2025 a2ru Conference: “Creative Futures: Driving Interdisciplinary Innovation Through the Arts”
About the Conference & Host
A2ru’s next annual conference will take place October 23-25, 2025 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This will be an in-person conference. Conference activities will begin at 9am Thursday, October 23 and conclude by 1pm on Saturday, October 25. A full schedule will be available in July.
The a2ru national conference is an opportunity for practitioners and researchers from across higher education to share innovations and perspectives in the arts. a2ru advances the full range of arts- and design-integrative research, curricula, programs, and creative practice to acknowledge, articulate, and expand the vital role of higher education in our global society. a2ru’s work, in partnership with an international network of leading higher education institutions, allies, and partners, envisions a world in which universities—students, faculty, and leaders—explore, embed, and integrate the arts in everyday practice and research.
Image above: Ho-Chunk banners are pictured hanging between the building columns of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The three-paneled banners, entitled Seed to Seed, were created by UW–Madison doctoral student Molli Pauliot and professors Marianne Fairbanks and Stephen Hilyard. (Drone photo by Jason Weiss / University Communications)
The Theme
This year’s theme, “Creative Futures: Driving Interdisciplinary Innovation Through the Arts,” explores how future-thinking in the arts can reimagine and redefine disciplines, collaboration, and the academy to better meet the demands of our rapidly shifting technological, ecological, and political landscape. How can we center creativity in the interdisciplinary problem solving needed to meet these current challenges? How can we use the arts to advance our goals of sustainability, social justice, and human flourishing? In this moment, how can the arts illuminate what it means to be a human being?
Featured Speakers
Praised for “combining omnivory and brilliance” (The New York Times), six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated violinist and composer Curtis Stewart translates stories of American self determination to the concert stage. Tearing down the facade of “classical violinist,” Stewart is in constant pursuit of his musical authenticity, treating art as a battery for realizing citizenship. As a solo violinist, composer, Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, professor at The Juilliard School, and member of award-winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail, he realizes a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures, and musics. He was awarded a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence in recognition of extraordinary leaders in the classical music field who are transforming lives while addressing systemic obstacles within Black and Latino communities.
He has multiple upcoming albums: Seasons of Change with Bright Shiny Things, Stewart’s solo recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which incorporates audio interviews from unhoused individuals; an album as featured soloist in world premiere orchestral recordings by Samuel Coleridge Taylor on AVIE Records alongside the National Philharmonic under Michael Repper; and Sphinx Virtuosi’s summer 2025 album, American Mirror, out with Deutsche Grammophon, which features Stewart’s works Drill and Double Down.
As a soloist, Curtis Stewart has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cal Performances, Washington Performing Arts, Virginia Arts Festival, The Juilliard School, and the 2022 GRAMMY® Awards, among many others. He has made special appearances with Los Angeles Opera and singer-songwriter Tamar Kali; as curator and guest soloist with Anthony Roth Costanzo and the New York Philharmonic “Bandwagon,” touring performance installations from NYC’s Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art; to MTV specials with Wyclef Jean; and sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Seal.
Stewart has been nominated for multiple GRAMMY® Awards for Best Classical Instrumental Solo: his recording of Julia Perry’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Experiential Orchestra (Bright Shiny Things) was nominated in 2025, his album of quarantined song cycles and art videos, Of Power (Bright Shiny Things) was nominated in 2021, and his album of Love. – a tribute to his late mother Elektra Kurtis-Stewart – was nominated in 2023. Stewart’s PUBLIQuartet’s album What Is American (Bright Shiny Things) was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY® Award as well.
Stewart has been commissioned to compose new solo, chamber, and orchestral works by the Seattle Symphony, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall’s Play/USA, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and members of the New York Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Juilliard Prep, The Knights, La Jolla Music Society, Sybarite5, the New York Festival of Song, Newport Classical Festival, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Eastman Cello Institute, Orlando Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and more. In 2022, he was named Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, a national organization dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by diverse and innovative American composers.
An enthusiastic educator, Curtis Stewart currently teaches at The Juilliard School and the Perlman Music Program, and for ten years led all levels of music theory and orchestra at the LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts in NYC. Learn more at www.curtisjstewart.com.
Registration
Registration is now open! Please note: We will not be offering virtual registration options this year.
Member Rates:
Individual: $549
Student: $419
Contingent/Independent Scholar/Artist: $279
Non-Member Rates:
Individual: $659
Student: $529
Contingent/Independent Scholar/Artist: $329
Please contact us at a2ruconnect@umich.edu with questions or to arrange group registrations.
a2ru Conference Registration Policies
Categories
Individual Member
This includes the staff, faculty, and administrators who are currently employed at our member institutions or anyone who has purchased an individual membership.
Individual Non-Member
Full time faculty, staff and administrators at institutions that are not a2ru members.
Students
Students currently enrolled in an associate’s or higher program at any educational institution. If the student has received their PhD, they must currently be enrolled in a post-doctoral program at an educational institution. Part-time students are eligible. Those students who have purchased individual memberships or attend an a2ru member institution qualify for the student member rate.
Contingent/Independent
Contingent faculty, independent artists, performers, and scholars. Staff with no institutional support as well as retired/emeritus faculty are also eligible for this category. Those who have purchased individual memberships or are contingent faculty, staff without institutional support, or retired/emeritus faculty at an a2ru institution qualify for the contingent/independent member rate.
Refunds
Registrations are non-refundable.
Please choose your category carefully when registering. Partial refunds will not be given if you choose the wrong category (non-member if you are a member, etc.).
In the event that a2ru must cancel the conference in its entirety due to circumstances beyond the control of a2ru or venues hosting the event, a2ru may refund the appropriate registration fees to conference registrants. Cancellation of the event in its entirety would only occur for reasons including but not limited to, forces of nature and natural disasters, war, government regulations, sequestration, travel advisories, outbreaks of disease, acts of terrorism or threat of terrorism, disaster, strikes, civil disorder, curtailment of transportation facilities, or other emergencies that make it inadvisable by local, state or federal government officials, illegal or impossible to provide the facilities or to hold the event. Refund requests after the event due to a no-show will be denied.
Under no circumstances will refunds be made for travel expenses related to the conference. Attendees who purchase non-refundable airline tickets do so at their own risk.
Please check with hotels and transportation directly regarding their cancellation policy. Requests to cancel must be made directly with the hotel or transportation company.
Transfers
To an Individual
A one-time transfer of a paid registration (within the same membership category) can be made before October 1. A $30 administrative transfer fee will be assessed. No transfers will be made on or after October 1, 2024. If the original registrant requested or if the new registrant requires accommodations for dietary restrictions or disabilities, please note this in the request. While we will do our best, certain accommodations may not be able to be made for requests conveyed after September 1, 2024.
All transfer requests must be submitted in writing via e-mail to a2ruconnect@umich.edu.
Travel and Lodging
As this year’s conference coincides with UW’s family weekend, we strongly recommend booking hotel accommodations and flights as soon as possible.
Local Hotels with Group Rates for a2ru Conference Attendees
a2ru has negotiated group rates at three Madison area hotels:
1) Residence Inn Madison West/Middleton
8400 Market Streetm Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
Rate: $159/night (Through October 7)
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 21 minutes
Public Transportation Time to Conference Registration: 37 minutes
Booking link: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1748523757612&key=GRP&phoenix=true
2) Courtyard Madison East
2502 Crossroads Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53718
Rate: $125/night (through September 22)
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 21 minutes
Public Transportation Time to Conference Registration: 44 minutes
Booking Link: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1747946530325&key=GRP&guestreslink2=true&app=resvlink
3) Best Western Plus InnTowner Madison
2424 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53726-3811
Rate: $179/night (through October 2)
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 34 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 9 minutes
Public Transportation to Conference Registration: 12 minutes
Booking Link: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.50082.html?groupId=5P0UG5S3
Other Recommended Local Hotels
a2ru and our conference hosts at UW—Madison recommend these area hotels, though we do not have group rates available for conference attendees.
Graduate By Hilton Madison
601 Langdon St, Madison, WI 53703
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 7 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 4 minutes
Website
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club
1 W Dayton St, Madison, WI 53703
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 16 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 4 minutes
Public Transit Time to Conference Registration: 10 minutes
The Edgewater
1001 Wisconsin Place, Madison, WI 53703
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 15 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 5 minutes
Public Transit Time to Conference Registration: 8 minutes
Hilton Garden Inn Madison Downtown
770 Regent Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53715
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 10 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 4 minutes
DoubleTree by Hilton Madison Downtown
525 W Johnson St, Madison, WI 53703
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 8 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 4 minutes
Hampton Inn & Suites Madison Downtown
440 W Johnson St, Madison, WI 53703
Walking Time to Conference Registration: 9 minutes
Driving Time to Conference Registration: 3 minutes
Public Transportation to Conference Registration: 6 minutes
Airport
The closest airport to the UW campus is Dane County Regional Airport (MSN), approximately a 15-minute drive from the center of conference activities.
Sponsors
