University Students and Faculty
In addition to public performances, we strive to facilitate meaningful engagement and interaction between visiting artists and students. This is attained through multi-day artist residencies, class visits and artist-led workshops, masterclasses, and student internships and employment opportunities.
Artist residencies
Artists with a special interest in teaching and community engagement are made part of The Schaefer Center Presents series, and are often engaged in a several day-long residency program of workshops, master classes, and other events that typically culminate in an evening performance. Residencies allow a deeper and more meaningful connection to be built over time between students, the local community and visiting artists.
A.I.M “Unifying Uniqueness” residency workshop
Multidisciplinary artists from The Nile Project engage with students during a class visit on the stage of the Valborg Theatre.
Master classes and class visits
Master classes and classroom visits are generally part of what makes up a residency. Whether it’s a full-length residency spanning several days, or an afternoon spent on campus prior to a performance, every effort is made to engage university students and community members with artists in enriching master classes that push artistic boundaries and provide insight into the artistic processes that drive creativity and shape the performance experience.
The Schaefer Center as a hands-on learning lab
The Schaefer Center serves as a learning lab for university students to gain employable skills through hands-on jobs and internships in the box office, backstage, and in its administrative offices, honing their skills in areas ranging from arts management and customer service to technical/production functions, marketing and fundraising.
Former student employees have gone on to work at such notable venues as the Aspen Music Festival, Radio City Music Hall, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Lincoln Center, drawing upon the skills they first learned by working at the Schaefer Center.