"Hatmaker to the Stars" Dave Brown and international violist John Graham are among the artists featured this spring in the "Creative Process Series" sponsored by the Program of Movement and Dance at the University of Rochester. The series features uncommon presentations and an assortment of vocations focusing on aspects of the creative process and encouraging audience participation. All events will be held on Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Spurrier Dance Studio on the River Campus.
The series opens on Thursday, Feb. 20, with an informal presentation by hairdresser Jes Sutton. Better known as "Jes, the Hair Worker," Sutton has been clipping hair in Rochester for the last six years and two years ago opened his own salon, Fusion. Sutton will speak about the important relationship between creativity and getting to know his clients. Daring audience members may have a chance to explore this relationship with an on-the-spot cut!
Folk singer Maria Gillard will share her music in a demonstration on Thursday, Feb. 27. Speaking on the arts of songwriting and performance, Gillard will explore the order of the creative process and how music and lyrics combine and evolve during composition. As well as demonstrating some of her own performance styles, Gillard's program will encourage audience participation.
Another musical presentation, "The First Performance: Preparing and Imagining a Newly Written Piece of Music," features violist Graham on Thursday, March 6. A professor of viola at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and a performer and teacher at the University of Aspen Music Festival and School, Graham has also been a guest professor at conservatories of music in Beijing and Shanghai. He has performed internationally as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, and China.
Rochester-based hatmaker Brown will conclude the series in an out-of-the-ordinary presentation on Thursday, March 27. With customers all over the world, Brown is considered one of the premier master hatmakers in the country. His clientele includes celebrities ranging from movie actors and country singers to sports stars. As one of fewer than 50 custom hatters working today in the United States, he will speak about his esoteric art form and preservation of traditional methods of the craft.
The Creative Process Series is free and open to the public. For more information, call (585) 273-5150.