April 27, 2015

Dear Harvard College Students,

Perhaps you have noticed the banners around the Yard calling attention to the annual ARTS FIRST Festival, which runs this Thursday through Sunday here on campus. With the trees in bloom and the promise of spring in the air, our annual arts festival is a fantastic time to celebrate creativity, support your friends and be a part of the transformative power of the arts at Harvard. I am always amazed by the abundance of dance, music, drama, public art, studio art, film, video and so much more over these four days.

You can read all about it by picking up one of the green ARTS FIRST brochures around the campus, or by visiting the ARTS FIRST website.

This year, some of your faculty and College deans will be taking part in a performance to kick off the weekend Performance Fair.  On Saturday at noon on the Science Center Plaza, I will join Dean Tom Dingman, Professor Diana Eck, and Professor Steven Pinker in a send-up of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, Swan Lake: For the Birds! The ensemble includes the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Harvard Ballet Company, accompanied by the River Charles Ensemble. Tony Award winning actor John Lithgow ’67 will host this once-in-a-lifetime performance (and I do intend for it to be once-in-a-lifetime!). I hope you will join us.

So check out the ARTS FIRST listings and dive into a great weekend of art. Happy spring – and I hope I see you on the Plaza at noon on Saturday.

Warmly,
Dean Khurana