Apparently, the Bema is more than just a pre-Freshmen DOC trip and late-night hotspot.
Come Aug. 20, the site will be the centerpiece of the third International Open Mic Music Festival, a three-day event that will host over 59 musical performances. The event will cost patrons $8 per day. However, organizers also said the festival will circulate its performers for free performances at venues throughout town, including the Canoe Club, Murphy's on the Green and Collis Center,
Festival promoter Paul Gardner '81 said that organizers decided on the Bema to host this year's incarnation of the event because it has an ideal layout for a concert venue. The Bema can hold up to 3,500 people at maximum capacity, Gardner said.
Because the symposium is an "open mic" event, anyone who signed up for a timeslot can perform. This makes the event unique, Gardner said, since organizers and patrons cannot be entirely sure of the genre and quality of the musical performances that they will listen to until the acts performs.
"We really don't know what we are going to see. Some of the acts have sent me demos so we have a feel for what they are going to do, " Gardner said.
Mojomusic.com will broadcast the event via Internet, Gardner added.
At present, there is only one Dartmouth student, Mats Lemberger '06, set to perform at the symposium.
