New Performing Arts Director
Launches Season of Artistic Discovery for UCSD

By Heather Holliday | October 18, 2004

Bill Maher Oct. 18, 8:30 p.m. Price Center Ballroom Host and founder of “Politically Incorrect,” Maher's unflinching honesty and commitment to never pulling a punch have garnered him the respect and admiration of millions of fans. Maher's one-man show is “part social critique, part sex shtick and a civics lecture to boot.” Tickets: $27.50 Non-Reserved Seating, $30.00 Day of Show, Non-Reserved Seating Masters of Mexican Music Oct. 22, 8 p.m. Mandeville Auditorium Featuring 20 master musicians and dancers, this vibrant performance showcases exhilarating mariachi music, jarocha harp tunes and rollicking accordion-based Tex-Mex dance music. Adult tickets: $22-$32. Margaret Cho Oct. 23, 9 p.m. Price Center Ballroom With her signature unbridled no-holds-barred humor, Cho now tackles the axis of evil, her travels through Thailand's red light district, revolutionizing self-esteem, the joy of bodily functions, her loser ex-boyfriend and her world-famous mother. Adult tickets: $35. Jazz Passengers with “Creature from the Black Lagoon” Oct. 28, 8 p.m. Mandeville Auditorium The Jazz Passengers’ live performance to the 1954 fright flick oozes with offbeat humor, hard bop and free flowing jazz. Feel free to wear a scary Halloween costume. 3-D glasses will be provided. Adult tickets: $22-$32. Putumayo Latinas Nov. 7, 8 p.m. Mandeville Auditorium Three uniquely talented female vocalists from Latin America transport audiences to Colombia, Chile and Brazil with powerful, drum-laden cumbias, melodic folk songs and easy bossa nova rhythms. Adult tickets: $22-$32. Kuss Quartet Nov. 12, 8 p.m. Mandeville Auditorium A rare opportunity to hear one of Europe ’s rising chamber ensemble stars, the Kuss Quartet delivers impressively warm and lush music with precision and maturity. Adult tickets: $24-$34.

Two things deeply influenced Martin Wollesen's childhood: Art was an integral part of his family's life, and much of his youth was spent overseas. Not surprisingly, he now equates art with travel. "Travel keeps you in a mode where you're always in a new place, you're always having to discover, you're always having to explore, you're always have to stretch your definition of who you are," he said. "In that regard, the arts allow us to travel." Now, as the new director of UCSD's University Events Office, Wollesen is pushing open the university's borders through performance, music, film and talk.

In his new role, which he's held since January, Wollesen is responsible for a vast array of cultural and community programming, including the San Diego International Film Festival, rock and pop concerts and university-wide cultural celebrations. But Wollesen has been focusing an enormous amount of his energy on developing a vibrant, new performing arts series called ArtPower!.

"The notion behind ArtPower! is that art has the power to transform lives and can be appreciated regardless of your background," said Wollesen "You don't have to be a musician or a painter."

An outgrowth of Varieties, UCSD's previous performing arts programming, ArtPower! offers new opportunities to audiences, such as pre- and post-performance discussions with artists called ArtTalks!, events at Spreckels Theatre downtown, and student matinees specially designed for K-12 students. The choice of performers is also new.

"I made a movement toward international dance companies that are young and vibrant and pushing the boundaries of modern dance," said Wollesen, referring to artists such as the Beijing Modern Dance Company, who perform to the music of Pink Floyd's The Wall, and a choreographer from Australia that offers a smart and funny take on Swan Lake.

Prior to joining UCSD, Wollesen had the opportunity to experiment with some of his artistic visions as director of education and associate director of programming with Stanford University's Lively Arts program. Prior to Stanford, Wollesen was the director of Programming for Arts & Lectures at UC Santa Cruz. During his time in Santa Cruz, he also initiated an ongoing film series with the Film and Media Department and expanded university outreach efforts to include a large-scale middle school arts education program with Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Those experiences helped drive Wollesen to want to create a "new beginning" for the performing arts at UCSD. "My goal is not that everyone loves every single performance that we do," he said.

"My goal is that people walk away saying, 'Wow I discovered something new. Wow that was really interesting. What do you think about that?' I want people to engage in a conversation about what they saw."

Such questions are fundamental to what Wollesen is trying to accomplish through the performing arts. "It's an exciting and scary place to be, to be in a place where you have to question, where you don't have the answers," he said. "That's part of the intention of art. It is to raise questions and give us an opportunity to open up where we haven't opened up before."

Questioning things is a habit Wollesen learned through his diverse experiences as a child overseas. He spent much of his youth in the Philippines and Singapore, with spurts in Egypt, Portugal and Israel - much of the travel due to his father's job establishing production plans for an electronics company. His childhood was dotted by Chinese opera, music of the Middle East, plays such as Oedipus Rex performed in Tagalog, street opera, festivals, Chinese pop-songs and traditional Philippine dance.

"I come with a broad view of what the arts can be and what it can mean for folks," said Wollesen. "And through the arts, we begin to see the world through someone else's eyes. We hear the world through other peoples' ears."

Now, one of Wollesen's goals is to bring to San Diego what, so far, it hasn't gotten a chance to see, nor hear.