News

In order to accommodate a surge in students engaged in performing arts, an official groundbreaking was held today for RIT’s new music performance theater, the first major theater project in the Rochester area in decades. The three-story, 40,000-square-foot building will consist of a 750-seat theater primarily to be used for musical theater productions.

Construction is beginning on the first major theater project in the Rochester area in decades, with a 750-seat music performance theater primarily for musical theater productions at RIT.

Nearly one in six of the more than 3,300 first-year and transfer undergraduates this year received a Performing Arts Scholarship from RIT. That brings the total number of scholars to more than 1,800 in the five years since the program began. The program encourages high school students involved in performing arts to continue their passions at RIT.

The new undergraduate students come from 48 states (all but Iowa and Wyoming); Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; Guam; U.S. Virgin Islands; and 47 countries, with the largest contingent coming from India, Canada, and China. In addition, there are 927 new graduate students.

Calling all potential cast members, stage managers, designers, dancers, costumers, theater technicians, and more: RIT’s first “Full Season Audition Debut” is set for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in Ingle Auditorium.

This May, students from RIT participated in the Performing Arts – Global Music study abroad program. During their stay on RIT Croatia’s Dubrovnik campus, students took part in an intensive course called Studies in World Music. The course is designed to explore selected music cultures with an emphasis on music from Central and Southeastern Europe.

In only a few weeks, the SHED will open to the RIT community, and Tiffany Brodner is preparing for her new role overseeing the multi-use facility.

The 2023-2024 theatrical season featuring a partnership between RIT’s School of Performing Arts and NTID's Department of Performing Arts will include a celebration of Deaf rap and hip hop, an adaptation of Hamlet, a multimedia dance production, and several immersive theatrical performances, among others.

The conclusion of the academic year always means full speed ahead to work on an array of projects while the majority of students are off campus.

The Santa Maria Times features NTID's Sunshine 2.0 theater group in a photo gallery.

Many of the RIT students who received the first Performing Arts Scholarships four years ago are preparing to take the stage one last time as they graduate this week.

Thousands of RIT students are graduating this week with majors including engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, business, and fine arts. But more than 250 graduates are also receiving customized bachelor’s and master’s degrees from RIT’s School of Individualized Study, which allows students a flexible education pathway of their choosing.