Mondavi Center Arts Education is committed to providing the best opportunities for students of all ages to experience and appreciate the performing arts. We have designed culturally intensive educational programs for K-12 to meet the California Visual and Performing Arts Standards and open the classroom to the creative and imaginative process. For adults, our goal is to inspire the sensibilities and intellectual curiosity that sustain a fully engaged life. Through exposure to live performance and lively participation, we seek to ensure that the arts remain an integral part of our community’s rich inheritance. The following programs describe rich and rare opportunity to observe artists creating their work.
A series of 50-60 minute performances and lecture demonstrations at Mondavi Center specially produced for school age children, these matinees address and support the content standards for the California Visual and Performing Arts for K-12 education. Regardless of discipline or genre, these performances provide a high quality, curriculum based enjoyable learning experience for all students.
Mondavi Center prepares CueSheets for all school matinees and provides them free to all teachers attending the school matinee. CueSheets are also available on line on the Mondavi Center webpage. The CueSheets are intended to provide background information on the artists, the art form, any geographical or demographic information that would enhance student’s understanding of the performance, and an explanation of appropriate audience etiquette and expectations of audience members at a live performance.
Mondavi Center has produced a series of ten Curriculum Guides to meet the core standards of the California Visual and Performing Arts curriculum as established by the State in January 2001. The guides are available to all teachers that request them and are also available on line at MondaviArts.org. Currently, Curriculum Guides are available for elementary grades in Storytelling, Instrumental Music, Dance, Elementary Theatre, Multicultural Music, Ethnic Dance, Vocal Music, and for secondary grades in Drama, Jazz, and Modern Dance.
Artists are on the road for this series as they are contracted to provide master classes and workshops for performing arts magnet schools and other institutions with advanced classroom opportunities for aspiring dancers, musicians, and theatre artists.
This is a program managed by Friends of Mondavi Center, our donor based volunteer support organization. Friends schedule school visits to classrooms attending specially selected school matinees to support the instructor’s preparation for students that are attending the performance. Docent Guides for each matinee are researched and written by Friends and distributed to the docents. A Classroom Talk lasts approximately ½ hr. Every effort is made to satisfy the requests of schools regardless of distance (usually within 1 1/2hrs. of UC Davis).
The Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition invites young classical musicians to compete before an internationally renowned jury for cash scholarships, performance opportunities, and summer study scholarships, The competition is open to California resident pianists, instrumentalists, vocalist and chamber ensembles enrolled in grades 4-12.
The Competition consistently attracts the most talented and dedicated young musicians from through the state, and provides a remarkable opportunity for young musicians at the early phases of their careers to perform at one of California’s leading performing arts venues.
The Forum@MC is a series of free discussions concerning the arts at UC Davis and the broader contexts in which they flourish. Providing experts in the field an opportunity to discuss and debate, regional audiences are treated to lively discussions by UC Davis faculty and resident and visiting artists as they examine the intersection of current affairs and the state of the arts.
The Mondavi Center as a partner in the book club you put together--with people you know, in a living room near you. For our part, we’ll do what we do best: suggest books built around themes and performances at Mondavi Center, and assemble writers, artists and UC Davis faculty in a series of fascinating discussions about the books you’re reading.
This is a free program, hosted by the Friends of Mondavi Center prior to targeted performances, from 7-7:30pm on the night of the performance. The schedule is based on diversity of programming and educational value to the community. This is one of the most popular programs we offer.
Post Performance
Questions and Answer
with the Artists
Audiences for many Mondavi Center presentations benefit from a thoughtful discussion with the performers about the work just seen on stage. Patrons are able to address questions about themes, text, composition, and the artistic process involved in the performance directly to the artists. It is often the highlight of a patrons’ experience at Mondavi Center and allows for a more complete understanding and appreciation of the impact of the arts.
The Mondavi Center Dancers’ Consortium is collaboration among regional dance companies, choreographers, dance teachers, and dancers of all ages that participate in the dance outreach programs at the Mondavi Center. Through community master classes by Mondavi Center artists and regular email updates, the Consortium helps to connect our diverse dance community with Mondavi Center. The consortium’s publications also serve as a means for Consortium members to share their own upcoming dance events.
By popular request, Mondavi Center will begin a new series of technical workshops taught by lighting and sound technicians from our professional touring companies. These professionals will teach, by discussion and demonstration, stage lighting for dance and theatre as well as the latest in acoustic design. The goal is for local arts companies and students to translate what they have learned into best practices for their own venues.
Mondavi Center has partnered with the Elk Grove Unified Elementary School District and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to provide in depth professional development for teachers to learn how to integrate the arts in their classrooms. This partnership establishes UC Davis as a full partner with the Kennedy Center in exemplary arts education and also provides access to commissioned Kennedy Center touring programs and resources. Professional development workshops led by artists trained by the Kennedy Center are the backbone of the partnership.
Twelve regional teachers, selected by application and interview, participate each year in a partnership with Globe Education in London and for one year are immersed in the world of Shakespeare, both at UC Davis and in London. They have the opportunity to take classes from theatre practitioners from Shakespeare’s Globe, and from faculty at UC Davis. Teachers are in residency at the Globe Theatre in London for two weeks in July, working with Globe Education Practitioners, and then celebrate their extraordinary experience with their students in a festival day of theatre on stage at the Mondavi center in the fall.
