UNCSA welcomes 25 new faculty members for the 2025–26 school year

UNCSA has added 25 new faculty members for the 2025–26 school year, including 12 full-time and 13 adjunct and visiting faculty, in the schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking and Music, as well as the High School Academic Program, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Patrick J. Sims has announced.

“Our newest faculty bring a remarkable range of artistry and professional achievement to UNCSA,” said Sims. “From Broadway stages to international film festivals and concert halls, they have shaped the cultural landscape in meaningful ways. Their arrival signals not only the strength of our programs but also our continued commitment to preparing students for impactful and innovative careers in the arts.”

New faculty include:

School of Dance

Adjunct/Visiting

Kate Jewett

Alumna Kate Jewett (B.F.A. ’05) is teaching contemporary dance. She is a dancer, choreographer, director and educator who has performed internationally with Shen Wei Dance Arts, where she also served as education director and rehearsal director, and with Merce Cunningham’s Repertory Understudy Group. Jewett is the founder of Watusi Regime, a site-specific performance series presented at venues in New York City including the Park Avenue Armory, West Park Presbyterian Church and more. Her choreography has been presented at the American Dance Festival faculty concert, DeSales University, the United Nations, Milano Teatro Scuola Paolo Grassi, Fabbrica Europa, Performatica Festival, and South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities’ (SCGSAH) Gunter Theater, among others. She has taught master classes and workshops across Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Jewett also founded Moving Minds, which develops mind-body learning and leadership programs and was presented at SXSW EDU in 2019. She has also taught at New York University and the Hou Ying Dance Theater Summer Program.

School of Design & Production

Full Time

Adam Raine 

Adam Raine is teaching lighting design. Raine has more than 20 years of experience in live entertainment, corporate audio-visual technology and large-scale events. He most recently worked in Las Vegas as technical services supervisor for production services company VStar Entertainment, part of the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, where he developed technical elements for touring productions including “Paw Patrol Live,” “Trolls Live,” “Baby Shark’s Big Broadwave Tour,” Cirque Dreams and Blue Man Group. Raine has also served as technical designer for Everlast Productions, assistant technical producer for Brok Decor International, and visiting assistant professor of lighting, video design and technology at the University of Central Florida. Earlier in his career, he worked as master electrician at Berkshire Theatre Festival and as assistant electrician on the U.S. tour of “The Color Purple.” His design credits include lighting for Cirque Dreams’ “Elysion” in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, and lighting and video design for “The Passage: Or What Comes from Searching in the Dark,” a 7th House Theatre co-production with the Guthrie Theater.

Jason Michael Torres 

Jason Michael Torres is teaching wig, hair and makeup. Torres is a wig and makeup artist whose career includes Broadway national tours, film, opera and higher education. He served as hair and makeup supervisor for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and has held leadership positions on touring and resident productions of “Moulin Rouge!” and “Aladdin.” His film and television credits include “Father of the Bride” for Warner Bros. and “South Beach Love” for Hallmark. Torres holds multiple Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival awards and nominations for makeup design, including recognition for “The Pillowman,” “The Cherry Orchard” and “Birds.”

School of Drama

Full Time

Lisa A. Mayer 

Lisa A. Mayer is teaching musical theater dance. Mayer is a Broadway performer and educator whose career spans musical theater, ballet, commercial dance and arts leadership. She performed in Broadway productions of “Carousel,” “Cats,” “Beauty and the Beast” and others, and appeared on the Tony Awards and in concert at Carnegie Hall. For more than 15 years, she taught in the musical theater department at the University of Michigan, specializing in ballet and musical theater styles. Mayer has served as artistic and school director of the Toledo Ballet and is the founder of The College Audition Advantage, a coaching service for aspiring musical theatre students. Her choreography and directing credits include productions of “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake” and additional classical and contemporary works. Career highlights include performing in Barry Manilow’s “Harmony” at the La Jolla Playhouse, co-choreographing the longest running “Nutcracker” in the United States and appearing at Carnegie Hall alongside Julie Andrews and Liza Minnelli.

Brett Radke 

Brett Radke is teaching voice and speech. Radke is an actor, director and educator who has performed off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. His acting credits include “The Comedy of Errors” at Classic Stage Company, “Everyday Afroplay” at The Bushwick Starr, “Armature” at Cleveland Public Theatre, “The Pitmen Painters” at The Beck Center for the Arts, “Tecumseh!” at Outdoor Drama, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” at Performance Network, and “Medea” at The Little Globe Theatre in Ukraine. He has served on the faculty of Fordham University, Marymount Manhattan College, The City College of New York, Long Island University-Brooklyn/The New Group and The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. His work as a teaching artist includes engagements with The Play Group Theatre, Broadway Bound Kids, Classic Stage Company, Great Lakes Theater and Baldwin Wallace University.

Adjunct/Visting

Ashley Jansen

Bio to come.

Robert Moyer

Bio to come.

School of Filmmaking

Full Time

Pilar Alessandra 

Pilar Alessandra is teaching graduate screenwriting. Alessandra is the founder and director of the “On the Page” writing program and the author of “The Coffee Break Screenwriter.” She has helped thousands of writers refine and sell their scripts, with clients who have secured deals at Disney, DreamWorks and other major studios. Her clients’ work has won awards including the Austin Film Festival and the Nicholl Fellowship. Alessandra’s career began as a script reader for Amblin Entertainment and later as a senior story analyst at DreamWorks. She has also worked with The Robert Evans Company, Cineville Entertainment and Radar Pictures.

Michael Borowiec 

Michael Borowiec is teaching film art direction. His debut feature film “Man Underground” won Best First Feature at the Fantasia Film Festival and was distributed by Lionsgate and Indican Pictures. In 2020, he attended the Frontières Financing and Packaging Forum in Sweden with his script “Desert Witch,” co-written with UNCSA faculty member Sam Marine. His producing credits include “Another Zero in the System,” distributed by Phase 4 Films, and “I Adore Dolores,” which was selected for Independent Filmmaker Project Episodic in 2018. Borowiec holds a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York Purchase.

Nathan Green Connelly 

Alumnus Nathan Green Connelly (B.F.A. ’11) is teaching animation. A Filmmaking alumnus, Connelly is a storyboard artist, director and designer with more than a decade of experience in television animation. He began his career as a production intern on “Adventure Time” at Cartoon Network Studios. He later supervised the art and animation of the pilot episodes of “Animals,” the first independently produced television show to debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Connelly has since worked extensively as a storyboard artist and director. He holds a B.F.A. in animation from UNCSA and an M.F.A. in communication design from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Daniel Foerste 

Daniel Foerste is teaching film art direction. Foerste is a director and writer whose work explores queer narratives through genre filmmaking. A 2017 Project Involve Fellow in Directing and the first recipient of Focus Features’ Lili Elbe Fellowship for transgender filmmakers, Foerste was included in GLAAD’s “Trans Stories and Creators to Watch” list in 2019. He is the co-writer and story creator of “Moonshadow,” a queer horror feature inspired by his experience with conversion therapy as a teenager. His short films in horror and fantasy have screened internationally, and his work as a music video director has featured queercore, goth, rock and punk musicians. Foerste holds an M.F.A. in film directing from California Institute of the Arts.

Jethro Waters

Jethro Waters is teaching cinematography. Waters is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, producer and cinematographer whose documentary “F11 and Be There” was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick and screened internationally. His feature film “Gunfighter Paradise,” a dark comedy starring Jessica Hecht, was executive produced by Nancy Buirski. Waters’ music video collaborations with artists including John Cale and Angel Olsen have been featured in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The New York Times, Spin, Pitchfork and NPR. He has taught at Brooklyn College, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Williams College, University of North Carolina Asheville and Arts TV Ethiopia.

Adjunct/Visiting

Andrew Brown 

Andrew Brown is teaching documentary producing and directing. Brown is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker whose work has focused on longform documentary storytelling in sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. He directed, produced and edited “Between the Rains,” which won the 2023 Tribeca Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography. His credits also include editing National Geographic’s Emmy-winning “Path of the Panther,” producing “Kifaru,” winner of the Audience Award at Full Frame, and producing and editing “When Lambs Become Lions,” which earned a Tribeca award and an International Documentary Awards nomination. Brown is also a programmer for feature documentaries at Slamdance Film Festival.

Jason Campbell 

Jason Campbell is teaching animation, motion graphics, editing and design. Campbell is an animator and creative director with more than 30 years of experience in visual storytelling. He has contributed to major projects including “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Trollhunters.” His work spans feature films, video games, commercials and theme park attractions, with credits at FuseFX, Digital Domain, The Third Floor and Rainmaker. Campbell has also held leadership roles at AOL and Microsoft. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Communication Arts and has pursued advanced training with Animation Mentor and AnimSchool.

Eyal Resh 

Eyal Resh is teaching directing and writing for live action and animation. Resh is a filmmaker whose work has screened at Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, Outfest and Viennale. His projects have streamed on Hulu and Amazon Prime, and he has directed talent including Lauren Ridloff, Rona-Lee Shimon and Jay Leno. He has also collaborated with Dr. Ruth Westheimer for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation. Resh’s films explore themes of intimacy, identity and communication. He is a graduate of the M.F.A. film directing program at California Institute of the Arts.

School of Music

Full Time

Eric McEnaney

Eric McEnaney is teaching collaborative piano and vocal coaching. A Grammy-nominated pianist, vocal coach and artist-teacher, McEnaney is known for his expertise in contemporary opera. He has worked on more than 130 productions with opera companies nationwide. McEnaney served as pianist and vocal coach at Minnesota Opera for 16 seasons, contributing to world premieres including “Silent Night” and “The Shining.” He was principal production pianist and coach at Florentine Opera Company for four seasons and has performed with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony. McEnaney holds a D.M.A. in collaborative piano and coaching from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in piano performance from the University of Iowa, and a B.M. in piano performance and pedagogy from Eastern Illinois University.

Mark Norman

Mark Norman is the assistant professor of instrumental ensembles. He has held conducting and teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Michigan, Washburn University, Towson University and UNCSA, where he previously served as director of wind ensembles. Norman has also performed with the U.S. Navy Band, Georgetown Symphony, McLean Orchestra, Loudoun Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Fairfax Symphony and Topeka Symphony. He is the music director and conductor of the American Wind Orchestra and the owner and director of development and education at Charlotte Music School. Norman has commissioned more than 20 new works and has been recognized with awards including a Grammy nomination for producing the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG) Wind Ensemble recording “Fireworks.” He is a member of the International Tuba and Euphonium Association, College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education and North Carolina Music Educators Association. Norman holds a D.M.A. and M.M. in instrumental conducting and a B.M. in tuba performance from UNCG.

Adjunct/Visiting

Sophie Anderson

Sophie Anderson (High School ’18, B.M. ’23, M.M. ’25) is teaching music theory and aural skills in the School of Music. She is a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and has frequently performed as a substitute with the Western Piedmont Symphony and the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. Through recent participation in the UNCSA Chamber Music Festival, she has collaborated with Stefan de Leval Jezierski of the Berlin Philharmonic, Robert deMaine of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and UNCSA faculty members Jordan Bak and Dmitri Vorobiev. Other recent chamber music projects include a performance of Beethoven’s Serenade, Op. 25 at Music Carolina SummerFest. In recent summers, she has twice attended the International Chamber Music Festival of Southern Germany. Prior to her appointment as adjunct faculty, Anderson was the aural skills graduate teaching assistant at UNCSA from 2023 to 2025. She is currently a Professional Artist Certificate student at UNCSA, studying violin with Ida Bieler and Janet Orenstein.

Caleb Carpenter

Alumnus Caleb Carpenter (B.M. ’17) is teaching saxophone. Carpenter is an active saxophonist and educator who has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Symphony and Ensemble Eclectica. He is the baritone saxophonist of the MOD Quartet, which has performed at the Charlotte BOOM and Shout! Festivals and at “Side/Show,” presented by the Western Piedmont Symphony. Carpenter was the national winner of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Young Artist Woodwind Competition, winner of the Northwestern University Concerto Competition and a finalist in the North American Saxophone Alliance College Solo Competition and the Boulder International Chamber Music Competition. Carpenter previously taught at Allen University, South Carolina State University, Claflin University and Columbia College. He holds a D.M.A. from the University of South Carolina, an M.M. from Northwestern University and a B.M. from UNCSA.

Kae La Vergne

Kae La Vergne will be teaching aural skills. Bio to come.

Rachel Messing 

Rachel Messing is teaching oboe. Messing is an oboist and educator whose career spans orchestral, solo, chamber and historical performance. A specialist in Baroque oboe, she has performed with period ensembles across the U.S. and abroad. Prior to joining UNCSA, she was associate professor of oboe and music history at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi and performed regularly as English hornist with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony and Corpus Christi Symphony. Messing is a founding member of the chamber ensembles Plumeria Winds and Bayview Winds and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and wind ensembles nationwide. She has presented and performed at the International Double Reed Society Conference, ClarinetFest and RioWinds in Brazil, and has given lectures and master classes at universities including Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Sam Houston State University. Messing earned a D.M.A. in oboe performance from Arizona State University, an M.M. in oboe performance from Southern Methodist University and a B.M. in oboe performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Elizabeth Rose

Elizabeth Rose will be teaching acting for singers. Bio to come.

Jeremy Sexton

Jeremy Sexton will be teaching music theory. Bio to come.

Division of Liberal Arts

Adjunct/Visiting

Kathryn Peterson

Kathryn Peterson is teaching literature. Bio to come.

High School Academic Program

Full Time

Michaela Colon 

Michaela Colon is teaching English. Colon has taught English II for 20 years and AP English for 16 years, guiding students in reading, writing and critical thinking. She has served as a mentor teacher for Forsyth County Schools for more than a decade, supporting student and lateral-entry teachers while developing curriculum and professional workshops for both Forsyth and Davie counties.

Contact Media Relations(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)

Get the best news, performance and alumni stories from UNCSA.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)