Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef will welcome the new academic year by celebrating the arts at his annual convocation address to faculty, staff and students from 11 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Oct. 2. The event marks the official opening of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts to the campus community and will feature performances from the campus academic arts departments.

This convocation will be the first official campus event to be held inside the Mondavi Center and will be followed by the gala opening Oct. 3. The campus and surrounding community are invited to attend the convocation program.

Mondavi Center will serve as a world-class venue for the UC Davis departments of Music and Theatre and Dance, a major K-12 arts education program, and one of the largest arts and lectures presenting programs in the nation. Construction began two years ago on the 1,800-seat hall and 250-seat studio theatre. Mondavi Center has been financed through a combination of university funds and $30 million in private gifts, including a $10 million gift to name the building from famed Napa wine maker Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit, and a $5 million gift from Davis resident and longtime arts patron Barbara Jackson.

During the convocation celebration, the UC Davis Chorus, conducted by Associate Professor Jeffrey Thomas, will sing the National Anthem, to be followed by a talk on "Celebrating the Arts" and the state of the campus by the chancellor. The Department of Theatre and Dance will perform "Undimmed," choreographed by Associate Professor Della Davidson. A musical piece entitled "Threshold" by Assistant Professor Laurie San Martin will be performed. And finally, the "Grand Symphonie Triomphale," conducted and adapted by Jonathan Elkus of the music faculty, will be performed to conclude the hour.

Following the convocation, the community is invited to a reception in the Corin Courtyard just north of the center.