and Child Development Jasna Jovanovic has been named the new director of the University Honors Program, starting Sept. 1, 2021.
Cal Poly’s Honors Program was founded in 1999 with the mission to provide “an academically enriched learning experience for the university’s most outstanding and highly motivated students,” according to their site.
The program also offers curricular and extracurricular programming designed to reach this goal.
Jovanovic will succeed Gregg Fiegel, who directed the Honors Program for more than seven years. Fiegel will return to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department on a full-time basis.
Prior to obtaining her new role with the Honors Program, Jovanovic was the chair of the Psychology and Child Development Department for six years.
“I stepped down because I felt like my work was done, I accomplished what I wanted to and I wanted to give somebody else the opportunity for a leadership position,” Jovanovic said.
While Jovanovic had initially planned to return to teaching, when she saw the University Honors Program Director role had opened, she decided to take her experience there instead.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to really get in there,” Jovanovic said. “I think the program is strong, but I’m sure there’s room for new initiatives and that is what is exciting to me.”
One of Jovanovic’s responsibilities as the new director will be conducting an institutional review to determine the success of the program.
In addition to conducting the program’s first ever institutional review, some of Jovanovic’s other objectives include gathering data on the demographics of the Honors Program, supporting underrepresented students in the program and starting an alumni advisory board to help fund the program.
“One thing I would like to figure out is, who does it? Who does the program attract?” Jovanovic said. “My sense is that it may not be attracting as many underrepresented students or first [generation] students, and so, I’d like to understand how we could do a better job of attracting those students.”
Jovanovic will serve as the new director for a two-year term, after which she may reapply.
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Emeritus Theatre Professor Releases Two Novellas Based on Cal Poly Plays
Jun 8, 2021
By Sophie Lincoln
Zero by Al Schnupp
On May 29, two novellas by retired Cal Poly Theatre and Dance professor Al Schnupp were released.
One of the novellas, Zero, began as a play produced at Cal Poly and showcased at the Region 8 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, according to Schnupp.
Zero is a political satire published by Cabal Books. It tells the fictional story of how an unqualified man with no talent becomes the “darling political celebrity” of his country, according to Schnupp.
“It was a response to outrageous and often typical behavior on the part of many politicians,” Schnupp said. “I wanted to spoof the process of a candidate running for national office.”
Schnupp also said that the Cal Poly student actors and crew members helped refine the initial script which the novella was based on.
The other novella, Goods and Effects, also began as a screenplay over 20 years ago.
Goods and Effects by Al Schnupp
Goods and Effects, which was published by Golden Antelope Press, follows the story of a women who, after becoming widowed, starts a new life as a traveling saleswoman and ultimately blossoms as a feminist.
“Of all the things I’ve written – over a dozen plays – this is the most personal piece,” Schnupp said. “It reflects my heritage and charts the journey of a woman who comes to celebrate diversity and inclusion.”
Schnupp said while he currently does not have any plans to write more novellas, he is not opposed to the idea.
Schnupp taught as a professor at Cal Poly for 29 years from 1989 to 2018. Some of the classes he taught include playwriting, script analysis, stagecraft and improvisational theatre, among others.
The two novellas by Schnupp are available at numerous stores and sites.
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Cal Poly Music Department to Present Multiple Virtual Shows This Month
May 31, 2021
This month, Cal Poly’s Music Department will put on at least three virtual concerts before the end of spring quarter.
Cal Poly Choirs to Present ‘Ubis Caritas’ Concert Virtually on Saturday, June 5
First, the Cal Poly Choirs will present a virtual concert titled “Ubi Caritas” at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 5.
“Ubi Caritas” will feature a variety of selections on the themes of charity and love.
Cal Poly’s Chamber Choir will present three 20th century settings of the Latin text “Ubi Caritas,” all loosely based on the ancient chant melody. This portion will feature works by Maurice Duruflé, Ola Gjeilo and Luke Mayernik. The group will also perform several Italian and French secular works.
The Cal Poly Women’s Chorus will present “Someone Will Remember Us” by Jocelyn Hagen. The choir will be accompanied by animal science major Hana AbdulCader on harp, plus a string trio of Music Department faculty members Emily Lanzone, Michael Whitson and Laura Gaynon.
PolyPhonics, Cal Poly’s premier ensemble, will perform music by Carlos Guastavino and Joseph Rheinberger, as well as a special comical selection.
Lastly, the University Singers will present music by J.S. Bach and R. Scott Coulter, among others.
Tickets to the virtual event are $10 and can be purchased online from the Performing Arts Center.
Cal Poly Wind Bands to Present Virtual ‘Voices in the Wind’ Concert on Sunday, June 6
The same weekend, Cal Poly’s Wind Ensemble and Wind Orchestra will present a virtual concert titled “Voices in the Wind” at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 6.
Most of the works on the program were composed within the last decade, including “A Mother of a Revolution!” by Omar Thomas, which was inspired by the Stonewall uprising of 1969 and brought to national attention the systemic oppression of the LGBTQ community in New York City.
Faculty oboist Heidi Butterfield will perform “Hidden Currents” for oboe and wind ensemble by Katherine Bergman. Cal Poly is among several universities involved in supporting this new work and is presenting the West Coast premiere.
The piece depicts the seasonal changes along the northernmost stretch of the Mississippi River.
Travis Cross’ “Let the Amen Sound” will conclude the concert. Cross uses the 17th-century hymn “Lobe den Herren” as the musical material to build a work that evokes the playful exuberance of childhood, the sentimental dance of youth, and the triumphant celebration of lives well lived.
Chamber performances by small ensembles from the Wind Bands will be included in the program.
The concert will be recorded in Miossi Hall of the Performing Arts Center’s Christopher Cohan Center.
Director of Bands Christopher J. Woodruff and Associate Director of Bands Nicholas P. Waldron will conduct the concert. A live Q&A session with the conductors and some of the performers will be held following the concert.
Tickets to the virtual event are $5 and can be purchased online from the Performing Arts Center.
Cal Poly Symphony to Present ‘Voices Past and Present’ Virtually on Friday, June 11
Finally, the Cal Poly Symphony will present its season finale, “Voices Past and Present,” virtually at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 11.
The program will include music for winds and brass, music for string orchestra and music for everyone together. The winds and brass will conclude their yearlong exploration of Gordon Jacob’s “Old Wine in New Bottles,” a set of pieces based on old English folk songs.
The orchestra’s string section will perform Chicago-based composer Stacy Garrop’s “Lo Yisa Goy,” an instrumental setting of the Jewish prayer for peace.
Everyone will come together to play two works: Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” orchestrated by Jacob, and Nkeiru Okoye’s “Voices Shouting Out,” written in response to the events of 9/11.
The Cal Poly orchestra has rehearsed and recorded as a hybrid ensemble since the fall. This included an inside in-person string ensemble meeting, an outside in-person wind and brass musicians meeting, and other student musicians joining remotely from home. The combined efforts of these three methods of performing will make up the presentation.
A live Q&A session with conductor and music Professor David Arrivée and students will follow the recorded performance.
Tickets to the virtual event are $5 and can be purchased online from the Performing Arts Center.