Northern Illinois University showcases power of music, dance, theatre and visual arts

As Paul Kassel sees it, the whole point is to keep widening the doors.

For more than 50 years, the Northern Illinois University College of Visual and Performing Arts has sought to nurture the arts in DeKalb County. But the college’s reach has extended far beyond DeKalb and the school’s impact only continues to lengthen and deepen, said Kassel, who oversees the college as its dean.

“We are poised to do some really terrific things,” said Kassel.

The NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts is divided among three schools: the School of Art and Design; the School of Music; and the School of Theatre and Dance.

The college has long been an integral part of the mission and success of NIU, helping the university fulfill its commitment to the public expression of the arts.

Through the decades, the various schools have all nurtured and graduated alumni who have deployed what they have learned to not only enrich their own lives, but the world around them.

According to the college, there are nearly 6,000 alumni currently working in the arts or arts-related fields.

NIU reports 4,154 of those alumni are from the School of Art and Design, where they have contributed work to permanent collections of major museums, including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The National Gallery in Washington D.C., the National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C. and The Center for Contemporary Art in Geneva, Switzerland.

But of equal importance, NIU serves as one of the largest sources of art educators.

“If you took an art class in an elementary, junior high or high school in Illinois, chances are you had an art teacher that studied at NIU,” said Andy Dolan, a spokesperson for the college.

The next largest contingent of alumni come from the School of Music, with 1,062 alumni actively working in the music business. Dolan said these include performers like jazz trumpeter Marquis Hill who won the 2014 Thelonious Monk Trumpet Competition; award winning steelpan composer and performer and NIU faculty member Liam Teague; and composer Jermaine Stegall, who has written scores for major film and TV studios and projects. Choral composer Marybeth Kurnat is also the assistant band director at Huntley Middle School and DeKalb High School.

The School of Theatre and Dance boasts 574 alumni currently working in the industry, including actors Joe Minoso, of the Chicago Fire TV series; Mary Holland, of CBS’ “Ghosts” TV series, and who has appeared on “Veep,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and many other shows; three-time Academy Award nominee and Rochelle native Joan Allen; producer/director Kurt Sutter of “Sons of Anarchy” fame; and brothers, Wood and Steve Harris. Among other projects, Wood has appeared in all of the recent “Creed” movies and played Avon Barksdale on “The Wire.” Steve was a regular cast member on “The Practice” for eight seasons and appeared in “The Rock,” “Minority Report” and “Friday Night Lights.”

Through the years, students have also found significant opportunities to hone and advance their skills even before graduation.

The NIU Jazz Orchestra and ensembles, for instance, have grown to become one of the most successful and lauded college jazz band programs in the country. The Jazz Orchestra has performed at the Midwest Music Clinic with saxophonist Jimmy Heath and recently at the International Association of Jazz Educators with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

And NIU dancers performed as recently as 2018 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as part of the National College Dance Festival.

But Kassel said the college is not resting on its laurels, but has surged forward to expand its offerings to students and its contributions to the community and the world.

In recent years, the college has developed a liberal arts degree program, building on its decades-long successful professional degree programs.

At the same time, the college has deepened collaboration among its three schools and within the university as a whole, in bids to allow the artists to inspire one another and enlarge their audiences.

“Every encounter with art enriches your own artistry, no matter your field,” said Kassel.

Every year, Kassel said the college’s schools offer an abundance of concerts, art installations, exhibits, recitals and stage productions, with the doors flung wide to the university and the surrounding DeKalb County communities.

For university students, all performances are free to attend, thanks to NIU’s minimal annual arts and culture fee.

For the community, show tickets begin as little as $7, with live theatre “a little more,” Kassel said, due to the cost of securing the rights to perform the works.

“These are really cultural assets,” Kassel said. “We’re such a good deal.”

Kassel said the College of Visual and Performing Arts has dedicated significant efforts to drawing people back into its auditoriums and theaters, as they continue to recover from the loss of audiences during the Covid pandemic.

“We are working really hard to remind people of the beauty and power of live performance,” said Kassel. “For the performers and for the audience, there is just no substitute for being there, in person.”

Kassel said the college has continued its mission of developing the arts in the community by offering private lessons and instruction in music and the arts through its Community School of the Arts. Students can receive instruction in classical and contemporary musical instruments, as well as theatrical performance and the visual arts. Rates are “reasonable,” Kassel said, and scholarships are available.

Camps are also offered in various disciplines and arts in the summer.

Kassel said such community instruction is just part of the college’s overarching mission of increasing access and opportunity in the arts.

In recent years, Kassel said the college’s schools have intentionally sought to diversify their ranks, with the goal of discovering, unlocking and nurturing talents in students from populations in which such talents may otherwise remain hidden or otherwise untapped.

He pointed to scholarship opportunities being offered and developed in cities like Rockford, through the Rockford Promise program, and in Chicago.

“We want to open the door wider, so more people with more talent can come in,” said Kassel.

He noted stories in which dancers, musicians and vocalists have taken classes at the schools on a whim or to satisfy a credit toward graduation, only to discover they found joy in the artistic expression and - perhaps more importantly - “they’re really good at this,” Kassel added.

“They have a lot of talent, but maybe not a lot of opportunity,” said Kassel. “We’re bringing in new voices, new vision, new bodies.

“And we will all be the richer for it.”