On Oct. 1, the Hopkins Center for the Arts held its inaugural “Five to Seven” program at the Top of the Hop, a free weekly series showcasing student artists across a range of disciplines. Scheduled to run every Thursday this term through Nov. 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the program is organized primarily by the Hopkins Center Fellows — students who work on experiential learning initiatives at the Hopkins Center, according to fellowships and student initiatives manager Daniel Burmester.
Each show is “curated and created through the student lens” according to Burmester, meaning that the lineup — featuring a new show each week — reflects what students want to see and share.
Burmester said the fellows were inspired to start the program by their experience organizing and executing the HanUnder Arts Festival — a three-day festival that showcases a variety of arts disciplines practiced on campus. The third annual festival was held at the Hopkins Center in April. Burmester called it “the largest student arts festival in the Ivy League” and said a total of 100 student artists were paid for their participation.
Burmester said HanUnder helped him and the Hopkins Center fellows realize the necessity of a “regular” space and time for artistic expression on campus.
“We knew we needed to make something that was regular for [student artists], like a consistent space for them to showcase their work,” Burmester said. He added that they wanted to “do everything that we [could] to make them feel seen and celebrated.”
The debut “Five to Seven” showcase featured performances from the student band Cherry Hills and monologues from members of the student-run Shakespeare company, the Rude Mechanicals. The event also included tables run by Hopkins Center fellows.
Ari Rabinowitz ’28, a Rude Mechanicals member who performed a soliloquy from “Hamlet,” said he appreciated the event’s “informal” atmosphere, true to the program’s description on the website as “Top Talent. Low Key.”
“It’s like an excuse for us to do what we love without that much pressure,” Rabinowitz said.
Hopkins Center fellow Ava Razavi ’27, who helped organize student bands for the program, also underscored the advantage of the casualness. She said she believes the atmosphere to be conducive to established artists as well as those who can benefit from having an audience without the high stakes.
“Especially for newer bands that have just got to campus, they need some time to warm up … to get reps in,” Razavi said. “It’s a pretty low-stakes environment; a lot of people are chatting or doing their own things, but it’s still an audience.”
Underscoring the casual vibe, Burmester said he has likened the Top of the Hop to a “living room” in discussions with Hop fellows.
Besides the student performances, Burmester said “Five to Seven” invites attendees to make their own visual or written art through “low-barrier art activities.” Recent examples include coloring books, a writer’s corner and a film interest table.
Hopkins Center fellow Ahmed Chaudhry ’27, who runs the writer’s corner — a table for students to produce writing during the event — explained that he and the other fellows are “trying to construct a space where you are producing art in the company of art” as part of the program.
Chaudhry said he hopes that, in future iterations of the event, poets will perform alongside singer-songwriters, and that students may also share writing composed in the writer’s corner.
Another table was run by the Hopkins Center’s film management fellow Solveig Lyssand ’28, who said she was recruiting student artists to join the Hopkins Center database and “create an artist’s profile” for the chance to be booked for events including the “Five to Seven” series.
Lyssand added that the new database will be “a great resource to be able to connect artists with each other,” strengthening the artistic community on campus.
Burmester said the series has grown, and continues to grow, through trial and error.
“Like that curation element is experimentation for our fellows too — like, ‘What can we make work up here?’” Burmester said.
Hopkins Center marketing fellow Edith Stevenson ’27 highlighted that the experimentation process includes the business side of the event.
“I get to look at ticket numbers and see what’s selling well, what maybe needs a little extra push and, especially from a student perspective, ‘What’s appealing to me?’” Stevenson said.
“That’s one thing I really love — how much the student voices are valued,” she added.
