As the Doudna Fine Arts Center begins wrapping up its last few events of the fall semester, there will be even more performances students can look forward to coming in the spring.

Dwight Vaught, the assistant dean of the college of arts and humanities, said this semester performances went as expected.

“Each show is different in terms of content, audience appeal and size of performance venue so there is no way to make generalizations,” Vaught said. “For the most part, the turnout was what we expected and planned for.”

Vaught said there was no way to tell which semester line will perform better than the other since each season is different.

“Success is an elusive word as everyone has their own idea of what constitutes success,” Vaught said. “We try not to go by numbers as much as wide-spread impact.”

Vaught said most of the shows this semester provided a positive impact at both Eastern and the Charleston Community.

“The first three shows, Moore Brothers Band, Orchid Ensemble and the Seldoms Dance Company had major educational impact as each of them was in the region for a three-day residency,” Vaught said. “Between those three shows and their extended residencies, we took the power of the various artistic disciplines to nearly 2,000 people in the community.”

Examples of the future Doudna performances in the spring included Jason Marsalis headlining the EIU Jazz Festival in February, the Welling International Ukulele Orchestra in March and the already sold-out January performance, the Russian National Ballet Theater.

Vaught said while the ballet performance is already sold out, the two shows that may have the biggest audience turnout are between Lunasa with Tim O’Brien and the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra performances.

“We try to bring performances and productions that will entertain, educate, inspire emotion and thought and leave something behind for the people they touch,” Vaught said. “How it touches people at any given performance is very personal and not up to use. By the time the artists arrive on site, it’s no longer ‘our’ show, it’s the audience’s show.”

Vaught also said the spring semester concert will be different from the fall, featuring more headliners in jazz, Irish, and world music.

“The connection from the point is between the performers and the audience,” Vaught said. “Hopefully we made a good choice and the people respond.”

Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu