The School for Creative & Performing Arts, Cincinnati Public Schools’ K-12 arts school, will host 2011 MidPoint Music Festival showcases in its theaters Sept. 22-24. The new partnership with SCPA, which opened the Erich Kunzel Center for Arts and Education last September, expands and reinforces MidPoint’s presence in Over-the-Rhine.
SCPA is offering use of its state-of-the-art stages for all-ages music showcases and other events during MidPoint. SCPA students will also have a chance to participate, gaining hands-on experience by assisting with the shows’ production, design and other aspects. A program of “master classes” featuring a few MidPoint performers is also in the works.
Vitamin Water is returning as a MidPoint Music Festival sponsor for the second year and will present the all-ages showcases at SCPA.
MidPoint Executive Producer Dan McCabe will book all-ages showcases at SCPA, allowing the festival for the first time to offer extensive programming and high-profile artists that includes the under-21 audience. Alcohol sales are not permitted in Cincinnati Public Schools facilities.
Last year MidPoint presented a total of 250 musical acts on 24 stages in Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati and Newport.
“A majority of our 2010 performance stages were in Over-the-Rhine, which continues to be the hotbed of creativity in Cincinnati,” McCabe says. “Partnering with SCPA, one of the highest profile creative hubs in Over-the-Rhine and the entire city, is a natural next step for MidPoint.”
The School for Creative & Performing Arts was founded in 1973 as one of the first arts-based public magnet schools in the U.S. It moved to Over-the-Rhine in 1976 to occupy the old Woodward High School building on Sycamore Street. The curriculum blends professional training in the arts with college-preparatory academic work, and admission to SCPA is highly selective.
SCPA was the subject of a two-year reality series on MTV in 2009-10, Taking the Stage, produced by one of its most famous alumni, Nick Lachey. The school moved into the $73 million Erich Kunzel Center for Arts and Education on Central Parkway for the 2010-11 school year.
“We offer a professional arts training curriculum and are always looking for ‘real world’ learning opportunities for our students,” says SCPA Principal Anthony S. Flower Jr. “We’re excited to open our doors to MidPoint and the local music community.”
The deadline for submissions from artists interested in performing at MPMF.11 recently came and went. Performers for this fall’s 10th anniversary fest are being decided by the judging panel and touring headliners are being booked as you read this, so expect the flow of MidPoint information to increase over the next few weeks, with showcasing acts being announced, as well as other details and wrinkles to this year’s event.
