Hecht, a Bennington trustee, also made an introduction to the foundation of another client, the late Broadway producer Lucille Lortel. That led to Bennington students’ securing paid internships at off-Broadway theaters.
“We’re being aware and taking advantage of opportunities that are out there,” Hecht said. “It was all there. We’re really connecting the dots.”
River Valadez picked Bennington over the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the University of Puget Sound and other schools in the Pacific Northwest near his hometown of Seattle.
Valadez , a rising senior, has a “concentration,” Bennington’s word for a major, in ceramics and music composition. This summer, building on his experience at a Bennington-related museum internship, he’s working in a ceramic studio in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
“The programs are awesome,” said Valadez, 22. The campus “is beautiful, and I could shape what I wanted to do.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.