UNCSA Presents: November performance highlights
The UNCSA 2026–27 performance season, “UNCSA Presents,” continues in November with performances across music, dance and drama. Highlights include the Reynolda Quartet, internationally acclaimed soprano Jennifer Rowley, the KDA Trio, the School of Drama musical “Almost Famous,” Emerging Choreographers and “Tales from Ovid,” directed by Drama alumnus Jeremy Skidmore.
Tickets to most events are $25 for adults and $20 for non-UNCSA students with a valid ID. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 336-721-1945.
Reynolda Quartet 2025 / Photo: UNCSA
The Reynolda Quartet, composed of faculty artists from the School of Music at UNCSA, will present “The Ultimate Test,” a program featuring works by Robert Schumann and Ludwig van Beethoven.
The quartet is composed of Music faculty members Ida Bieler and Janet Orenstein, violin; Brett Deubner, viola; and Brooks Whitehouse, cello. Deubner joined the Music faculty this year as professor of viola.
The program features Schumann’s String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1, and Beethoven’s String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2. Schumann turned to Beethoven’s quartets for inspiration when he began composing for string quartet, a form he described as the “ultimate test.”
The performance will take place Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Hall on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St. A livestream option is also available with registration.
Soprano Jennifer Rowley in Recital – Nov. 7
Internationally acclaimed soprano Jennifer Rowley will perform in recital as part of the yearlong celebration of the 25th anniversary of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA.
The program will move between operatic arias and art song, highlighting both the dramatic and lyrical range of the soprano repertoire. The recital is part of a season celebrating the Fletcher Opera Institute’s history of preparing emerging singers for professional careers and bringing established artists to UNCSA to work alongside students.
Rowley has appeared at major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Berlin and Opernhaus Zürich, with leading roles including “Aida,” “Tosca” and “Turandot.” In addition to her performance career, she is the founder of Aria Bootcamp and serves on the voice faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, extending her work into the training and development of young singers.
The performance will take place Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Hall on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St. A livestream option is also available with registration.
The KDA Trio
The KDA Trio will present “A World in Three Voices,” featuring violinist Katherine Gilger, Music faculty member David Dash, trumpet, and pianist Anatoly Larkin.
The program centers on contemporary chamber music and commissioned work, including compositions by Canadian composer Michael Spiroff and a UNCSA student composer, alongside music by American composer Eric Ewazen and Icelandic composer Jórunn Viðar.
The performance will take place Monday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Watson Hall on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St.
“Almost Famous” – Nov. 12-21
The School of Drama will present “Almost Famous,” the musical based on Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film, directed by New York-based guest artist Sarna Lapine. Set in 1973, the musical follows aspiring young journalist William Miller, who receives an assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with an up-and-coming rock band. The story draws from Crowe’s own experience as a teenage music journalist and Rolling Stone’s youngest-ever contributor. He later wrote and directed the film, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The stage adaptation combines acting, live music, movement and theatrical design. It features a book by Crowe, music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Crowe and Kitt. Kitt is a two-time Tony Award, two-time Emmy Award, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winner whose Broadway composing credits include “Next to Normal,” “If/Then” and “Almost Famous.”
Lapine’s credits include the Broadway world premiere of “Call Me Izzy,” the Broadway revival of “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Into the Woods” at the Guthrie Theater and “Sweeney Todd” at Signature Theatre. The UNCSA production features music direction by Megan D’Amico and choreography by School of Drama faculty member Lisa Mayer.
Performances will take place Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 12-14, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m.; and Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 19-21, at 7:30 p.m. All performances will take place in Freedman Theatre on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St.
Emerging Choreographers – Nov. 17-21
The School of Dance presents Emerging Choreographers, featuring original works created by fourth-year Contemporary Dance students and performed by their peers.
The annual showcase gives students the opportunity to move from interpreting the work of other choreographers to developing their own artistic voices. Drawing from personal experience and artistic influence, students test ideas in real time, take creative risks and develop individual movement languages as they create original works for their peers to perform.
Performances will take place Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 17-21, at 7:30 p.m., with an additional performance at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, in Agnes de Mille Theatre on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St.
“Tales from Ovid” – Nov. 19-22
The School of Drama will present “Tales from Ovid” by Ted Hughes, adapted by Tim Supple and Simon Reade and directed by Drama alumnus Jeremy Skidmore (B.F.A. Drama ’00).
Based on Hughes’ translation of Roman poet Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” the production brings together a collection of classical Greek and Roman myths connected by transformation. The stories explore passionate love, ambition, jealousy, vengeance and retribution as gods intervene in mortal lives and characters move between human and divine worlds.
The production gives the student company the challenge of bringing a collection of ancient transformation myths to the stage through contemporary theatrical storytelling.
Performances will take place Thursday and Friday, Nov. 19-20, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. All performances will take place in Catawba Theatre on the UNCSA campus, 1533 South Main St.
Fall Dance, “Macbeth,” “Tales from Ovid” and Winter Dance are presented with support from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts through its Alumni in Residence (AIR) project.
Tickets and information about additional “UNCSA Presents” performances can be found at uncsa.edu/performances.
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October 29, 2026