The Festival of the Arts began in 1995 with the theme Spotlight on America – From Sea to Shining Sea!
Since its inaugural year, the countries of Germany, Italy, Austria, England, Russia, France the Appalachian Region of the United States, and others have been featured through the festival.
The mission of the festival is to provide an in-depth exploration of the cultural riches of countries and cultures around the world to create a better understanding of those nations and cultures. The multi-week festival consists of numerous musical performances, including vocal, instrumental, and solo presentations. Dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, culinary arts, and film are other areas of exploration.
Students from the dance, theatre, culinary, and music departments at Southwest participate, as well as community singers in the SWCC Community Chorus. SWCC art students design the festival logo each year and prepare art exhibits that reflect the artistic heritage of the country in the spotlight. Workshops are conducted by visiting artists and a Spotlight event is held each year to showcase student talent.
Most performances are presented by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists, among them: pianists Pavlina Dokovska; violinists Yuri Vodovoz and Rob Taylor; violist Ariel Rudiakov; cellist Diliana Momtchilova; flutist Massimo Mercelli; sopranos Stefka Evastieva and Karen Bureau; the Kandinsky Trio and Garth Newel Chamber Players; Walt Michael and Company and Madeline MacNeil, dulcimer.
Special guests have been actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Dr. Gottfried Wagner, musicologist; Chandler Cowles and Henry Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winners; Dr. Gideon Waldrop, former Dean of the Juilliard School of Music and President of the Manhattan School of Music; composer David Tcimpidis; writers Lee Smith and Sharyn McCrumb.
The success of the festival is due to the support of the community: area individuals and families, alumnus, businesses, civic organizations, local government and school divisions, and local and regional family foundations whose financial support is paramount to the success of our programming. For festival sponsorship information, please contact Mary Lawson at 276-385-0104 or mewlawson13@gmail.com.
Festival Directors: Mary W. Lawson & Morgan Gilbert
Artistic Director: Pavlina Dokovska, Chair, Mannes College of Music Piano Department and Vladimir Valjarevic, Piano Faculty, Mannes College of Music
Festival logo design: SWCC student Richard Keen
Choral Director: Dr. Joseph Trivette, SWCC Albert Endowed Chair in Music
Cultural Walk Directors: Randy & Julie Forehand, Morgan Gilbert, Nyoka Muawad, Olivia Ratliff
School of the Arts Coordinators: Olivia Ratliff, Regina Rice, Nyoka Muawad, Stephen Gilbert, Hyacynth Barbera, Holli Starnes
Technical Director: Ryan Magee
Business Manager: Karen Brown
Facility Coordinator: Brandon Hensley
Marketing Coordinators: John Dezember and Travis Roberts
SWCC Educational Foundation Executive Director: Stacey McGhee
SWCC VP of Institutional Advancement: Dr. Susan Lowe
SWCC President: Dr. Tommy Wright
All locations will return to regular schedule on Friday, October 4, 2024.