MIFA Education Program
The goal of the MIFA Education Program is to introduce students to major arts events and disciplines. Students attend and participate in performances, workshops, masterclasses and they interact with major national and international artists and arts companies. The MIFA program utilizes visiting artists as instructors and teachers and devises age-appropriate experiences and lessons for students in conjunction with regional public and private school systems and various recreational and social service organizations.
Vocational Education Program
MIFA Victory Theatre Vocational Education Program is a collaboration of MIFA Victory Theatre with Holyoke Public and other regional schools, Holyoke Community College, and the International Association of Technical and Stage Employees (IATSE Local 53). Read full concept paper: Vocational Education Program Concept Paper
Past Education Events
University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School Of Music And The College Of Fine And Applied Arts - A Symposium on Puerto Rican Musical Creativity: Encuentro Puertorriqueño de Creación Musical
Date: March 30, 2023
The MIFA Victory Players members gave masterclasses at the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School Of Music And The College Of Fine And Applied Arts for students and faculty.
Pro Arte Musical “Música Abierta” program
MIFA Victory Players Open Rehearsal Live Stream
Date: January 12, 2023
Time: 8:30 am EST (9:30am AST)
Venue: Libre de Música San Juan Ernesto Ramos Antonini
The MIFA Victory Players took part in “Música Abierta” a program of Pro Arte Musical at the specialized school of Libre de Música San Juan Ernesto Ramos Antonini, in San Juan, PR. Members of the school symphony orchestra and piano and composition students will enjoy this open rehearsal by the ensemble.
Made possible by Fundación Ángel Ramos
Pregones/ PRTT Student Workshop
October 28, 2022
Thank you to Holyoke Media for their sponsorship and use of their new black box space! MIFA presented a theater workshop by Pregones / PRTT of NYC with Holyoke High SchoolHolyoke High School Theater and Media students. Thank you to Holyoke Local Cultural Council for their continued support.
Bomba De Aquì workshop
Holyoke Residency May 30th - June 12, 2022
Mount Holyoke College,
The MIFA Victory Players ensemble and composers took part in Bomba, Plena, dance and drum workshops with Holyoke's Bomba De Aquì dance and music company.
2021 MIFA Victory Players Virtual Educational Program
New! Full concert for Elementary, Middle, and High School grade levels, individual instrument workshops, composer talks, and bonus material.
Interact Now: www.victoryplayers.org/education-21
2020 MIFA Victory Players Virtual Educational Program
New! Full concert for Elementary, Middle, and High School grade levels, individual instrument workshops, composer talks, and bonus material.
Interact Now: www.victoryplayers.org/education-2020
Holyoke High School Performing and Media Arts Academy (PMA) Town Hall
TORCHED! & THE RED ROSE - Virtual Event by Pregones / Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre
Virtual Presentation and Talkback with Writer/Director Rosalba Rolón
Monday, December 21, 2020 at 12:00pm
Victory Players Contemporary Music Ensemble School Workshops Conductor Tianhui Ng and the Victory Players ensemble: Giovanni Pérez (Flute), Eric Schultz (Clarinet), Elly Toyoda (Violin), Clare Monfredo (Cello), Nathan Ben-Yehuda (Piano), and Robert Rocheteau (Percussion).
Chicopee Comprehensive High School Workshop Thursday, June 6, 2019
Holyoke High School Workshop Thursday, June 6, 2019
Gateway Regional High School Workshop Monday, June 3, 2019
South Hadley Plains Elementary School Workshop Friday, May 31, 2019
Around the World in 80 Days The Holyoke High School Theater Company, part of the Holyoke High School Performing & Media Arts Academy (PMA Academy) had the opportunity to shadow the National Players in the load-in and setup of the public performance for Around the World in 80 Days.
A Special School Performance of The Crucible was performed by the National Players at Holyoke High School on May 2, 2019. Students then got to participate in two masterclasses: Movement for Actors and Stage Combat, after the performance.
Open rehearsal of Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre in Dancing In My Cockroach Killers
Holyoke High School Theater and Media Literacy students and teachers at the open rehearsals with Pregones/PRTT, MIFA, and Palante
Victory Players Contemporary Music Ensemble School Workshops with Conductor Tianhui Ng, Cellist Yu Mi Bae, Pianist Han Chen, Flutist Giovanni Pérez, Percussionist Robert Rocheteau, Clarinetist Eric Schultz, and Violinist Elly Toyoda.
Holyoke High School Workshop Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Chicopee Comprehensive High School Workshop Thursday, June 7, 2018
Plains Elementary School South Hadley Workshop Friday, June 8, 2018
The Great Gatsby School Performance and Workshops National Players with the. Friday, May 4, 2018, Sears Auditorium, Holyoke High School at 9 AM
700 Holyoke High students attended the National Players production of The Great Gatsby.
10 students participated in the Theater Tech Workshop Led by National Players Dylan Arredondo, Melissa Carter, Amy Desrosiers, and Jared Graham
La Gringa Education Workshop with The UrbanTheater Company of Chicago.
Friday, September 22, 2017, El Mercado, 413 Main Street in South Holyoke.
Students from Kelly Elementary School, Morgan Elementary School, LightHouse Holyoke, and Holyoke High School participated with members of The UrbanTheater Company in an acting workshop.
Photo by radioplasma.com of “La Gringa” Education Workshop
Upon touring the Victory Theatre in November of 2016, students of LightHouse Holyoke became interested in coming back and using the Victory in their film projects.
Here is one short film by Crew, a student at LightHouse Holyoke:
“Thanks so much for the access and opportunity.” – Catherine Gobron, Co-Director and Co-Founder of LightHouse
MIFA hopes this will be the start of a great career in film for these students! We look forward to building more connections with local schools to incorporate the Victory Theatre, now and once it’s reopened, as a local learning tool for the Valley.
The Grapes of Wrath School Performance and Acting Workshop Monday, May 8, 2017, Sears Auditorium, Holyoke High School at 9 AM
Cast members Adam Turck and Moira Todd of the 68th Company of the National Players hosted an acting workshop with the Holyoke High School students.
22 students participated in the Acting Workshop.
Photos by Michael Moriarty of OneHolyoke CDC
LightHouse Holyoke added 25 new photos. November 19, 2016 ·
Masterclass with Compagnie des Petits Champs
April 6, 2016, 7:30 PM, New York Room, Mary Woolley Hall, Mount Holyoke College.
Students are invited to a masterclass with leading French actors!
Members of the Paris-based Compagnie des Petits Champs: Audrey Bonnet Clément Hervieu-Léger Daniel San Pedro Guillaume Ravoire
Share their expertise with area theater and French Language students!
To actively participate, please prepare a scene in French or English. We suggest plays from the French dramatic repertory, i.e. Molière, Duras, Racine, Corneille, Sartre, Anouilh, etc., or other francophone playwrights of your choosing. Limit one scene per organization. The masterclass/workshop will be conducted in both French and English
10 Students from Mount Holyoke College
20 Faculty & community in the audience.
Photos by Dan Overton:
(Left to right: Mt.Holyoke Prof of French Catherine Le Gouis, actor Daniel San Pedro, Production Manager Martin Roch, Mt.Holyoke Prof Theatre Arts Chair Vanessa James, actor/director Clément Hervieu-Léger, actress Audrey Bonnet, actor Guillaume Ravoire, Princeton Senior Lecturer in French & Italian Florent Masse, and MIFA Managing Director Kathy McKean.)
Conversation with a Living Legend: Archie Shepp September 16, 2015, Holyoke Senior Center, 3 – 5 PM
Moderated by Hampshire College Assistant Professor of African American studies, Christopher Tinson, featuring jazz great Archie Shepp, who spoke with music students from Holyoke High School (HHS) and Springfield Conservatory of the Arts (SCotA) about his unique history as a composer and performer. Enchanted Circle Theater and Stephen Burrell created a school workshop to familiarize the students with Shepp’s work and the history behind it, in advance of the conversation.
6 Students from HHS & SCotA
Workshop, Friday, September 11, 2015, 12:00 PM: Springfield Conservatory of the Arts 32 Students
Workshop, Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 12:15 PM: Holyoke High School 45 Students
Stephen Burrell, David Brewster, Archie Shepp, Don Sanders, Christopher Tinson, and Kathy McKean
This MIFA Education Program Special Event was made possible by grants from MassHumanities and Springfield Cultural Council
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket showing & African Drum performance Wednesday, May 6, 2015, Holyoke Community College, Leslie Phillips Theater
8 Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School Students
5 Incarcerated youth program students
1 Student Drummer from the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School (PVPA)
Audience members volunteer to play with renowned West African drummer Kabisko before the screening of James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket. Kabisko, formerly a resident teaching artist at New York’s Lincoln Center, now teaches at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School (PVPA) and the Five Colleges.
350 Students attended the Special School Performance. To Kill a Mockingbird, School Performance and Acting Workshop Monday, May 4, 2015, Sears Auditorium Holyoke High School.
350 Students attended the Special School Performance.
21 Dram Club students participated in the Acting Workshop.
Cast members Adam Turck and Anthony Golden, Jr., of the 66th Company of the National Players hosted a acting workshop with the Holyoke High School Dram Club students.
The workshop took place at Holyoke High’s Sears Auditorium after the Players special school performance of “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
du Printemps! After School Performance Friday, May 30, 2014, 4:00 pm, The Hub at Gateway City Arts.
100, K-12 students, from the Boys and Girls Club & Girls Inc. of Holyoke.
MIFA Victory Theatre and Vermont Performance Lab bring French choreographer Thierry Thieû Niang to New England for a three-week workshop and residency. Niang selected 24 local participants ages 60-90 (12 from the Holyoke area and 12 from Vermont) to work together to stage a powerful re-imagining of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra (HVGO) Concert/Workshop Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at 10:30 a.m.
75 Holyoke High School Students
The HVGO is made up of an unusual combination of twenty world-class guitarists who play a dazzling array of acoustic and electric guitars. The result is a new and beautiful sound that comes from an eclectic mélange of talent and instruments, and a sound that inspires musicians from a variety of traditions to work together. HVGO presents the music of popular and classical composers, whose works musical director Blanchette arranges to showcase the unique tonal characteristics and strengths of the ensemble. Sears Auditorium, Holyoke High School, Holyoke, MA
Film & Music Extravaganza Alexander Nevsky
30 Holyoke High School chorus members,
Mark Todd: Choral Director (choral and musical director at Holyoke High School and Music Department head of the Holyoke Public School)
Edwina Cruise: Language Coach (retired professor of Russian at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA)
at Holyoke High School
at United Congregational Church of Holyoke
Film & Music Extravaganza Alexander Nevsky: School Performance
November 15, 2012
200 Subsidized Student Tickets (William J. Dean Technical High School & Holyoke High School)
30 Holyoke High School chorus members
Mark Todd: Choral Director (choral and musical director at Holyoek High School and Music Department head of the Holyoke Public School) Edwina Cruise: Language Coach (retired professor of Russian at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA) United Congregational Church of Holyoke, Holyoke, MA read article here: Students enjoy cultural matinee Transportation provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s “Big Yellow School Bus” grant
Hal Holbrook in his legendary one-man show ‘Mark Twain Tonight’