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VPA Breaking News!

Evening of Celtic Music 

Join us for a wonderful performance of Celtic Music with
Jamie Laval, U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion
and Irish-style guitarist Dan Compton

• Friday, June 7, 7:30-9:00 pm
• Cal State San Marcos Arts 111 Performance Hall
• 333 S Twin Oaks Valley Rd., San Marcos
• $20 general/$10 ALL students, CSUSM Faculty and Staff.
• Purchase tickets in advance at:http://jamielavalcsusm.eventbrite.com

(Website also has more information and directions Tickets also available at the door.)

Jamie Laval creates rapt audiences with his passionate performances of traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, and Quebec, blending an ancient art form with stunning virtuosity and contemporary flair that resonates with families, youth, seniors, and devotees of ethnic, jazz, and classical music. Hailed as “The next Alasdair Fraser” (Scotland Press and Post) and “One of the hottest fiddlers out there” (Asheville Citizen-Times), Laval appeared on the NBC Today Show, collaborated on Dave Mathews’ album “Some Devil,” and performed for Her Majesty the Queen. The most recent of his three solo albums won the popular vote for “Best World Traditional Album” in the 2012 Independent Music Awards.www.JamieLaval.com

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The 8th Annual CSUSM Media Festival Finalists are Here!

The 8th Annual CSUSM Student Media Festival was a great success! It brought together dozens of students, families, faculty, the community, and professional media makers in a powerful celebration that presented, celebrated, publicized, shared and archived the innovative media projects being produced by students at CSUSM.

Check out the finalists here!

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Robert Foxworth, accomplished actor and Steve Scott, accomplished runner discuss passion, perseverance, fear, being in the zone, risk taking and other elements that are important to them in their professions of being an artist or athlete for combined sections of VPA 321, "Learning Through the Arts".

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VPA Student Wins Poster Design Contest

The San Diego Jewish Food Festival (www.sdjewishfoodfest.com) has unveiled the winner of their poster contest for the April 28, 2013 event.

Sponsored and hosted by Temple Adat Shalom (TAS) of Poway, CA, this year’s festival is themed “Taste Tradition”. The event will be a day-long culinary journey featuring dozens of ethnic foods based on time-honored traditional recipes from around the world. Diners will be feted with exciting live music and activities suitable to all ages.

In addition to countless food booths with goodies that Grandma might have made, the festival will feature a wide assortment of deli and bakery delights from local delicatessens. The highly acclaimed celebrity chef cooking demonstrations will continue this year with The Marine Room’s Chef de Cuisine Ron Oliver serving as Master of Ceremonies.

Festival Co-Chair Diane Hillman promises something for every taste and budget. “We’ll have the exotic, the hard-to-find, and the usual goodies – bagels, lox, knishes, kugel, and sweets. Like Grandma said: ‘Try it, you’ll like it.’”

Once again this year, the JFF Organizing Committee invited art students attending local universities and colleges to develop the visual destined to become the marketing and advertising centerpiece in the festival’s promotional campaign.

“The significant number of excellent poster entries from local graphic design students continues to exceed our expectation,” notes TAS spiritual leader Rabbi David Castiglione. He adds “We are very excited about this poster and the clever and appealing way it tells our story.”

The winning poster was created by Amanda Umphrey – a graphic design student at CSU-San Marcos. In addition to having a winning entry as part of her work portfolio, Ms. Umphrey will also receive $180 cash prize for her winning design. Amanda and her family will also receive passes to the Festival as guests of Temple Adat Shalom.

Amanda Umphrey presents the winning San Diego Jewish Food Festival 2013 Poster Design to Marine Room Chef de Cuisine and JFF Master of Ceremonies Ron Oliver.

VPA Music Major Releases Album on iTunes

VPA Music student Scott Middough and alumnus Dave Saunders released an album this year with their group Blacktop Royalty. The debut album titled "Heart's Still at Home" is now available on iTunes, Spotify, and music retailers everywhere. Scott and Dave began working on projects together here in the Arts building studios, where they first started working on songs that eventually ended up on the album. Blacktop Royalty plans to promote the album and pursue touring in the near future. You can find their music on their Facebook page, as well as iTunes and Spotify.

Check out their promo video for "Against the Grain".

Here's the Kickstarter video that helped them record their album.