2003-04 YEAR IN REVIEW
ARTS FIRST 2004
Sponsored by Harvard’s Board of Overseers, instigated by actor and former Overseer John Lithgow ’67, and produced by the OFA, ARTS FIRST celebrated its 12th year on May 6-9, 2004. The ARTS FIRST festival, which showcases Harvard students and faculty in the arts, is one of the nation’s largest collegiate arts events. It involves over 2,000 Harvard students in more than 200 music, theater, dance, and visual arts events, most of which are free and open to the public. Festival venues are large and small, indoors and out, including Harvard Yard, Sanders Theatre, the Harvard Art Museums, and undergraduate houses. Student arts groups, Harvard arts institutions, and individual artists collaborate to celebrate the arts at Harvard. In addition, departments and organizations throughout the university—-from the Marshal’s Office and Crimson Key to the Visual and Environmental Studies department and Harvard Film Archive—are involved in planning, coordinating or implementing activities for the festival.
Highlights of the entire four-day festival included:
• Yo-Yo Ma ‘76, recipient of the 2004 Harvard Arts Medal, participating in a conversation with John Lithgow ‘67 and performing at Sanders Theatre
• The Saturday afternoon Performance Fair, attended by thousands of members of the Harvard and Greater Boston communities, with over 100 events ranging from classical Indian ragas and Renaissance vocal music to West African dance and a performance of Samuel Beckett’s Lessness
• The interactive performance piece PS04, which engaged audiences in a lively evening of dance/theater at the Loeb Experimental Theatre
