Student impresarios
The Student Entertainment Committee (SEC) facilitates student and professional performances
that appeal to “the diverse interests of the student body,” says SEC publicist Leila
Farrer ’16.
This year SEC’s “big show,” with comedian Hannibal Buress, sold 1,600 tickets. Earlier
events featured Pavo Pavo and Lucius in open-air concert outside the Tang Teaching
Museum. This Saturday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m., SEC will co-host the orchestral rock band
San Fermin in the Arthur Zankel Music Center. Tickets are $10, or $5 for students,
and available online or at the Zankel box office.
SEC members handle everything from booking, to promoting, to producing. To better understand audience interests, the club now has an open Google Docs platform where students can suggest acts they would like to see on campus and can post research about touring dates and estimated budget. SEC president Dorothea Trufelman ’16 and vice president Simon Klein ’17 act as a liaison between the student body, the club, and the agents. “My favorite part is the execution,” Trufelman says. “It’s always nice to have the work pay off in a live, tangible, and cumulative product.”
SEC leaders and members value the opportunity to build skill sets suited to the entertainment production world. Past SEC officers have interned or worked for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Inland Empire Touring agency, and other employers. Joining the club in her freshman year helped Trufelman develop her interest in the business. “My interest lies in not being the artist behind a piece, nor someone who does the technical production of it, but somewhere in the middle—someone who either brings a piece together or helps communicate it. That is definitely what my role in SEC falls under—the producer and programmer.”
“An SEC show is a social experience,” says Farrer, “and creates a bond between students through music and entertainment.” ~ By Lisa Fierstein
