Branch Normal School
1897-1912
Music, Art, and Elocution taught by Annie Spencer (Milne)
1897-1905
1907-1908
Music Theory, Piano, Mandolin and Guitar, Orchestra, Band, and Voice Culture were added to the curriculum.
1912
Drama Club
Branch Agricultural College 1913-1953
May 1913
First recorded dance review under the direction of Isabelle Jackson
The change to Branch Agricultural College did not deter the school from offering a three-year music course.
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1914
BAC Band & Orchestra
Orien Dalley became director of the orchestra.
King Hendricks developed the dramatics club.
1924
1927
Roy Halversen went to BAC to teach band, orchestra, and theory.
During the Great Depression, “The school and town were sustained in their spirits by the extraordinary quality of cultural bright spots including operas, plays, dance programs, and art exhibits, chamber music, and grand orchestra and band concerts.”
SUU: A Heritage History, The First Hundred Years
written by Anne O. Leavitt
1950
Thorley’s donated their home to be the Thorley Music Hall as a home to the Music Department.
50th Anniversary of Branch Normal School
-Three night run of Puccini’s La Boheme
1947
November 1952
Library and Auditorium announced.
Performing Arts would now have a home.
February 8, 1953
Thorley Music Hall opened to the public. Pianos were given to the school by the Lions Club and the Rotary club.
College of Southern Utah
1953-1969
First performance in the new auditorium was Sigmund Romberg’s opera The New Moon.
It played for three nights. Followed by the first dramatic performances which included
Oedipus the King and Antigone.
April 1954
1955
Auditorium Completed
1959
Fred C Adams joined the faculty.
July 1-14, 1962
Utah Shakespearean Festival had their first season with students participating from the College of Southern Utah under the direction of Fred C Adams.
1965
Music Building
Legislature appropriated $750,000 for a new Fine Arts Center.
1967
Dr. Eugene T. Woolf was made dean of the School of Arts and Letters.
Technical Theatre Emphasis
1968
July 1, 1969
New flag was created by the staff of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, constructed by
Mary Judd, and presented by Fred C Adams.
1969
Fiddler on the Roof produced at CSU was the first off-Broadway production of the musical.
1970
1973-74
The drama department performed The Little Foxes and 1776.
1975
Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, named in honor of President Royden C. Braithwaite, became the home of the College’s growing permanent art collection.
The White House Ceremonial Guard uniforms used once in the Nixon administration were secured by Dr. Eugene T. Woolf.
1980
1982
Burch Mann moved the American Folk Ballet, her professional dance company, to Cedar City and established a dance program in the department of Theatre Arts with her daughter, San Christopher.
Roy Halversen died. He was awarded an honorary doctorate posthumously at commencement that year.
1982-86
Opus choir was developed by Professor Ron Aden.
June 23, 1989
The Randall L. Jones Theatre was dedicated.
Southern Utah University
1991-Present
2005-2006
Art and Design offers Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree
Halversen String Quartet held their world debut concert featuring members Xun Sun (violin), Ling Yu (viola), LuAnne Brown (violin), and Joan Hovada (cello).
November 11, 2005
February 13-18, 2006
SUU, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and
the Theatre Arts and Dance department hosted over 1,000 theatre students, directors, teachers, and presenters.
10th Anniversary of the College of Performing and Visual Arts
2008-2009
The SUU Percussion Ensemble was selected as the featured performer at the Utah Music Educators Convention.
2011-2012
March 27, 2014
Groundbreaking for the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts including Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, and artistic and production facilities for the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Southern Utah University received the 2017 Organization: Leadership in the Arts Award as part of the Governor’s Leadership in the Arts program sponsored by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. It was given for SUU’s important role in educating, creating, nurturing, promoting, and presenting a high caliber of performing arts, visual arts,
and arts administration.
2017
Dance bachelor degree program receives approval.
June 1996
2016
The hybrid online/three week in person Master of Music Education accepted its first students.
The online Master of Music-Music Technology accepted its first students.
2010-2011
Shauna Mendini becomes the third dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts.
2010-2011
Dream of Helen, a dance drama inspired by the life and achievement of Cedar City native, Helen Foster Snow, premiered at the Wuhan’s Qintai Grand Theatre in China’s Hubei Opera and Dance Drama Theatre of China.
April 2011
SUU dance students traveled to New York to take part in the Alwin Nikolais Centennial Celebration
July 7, 2016
The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts was dedicated.
1993
Shauna Mendini joins the dance faculty at Southern Utah University.
Southern Utah University is accredited by the
National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).
​
This was the first specialized accreditation for
Southern Utah University.
September 1, 1991
Southern Utah University is accredited by the
National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
September 1, 2005
Southern Utah University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of
Art and Design (NASAD).
April 1, 2007
2018-2019
The College of Performing and Visual Arts celebrate their 20th Anniversary.
2004-2005
Dr. William J. Byrnes becomes the second dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts.
1998-1999
College of Performing and Visual Arts created at SUU.
​
Dr. Charles Metten becomes first dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts.
