Jedediah Wheeler has produced, managed and presented unique works in theater, dance, music, opera and performance art for leading performing arts centers and major international festivals since 1976. As executive director for Arts and Cultural Programming, Wheeler brings his background and vision for the future to Montclair State where he has already begun laying the groundwork for the University's mission. That mission is to present artists who challenge the conventions of dance, music, theater and opera, and who will be embraced and given the opportunity to realize their work without compromise.

"At the heart of Montclair State's arts and cultural programming is the conviction that the academic community is the ideal place to move culture forward and to test the boundaries of conventional wisdom," he said. "My goal is to present as many examples of performance excellence as possible, including student and faculty work underscoring the University as a creative campus that positively impacts New Jersey, the region and beyond."

From his early career experience at A Bunch of Experimental Theaters, Inc., an artists' collective focused on booking and public relations, including organizing the first American tour of Charles Ludlum's celebrated "Camille," to his development of Lincoln Center's "Serious Fun!," an innovative performance festival that ran for seven years and earned him and OBIE for Outstanding Achievement as producer, Wheeler has been committed to live performance and the unique experience audiences receive while going to the theater.

With the inaugural performance of the Kasser Theater by Mikhail Baryshnikov in "Forbidden Christmas or The Doctor and The Patient" this week, Wheeler discussed the role and impact his new program will have on Montclair State and the surrounding community.

Q: What role does higher education currently play in American cultural life and what larger role do you think it can or should play?
A: In thepast twenty years higher education has taken center stage in sustaining and presenting the performing arts. Institutions large and small offer presenting programs, sometimes along side academic programs, which collectively represent the heartbeat of performance in our culture. In the early years, theaters on campuses were regarded as facilities that needed to be filled no matter what. Within time a handful of visionary arts administrators developed performance series that reflected a commitment to what might be best described as high culture. Today the role of arts administrator has expanded even more to encompass a curatorial function embracing a broad cross section of art forms.

Q: How is Montclair State taking steps toward that vision?
A: The challenge for higher education, now that it is central to the well being of our performing arts culture, is to produce new work. In this way, Montclair State can both reflect what is happening around the world and contribute to its ongoing life. We are developing a new program that presents and produces the visionary artists of our time.

Q: What role does the arts play in an academic community?
A: The arts have the capacity to bring diverse audiences together in a single place to share a common experience. In doing so the hallmark of the arts experience becomes an emotional bond shared by many, emphasizing that creativity is a universal human experience. The arts symbolize the potential we all possess for invention.

Q: What is the University's new arts programming mission under your direction?
A: With relative candor, I hope to animate MSU with work both invited and produced that will underscore a core belief that the performing arts can be a catalyst for social change and personal revelation. This will be achieved through reaching out to artists from around the world who do not necessarily fit preconceived ideas about the conventions of dance, music, theater or opera.

Q: What can audiences expect from programming and performances by students, faculty and professional artists?
A: At the heart of what appears on our stages should be work that cannot or has not been done anywhere else. Whatever we present or produce should be viewed through a prism of excellence and must contribute to our own community's growth as well as that of the extended community beyond Montclair. Within time, I hope that the distinction between professional and non-professional work is blurred, and that work offered by faculty as well as by students is as challenging as invited work.

Q: Having spent many years in the professional arts, what appealed to you about working in an academic environment?
A: The academy is where ideas are best nurtured and incubated without constraint of factors that might be described as commercial. This is where risks can be taken, where discovery is welcomed--and endorsed. Just as a biologist investigates and seeks breakthroughs, the artist should have a place to reach beyond the status quo with the expectation that new ideas might, indeed become conventional wisdom and practice for the next generation.

Q: You've said that a "groundbreaking program has enormous potential to bring recognition to the institution." What is your vision as to how Montclair State will be regarded in the future when it comes to the arts?
A: By taking a bold position in the performing arts, I expect MSU to be regarded not only as equal to the handful of other major institutions nationally, but more specifically as a leader in sustaining, training and presenting the arts worldwide.

Q: What role does the Kasser Theater, as well as the other performance venues on campus, play in the success of the programming?
A: Kasser is a gem. With a generous stage and an intimate house, it is an unbeatable combination. The artists are able to realize their vision and the audience is able to have an up close and personal experience unavailable elsewhere. While it is a bit premature for me to define uses for the other spaces, MSU, given the variety of spaces--the amphitheater jumping out front--has potential for hosting a festival or two in which all spaces are operating simultaneously.

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