The Arts

If you are looking for the arts at Trinity, your journey might begin at the Austin Arts Center, the heart of the performing arts on campus. The facility is Trinity's principal presenter of professional guest artist programs of all kinds, from all over the world. It is also the venue for student presentations -- visual art exhibits, solo and group recitals, theatrical productions, and dance concerts. And, it is here that students and professionals in the arts work together on programs and productions. For example, actors from the Flock Theater in New London gave a reading of a Trinity student's work on the Center's stage. And, it was here that The Hartford Stage Company presented Edward Bond's controversial play Saved with Trinity student actors.

Elsewhere on campus, the arts find congenial venue for expression in many places. There are organ recitals in the Chapel, first-run films at Cinestudio, poetry readings at the Underground Coffeehouse, Jazz and Blues Nights at the Bistro, exhibits in the Watkinson Library, and many more events adding up to an invigorating arts scene.

In and out of the classroom, you learn about and celebrate the diversity of the arts in the larger world. Courses in African and Asian dance and movement have proved popular, as have student trips to Hartford's Bushnell Memorial Auditorium for Mozart operas and other performances. On campus, the College has welcomed such international figures as four-time Grammy winner Tito Puente; Anna Deavere Smith, playwright, performer and Macarthur Fellowship winner; political satirist Mark Russell; the brilliant poet Maya Angelou; and the musical theater giant Stephen Sondheim.

Whether you choose to major in fine arts, studio arts, music, theater and dance, or an unrelated discipline, you will find ample opportunity at Trinity for self expression and artistic exploration. The campus community boasts several musical groups, including the Gospel Choir, the jazz band, and the Pipes, a coed, a capella group founded by students nearly 60 years ago.

Sara Jaffe, a theater/dance major who has performed in several arts center productions, sings with the Trinitones, a female a cappella group on campus. "We sing at special functions like Commencement and alumni events. We've sung at an AIDS hospice," she says. In addition to musical theater opportunities and the choral groups, says Sara, there are rock/blues/you-name-it campus bands that seem to generate spontaeously every year.

Even students not initially interested in the arts sometimes become smitten once they're here. Christopher Carbone, an English major whose favorite class was Advanced Acting: Stanislavski Technique, says, "I didn't really think of acting as anything I'd seriously pursue until I came here. That's the beauty of Trinity College: I happened to read a flyer about auditions, I auditioned, and because it's a small school, I had a very good chance of getting the part. "

"I wanted a little diversity," says Christopher, on his choice of Trinity and the liberal arts. "That's what college is all about."