Brian Belardi
As Dean Anne Hogan marks her first year leading both Chapman University’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA) and the Musco Center for the Arts, she’s focused on an ambitious vision for the future—one that connects students with professional artists, breaks down disciplinary barriers and positions Chapman as a distinctive force in performing arts education.
When Hogan, Ph.D., assumed leadership of the College of Performing Arts in July 2024, her role expanded to include the Musco Center as well. This dual appointment has become the foundation for her forward-looking strategy connecting academic programs with professional practice.
“We have an opportunity to enhance visibility and create deeper connections between the Musco Center and CoPA,” Hogan explains. “The fact that our students perform in this world-class venue and engage directly with visiting artists gives them experiences few other programs can match.”
Hogan brings exceptional credentials to this expanded role. After her professional career with Boston Ballet, she earned degrees from Harvard and Brown University before holding leadership positions at Ithaca College, the University of Memphis and London’s Royal Academy of Dance.
Looking ahead, Hogan’s strategic plan addresses the rapid transformation reshaping performing arts careers—a landscape increasingly defined by technology, entrepreneurship and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
“The performing arts are changing as we speak. Technology and AI are already fundamentally changing them,” Hogan says. “Our graduates want to direct their own careers and pursue multiple paths simultaneously.”
This understanding drives her vision for curriculum development that maintains artistic rigor while embracing innovation.
“What remains constant is the integrity of artistic and technical training,” she explains. “But we’re also developing students’ critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills so they can adapt to opportunities we can’t even imagine yet.”
In the coming year, Hogan plans to expand initiatives that give students professional exposure while still in school. Music composition students will continue creating scores for Dodge College of Film and Media Arts productions and recording them in professional Los Angeles studios. Dance students will perform with major companies, as they recently did with Doug Varone and Dancers. Theatre students will engage with industry professionals through expanded residency programs.
Interdisciplinary Horizons
Following upon CoPA’s successful piloting of its first fully interdisciplinary performing arts course during interterm, Hogan is making cross-disciplinary collaboration a centerpiece of her future strategy.
“Our students thrive when working across disciplines and want more opportunities to do so,” she notes. “We’re developing new curricular pathways that reflect how the professional arts world increasingly transcends traditional boundaries.”
The upcoming year will see an expansion of interdisciplinary projects, including a collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company, where dance students will perform a Martha Graham piece with Chapman’s orchestra providing live accompaniment instead of recorded music when the company performs at the Musco Center. The Martha Graham Dance Company is the longest continuously operating school of dance in the U.S. and is the only group that primarily uses the techniques of Martha Graham, a dancer and choreographer who was deemed “Dancer of the Century” by Time magazine.
Opportunities like these showcase the exceptional quality of student performers across departments.
Distinctive Engagement and Looking Forward
For the Musco Center, Hogan envisions a distinctive identity that leverages its university setting to provide deeper arts engagement for audiences. “What distinguishes us from other theaters is our university campus with all the educational resources we can offer,” she says. “We’re creating opportunities for audiences to engage with artists and understand the cultural context of performances in ways other venues can’t match.”
This strategy will take concrete form in the contemporary dance series featuring Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Beyond the performances themselves, Hogan will create educational resources featuring interviews with artistic directors exploring the evolution and sustainability of these landmark companies.
As she begins her second year, Hogan sees the College of Performing Arts and Musco Center as increasingly vital components of Chapman’s identity, embodying the university’s commitment to personalized education and forwardthinking approach.
“When our students graduate, we want them not just to thrive in whatever profession they choose, but to be the agents of change—the ones driving the performing arts forward,” Hogan concludes. “That’s how we’ll measure our success in the years ahead.”
