News at Adelphi

To study theater at Adelphi University is to find accomplished working professors, friends-for-life classmates, the proximity of New York City and a legacy of successful, supportive alumni. Adelphi trains “people of the theater,” said Maggie Lally ’82, associate dean of faculty programs and associate professor of theater. “The professional experience of our faculty and their…

March 2023 is an exceptional month to view fine art from our community. Faculty and alumni artwork—in oil, sculptures, sketches and watercolor—explore diverse topics and facets of the human experience. Here is your guide to inspiring works of art around the Adelphi campus—as well as online.

Just two days before Thanksgiving last fall, The Kelly Clarkson Show announced to the world that The Fairview School Choir from P.S. 14, a Queens, New York, elementary school, had been named the 2022 NBC Star Choir. That meant that a couple of weeks later, the students, dressed in festive red and green, were singing and…

On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an artist revisits personal loss and a national tragedy.

In 2020, Carolina Cambronero Varela ‘09 and adjunct faculty member and artist Argie Agelarakis, MA ‘00, began working on a special project—to harness the power of art in support of social activism. Together, with the critical support of Stephanie Lake, PhD, director of Adelphi’s criminal justice program, they inaugurated Artivism in the spring of 2021.

"A Nation of Others," the latest work by Pulitzer Prize-winning University Professor Paul Moravec, DMA (left), explores the lives of refugees arriving at Ellis Island on a single day in 1921. It recently premiered at Carnegie Hall.

Little America, an acclaimed anthology series on Apple TV+, is inspired by the true stories of U.S. immigrants. All eight episodes will become available on December 9 on Apple TV+. And the third episode, “The 9th Caller,” is about a young Sri Lankan woman who is played by Isuri Wijesundara ’18. Like the title character, Wijesundara…

Cara Lynch ’12 has made mural magic again, this time in Long Beach, New York. Lynch’s particular brilliance is not merely eye-catching, site-appropriate public art. She has been creating public art since she graduated from Adelphi and, last semester, began teaching as an adjunct in the Department of Art and Art History. She also includes the community when she…

Associate professor of theatre John McDermott has designed sets for more than 250 shows off-Broadway and regionally since 1992.

The fall semester kicks off with Welcome Weekend, an opportunity for incoming students to start their journeys and for the Adelphi community to welcome them aboard.

Shea Wachter '22 turned to sculpture and the Adelphi community to work through grief.

Sarafina Bush ’12 majored in French and minored in dance at Adelphi, but she found her true calling designing costumes for student productions performed in the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center. That path took her to New York City, where she worked in costume design and productions such as Pass Over and MJ the Musical. Now she’s been nominated for a…

There's something different about Swirbul Library: The wall at the entrance, outside the Innovation Center, has gone from blank to brilliant, displaying a stunning mural, courtesy of the Department of Art and Art History, specifically the Mural Arts Workshop class.

Mirirai Sithole has been working steadily since she graduated from Adelphi University in 2012 with a BFA in theater. Her acting credits include numerous off-Broadway productions, including School Girls: Or, the African Mean Girls Play. On television, she's had roles in Black Mirror, Broad City, and Russian Doll—and season two of the Natasha Lyonne series is now available on Netflix.

In honor of National Poetry Month, alumni of Adelphi's MFA in Creative Writing program were asked to share excerpts of their favorite poems and what they mean to them.

Reminiscing about the famed late artist and Broadway creator Jonathan Larson ’82, colleagues and professors remember his time at Adelphi. And we look at how Adelphi will continue to lead in arts education beyond our 125th year.

A $1 million bequest initiated in 2011 by the Larson Family Trust came to fruition in 2022, memorializing Jonathan Larson ’82, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and composer of the Broadway musical RENT.

The McElroy Family Performing Arts Center Fund was created in 2021 to enhance and create exceptional programming at our Performing Arts Center related to dance, music or theater.

Among Adelphi's most renowned alumni worldwide is Jonathan Larson '82, the creator of the beloved and influential musical RENT, one of the longest-running shows on Broadway.

As a teenager, Olivia Maybee, a senior, always had a passion for activism. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up on the Cattaraugus territory, one of three territories that make up the Seneca Nation, located just south of Buffalo.

Adelphi University has been nominated in nine categories in the annual Bethpage Best of Long Island competition organized by Schneps Media. Online voting continues through December 15 and winners will be announced early in 2022. Individuals may vote once a day.

Spirit Weekend is one of Adelphi's newest and already most beloved traditions. From Casino Night to Prestigious Panthers, it's a weekend where students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members can come together to show Panther pride and connect with one another.

Responses to the political tensions of the past year and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will take center stage at Adelphi University's Fall Arts Festival.

Earlier this year, Adelphi co-debuted an interdisciplinary series that combined art and social action to engage people in transforming society. This fall, the series, Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation, restarts with several virtual and in-person events that showcase how the arts can redress inequities, reflect all voices and push society forward. The…

Carl Giuffre, PhD, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science, and Lee Stemkoski, PhD, professor of math and computer science, explored the intersection of art and mathematics in Japanese temari.

University Professor Paul Moravec, DMA, scored a Grammy nomination and thousands of new fans for the oratorio Sanctuary Road, even as performances went virtual during the pandemic. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Tempest Fantasy in 2004.

Carson Fox, professor of art and art history at Adelphi, uses public art installations to celebrate joy even as it honors loss.