Between April 20 and 22, the University of Montevallo will host the Forte Festival of Creativity, a weekend of interdisciplinary events and performances. Forte is co-hosted by the UM College of Fine Arts, The College of Arts and Sciences and the Montevallo Arts Council and funded in part by a grant from the UM Concert and Lecture Series.
Lead by Dr. Steve Peters, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, the three-day celebration will consist of approximately 20 various workshops, lectures and performances.
On Thursday, attendees will have the opportunity to hear untold stories from the 1961 Freedom Rides from author BJ Hollar. In addition, the UM Jazz Ensemble will perform and folklorist Kiran Singh Sirah will provide storytelling tips.
The University will celebrate Earth Day on Friday, April 21 with a variety of sustainability-themed activities in Farmer Hall. Guests will also be able to attend various workshops throughout the morning and afternoon, including two by local comic book artists.
Later, attendees can walk though the panels of a comic with an immersive virtual reality experience and attend an exclusive roundtable on comics hosted by seven local artists.
The final day, Saturday, will take place mostly in Orr Park during the annual Montevallo Arts Fest. There, festival-goers will have the chance to leisurely browse and purchase original pieces of art by locals while members of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival offer a demonstration and workshop on fight choreography.
At the end of each day, guests will have the opportunity to see one of two student performances. At 7:30 each evening, the UM Department of Theatre will present the musical “Godspell” in Reynolds Theatre. Tickets are $20 for general admission. On Friday and Saturday night, the UM Opera Ensemble will perform Vincenzo Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” in LeBaron Recital Hall. Tickets are $12 for general admission.
Throughout the festival, UM theatre students will offer pop-up performances of Shakespearean classics. These performances will appear at random locations on campus throughout the festival.
“Forte Festival was created to foster conversations across traditional academic boundaries and the fine arts,” said Peters. “In addition to the College of Fine Arts’ distinctive conservatory approach to training in each art, we also want our students to be uniquely prepared to pursue innovative careers by participating in interdisciplinary collaborations.”
For a full list of event times and other information: Forte events