Lindemann Performing Arts Center hosts opening celebration

The Lindemann Performing Arts Center held its opening celebration Saturday, Oct. 21. The day-long festivities consisted of a block party, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an inaugural public performance featuring world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. 

The Lindemann’s celebration this past weekend aimed to spotlight the presence of arts on campus and act as a preview of the creative endeavors the space will be hosting after its opening. Arts of many mediums across College Hill were featured, including several a cappella and dance groups, a painting booth organized by Arts for Service, a student community service group and several interactive installations from local artists. 

“This is more than a building,” said University President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20. “It’s a work that reflects the creativity and expression that will take place inside. … We want this to be a catalyst for making Providence an even more creative destination for the arts.”

The Brown Arts Institute staff, governing board and chairs are marking the opening of the Lindemann with “a 14-month celebration of the arts across campus and surrounding communities, not just with one jubilant weekend,” wrote Artistic Director of the BAI Avery Willis Hoffman in an email to The Herald.

In a speech before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mayor of Providence Brett Smiley emphasized the Lindemann’s mission to promote arts within the greater Providence community. 

“To take advantage of an already world-class arts and culture scene here at the city of Providence, to have it all come together in a building where there is an overt commitment to (opening) up (into) the broader community … is a real delight for me,” Smiley said, adding his gratitude for the University and the Rhode Island building trades that made the construction of the new building possible.

Rachael Yuan ’27, a member of Arts for Service, took part in freestyle painting at her club’s booth during the block party. Yuan said she enjoyed the opportunity to view the talents showcased by her peers: “I’m really excited to have or attend more events at this center.” 

Guided tours of the Lindemann were held throughout the day, as well as the first Brown Arts Forum, which featured a discussion with professors and arts directors at Brown called “Looking Back/Looking Forward: A Brief History of the Arts at Brown.” 

In the evening, the Brown University Orchestra, University Chorus and guest artist Perlman participated in the inaugural performance in the Lindemann’s main performance hall.

The performance opened with the premiere of a collaborative piece titled “Open again a turn of light,” which incorporated a poem written by Professor of Literary Arts Sawako Nakayasu with music by Associate Professor of Music Eric Nathan. The piece, a fanfare performed by the orchestra and chorus together, exemplified how the Lindemann could provide a space for collaborations across different artistic mediums. 

Nakayasu said she “set out to write a poem that would embrace a sensation of celebration and an opening.”

“I used that word ‘open’ … as an anchor point to center the poem and opened it up to a range of responses and interpretations about where that could lead,” she added. The piece “is mostly joyful, but also, I hope, contains a certain complexity around it too.” 

“I hope that hearing the work in the specific location gives it a new experience or resulting effect,” Nakayasu said. 

Eurie Seo ’26, who attended the performance, enjoyed “the combination of familiar and new pieces.”

“I’m really excited to see performances being held in a proper venue. I feel like (the Lindemann) will really be able to boost the arts on campus,” she said. 

“The Lindemann is truly a one-of-a-kind professional space on our campus that I hope will uplift us all — faculty, staff, students (and) visiting artists — to make our best work, to be our best selves and to collaborate and experiment in a way that simply does not exist anywhere else,” Hoffman wrote.