Get to know our Alumni Spotlight: Gilberto Vega! 

This summer, Platt House had the opportunity to reconnect with Gilberto Vega, Class of 2014. However, “reconnect” may be the wrong choice of words, as over the past eleven years, Gilberto has been a very active alum. Whether serving as Music Chair for his class’ 5th Reunion, shepherding current students through an important group mission change, or stepping into the Director’s Chair to lead a student group through rehearsals and production in the midst of a global pandemic, Gilberto continues to lead our students with a combination of commitment, creativity, and care. In speaking with Gilberto, he reminds us that the arts are not only fun; they are not only reflective of our worlds and ourselves; they are also a place to find, build, and nourish community. We are excited to shine a spotlight on his story and impact below.

“The arts are not just important interpersonally, but also societally.”

Born and raised about a 90-minute drive west of Penn in Lancaster, PA, Gilberto always knew he wanted to go to college in the city. During his first couple days on campus, he participated in PennArts, a Pre-Orientation Program that brings together incoming students interested in the arts at Penn and in Philadelphia. During this program, sophomore, junior, and senior leaders share details about all different kinds of arts opportunities on campus and beyond from classes to clubs, from visiting arts centers to sharing stories. From this point on, Gilberto’s campus life was infused with the arts, a focus that he pursued through graduation and beyond. 

Platt House likes to remind our students often that during their time at Penn, they are humans first, students second, and many things following. As a human, student, club member, scholar, and more, Gilberto exhibited the soul of an artist. Academically, he started as a Music major and Theatre Arts minor. However, through a deeply impactful experience working on A Year with Frog and Toad with Stimulus Children’s Theatre (Stim) in his junior year, Gilberto chose to fully commit to Theatre Arts as well as Music and to and pursue a double major. In his senior year, he directed You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown for Stim. Through directing as a student, Gilberto took the reins in a space where he could incubate and play, the culmination of so many arts lessons learned throughout four years of college. Gilberto shares how important it was for him that his professors encouraged students to get outside the Penn bubble when he was in school. He had the opportunity through classes, not only to go out into the city to see productions, but also to meet with members of those production teams who visited his classes and gave tours backstage. He got to know them as real people doing the real work. 

Academics were not the only realm that transported Gilberto onto Penn’s stages and beyond the University’s sphere; music continually served as an artistic catalyst for him. During his first few years he participated in the Penn Band, performing at numerous football games, basketball games, and University events. In his first year at Penn, Gilberto joined the Penn Glee Club as a singer. The combination of performance, brotherhood, and tradition that the Club offered was impactful and insightful. One of Gilberto’s favorite arts memories was when he sang the iconic “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy during his senior spring show for the Penn Glee Club “Under A Rest.” The show was set in a dystopian world where music was outlawed, and Gilberto played an extremely anti-music, anti-performance warden, pushing him deeply outside his comfort zone. He “rose” to the challenge, breaking free and releasing the music at the 11 o’clock hour. The Glee Club’s annual tours took Gilberto across the country and to Scandinavia, Niagara Falls, Bermuda, Qatar, Tanzania, and the UAE. As a lover of travel, having the arts transport him to new places and new understanding was invaluable. Gilberto says that “the arts are the pulse of my life.” 

And now, Gilberto is an arts professional, just like those who made such an impact on him back in the classroom and across Philadelphia. As a teen and post-grad, he watched several performing arts heroes get out into communities throughout Philadelphia, a collaborative, arts-driven city he chose to make his home. In working with The Philly POPS, an echo of his time in the Penn Band, Gilberto oversaw their education and community engagement programs. He facilitated experiences for youth to meet and learn from Broadway Stars. Gilberto now works as the Director of External Relations at Theatre Horizon in Norristown. He serves as the organization’s primary grant writer and has supported the staff on community investment and education programs. One highlight was his work on the new play “TOWN”, in which he and the creative team interviewed over one hundred Norristown residents, drafted a play based on their stories, and produced it with them on the stage. As a bilingual teaching artist in both English and Spanish, Gilberto is grateful for the opportunity to support the vibrant Latino community in Norristown through this work. 

Beyond work, Gilberto has been taking his own artistic skills to the stage, consistently hosting and performing at Open Mic events at Theatre Horizon and venues across North and West Philly. Over the last two years, he has branched out into stand-up comedy (if you ever get the opportunity, ask him how eating a jalapeño right before a comedy act affects one’s performance!). Behind the scenes, he is developing a new murder mystery play called The President at the Frat Party. In leadership, Gilberto sits on the Boards of Directors for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Theatre Philadelphia, and the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, mirroring his college days in the Glee Club. Back at Penn, for his class’ 5th Reunion, he served as Music Chair, leveraging the deep-set community connections he made throughout the years to incorporate partnership from current students and alumni to create a nostalgic “Fling-style” event in the Quad (where Fling festivities used to be held, back in the day). In the height of the pandemic, Gilberto returned virtually to Penn’s stages, directing The Magic Flute for Penn Singers. From Frog and Toad to Charlie Brown to professional Philadelphia theatre, and back to Penn again, Gilberto continues to lend his artistic voice and vision to so many. He remembers how many people have mentored him and seems to be getting more comfortable with the “mentor” label for himself. Gilberto also helped advise and support the Penn Glee Club in their transition to a gender-inclusive choir—holding space both for the needs of current students and the traditions of the past—and their recent 160th Anniversary Gala. 

To students interested in pursuing the arts beyond college, Gilberto says “Take the leap.” He rejects the old adage that college is the best four years of one’s life and instead reframes that time as “a launching pad for me to do so much more than I would have ever dreamed.” As an artist and arts administrator currently working in several fields, Gilberto expresses concern over the rise of artificial intelligence and its impact on artists and the current federal funding trends. He has witnessed and has been a part of the positive impact that happens when arts and artists are supported. He says that support for the arts may be under threat, but that highlights the power the arts have to make change and to be a third space outside home and work/school for community and for questioning. He asserts that to be a well-rounded person in today’s world, business savvy is important, and creativity and expression are vital. Gilberto uses his background, experiences, and artistry to leave his mark, to inspire youth, as he was inspired, and to continue to help the arts flourish in each new realm he touches. 

This interview was conducted by Patrick Miller, C’27.