Welcome! We are delighted that you are joining us this evening.

ShenCoLAB began as a radical experiment — providing our students with the time and space to develop, lead and present collaborative and innovative projects. Driven by student enthusiasm and supported with funding from the Dean’s Circle, ShenCoLAB serves as an incubator in which students engage in work that is deeply meaningful to them. This unique experience also serves in equipping them for professional success as the process requires planning, teamwork, perseverance, thoughtful risk-taking and innovative practice.

Providing a nurturing home to aspiring artists for 150 years, Shenandoah Conservatory is one of the few conservatories in the nation in which collaborative excellence is actively pursued across the performing arts disciplines in music, theatre and dance. With a commitment to interdisciplinary learning initiatives such as ShenCoLAB, we are actively preparing our students to meet evolving needs in the world of professional practice and reshaping performing arts disciplines for the future.

I am grateful to the ShenCoLAB Taskforce for their work in adapting the festival for this academic year and for their continued leadership in managing this special opportunity for our students. We also appreciate the ongoing support from our colleagues across Shenandoah University and from our executive leadership. A very special ‘thank you’ to members of the Dean’s Circle for making ShenCoLAB possible — we could not do this work without you!

Dr. Jennifer Smolos Steele
Dean & Professor of Music
Shenandoah Conservatory