University of Illinois Festival of Contemporary Arts Committee (1948-1978) | University of Illinois Archives

The first Festival of Contemporary Arts was held in 1948 and was jointly conceived by Frank Roos, the head of the art department, and John Kuypers, the director of the school of music. Originally presented annually, the Festival became a biannual event begining in 1953. From the outset, the festival supported many different artistic fields including painting, architecture, music, performance art, theater, and sculpture (first included in 1955). The Festival was intended to improve the permanent collection of visual art at the University of Illinois. To this end, monetary awards were presented to each the winning painters during the first few years of the event.

John Garvey served as the University of Illinois Festival Committee as the first music director in 1948, booking a variety of "contemporary" acts that included Pete Seeger. Garvey served as Chair of the Festival Committee in 1951 and served in this capacity until 1961, when Ben Johnston took over as chair. During this period, the focus of the Festival shifted to musical events.

The Festival of Contemporary Arts drew many influential composers and performers from the time period including: Igor and Soulima Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, David Tudor, John Cage, Harry Partch, Ernest Kreneck, Elliot Carter, Benjamin Britten, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kenneth Gaburo, John Garvey, Salvatore Martirano, Lejaren Hiller, Cornelius Cardew, Pauline Oliveros, Herbert Brün, Ben Johnson, Rodger Reynolds, Malcolm Goldstein, Joel Chadabe, Lukas Foss, and La Monte Young. Of particular note, a concert within the 1953 festival by David Tudor featured music by Morton Feldman and John Cage's "Music of Changes."

Similarly the 1957 festival saw Harry Partch's "The Bewitched" and Jan Meyerowitz's opera "Esther" with libretto written by Langston Hughes. Other premiere performances included Partch's "Revelation in the Courthouse Park," a 1965 performance of Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem," Wallingford Riegger's "Symphony No. 4", and Ernest Kreneck's "The Bell Tower." Though the festival officially ended in 1971, an attempt at revival of the festival occured in 1978.

Muriel Scheinman, "Celebrating Art: From Plaster Casts to Contemporary American Arts Festivals," in No Boundaries: University of Illinois Vignettes, edited by Lillian Hoddeson, 304-314 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004).

Nolan Vallier, "Sacred Sounds and Natural Grounds: Designing Acoustic Communities within Prairie Style and Organic Architectural Spaces," PhD Dissertation, UIUC, 2021: 181-183.