Celebrate the Grand Opening of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) with three weekends of world-class artistic performances and workshops, premieres of commissioned artworks, eye-opening exhibitions of research at the frontiers of science, and social events ranging from black-tie elegant to come-as-you-are eclectic.

For an up-to-date list of performances and more information please visit:
» http://www.empac.rpi.edu/

I hope that each of you will engage with EMPAC programs and explore what meaning EMPAC has for you. I guarantee that it will be challenging. I guarantee that it will be new. I guarantee that it will transform how we regard science, technology, and the arts, and their nexus — how we interact with the future, how we see ourselves as human beings.

— Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer.

The three opening weekends highlight, in turn, arts, science and technology, and campus community — and the impact of EMPAC upon them — with elements of each threaded throughout.

The Arts

The first weekend, October 3-5 will celebrate the expressive range that can be accommodated by EMPAC : from classical music presented in an environment of unprecedented acoustical purity, to interactive multimedia works that test the boundaries of performer and audience, to research exhibitions.

Research, Science, and Technology

The second weekend, October 9-12 we will host a symposium featuring eminent researchers from the science and engineering communities in a discussion about where those fields may intersect and connect with us, and the extent to which they will drive, challenge, augment, and inform each other.

Campus Community

The third weekend, October 16-19, will feature artistic performances ranging in media and style, and chosen in collaboration with Student Life, with the intent of reflecting the interests of the Rensselaer student body. It, also, is Rensselaer’s Family Weekend.

Throughout the opening, exhibits detailing our architectural and artistic history, as well as its future potential as a research platform, will be on display.