History of CES
at Frostburg State University
In 1956, the Joffrey Theatre Dancers, now known as the Joffrey Ballet, travelled to the mountains of western Maryland to present their first public performance at Frostburg State Teachers College. Since that time, outstanding professional artists have appeared through the university’s professional arts series. Over the years, guests have included influential jazz icons like Herbie Hancock and Dave Brubeck, the illustrious Martha Graham and Paul Taylor dance companies, country and bluegrass musician Kathy Mattea, actors John Astin, Jack Klugman, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, the incomparable Maya Angelou and Coretta Scott King, legendary playwright Arthur Miller, the Vienna Choir Boys and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Each year, the university’s Cultural Events Series (CES) presents a high-quality professional performing arts season involving artists whose presence might otherwise be unheard of in a rural region. The series brings to the stage diverse genres within the disciplines of theatre, music, dance and circus arts, with programming taking place between September and June. In the past 10 years alone, visiting artists, who have appeared at prestigious venues like the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Palais Garnier, have come from India, Tibet, the People’s Republic of China, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Russia, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
- Full history of performers by decade
- CES Artist Grammy winners and nominees
- CES Artist awards and distinctions
Bill Mandicott
Few people have had more influence on the program’s evolution than longtime Cultural Events Series leader Bill Mandicott, who retired from Frostburg State University in 2022. Bill’s remarkable career spans more than 40 years of professional experience in higher education administration – both regionally and nationally – with an emphasis on the arts, community engagement, national service and civic engagement.
CES grew exponentially after Bill’s arrival in Frostburg in 1989 and his ingenuity and vision provided the community with extraordinary new ways to experience the transformative power and beauty of the arts. His work has led to prestigious grant awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Arts Midwest and the Maryland State Arts Council, to name only a few.
Bill was a driving force behind innovative CES programs that “push the envelope.” Among the many large-scale projects he initiated are “Stirrings,” in which scientists, environmentalists, theatre designers, dancers, a composer and an award-winning poet worked together to create a new dance work based on Barbara Hurd’s acclaimed book, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination; A Centennial Celebration, a three-act performance that gathered professional dancers, regional musicians, FSU adventure sports and dance students to commemorate FSU’s 100 year anniversary; Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the Cumberland Choral Society and the FSU Music Department; and Arts for Adjudicated Youth, which reached male teenagers undergoing state-sponsored criminal rehabilitation by engaging them in immersive arts experiences
Numerous FSU alumni moved on to achieve professional success thanks in part to Bill’s mentorship, including Diana Ezerins, Director of Programming at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and former Director of Public Programs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; four-time Emmy-nominated television producer Jill King; Sarah Hill Smith, Senior Vice President at National Conference Services, Inc., which serves the Department of Defense and the federal intelligence community; Alison Combes, founding CEO of the Washington National Cathedral’s resident choral ensemble, Cathedra; and Melanie Moore, current CES Director.
Bill’s role in cultivating a robust arts environment has extended far beyond the local tri-state region. In his shifting roles as a member of the Maryland State Arts Council – as Councilman, as Secretary-Treasurer and ultimately as Chair – he repeatedly demonstrated his conviction that the arts must play a significant role for society to thrive. As committee chair to draft the Maryland State Arts Council’s 2014-19 Strategic Plan, he further influenced MSAC’s strategy to guarantee the health of Maryland’s cultural future by fostering a vibrant, state-wide arts ecosystem. Other state and national roles include serving as a board member of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, as co-coordinator of Maryland Presenting Arts Network, as a National Endowment for the Arts grant panelist, and as chair of the Governor’s Commission on Service & Volunteerism.
Bill’s many accolades include the Maryland Governor’s Service Award, which honored his significant contributions to the state and its citizens; the Pennsylvania Presenters Award, which recognized his meaningful service to the arts presenting field; and the inaugural FSU President’s Distinguished Staff Award, which honored his accomplishments in expanding the role of civic leadership in western Maryland.
CES has undergone several name changes throughout its nearly 70-year history: the Assembly Committee, the Artist Series Committee, the Artist & Lecture Series, Cultural Events Series and, finally, CES at Frostburg State University. Regardless of its title, the program has remained committed to bringing the arts to community members in the rural tri-state region of Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
