A Review of the Collage Showcase

Written by Ema Bekic, Alex Workman, & Xiye Chen

On Oct. 4, the annual IAA showcase Collage was hosted in Corson Auditorium. This performance, which contains art from students within each major, is a widely anticipated event and a highlight of Family Weekend. With its 46-year history, it demonstrates students’ outstanding improvements through intensive practice in the first month of school. 

Collage occurred three times over the course of Family Weekend, showing from Oct. 4-6.

Starting with a cover of “Hard Place” through a collaboration between the Pop Ensemble and the Chamber Singers and ending with a piece from the IAA Orchestra, Collage was a fantastic way for families and visitors alike to see what the students were working on. 

Some of the highlights were the Visual Artists’ spotlights on specific students, Theatre’s monologues and songs from this semester’s shows, and Dance’s excerpts from Raymonda and The Empty Space In-between. 

Students from each department of the school get the ability to participate. While some students perform with an ensemble and are not required to audition, other performers are hand-selected by faculty. 

Violet Baker, a second-year junior Creative Writing major, and fellow student Romeo Caterino, a first-year Creative Writing senior, were chosen as representatives for their major in Collage. Violet describes the process of auditioning as a Creative Writing major.

“Anyone could sign up. You submitted a PDF file of your poem [or monologue] to the director of Creative Writing and the rest of the Writing teachers.” She added, “You then read your poem to the entire Creative Writing department as part of the audition.” 

After being chosen, students rehearse nearly everyday prior to the performance. With lots of new faces joining the Academy, the 2025 Collage was exceptionally impressive. 

“It was great to see that all the sections were working well with each other,” said IAA Orchestra member Joseph Zhang, a second-year junior. 

Though the Orchestra performed last, Corson Auditorium remained vibrant throughout. Every seat in Corson was filled.

Tessa Duncan, a four-year senior violin major, said, “It was cool to perform in front of a sold-out audience,” 

Each performance was widely attended as students, parents, and even guests from Traverse City came to watch. As it is every year, Collage was a success.