Media Mentions

Central PA magazine, the publication of local public television station WITF, devotes much of its August issue to the arts in the capital region. In the feature story, the magazine profiles five talented creators and performers under the age of 25. Included in this prestigious group is David O’Donnell, a 2008 graduate, who is performing his sixth operatic role in Belgium as John Brook in “Little Women.”

Read “Reaching for the stars.”

In addition, a story about how arts and culture programs are faring at colleges and universities in light of the recession extensively quotes both Richard Roberson, dean of the School of the Arts, and Jeff Rioux, director of the Larsen Student Union. Both contributed to the conversation about the need for the arts, especially during times of national economic turmoil.

“A college is incomplete without the arts,” says Roberson. “The arts are part of what it is to be human. They’re part of the way we understand and interpret he world that’s around us. To not have them on the college campus, it wouldn’t be a real college any more.”

The article, “A commitment to culture,” is not available online.

When 19-year-old Konrad Binienda won the Rodney and Lorna Sawatsky Rising Stars Concerto Competition at Messiah College last year, he knew that one of the judges was especially important to impress. Stuart Malina, conductor of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, wasn’t only helping to determine the winner of the competition, he was deciding whether the winner’s performance was a high enough caliber to earn him the opportunity to perform with the Symphony. With Binienda, there was no doubt, Malina told the “Harrisburg Patriot-News” in a January 10 article. Binienda will play Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Symphony this weekend.

Read “The kids gets a shot”