As the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, we want to keep you, our valued supporters and community members, updated on how the Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) in collaboration with the greater UCI community are responding. We are working diligently to quickly adapt to the rapidly developing circumstances in order to protect our students, staff, faculty, patrons, and the world-class academic and creative work we do at CTSA.

Below are some courses of action we are currently implementing;

• All CTSA courses will be taught online for the spring quarter; including studio, laboratory, seminar, and larger classes.
• All performances, exhibitions, and events have been postponed, canceled, or will be reimagined in virtual ways.
• All CTSA staff and faculty are working remotely, for the next few weeks or until further notice.

Even though our efforts are temporarily shifting to a remote and digital platform, our community of
Read More: An important update from Dean Barker

March 12, 2020

While there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at UCI at this time, the greatest priority at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) is the health and well-being of our students, faculty, audiences, and staff. CTSA is taking all appropriate precautions as it monitors the public health concerns with campus leaders and in collaboration with the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA).

In keeping with the decision released by UCI, attendance at all CTSA productions for the Spring 2020 quarter will be audience-free.

If you have purchased a ticket through our box office, you will receive an email shortly with instructions to receive a refund or to donate your ticket purchase. Should
Read More: COVID-19 Update | Spring Quarter Arts Events

Daniel Cadena was 15 the first time he picked up a violin, and he couldn’t get it to make a sound. Finally, watching YouTube, he realized he needed to rosin the bow before drawing it across the strings. 
He was in love with music, and eager to learn to play. Unfortunately, as a new arrival from Guerrero, Mexico, he didn’t have room in his schedule to join the orchestra because his counselor wanted him to double up on English classes at Santa Ana High School. 

Undeterred, he taught himself the violin and keyboard, using instruments his older sister had abandoned after she briefly pursued a degree in music education. Within a few months, he was reading music and composing songs. “At the beginning, I really liked composing because I couldn’t communicate with people through verbal language, so I felt like writing music was the best way to communicate,” says Cadena, who was bullied by classmates throughout his freshman
Read More: Harp of Gold

By Christine Byrd

As a violinist begins to play on stage, UCI graduate student Tomoko Ozawa transforms the solo into a live electronic ensemble piece by manipulating data from the player’s hand movements with computer software. Ozawa is able to collaborate on this experimental strings performance in front of an international audience in Denmark thanks to a gift from a UCI donor.

Over the last few years, more than 170 UCI arts students like Ozawa have received Medici Circle scholarships funded exclusively by community members. The $2,000 donations make a big impact, enabling both undergraduate and graduate students to travel around the globe to attend conferences, conduct research and perform with other artists.

“The Medici Circle program is one of the most unique scholarship programs in the country,” says Stephen Barker, professor and dean of the Claire
Read More: Shining a Light on Future Artists