Lehigh at Musikfest: ‘Celebrating Innovation at the Intersection of Disciplines’

Last year, Musikfest attracted an estimated 1.33 million visitors to the Bethlehem area, including the South Bethlehem community that encompasses Lehigh’s campus.

The 10-day music festival—and preview night—entices thousands of guests daily with nationally-known musical acts of all genres, food vendors and other performances, such as comedy shows and buskers. This year, in partnership with ArtsQuest, Lehigh is adding to the list of festivities with a live podcast taping of “Creative Confidential” at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, followed by a performance by multimedia artist and writer DJ Spooky at Levitt Pavillion.

Guests can also visit “Lehigh Lounge,” for a Makerspace pop-up at the South Bethlehem location of Mister Lee’s Noodles. It will include live demonstrations from Lehigh faculty, staff and students; hands-on activities, live music, food, drinks and Lehigh-themed giveaways.

The Lehigh-sponsored events are free. Musikfest is in its 41st year, and according to organizers, has become the largest non-gated music festival in the country. It runs Aug. 1-11.

Provost Nathan Urban has been interested in showcasing Lehigh to the Musikfest crowd since he began at the university four years ago.

“We would like to find a way to give some of those 1.3 million visitors an introduction to Lehigh,” Urban said. “If even 2% of the people who come to Musikfest walk away with a positive impression of Lehigh University, that would be 26,000 people who might look at a graduate program at Lehigh, might one day send their kids to Lehigh, or come to understand something about Lehigh’s strengths in research and innovation.”

Urban and other Musikfest + Lehigh organizers were inspired by the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas, an annual festival and conference that celebrates the convergence of interactive technology, film, television and music industries.

“I would like for people coming to Musikfest to learn that Lehigh is an innovative, pragmatic, human-scale research university. I would like for them to see Lehigh as a part of the community and a place where great ideas are put into practice, and where we educate people who want to make the future through innovative research and education,” Urban said. “I would like for them to leave thinking that they want to discover more.”

Lehigh Events at Musikfest

From 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas during a live-audience taping of three podcast episodes of “Creative Confidential,” hosted by Bryan Tuk, a jazz musician, local attorney and entrepreneur.

Tuk’s weekly podcast invites listeners into conversations with filmmakers, artists, musicians and non-profit CEO’s about their professional and artistic journeys, their influences and the challenges they’ve faced along the way.

“We are excited to bring performers and speakers to the Musikfest audience who can connect innovation and the arts in exciting and interesting ways,” said Lisa Getzler, Lehigh’s vice provost for entrepreneurship, who helped organize this year’s events.

“We are celebrating innovation at the intersection of disciplines,” Getzler said. “That’s what fuels a lot of the work we do at Lehigh, combining the different ways people think and do their work from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.”

Guests for the Aug. 8 podcast include DJ Spooky, (Paul Dennis Miller); Dick Boak, artist, writer, woodworker, musician and longtime Martin Guitar employee, and Bill Childs, award-winning creative director, author, designer and strategist.

From 6-7 p.m. at Levitt Pavillion, DJ Spooky will perform a multimedia presentation of his “Arctic Rhythms” with a string quartet featuring Lehigh faculty musicians.

In 2007 and 2008, Miller undertook two expeditions to Antarctica to shoot a film and create an acoustic portrait of the rapidly changing continent. Those trips led to his publication, “The Book of Ice,” and his 2013 album, “Of Water and Ice.”

Sponsored by the Sierra Club, in 2014 he traveled to the Arctic Circle and was inspired to write another volume of music, “Arctic Rhythms.” That same year, Miller was named National Geographic Emerging Explorer. “Arctic Rhythms” draws the audience in with projected imagery, live and recorded hip-hop and electronic music, and a live string ensemble.

Miller has collaborated with artists including Metallica, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Steve Reich and Yoko Ono. He was also the Artist in Residence at Yale University Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.

Lehigh Lounge

From 3-7 p.m. on Aug. 9 and 10, festival goers are invited to Mister Lee’s Noodles at 512 E. 3rd St. in Bethlehem to explore and enjoy the “Lehigh Lounge.”

Jill Forrest, Lehigh’s director of academic outreach, attended SXSW this past March and was inspired by a bar/lounge space that the University of Texas at Austin had set up.

“It had this great balance of a fun activity where people were able to cool off and have a drink, have something to eat and learn about what was happening on campus,” she said. Student researchers were on hand showcasing projects they were working on.

Forrest brought the idea back to Lehigh where she worked with Tyler Groft, director of the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation, to create a similar event that would engage faculty, staff, students and Musikfest attendees.

It was important to keep the event in the Southside, in Lehigh’s backyard, Forrest said, emphasizing that Lehigh Lounge is open to everyone, including community members.

Attendees will get a bracelet that allows them a free cocktail or mocktail and a bite-size noodle dish from Mr. Lee’s. Students, including those participating in the Mountaintop Summer Experience Program and The Hatchery: Student Idea Accelerator through Baker Institute, will give hands-on demonstrations of projects they are working on. For example, some projects may involve guests wearing virtual reality headsets, Groft said.

“Here in the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh University is doing all these really cool, impressive, amazing things, and we have all these resources available to students, faculty and staff members to carry their ideas forward,” Groft said. “That’s what this is a showcase of. We are the future makers; this event clearly demonstrates that we are arming people with the skills they need to create some cool innovations.”