UNCSA in the News

Sheila Ewing, wife of former UNCSA chancellor, dies at 76
Winston-Salem Journal, Nov. 4, 2015
Sheila Cobb Ewing, the wife of former N.C. School of the Arts Chancellor Alex Ewing, died Tuesday. She was 76...

Panel discussion to feature leaders of Salem College, UNC School of the Arts 
Innovation Quarter News, Nov. 4, 2015
The leaders of Salem College and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts will talk about the value, current state and future role of liberal arts education on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Wake Forest Biotech Place in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter...

UNCSA presents “the perfect Broadway musical” 
Camel City Dispatch, Nov. 3, 2015
The “perfect Broadway musical” comes to Winston-Salem when the University of North Carolina School of the Arts presents The Drowsy Chaperone, a send-up of Jazz-age shows of the 1920s...

These Triad university chancellors are getting pay raises 
Triad Business Journal, Nov. 3, 2015
Three Triad chancellors who are part of the University of North Carolina system are in line for raises... Lindsay Bierman of UNC-School of the Arts: a 13.73 percent increase to $290,000 (from $255,000)...

ACT to stage 40th anniversary production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Broadway World, Nov. 3, 2015
ACT - A Contemporary Theatre is proud to present its 40th annual production of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL, adapted by Gregory A. Falls. A CHRISTMAS CAROL is directed by incoming Artistic Director John Langs... Langs received his directing degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

Board of Governors talks budget, public service awards at Oct. 30 meeting
The Daily Tar Heel, Nov. 1, 2015
For the first time in weeks, the UNC-system Board of Governors did little to make the news. The full board met Friday for its October meeting — its first since former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was named president-elect and former board chairman John Fennebresque resigned. 2015-16 budget: As part of the 2015-16 capital improvement allocations, the general assembly gave $45 million for the three campuses in the UNC-system that had not received a specific project in the bond proposal: UNC-Asheville, UNC School of the Arts and Elizabeth City State University...

Carmina Burana and Barber's Violin Concerto at the UNCSA
Classical Voice North Carolina by Peter Perret, Oct. 31, 2015
Huge forces were called to the Stevens Center in downtown Winston-Salem to bring the ever-popular Carmina Burana of Carl Orff to stage. It was preceded by an excellent performance of Samuel Barber's increasingly popular Violin Concerto, Op. 14, by Kevin Murphy, a recent UNCSA Concerto Competition winner...

Sound medicine
Winston-Salem Monthly, Oct. 30, 2015
The Hippocratic Oath states “there is art to medicine as well as science. Warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug,” it reads. A surgeon’s knife is nowhere to be seen inside Room #167 at the School of Music on the campus of UNC School of the Arts. Instead there are violins. There is a horn section and some woodwinds. And there is a set of timpani drums manned by a pediatric anesthesiologist. The Triad Area Medical Orchestra, which started rehearsing in August, is made up of doctors, nurses, medical students, and others in the medical profession. The group is a collaboration between UNC School of the Arts and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center...

UNCSA students and faculty light up White House for Halloween
WFMY, Oct. 30, 2015
Check this out! Students, faculty, and alumni from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts got to light up the White House for Halloween... “This is a tremendous honor and opportunity for our School of Design and Production. Tens of thousands of people see the work of our lighting students and faculty each year through our 300 performances and the Winston-Salem Light Project. We’re thrilled to have a national platform, and there’s no better canvas than the historic, iconic façade of the White House," said UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman... 

UNCSA lights up White House for Halloween event
Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 30, 2015
UNC School of the Arts lit up the White House on Friday night for Halloween. Norman Coates, the director of the lighting program in the university’s School of Design and Production, said in a statement that a group of students, faculty members and alumni traveled to Washington to help stage the annual White House Halloween party... 

Focus On: Benji Pulgar
Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 30, 2015
Benji Pulgar, a senior midfielder for Mount Tabor, has played soccer since his childhood days growing up in Chile... Pulgar plays piano and guitar and plans to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts to learn about songwriting, performing and recording... 

Myrtle Beach native playing behind-the-scenes role in upcoming Star Wars movie
Myrtle Beach Online, Oct. 29, 2015
Myrtle Beach native William Files' interest in sound effects as a young teen developed into a passion that today has him finalizing post-production sound on the greatly anticipated and soon to be released "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"... "Someone has to come up with conceptual sounds such as the talking robot or the sword made out of evenergy. It needs to sound believable but also unique and special," Files said during a phone interview from California where [he] has lived since graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2002...

Curious Incident's new Christopher explains the pressures of being an unknown stepping into a Tony-winning role
Playbill.com, Oct. 25, 2015
Tyler Lea, the new star of Simon Stephens' acclaimed show The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, opens up to Playbill.com about how he dealt with the pressures of succeeding a Tony winner and life before he landed "the really big fish" (working at a Steak 'n Shake)... "Waiting it out" is something that most actors are familiar with. Countless talented performers move to New York City with the hopes of performing on Broadway, though not all are able to make it. For Lea, a graduate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, he achieved his dream in just a few years...

UNCSA: In CP Taylor’s “Good” a German academic struggles with his role in the Holocaust
Camel City Dispatch, Oct. 25, 2015
A man at his worst, rationalizing bad decisions and less-than-admirable motives, is examined in Cecil Philip Taylor’s “Good”, presented by the School of Drama and the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Drama faculty member and UNCSA alumnus Quin Gordon directs actors from Studio III, the junior class, and UNCSA Symphony Music Director Christopher James Lees conducts a 20-piece orchestra... 

Former Bush education chief to lead UNC system
Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 23, 2015
Former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was chosen Friday to lead North Carolina’s public university system, bringing a nonacademic background heavy on Republican public policy credentials to the post... Winston-Salem State Chancellor Elwood Robinson and Chancellor Lindsay Bierman of UNC School of the Arts each issued statements after Spellings’ appointment... Bierman said he plans to introduce Spellings to the Winston-Salem community and UNCSA when she visits and to work “with her to build on UNC’s leadership and innovation in public education”... 

UNCSA professor to lead discussion on police at book event Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 22, 2015
Laura Hart McKinny, a Winston-Salem resident and professor in the filmmaking school at the UNC School of the Arts, will be the host today of a discussion on diversity in civil service...

Piedmont Opera presents Verdi's "Rigoletto"
WFDD, Oct. 19, 2015
Piedmont Opera, one of the most successful regional opera companies in the country, will produce Rigoletto, starring UNCSA graduate and internally acclaimed tenor Rene Barbera as The Duke of Mantua... 

Ready for the big screen
Rosemount Town Pages, Oct. 15, 2015
What started as the image of a person’s foot in the snow is now a full-length feature film that will screen at the Twin Cities Film Fest’s annual October film festival. “The Polar Bear Club,” co-written by 2007 Rosemount High School graduate Ben Zschunke, will play at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at St. Louis Park’s Showplace Icon Theatre... Zschunke, who also served as assistant producer and script supervisor on the project, said the idea for the story was born when University of North Carolina School of Arts classmate Brett Price picked up the phone during their sophomore year and told Zschunke he had an image he wanted to flesh out... 

Dane Dehaan looking for designers for new movie
The Morning Call, Oct. 15, 2015
Aspiring artists and fashion designers have a chance to create a costume that could be worn in a party scene in Dan Dehaan’s upcoming film “Valerian and The City of A Thousand Planets”... DeHaan, a 29-year-old Allentown native who grew up in Zionsville, got his start acting at the former Stage Door Workshop in South Whitehall Township and honed his skills at Allentown's Civic Theatre and at Emmaus High School. DeHaan didn't graduate from Emmaus. He spent his senior year at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

UNCSA alumnus and internationally acclaimed opera legend will perform for Piedmont Opera
Forsyth Woman, Oct. 14, 2015
When René Barbera was a third grader in San Antonio, his teacher attached a sticky note to his records to notify the music teacher that he had a pretty voice and would be a good addition to the chorus. Who knew how important that one sticky note would be to the world of opera and eventually to the opera program at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts?... 

Piedmont Opera opens 38th season with Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto, features soprano Amy Maples from Chattanooga
The Chattanoogan, Oct. 12, 2015
Piedmont Opera presents Verdi’s tragic masterpiece Rigoletto, directed by Steven LaCosse, general manager of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the UNCSA and conducted by Piedmont Opera’s General Director, James Allbritten...

UNCSA students handle intellectual play well; it's enjoyable
Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 10, 2015
Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” is a thinking person’s play, an intellectual comedy that explores the nature of time, free will, beauty, human relationships and the physical laws of the world we inhabit. That might sound daunting, but in the capable hands of director Carl Forsman and his cast of students at UNC School of the Arts, the play is approachable, funny, fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable... 

UNCSA's Arcadia is time-trip worth taking
Classical Voice North Carolina, Oct. 9, 2015
The characters in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, in production at the UNC School of the Arts, are all on the brink of discovering the secrets of the universe – but one thing holds them back: their desire for human connection or, as the kids call it, "love"... 

UNCSA presents "Arcadia"
WFDD, Oct. 9, 2015
The UNCSA School of Drama presents Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia​, and performances are October 8th and 9th at 7:30pm and October 15th at 7:30pm in the Catawba Theatre. The actors are seniors in the School of Drama, and this is their premier as the graduating class. Dean of the UNCSA School of Drama Carl Forsman chatted with David Ford about this production... 

LED Boise launches its first major collaborative work, ‘This Side of Paradise’
Idaho Statesman, Oct. 9, 2015
Dancer Jason Hartley teetered on the edge of The Record Exchange’s small stage during a First Thursday preview last week of “This Side of Paradise,” a multimedia performance from LED... When joined by the five other dancers of LED, including choreographer Lauren Edson, and 10 musicians, including LED co-founder Andrew Stensaas, who is Edson’s husband, they pushed the stage to its limits... Edson, 32, danced with Ballet Idaho’s Youth Ensemble and Idaho Dance Theatre before heading to the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Juilliard School in New York and eventually Portland, where she created a solo project and freelanced with other companies. She returned to Boise to join the Trey McIntyre Project in 2009...

New Curious Incident star Tyler Lea on his plant obsession and the book Alex Sharp gave him
Broadway.com, Oct. 8, 2015
Stage Cred: After graduating from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Lea appeared off-Broadway in The Family Room at the ArcLight Theater and in Shakespeare’s R+J at San Diego’s Cygnet Theatre...

Money Magazine recommends UNCSA for President Obama’s daughter
Camel City Dispatch, Oct. 7, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts was listed with Stanford, USC, and the UCLA as a school that President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama should consider sending their daughter Malia to. According to Money’s College Planner UNCSA did not make the official list because they do not have sports programs. Reportedly the younger Obama is looking for a school to study film making and if possible, play tennis...

2015 Students of Parents with Disabilities Scholarship winners announced
PR Web, Oct. 7, 2015
The National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families at Through the Looking Glass announced the sixteen winners of its 2015 College Scholarships for Students of Parents with Disabilities. Scholarships have been awarded to the following students: ... Miriah Burns (S. Yarmouth, MA; University of North Carolina School of the Arts)...

Kate Farrar and Deborah Hollis captivate audience at Saint Mary's School
Classical Voice North Carolina, Oct. 6, 2015
What group of people hereabouts has enjoyed the most graceful presentation so far in the early fall season? That would quite possibly be the audience on a clear and crisp evening in the grand old Smedes Parlor at Saint Mary's School. There they were treated to a creatively varied set of offerings by the rising-star mezzo-soprano (and UNCSA A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute alumna) Kate Farrar and the celebrated veteran pianist Deborah Hollis... 

Where the data say Malia Obama should apply to college
Money, Oct. 5, 2015
Malia Obama’s college application tour has taken her to several famous Ivy League and elite colleges. But her dad is encouraging parents to use data—not just reputation—to choose the best college for their kids... One school that doesn’t make this list because it has no sports team may well be the Obamas’ most affordable option for schools with strong film programs—if Malia can get in, that is: the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

UNCSA humanities professor wins statewide poetry award
Camel City Dispatch, Oct. 5, 2015
Joseph Mills, a professor of humanities at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the recipient of the Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry for his most recent collection of poetry, “This Miraculous Turning.” The prize is awarded annually by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association for what the judges consider the best book of poetry by a North Carolina writer...

'Arcadia' is challenging, ambitious play for UNCSA students
Winston-Salem Journal, Oct. 4, 2015
When Carl Forsman chooses the plays that UNC School of the Arts presents, he looks for works that will help prepare his students for careers in professional theater. “So, I’m tasked with picking the biggest, hardest, most complicated masterpieces of world literature,” he said, dryly. And Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” certainly qualifies, said Forsman, the dean of the School of Drama...

Round Rock Cedar Ridge alumnus following passion as dancer
Statesman, Oct. 2, 2015
Cedar Ridge High School alumnus Juwan Alston has launched himself into a fine arts career in fewer than four years, all stemming from a performance in “Footloose: The Musical,” that ignited his passion for dance... Alston recently completed his first year at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is focusing on his work with Charlotte Ballet... 

Dance renegades
Dance Magazine, Oct. 1, 2015
Here, we salute the troublemakers, the rule breakers, the artists who turn their backs on convention to push the field in new directions... Some might argue that ballet clings to outdated ideals of gender and sexuality. Not so at Ballez, which rewrites the narratives of story ballets to tackle those very topics using a cast of lesbian, queer and transgendered female-assigned and identified dancers. The idea grew out of conversations—and a pun—artistic director Katy Pyle had with friends in New York’s downtown dance scene. She had always had a deep love for ballet, but grew disenchanted while in high school at University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

Center for Design Innovation opens new facility to public
The Chronicle, Oct. 1, 2015
Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, home of SciTech Institute and Bailey Park, welcomed a new tenant that is dedicated to creative expression, technology expansion and scientific discovery to the community last week. The Center for Design Innovation (CDI), now located at 450 Design Ave., moved into its new 24,000-square-foot facility in the spring and held its public grand opening on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Designed with the assistance of CDI’s founding partners – Winston-Salem State University, Forsyth Technical Community College and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts – the facility will be open to all members of the community who want to learn, conduct research and experiment with technology...

Fall Dance at UNCSA: Big fun in a small space
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 30, 2015
The day outside may have been gray, but Juel D. Lane’s “When the Beat Drops” was nothing but 50 shades of fun. Lane, a UNC School of the Arts alumnus, premiered his new piece Tuesday night at the opening of Fall Dance in the Agnes de Mille Theatre on the campus...

ACT announces new staff, promotions
Broadway World, Sept. 28, 2015
A Contemporary Theatre announces new staff and promotions as well as its first Kenan Directing Fellow to finish out its 50th anniversary year. ...This is ACT's first year with a Kenan Directing Fellow. The Thomas S. Kenan Directing Fellowship and ACT seek to provide emerging directors with practical knowledge and experience as artists embarking on a career in regional theatre. ACT joins Lincoln Center Theatre and The Kennedy Center as the three institutions partnering in this program. Each Directing Fellow is mentored by incoming Artistic Director John Langs as well as by the Artistic Fellow Director, and the entire ACT staff, in varying capacities. Wiley Basho Gorn will be with ACT for six months assisting Langs on Mr. Burns, a post-electric play and A Christmas Carol, helping with inter-departmental projects, as well as directing a fellowship showcase. ... 

ASC names three winners of 2015 Gordon Willis Student Heritage Awards
SHOOT Online, Sept. 28, 2015
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has named three winners for the 2015 ASC Gordon Willis Student Heritage Awards, which are designed to showcase the artistic abilities of the next generation of filmmakers. the honores were announced Saturday night (9/26) during a ceremony at the organization's clubhouse. ... In contention in the Undergraduate category were Garrett Nicholson of Ithaca College for Nightfire; Sten Olson of Chapman University for Darkstar; Casey Schendel of Cal State University Northridge (CSUN) for The Death of Colm Canter; Oren Soffer of New York University for Reservations; and West Webb from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for No Tip.... 

Ghostbuster: Juel D. Lane returns for Fall Dance at UNCSA
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 27, 2015
Juel D. Lane has busted his ghost and moved on.“The ghost has been killed, and now the ghost lives as inspiration for those who need to kill a ghost in their lives,” he said. Lane, a dancer and choreographer from Atlanta and a UNC School of the Arts alumnus, is back in Winston-Salem to create a new work with School of Dance students. His piece, “How To Kill a Ghost,” in the school’s 2014 Winter Dance concert dazzled audiences and critics alike...

New UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman says arts education is as important as science or technology
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 26, 2015
Arts education is just as important for today’s college students as an education in science, technology and math, Chancellor Lindsay Bierman of the UNC School of the Arts said Friday.“There is a letter missing in STEM, and that’s an ‘A’ for the Arts, and that spells STEAM,” Bierman said in his speech during his installation as UNCSA’s eighth chancellor... 

UNCSA Symphony Orchestra
WFDD, Sept. 25, 2015
This weekend, the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra kicks off its season with a performance featuring artist faculty violist Sheila Browne and newly-arrived oboist Dr. Merideth Hite...

UNCSA uses grant money to bring art to students
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 25, 2015
Greeensboro News and Record, Sept. 25, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts is using $250,000 in grant money to fund a group of 10 students, alumni and city residents who are teaching arts programs to local students, an university official said Thursday. The group is known as the ArtistCorps and began its work earlier this month, said Ward Caldwell, the university’s vice provost and dean of student affairs....

Michael Arden will direct Wesley Taylor's Bridging the Gap benefit reading
Broadway World, Sept. 23, 2015
It was announced today that additional participants have joined the benefit evening of "BRIDGING THE GAP AND OTHER SHORT PLAYS BY WESLEY TAYLOR". The event will be presented as an evening of readings of a collection of six new short plays by actor and playwright WESLEY TAYLORto benefit The Actors Fund. The one-night-only event is set for Monday, October 26, 2015 at 7:30 pm at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) and tickets are now on sale via www.actorsfund.org... WESLEY TAYLOR (Playwright) most recently premiered his short play, "Cuckold" at Manhattan Repertory Theatre. His countless sketch comedy and web content led him to Co-creating, writing, and starring in "It Could Be Worse," which was sold to Participant Media. The series premiered on Pivot TV, and now streams on Hulu. International fans can access via Vimeo on Demand. He holds a BFA in Drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. ...

Spotlight on the School of Filmmaking
YES! Weekly, Sept. 23, 2015
The UNCSA School of Filmmaking, whose illustrious list of graduates already includes such acclaimed filmmakers as David Gordon Green (Manglehorn), Jeff Nichols (Mud), Jody Hill (Observe and Report), Danny McBride (HBO’s “Eastbound & Down”) and others, will present a special showcase of eight student films Friday in the Main Theatre of the Studio Village on the UNCSA campus. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, features films produced during the 2014-’15 school year and was curated by Susan Ruskin, the dean of the School of Filmmaking, whose own feature producing credits include the Gene Wilder/ Gilda Radner spoofHaunted Honeymoon (1986) and the surprise action/horror hit Anaconda (1997).... 

Center for Design Innovation opens new building in Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 23, 2015
The Center for Design Innovation officially opened its new building in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter on Wednesday. At 24,000 square feet, the $13.7 million, three-story building is much larger than the 2,000 square feet of temporary office space in Winston Tower that the CDI moved from in April. The CDI had been in Winston Tower since 2007...

Black girlhood takes center stage in a work that's serious about 'play'
NPR All Things Considered, Sept. 22, 2015
Six African-American women leap and run across scuffed wooden floors in a drab Broadway dance studio. They're creating complicated patterns, reshaping the air under harsh fluorescent lights. These are the women of Camille A. Brown and Dancers. Brown, the company's 35-year-old founder, wears bright red athletic shorts and swings Raggedy Ann-colored braids. She spends more than two hours running through the same single minute of the show, over and over, until the dancers nail it... 

Broadway's 'Curious Incident' welcomes a new leading man
Denver Post Sept. 22, 2015
In a rehearsal room near Times Square recently, Tyler Lea was learning how to fight dirty. The young actor who has now made his Broadway debut in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" was practicing grappling with his onstage father...

Syrian transplant spreading harmony with Pianos for Peace
Access Atlanta, Sept. 22, 2015
Syrian transplant Malek Jandali has seen the effects of war. He has seen bombed churches and murdered hostages. He has seen the tiny body of a little boy from his homeland, washed up on the shore. ... Jandali, a naturalized American citizen, has an international inclination. He was born in Germany, raised in Syria, and in 1994 won a music scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, in Winston Salem. Raised a Muslim, he earned his keep by serving as the organist in a Christian church...

Duke opens center for transgender adolescents
Raleigh News & Observer, Sept. 21, 2015
Mac and Katy Schafer of Raleigh say they don’t know what they would have done without the help they found at Duke. Their daughter Hunter, who transitioned from male to female as a teenager, needed hormone treatments, and without Duke there would have been nowhere else to go. ... She recently started her junior year of high school at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. As for her transition, she’s taking a low dose of estrogen and expects the dose to increase soon....
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/living/health-fitness/article35994582.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/living/health-fitness/article35994582.html#storylink=cpy

'Cat On a Hit Tin Roof' returns to Seacost Repertory Theater, 10/2-25
Broadway World, Sept. 21, 2015
Theater audiences have an extra reason to see the Seacoast Repertory Theater's upcoming production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." They chose the play. ...It was Freeman-Caple who brought Roby to the production. They met as students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in the 1990s. ...

UNCSA Symphony opens on Saturday
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 20, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra starts its 2015-16 season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with “Orchestral Ovations” in the Stevens Center. Christopher James Lees, music director, said that the concert offers something for everyone: a performance by the music students at UNCSA, solos by students and faculty, and the first of many cross-campus collaborations between the School of Music and the School of Dance...

UNCSA screening student films
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 20, 2015
Eight films produced during the 2014-15 school year at UNC School of the Arts will be shown at the School of Filmmaking’s fall screening at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Main Theatre in Film’s Studio Village, at 1533 South Main St. There will also be behind-the-scenes footage of an animated film and a talk-back with student filmmakers...

UNCSA hosts second annual Community Festival
Camel City Dispatch, Sept. 20, 2015
A fried pickle contest and an original opera outreach production are among the offerings for the Second Annual 50th Anniversary Community Festival at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), scheduled for 10:30am to 3pm on Saturday, Sept. 26 on the campus at 1533 South Main St. Community Festival events are free and open to the public. Parking is at the Gateway YWCA, 1300 South Main Street, with continuous shuttles to and from campus... 

3 productions to receive $5 million in NC film grants
Blue Ridge Now via The Associated Press, Sept. 20, 2015
North Carolina is awarding $5 million in film grants to three productions. Commerce Secretary John Skvarla announced Friday that a television pilot, an HGTV show, and an independent film were chosen from 17 applications. Production begins this fall. ... An independent film directed by North Carolina native Jody Hill can receive $2.8 million. It's being filmed in western parts of the state. Hill co-wrote the script with fellow graduates of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts....

UNCSA festival showcases schools and student talent for community
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 20, 2015
Everyone knows that UNC School of the Arts is an integral part of the educational and arts communities in Winston-Salem, the Triad and the state. But Saturday’s Community Festival will give the public an up-close opportunity to see what actually goes on in the various schools that comprise the 50-year-old institution. “The School of the Arts enrolled its first students on Sept. 5, 1965. It seemed fitting that our Community Festival would wind up our birthday celebration, which started in 2013, the 50th anniversary of the school’s founding in 1963,” said Jim DeCristo, the co-chairman of the 50th anniversary committee. “It’s also a great way to say ‘thank you’ to the residents of Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad and all of North Carolina for a half-century of support. We hope everyone will come out and celebrate with us.” ... 

Andrew Palermo talks about his new film and working with UNCSA students
Triad City Beat, Sept. 20, 2015
Andrew Droz Palermo is the director and cowriter of the 2015 feature film ‘One & Two,’ which was shot near Winston-Salem with funding from the Sundance Institute. In the film, Eva and Zac are siblings with supernatural abilities plotting escape from their family of religious fanatics who hold tight to 1800’s technology and live within the confines of a concrete wall. You can find One & Two on cable VOD and on ITunes.. 

UNC budget cut under state plan, but community college employees will get raises
The Charlotte Observer, Sept. 15, 2015
The state budget plan would force UNC campuses to cut $18 million this year, while paying for enrollment growth and providing new money to stabilize the struggling Elizabeth City State University and the medical school at East Carolina University... Most UNC campuses would not be allowed to use more than $1 million in state funds each year for fundraising functions, which could be a blow to some of the smaller campuses. Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC School of the Arts, Western Carolina and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics would be exempt from the cap...

Super Good Day! Tyler Lea & more begin performances in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Broadway.com, Sept. 15, 2015
A-stars all round! Tyler Lea will make his Broadway debut as Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on September 15... He earned a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

UNCSA welcomes new faculty members, including five alumni
Camel City Dispatch, Sept. 11, 2105
Several new faculty have joined the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in permanent and visiting positions, Provost David Nelson has announced. The new falcuty are: Several new faculty have joined the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in permanent and visiting positions, Provost David Nelson has announced...

Clues to 'Inspector' from Baltimore-born team
The Baltimore Sun, Sept. 10, 2015
J. B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls," a multilayered mystery about the death of a young working-class woman and the upper-middle-class family that figured in her brief life, is steeped in the past. Written in 1945 as World War II ended, the play opens in an Edwardian dining room, shortly before the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. But that doesn't make "An Inspector Calls," which opens Everyman Theatre's silver anniversary season this weekend, a dated work...

Suicide prevention documentaries filmed locally
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 8, 2015
In honor of National Suicide Prevention Week, an alumnus of the UNC School of the Arts has directed three short films about people who lost loved ones to suicide and are now using their experiences to help others. Alex Moratto, a 2010 graduate of UNCSA’s School of Filmmaking, directed the three films, which were shot in North and South Carolina. They can be seen at www.survivingsuicidefilms.com, their release timed to National Suicide Prevention Week and to World Suicide Prevention Day, which is Thursday...

Member of Colbert's band went to Winston-Salem school
WFMY TV, Sept. 7, 2015
One of the band members on the new "Late Show With Stephen Colbert" attended high school in Winston-Salem. Eddie Barbash plays saxophone with the group Jon Batiste and Stay Human. Barbash graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2007. He attended there for two years after moving to Winston-Salem from Atlanta specifically for the school...

UNCSA achieves top rankings
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 6, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts, the first public conservatory in the nation, has achieved distinction as a one of the country’s top arts conservatories. In June, the Hollywood Reporter, a magazine that covers the film, television and entertainment industries, ranked UNCSA’s School of Drama sixth among the top 25 undergraduate schools of drama in the United States and abroad... 

Bierman seems just right as chancellor for UNCSA
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 6, 2015
They called him the wild card.The 10 finalists in the UNC School of the Arts’ international search for a new chancellor included academics, professional artists and one glossy-magazine editor, Mark Lindsay Bierman. He goes by Lindsay...

UNCSA faculty featured on scholarship fundraiser
Classical Voice North Carolina by Peter Perret, Sept. 5, 2015
As part of the year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and coinciding with a large gathering of alumni in what is being called "Picklestock 2015" (a tribute to Woodstock 1969 and named after the UNCSA mascot, the warty Pickle), the faculty committee of UNCSA decided to present a variety show, the UNCSA Faculty Showcase [starts at 1h13m26s] as a fund-raiser for the Faculty Scholarship Fund, currently benefitting a couple of students each year, and projected to expand to five scholarships annually... 

Julie Kent named American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive artistic director
Broadway World, Sept. 3, 2015
Julie Kent has been named artistic director of American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive programs, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie... In 2012, [Kent] was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dance Magazine...

DVDs: New Mad Max and film by UNCSA alumnus among new releases
Winston-Salem Journal, Sept. 3, 2015
“I’ll See You in My Dreams” (PG-13): Brett Haley, an alumnus of UNC School of the Arts, directed this critically acclaimed, bittersweet comedy-drama...

UNCSA schedules open houses for prospective high school and college students
The Chronicle, Sept. 3, 2015
High school and college students who are interested in careers in the arts are invited to visit the campus of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) for a day and discover why it is the place for exceptionally talented students to train and study, UNCSA says...

Diversity will be a focus at 2015 motion pictures technical conference
HPC Wire, Sept. 2, 2015
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), a leader in motion-imaging standards and education for the communications, media, entertainment, and technology industries, today announced that the SMPTE 2015 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (SMPTE 2015), Oct. 27–29 in Hollywood, California, and related events will focus on fostering the presence and engagement of diversity in the industry, enriching it with colleagues representing a greater variety of experiences, perspectives, and voices... Held at the Loews Hollywood Hotel at the Hollywood and Highland Center, the noon luncheon will feature a conversation between Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and Carolyn Giardina of The Hollywood Reporter... [Boone Isaacs] was inducted into the NAACP hall of fame in 2013 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2015...

Memorial scholarship fund set up for Joshua Park, Broadway's Tom Sawyer, who died at 38
Playbill, Sept. 1, 2015
Joshua Park, the young actor who took on the title role in the short-lived Broadway musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, died Aug. 30 at age 38. His family, who said Park died of pancreatic cancer, is asking that donations be sent in his name to the Yury Belov Scholarship Fund, named for one of Park's teachers at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

New York actor Joshua Park has died at 38
Theatre Mania, Aug. 31, 2015
Joshua Park, an actor who appeared on Broadway as Tom Sawyer in 2001's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, has died after a short illness. He was 38. Born in 1976 in Union County, North Carolina, Park attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

Gaspard & Dancers' TRILOGY set for Schimmel Center
Broadway World, Aug. 25, 2015
On Friday and Saturday, September 25th and 26th, choreographer, Gaspard Louis will bring his company, Gaspard & Dancers to perform their Trilogy which pays tribute to the people of Haiti who endured the horrific 2010 earthquake that caused devastation to the island nation...MARGARET JONES (Dancer) fell in love with dance at a young age and her passion continues to grow as she teaches, choreographs, studies, and performs... She continued her training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... TAQUIRAH THOMPSON (Dancer) was born in Chicago... She was later accepted to (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Best-Kept Secrets: Winston-Salem offers best of both worlds
The News & Observer, Aug. 23, 2015
No, Winston-Salem wasn’t named for the two historic brands of cigarettes... Even as the tobacco and textile heydays of the Reynolds and Hanes families have tapered off, the city has positioned itself on the cutting edge in both medicine and the arts. Here you’ll find the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, museums such as the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and one of the South’s most vibrant arts districts, along Trade Street downtown...

New Canaan ballerina making all the right moves
New Canaan News, Aug. 19, 2015
Three years ago at the age of 17, Linnea Swarting decided she was ready to raise her game. Instead of graduating from New Canaan High School with her childhood friends, she wanted to push forward with her aspiration of being a professional ballerina... Swarting ended up spending that last year of high school at the University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts studying dance performance...

Award-winning choreographer works with local ballet students
Sun Journal, Aug. 19, 2015
Award-winning choreographer Nickolas Fields was in New Bern this week to work with dancers at New Bern Ballet. Fields, a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts, created a contemporary ballet for NBB, which will be presented for consideration at the 2016 UNCSA Festival of North Carolina Dance in Winston-Salem...

No more No Rules
The Washington Post, Aug. 18, 2015
Amid what has otherwise been a rather celebratory month for D.C. theater comes one sad note: No Rules Theatre is no more. Three graduates of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts founded the scrappy troupe in 2009 and set up an innovative business model: presenting performances in both the Washington area and Winston-Salem, N.C., the arts school’s home. No Rules’s first several productions were so well received that its founders — Anne S. Kohn,Joshua Morgan and Brian Sutlow — were invited to become resident guest artists for three seasons at Signature Theatre... 

Higher Education Notebook: Magazine ranks UNCSA’s film program in country’s Top 25
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 16, 2015
The School of Filmmaking at the UNC School of the Arts has been ranked No. 14 in the country by a prestigious voice of the entertainment industry, the university said in a news release... 

Winston-Salem man to star off-Broadway
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 16, 2015
At the very bottom of Dave Thomas Brown’s impressive acting resume is this entry: “Horseback Stunt Riding (Western, English, and Bareback).” He won’t need that particular skill set when he opens off-Broadway next week in “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” but he admits that it gets attention. And it came in handy when he was studying drama at UNC School of the Arts... 

TV Tidbits: Actors from the South, transplanted in California, seem to miss food the most
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 16, 2015
“Rick & Morty” — an animated sci-fi comedy co-starring Chris Parnell, a UNC School of the Arts alumnus — has been renewed for a third season... The second season of NBC’s hit series “The Blacklist” is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, with Mary-Louise Parker, another UNCSA alum, in a recurring role... Yet another UNCSA alum appears in the fourth season of “Once Upon a Time,” also being released on both DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday. Elizabeth Lail, who graduated in 2014, promptly landed a prominent role in that series, a live-action series inspired by Disney’s animated films... 

GHS grad Zach Holditch awarded arts council scholarship
The Greenville Sun, Aug. 15, 2015
Zach Holditch, a 2015 graduate of Greeneville High School, was presented with the Greeneville Arts Council’s $1,000 annual High School Merit Scholarship Award on July 25. He has been accepted at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he will begin classes this fall... 

UNC-School of the Arts receives recognition
Greensboro News & Record, Aug. 14, 2015
The School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has been ranked No. 14 by The Hollywood Reporter in its list of The Top 25 American Film Schools... 

Ex-professor: UNCSA student never told him of medical condition
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 14, 2015
A retired faculty member who is a defendant in a lawsuit against the UNC School of the Arts says that the former graduate student suing the school was an inadequate student and that she never told him she had a medical condition that caused her to miss his class... 

The woman behind 'Mozart In The Jungle'
WUNC 91.5, Aug. 13, 2015
Oboist and Chapel Hill native Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music. She has performed on stage at Carnegie Hall and played in the orchestra pit for Broadway musicals like Les Miserables and Miss Saigon... Host Frank Stasio talks to musician and writer Blair Tindall about her path from (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts to Hollywood... 

Triad woman using yoga talents to inspire others
Fox 8, Aug. 13, 2015
Growing up in Greensboro, Jessamyn Stanley had dreams her work might take her to faraway places -- she just thought it might be for her talents as a chef. She was in graduate school in Winston-Salem (at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts) when a classmate tried to convince her to do something she’d tried and hated as a teenager. But, for some reason, it was different this time around... 

University sued by former student — discrimination alleged
Triad Business Journal, Aug. 13, 2015
University of North Carolina-School of the Arts is being sued by a former graduate student who claims the school discriminated against her... 

Winston-Salem selected as one of two U.S. cities to pilot community innovation lab
TWC News, Aug. 12, 2015
The innovative lab represents a new approach at addressing local disparities in employment, income, and wealth across race and class lines in a non-traditional way. The lab is being made possible through a partnership with EmcArts... In January, the Winston-Salem Foundation was approached by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County... 

Former graduate student is suing UNC School of the Arts for alleged discrimination
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 12, 2015
A former graduate student at UNC School of the Arts is suing the school, alleging it discriminated against her because of a medical condition... 

Innovative pilot program challenges the arts to solve social problems
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 11, 2015
Winston-Salem has been selected by EmcArts as one of two U.S. cities — from among 70 applications — to test a program to see if the arts can help solve social problems. The program, a Community Innovation Lab, will be hosted by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at UNC School of the Arts, the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, and the Winston-Salem Foundation. It will be facilitated by staff from EmcArts in New York and paid for with a $200,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation... 

One year after Robin Williams’s death: A D.C. humorist illuminates mental illness
The Washington Post, Aug. 11, 2015
On a deeply personal level, Teresa Roberts Logan mourns the loss of yet another clown. Roberts Logan and her husband, who works in Washington theater, were friends with Yury Belov, a Russian exile who lived a rich and literally dramatic life before dying this year, in April, at age 82. Belov, who fought artistic censorship in the Soviet Union before joining the drama faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, appeared in the ’80s film “Moscow on the Hudson” — for which he coached star Robin Williams... 

Arts & medicine combine for new Triad orchestra
Camel City Dispatch, Aug. 10, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have announced that they are teaming up to provide a new creative outlet for medical professionals. The Triad Area Medical Orchestra brings dedicated medical professionals together to use their musical talents. The orchestra is open to anyone in a medical profession, said Christopher James Lees, award-winning musical director of the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, who is a co-founder of the Medical Orchestra and will be its conductor... 

Brentwood High graduate premieres "The Polar Bear Club" in Belcourt
Brentwood Home Page, Aug. 8, 2015
Brett Price, 2005 graduate of Brentwood High School, will premiere his first feature film "The Polar Bear Club" in the Belcourt on Aug. 11 at 10 p.m. ... Price attended the University of Alabama for three semesters after graduating from BHS, but realized his desire to specialize in film and transferred to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where he studied filmmaking... 

Sonic Creek Parkway: Acclaimed sound designer has first hometown show
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 7, 2015
Lindsay Jones has been creating soundtrack music and sound effects for theater for more than 20 years, but usually in major cities such as New York and Chicago. He finally has a show in his hometown starting tonight, when “Mr. Joy” begins a three-day run at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts part of the National Black Theatre Festival... He grew up mostly in Winston-Salem, where he attended R.J. Reynolds High School and received a bachelor’s degree in drama from UNC School of the Arts... 

Swan Song: ‘39 Steps’ Clark’s last run in northwest Arkansas
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Aug. 7, 2015
In less than two weeks, Fayetteville High School graduate Coleman Clark will be a freshman at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. It's a tough school to get in to, with a 41 percent acceptance rate, and a tough program to stay in with a student body of less than 1,000 and alumni like Trey McIntyre, Judge Reinhold, Terrence Mann and Joe Mantello... 

Winston-Salem groups push for National Black Theater Hall
Rocky Mount Telegram, Aug. 6, 2015
Three arts organizations in Winston-Salem are working to create a National Black Theatre Hall of Fame and Museum... Chancellor Lindsey Bieman of the UNC School of the Arts says he hopes the school can house the museum. 

Project will do ‘wonderful things’ for W-S
The Chronicle, Aug. 6, 2015
At a press conference on Aug. 4 at the Marriott on West Fifth Street downtown, the big news about the National Black Theatre Hall of Fame and Museum was announced... Lindsey Bierman, chancellor of University of North Carolina School of the Arts, gave the NBTF appraisal of fulfilling performing arts and theater. “We are all key players, in creating the vibrant, Marvtastic cultural scene here in the city of arts and innovation here,” said Bierman... The UNCSA has been partnered with the N.C. Black Repertory Company for 26 years in making the NBTF to where it stands today... 

Meet the Artist: Musikgarten instructor, flutist, and singer Brenda Morie
WFDD, Aug. 4, 2015
Musikgarten is an international, early childhood music and movement program founded in Greensboro. It nurtures the musical aptitude of children from infants through elementary school age in a sequential curriculum. Fall enrollment at the UNCSA Community Music School”s “Twist and Turn” for babies and toddlers is now open... 

Art Briefs: UNCSA alum wins Rosen-Schaffel competition
Winston-Salem Journal, Aug. 2, 2015
Musicians from UNC School of the Arts brought an international flair to the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists. Marco Núñez, a Mexican-American flutist who received his bachelor’s degree in 2014, won first place. The fourth UNCSA alumnus to win the competition since it was founded in 2011, Núñez studied with Tadeu Coelho. British saxophonistAlastair Wright, who received his master’s degree in May, won second place. He studied withTaimur Sullivan. Violinist Lucia Kozba of Switzerland, who received her master’s degree in May and will begin work toward a professional artist certificate in August, received the audience-choice award. She studies with Ida Bieler... 

Tyler Lea will replace Alex Sharp in Tony-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway
Broadway.com, July 28, 2015
It's a super good day for Tyler Lea, who will make his Broadway debut as Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time... Lea's regional credits include Shakespeare’s R+J. He earned a B.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Schools of distinction
Winston-Salem Journal, July 27, 2015
A good life often starts with a good education. It’s a belief the early Moravian settlers established centuries ago, and it’s one that continues to drive our city today... UNC School of the Arts was established in 1963 on the former campus of Gray High School. Upon opening, it became the first state-supported arts conservatory in the nation. It thrives on a unique stand-alone campus within the UNC system, but it is quite different from its 16 sister institutions... 

UNCSA musicians win big at Rosen-Schaffel Competition
Camel City Dispatch, July 24, 2015
Musicians from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts brought an international flair to the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists, and nearly walked away with a sweep. Mexican-American flutist Marco Núñez, who received his Bachelor of Music degree in 2014, won first place. The fourth UNCSA alumnus to win the competition since it was founded in 2011, Núñez studied with Tadeu Coelho... British saxophonist Alastair Wright, who received his Master of Music degree in May, won second place. He studied with Taimur Sullivan. ViolinistLucia Kozba of Switzerland, who received her M.M. in May and will begin work toward a Professional Artist Certificate in August, received the audience choice award. She studies withIda Bieler...

 Hartford 'So You Think You Can Dance' contestant eliminated
Hartford Courant, July 24, 2015
Hartford-native Darion Flores, 19, stunned the "So You Think You Can Dance'' audience and viewers during week one with his ballet performance on the Fox show... Flores began dancing at age 3, and, although he started sports then, too, Flores fell in love with ballet and attended the University of North Carolina School [of] the Arts for High School... 

Kristin Chenoweth is getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today - how you can see the ceremony...
NewsOK, July 24, 2015
As previously reported, Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth, who hails from Broken Arrow, is receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today... She was presented with Honorary Doctorate degrees from both the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and her alma mater, Oklahoma City University... 

David Gordon Green on Manglehorn and more
YES! Weekly, July 22, 2015
In April, UNCSA School of Filmmaking graduate and acclaimed filmmaker David Gordon Green did something he’s done several times before – premiere his latest film at the annual RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston- Salem... 

Three NC universities make list for top value
Charlotte Sun Times, July 16, 2015
Money magazine released it’s top 50 colleges of top-value this week and three North Carolina institutions made the cut. Duke University (21st overall), UNC School of the Arts (38th overall) and UNC Chapel Hill (46th overall) were listed for the 2015-2016 academic year... 

Triad school lands in top 50 on 'Best Colleges' list
Triad Business Journal, July 15, 2015
The University of North Carolina-School of the Arts in Winston-Salem has landed at No. 38 onMoney magazine’s annual "Best Colleges" list... 

DVDs in stores
Winston-Salem Journal, July 15, 2015
“Goodbye To All That” (R): Angus MacLachlan (UNCSA '80), a Winston-Salem native, wrote and directed this smart, and at times bawdy, comedy about a single dad (Paul Schneider) thrust back into the dating scene after years of complacency in what he didn’t realize at the time was an unhappy marriage. The movie was shot in and around the Winston-Salem area. The cast also includes... Anna Camp, an alumna of UNC School of the Arts... 

3 N.C. universities among Money's top 50 in value
News & Record, July 14, 2015
Three North Carolina universities made the top 50 of Money magazine's list of best-value colleges. Duke University (21st overall), the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem (38th) and UNC-Chapel Hill (46th) were the top three North Carolina schools, according to the 2015-16 rankings published online Monday... 

UNCSA professor named Yale fellow
Winston-Salem Journal, July 12, 2015
Michael Dodds, an associate professor of music history in the School of Music at UNC School of the Arts, has been named a senior fellow of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music... 

TV Tidbits: UNCSA alumnus is a very busy actor
Winston-Salem Journal, July 12, 2015
Brett Gelman, a 1999 alumnus of UNC School of the Arts, is ridiculously busy these days...Entertainment Tonight has named a UNCSA alumnus one of its “11 Breakout Stars Under 25 to Watch This Summer.” Matthew Brown, 24, is a 2009 graduate of Reynolds High School and a 2015 graduate of UNCSA. He wrote, directed, produced and stars in the coming-of-age drama “In the Treetops,” which was filmed in the Winston-Salem area and features other UNCSA students and alums among the cast and crew... 

Local filmmakers blow the doors off with short film "Reverie"
Camel City Dispatch, July 12, 2015
The “Reverie” production team included local filmmakers and industry professionals, with the majority of the crew made up of UNC School of the Arts’ School of Filmmaking students... 

Motion Dance Theatre explores the future of dance
Citizen-Times, July 9, 2015
Before the July 10 performance, Susan Jaffe, dean of dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre for 20 years, will lead a talk about the future of dance at 7 p.m. in Diana Wortham Theatre’s Forum space... 

Clifton Film Festival returns to Workhouse Art Center
Connection, July 9, 2015
Like Bulova, 2015 South County High School graduate Jacqueline Olivo also plans to study film in college -- in her case at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Emmy Award-winning alumnus, Michael J. Kelley, announced as new dean of Design and Production at UNCSA
Lighting & Sound America, July 1, 2015
Michael J. Kelley, a two-time Emmy Award-winning alumnus, is the new dean of design and production (D&P) at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), provost David Nelson has announced...

Emmy Award-winning alumnus UNCSA’s new dean of Design and Production
Winston-Salem Journal, June 30, 2015
Michael J. Kelley, a two-time Emmy Award-winning alumnus of the UNC School of the Arts, is the new dean of its School of Design and Production...

UNCSA appoints Interim dean for music
Winston-Salem Journal, June 28, 2015
David Nelson, provost of UNC School of the Arts, has announced that Karen Beres has been named interim dean of the School of Music, effective July 7... Beres has been serving the School of Music as assistant dean for enrollment, recruiting and outreach since 2014. She also she teaches keyboard and piano pedagogy. She joined the school in 2002... 

Karen Beres named interim dean of UNCSA School of Music
Camel City Dispatch, June 26, 2015
In a press release, Provost David Nelson announced that Karen Beres has been named interim dean of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, effective July 7th... 

Misty Copeland’s possible promotion at American Ballet Theatre is talk of dance world
The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2015
Promotions usually mean higher pay, maybe a fancy title. But for Misty Copeland, it means breaking a color barrier in the elite world of ballet... “Kevin likes to spread the wealth,” said Susan Jaffe, a former Ballet Theatre star who now is dean of dance at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Dancing above rank “doesn’t mean they are going to become a soloist or principal”... 

UNC School of the Arts hires police chief
Winston-Salem Journal, June 18, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts has hired Gregory C. Harris at its new police chief. Harris will assume his duties on June 26, the university said in a statement... 

David Gordon Green explains why you'll never figure him out
Indiewire, June 18, 2015
Among American filmmakers whose careers firmly exist in the 21st century, David Gordon Green has followed one of the more unpredictable paths... 

A choreographer with a touch of theatre
OZY, June 13, 2015
In front of a serious-looking audience sporting lanyards and name tags, Camille A. Brown is sprinting onstage, her brown and blond braids flying, her yellow T-shirt and green pants riotous in the spotlight... Trained in everything from jazz to ballet to hip-hop to modern dance, Brown takes her influence from the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois, historical art forms, reality television and current events. She makes her dancers watch movies; she holds mid-rehearsal seminarlike discussions and speaks to dramaturges, says Francine Ott, one of Brown’s rehearsal directors. She especially draws from theater — a lifelong love, inspired by her mother’s affinity for it — and, necessarily, intimate emotion. Such a mishmash may sound discombobulated to some, but this is the state of modern dance, says Brenda Daniels, associate dean of the dance department at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Brown’s alma mater). “It’s one of the beauties of the form,” she says — a form Brown is advancing. Daniels adds that there’s something about modern dance which is always personal...

UNCSA School of Drama ranked No. 6 in the world
Winston-Salem Journal, June 4, 2015
The School of Drama at the UNC School of the Arts has been ranked No. 6 in the world by The Hollywood Reporter for a second consecutive year... 

Hollywood Reporter names UNCSA #6 drama program in the world
Camel City Dispatch, June 4, 2015
For a second straight year, the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is ranked #6 in the world by The Hollywood Reporter... 

UNCSA alumni honored by Drama Desk Awards
News & Record, June 1, 2015
Congratulations to three alumni of the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, who were honored at Sunday's Drama Desk Awards in New York.K. Todd Freeman of the Class of 1987 won Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for "Airline Highway"... Quincy Dunn-Baker (’05) and Jenn Lyon (’03) were honored with a special award for outstanding ensemble for "The Wayside Motor Inn"...

‘First Dates’ looking for single people in Carolinas
Winston-Salem Journal, May 31, 2015
This summer will be a busy time for people with local ties appearing on national television... Chris Parnell, a UNC School of the Arts alumnus, on “Rick and Morty” (July 26)... The sixth and final season of “Justified” is among this week’s TV-to-DVD releases on Tuesday... The supporting cast includes Nick Searcy, a Cullowhee native who briefly attended UNC School of the Arts... 

A South Carolina native is bringing his musical heritage & talent to play at the UNC School of the Arts.
NC Now, UNC-TV, May 29, 2015 

The Top 25 Undergraduate Drama Schools
The Hollywood Reporter, May 29, 2015
6. UNC School of the Arts
Mary-Louise Parker's old school has a sense of humor (its mascot is a pickle)...

Classics return to the screen at Celluloid Celebration
The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2015
If digital technology has made old-fashioned 35mm movie exhibition obsolete, it is news to Jed Rapfogel. The film programmer at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village suggests that celluloid’s apparent sunset could also be a golden age—at least for New York audiences... “You get lulled into this reverie when you’re watching film that you never do with anything on digital, no matter how good it looks,” said David Spencer, senior curator at the film school of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he oversees a print archive of 15,000 films... 

Southwest Virginia actor lands a role on Broadway
WDBJ7, May 27, 2015
From Franklin County to the bright lights of Broadway. WDBJ7 has followed Josh Grisetti's career for more than a decade. Now he's hit the big time... The "you" in It Should've Been You is Josh Grisetti who grew up in Franklin County and attended Franklin County High School before heading to North Carolina to finish high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and then Boston to study theatre and music in college... 

UNCSA alums, students put education to work backstage at Spoleto
Winston-Salem Journal, May 25, 2015
Backstage at the historic Dock Street Theater, Jack Gilchrist is eating lunch on the run and looking at a laptop computer screen... When someone offered to buy his company, he sold it and used the money to go back to school. “I liked the conservatory approach at UNC School of the Arts, and it was close to home,” he said. “So I thought I would give it a try, and I just fell in love with it.” He attended UNCSA from 1990-1995 and met his wife there. Sharon Moore Gilchrist is a scenic artist and currently the “paint charge” — the industry term for head painter — for Spoleto Festival USA. She and Heather Wanamaker, another UNCSA graduate, painted the scenery for both of this year’s operas... Clara Freeze, 21, is a rising senior at UNCSA majoring in lighting design. She is also working at the Dock Street Theater... 

UNCSA presents Giannini Society Award to Martins
Winston-Salem Journal, May 24, 2015
Jim and Mary Allen Martin received the 2015 Giannini Society Award, one of the most prestigious awards given by UNC School of the Arts. It was presented at the school’s commencement earlier this month... 

Former Kernersville resident, a UNCSA graduate, is lighting coordinator for Spoleto Festival
Winston-Salem Journal, May 24, 2015
Without the lights, nothing happens. Just ask the actors, dancers and musicians on the 13 stages at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C. Andrew Cissna, 30, is the man at the switch... An independent lighting designer who lives in Washington, D.C., Cissna grew up in Kernersville and graduated from the School of [Design & Production] at UNC School of the Arts in 2006... 

Edison ballet dancer's dream to appear on “Chasing News”
TAP into Edison, May 22, 2015
Grace McCann's dream of attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Intensive for Classical Ballet this summer is getting a little closer to becoming reality with some help from Sibile Marcellus of “Chasing News” on My9... 

Matthew Connor performs live!
WWLP-22 News, May 21, 2015
The Boston Globe has called Matthew Connor an old fashioned crooner with a dark, modern twist, and others have said he’s one of Boston’s best upcoming artists... At the age of sixteen, Matthew left his high school and home to study at the prestigious University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he trained to be an opera singer under a fearsome, demanding Polish woman... 

American Theater Company Artistic Director PJ Paparelli dies at 40
Broadway World, May 21, 2015
The Chicago Tribune writes that PJ Paparelli, artistic director of Chicago's American Theater Company for seven years, died today, May 21, 2015 following a car accident while on vacation in Scotland earlier this week. He was 40... He has worked in education/administration at The Public Theater, Pittsburgh Public, and Circle Rep, and has directed and/or taught Shakespeare at DePaul University, The Juilliard School, the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College, (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Alaska, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Catholic University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University... 

Jim & Mary Allen Martin recieve UNCSA’s Giannini Society Award
Camel City Dispatch, May 19, 2015
Jim and Mary Allen Martin of Winston-Salem are the recipients of the 2015 Giannini Society Award at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). One of the school’s most prestigious honors, the award was presented at University Commencement on May 9... 

Lawrence Dillon’s String Quartet No. 3 performed in Spain by Giannini Quartet on May 19, 20, 21 and 22
New Music World, May 19, 2015
Lawrence Dillon’s String Quartet No. 3 will be performed by the Giannini Quartet on Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 PM at Instituto de Estudios Norteamericanos 08006 in Barcelona; on Wednesday, May 20, also at 7:30 at American Space Madrid 28010 in Madrid; Thursday, May 21, 7:00 PM at Universidad de Valencia 46010 in Valencia; and on Friday, May 22, also at 7:00 PM at Conservatorio Superior de Musica “Oscar Espla” de Alicante 03005 in Alicante, Spain... Other performers include clarinetist Oskar Espina-Ruiz and guitarist John Culwell, both from University of North Carolina School of the Arts... Founded in August 2014 and currently residing at (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem as participants of theChrysalis Chamber Music Institute, Giannini String Quartet is comprised of violinists Lucia Kobza and Nicole Wendl, violist Peter Ayuso, and cellist Eli Kaynor... Lawrence Dillon, a recent recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship, is Composer in Residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Renowned photographer David LaChapelle speaks to UNCSA high school graduates about the life of an artist
Winston-Salem Journal, May 16, 2015
David LaChapelle isn’t the kind of person who gets nervous. An internationally-renowned photographer, film director and artist, he’s used to being in the public eye. His art adorns galleries all over the world. He’s engineered music videos for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, and regularly lunches with his dear friend Lady Gaga. But as he stood in front of the high school graduates at the UNC-School of the Arts graduation Saturday, he was shaking in his boots... 

Sisters Willa and Ledah Finck to Perform Classical Violin Recital at ASU on May 23
HCPress.com, May 15, 2015
Local musicians and sisters Willa and Ledah Finck will present a recital of classical violin music on Saturday, May 23 at 5:00 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Broyhill Music Center at Appalachian State University... Willa Finck studied at the UNC School of the Arts during her senior year of high school, where her teachers were Sarah Johnson and Ida Bieler... Ledah Finck also attended the UNC School of the Arts for her senior year of high school, studying with Kevin Lawrence... 

Take Anna Camp's advice On turning 30
Refinery29, May 15, 2015
Some Hollywood women make it all look so easy. They're the kind of people who are so effortlessly put together they make you think that "I woke up like this" could actually be a real thing. You can file Pitch Perfect 2's Anna Camp in that category. But, don't get it twisted. Camp didn't just have her life handed to her on a silver platter. She put in a lot of work — an intensive acting program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, countless guest starring roles — to become the versatile powerhouse you've seen opposite Don Draper, hanging on the couch with Mindy Lahiri, and stiffly prancing through an a cappella version of "The Sign"... 

Exclusive: Our aca-mazing interview with Pitch Perfect 2’s Anna Camp
Who What Wear, May 15, 2015
On screen, (UNCSA alumna) Anna Camp is the girl you love to hate—whether it’s her turn as the havoc-wreaking televangelist Sarah Newlin on True Blood or as the overly stubborn Aubrey Posen on Pitch Perfect...

 

Director Brett Haley on ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’
The Boston Globe, May 14, 2015
Most young independent filmmakers start out by telling stories about what they know: themselves or people just like them. Not Brett Haley. Haley’s directorial debut, the micro-budgeted “The New Year” (2010), centered on Sunny ([UNCSA alumna] Trieste Kelly Dunn), a young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a bowling alley after she returned home to suburban Florida to care for her sick father... A Brooklyn resident, he grew up in Florida and studied directing at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Baumbach's art "captures the beauty of everyday life" & comes to LowerTown
WKMS, May 11, 2015
A diverse line-up of artists were juried into the LowerTown Arts & Music Festival this Friday and Saturday in Paducah. Their work includes ceramics, wood, photography, batik, henna, beading, glass and more. Madison, Alabama resident Heather Baumbach brings her acrylic paintings to the beauty of every day life... Attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she took costume design class and fell in love with drawing costume renderings... 

Creative Class: Young students engage minds, bodies in acting class at UNCSA
Winston-Salem Journal, May 10, 2015
If you know what a voice puppet is or the difference between upstage and downstage, then you might just be an actor. Thirty-three students displayed their knowledge of these things — and more — last weekend when the Acting Out! classes at UNC School of the Arts gave a demonstration for friends and family in the Catawba Theatre Performance Place... 

200 receive degrees at UNCSA
Winston-Salem Journal, May 9, 2015
While Saturday’s commencement at the UNC School of the Arts featured several familiar graduation traditions, there was no “Pomp and Circumstance” or robes for the graduates. Instead, there was a designated selfie moment and degrees brought on stage by the school’s mascot, The Fighting Pickle... 

Mendelssohn, Bard meet in hilarious N. Carolina Dream
Classical Voice North America, May 9, 2015
“Just a Short Trip Away. Three Thousand Miles from Ordinary.” These are not the words of the Bard, but an advertisement on the back of the North Carolina Symphony’s program book that single-handedly sums up the trip concertgoers took at Memorial Hall on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus as the orchestra concluded its season with an impressive Midsummer Night’s Dreamprogram... Students from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Drama served as the actors, with Drama Dean Carl Forsman directing; the UNC-Chapel Hill Chamber Choir provided exquisite singing; and the state’s own symphony orchestra provided the evening’s accompaniment led by music director Grant Llewellyn... 

Meet the Artist: composer/producer Tom Hauser
WFDD, May 7, 2015
Composer/producer Tom Hauser received his BM in Sound Recording Technology from Ithaca College before earning an MFA in Film Scoring at UNC School of the Arts... 

For SC-born actress Anna Camp, life is ‘Pitch Perfect’
The State, May 5, 2015
You might know South Carolina native Anna Camp from the movies – perhaps the 2012 a cappella comedy “Pitch Perfect,” in which she played projectile-vomiting perfectionist Aubrey Posen... Her parents, Tom and Dee, moved to Rock Hill in 1999 – the same year Anna was admitted as a senior into the high school program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. In 2000, she was the only student from her class accepted into the college program... 

Dane DeHaan turned down James Dean role 5 times ‘out of fear’
The Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2015
Actor Dane DeHaan turned down the role of James Dean in the film “Life” five times before he started listening to his wife, who reminded him that he says he wants to play challenging parts. “I realized I was operating out of fear,” he said... DeHaan said he benefitted tremendously from looking much younger than his years. When the Allentown, Pa., native was 22 years old, he was a trained actor who had graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, but he looked 16 and was competing for roles against teenagers with little or no training...

Findlen and Rowley: home grown North Carolina treasures
Classical Voice North Carolina, May 3, 2015
Looking for a celebration of North Carolina music, painting, poetry and memoir? On May 3, the Sights and Sounds on Sundays series, a fifteen-year collaboration between Raleigh Chamber Music Guild and the North Carolina Museum of Art, has it all on one concert! The program features the music of Kenneth Frazelle, instructor of Composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... Afraid of an entire program of contemporary music? Frazelle’s style is lyrical and completely accessible. The words are too important to be allowed to wallow in grunts and squeaks. And Kathryn Findlen specializes in dynamic interpretations. Also a North Carolina native, Findlen attended high school and college at the UNC School of the Arts... 

3 NC groups team up for ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’
The News & Observer, May 2, 2015
The N.C. Symphony had a novel idea to cap its 2009-10 season: It would perform works by Wolfgang Mozart to accompany a compact version of the play “Amadeus,” performed by actors from PlayMakers Repertory Company. The pairing was such a success that Grant Llewellyn, the symphony’s music director, and Joseph Haj, PlayMakers’ artistic director, began planning a follow-up. After a series of challenges delayed that second joint presentation, a concert abridgment of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will play three performances in the Triangle this week... One last challenge came when Haj was selected this spring to head the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, precluding his participation in the “Midsummer” staging. Carl Forsman, dean of drama at the UNC School of the Arts, was tapped for the task... 

UNCSA trustees approve refinancing deal to save $754,000
Winston-Salem Journal, May 1, 2015
The board of trustees of the UNC School of the Arts unanimously approved a refinancing deal that will allow the university to save $754,000 and pay off a $5.9 million loan by June 2030...

UNCSA dancer competes in New York
Winston-Salem Journal, April 26, 2015
James Rogers, a college freshman in the School of Dance at UNC School of the Arts, competed last week in the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix, the world’s largest and one of the most prestigious international ballet competitions... 

The Winston-Salem Light Project translates Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" in Terra Luna
WFDD, April 24, 2015
There’s a historic dissonance between starving artists and the bourgeoisie who can afford to purchase their work. Norman Coates, Winston-Salem Light Project (WSLP) Executive Director and professor at UNCSA, helps erase the fissure with his multimedia public art project Terra Luna that open to the entire viewing public at First Baptist Church on Fifth Street. It will remain on display nightly from 8:30pm to 11:00pm until this Saturday April 25th... 

UNC School of the Arts digitizing key films
Winston-Salem Journal, April 24, 2015
UNC School of the Arts is partnering with NURAY Digital to restore and preserve key film titles from UNCSA’s Moving Image Archives, including prints from the Walter J. Klein film and videotape archive... 

Flea-market finds inspire collages by Ollie Wagner
The News & Observer, April 24, 2015
Raleigh artist Ollie Wagner’s studio is filled with old books, magazines and his latest flea market finds... After Wagner graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, he received a bachelor’s degree from the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston... 

NURAY Digital partners with University of North Carolina School of the Arts to preserve film archives
IT Business Net, April 23, 2015
NURAY Digital, a leader in media conservation, restoration and preservation, announced today a partnership with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). In this partnership, NURAY Digital will work with the School of Filmmaking at UNCSA to restore and preserve key film titles from UNCSA's Moving Image Archives, including prints from the Walter J. Klein film and videotape archive... 

Gripping melodrama in Menotti opera
Classical Voice North Carolina by Peter Perret, April 22, 2015
The tiny Agnes de Mille Theater, hidden between the Schools of Dance and Drama on the campus of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts has seen its share of major productions – from the ambitious setting of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in the late 1970s to the made-for-television Britten opera, Owen Wingrave. Although no longer pristine, the venerable theater has wonderful sight lines, admirable acoustics and wonder of wonders, an ample orchestra pit situated under the stage. That pit alone makes the hall invaluable to the stage life of the Triad... 

A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute presents "The Consul"
WFDD, April 20, 2015
As UNC School of the Arts Resident Opera Stage Director Steven LaCosse began contemplating a school production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize winning opera The Consul, the idea began making more and more sense... 

RiverRun International Film Festival – human connections through film
Camel City Dispatch, April 19, 2015
After the film, I stood to leave and bumped into Jim DeCristo, COO of UNCSA, catching a screening on his Saturday off. “Thanks for letting us crash your campus,” I said. He laughed. “We absolutely love having everyone here”... 

Lucia Chase Fellow is guest artist for Spring Dance
Winston-Salem Journal, April 19, 2015
The list of dancers who have been named Lucia Chase Fellows in the School of Dance at UNC School of the Arts includes some pretty impressive names... Now the list also includes Raymond Lukens, the artistic director of American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. Lukens, the 2015 Lucia Chase Fellow, was a guest artist at UNCSA for two weeks, staging August Bournonville’s “Napoli” for Spring Dance, which opens Thursday on campus. It is one of four pieces on the program... 

UNCSA graduate will be guest artist with symphony
Winston-Salem Journal, April 19, 2015
After the Kicked-Back Classics performance on Saturday, concert-goers can join Moody, guest artist Benjamin Robinette, and members of the orchestra for Brews with Bob at Graze across Cherry Street in the Marriott... Robinette, 28, has a doctorate degree in music arts in saxophone performance and a certificate in early-music performance practice from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He has a master’s degree in saxophone performance from UNC School of the Arts (2011), where he served as the studio teaching assistant for Taimur Sullivan, a music professor... 

Training job creators of tomorrow: UNCSA to offer Master Of Fine Arts degree in film
WKRN-TV, April 17, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will offer a new Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking in fall 2016. The UNC Board of Governors approved the new M.F.A. program on Friday at its regular meeting in Greenville... 

Grand Rapids Ballet: Get to know 'Movemedia II' choreographer Susan Jaffe
Examiner.com, April 16, 2015
Grand Rapids Ballet's "Movemedia" contemporary dance series is all about exploring the art of dance. For the past four years, the popular contemporary dance series has drawn some of the industry's leading and most creative choreographers. "Movemedia II" will open today and feature the works of female choreographers Susan Jaffe, Andrea Schermoly, Penny Saunders and Yuka Oba... One of these choreographers, Susan Jaffe, was a principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT) for 20 years and is now the Dean of Dance at University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA)... 

At This Performance: Paloma Garcia-Lee of Broadway's ON THE TOWN!
BroadwayWorld, April 15, 2015
ON THE TOWN extraordinaire (and UNCSA alumna), Paloma Garcia-Lee, who also serves as one of the production's dance captains, proves her worth daily. Garcia-Lee is undoubtedly verstatile, having taken the stage in nearly every female ensemble track - and even a male's... 

Canton Symphony announces six vocal soloist to perform at Beethoven finale, 4/26
BroadwayWorld, April 15, 2015
Three choruses combined into one, six vocal soloists and internationally acclaimed pianist André Watts join together for the Canton Symphony Orchestra's final Beethoven Festival concert... In 2013, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Findlen sang Ken Frazelle's autobiographical work "Songs in the Rearview Mirror" for its New York Premiere in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall... She holds a Master of Music degree from University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music degree from University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Georgia State Associate Dean of Music and Fine Arts and Director of Music School appointed
Georgia State University News, April 14, 2015
Dr. Wade Weast, dean of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), has been named the new associate dean of music and fine arts in Georgia State University’s College of Arts and Sciences and director of Georgia State’s School of Music. Weast helped to create a new evaluation system for faculty research at UNCSA and raised more than $3.7 million for scholarships in five years... 

UNCSA’s drama teacher Yury Belov remembered as ‘quintessential clown’
Winston-Salem Journal, April 14, 2015
Retired UNC School of the Arts drama teacher Yury Belov – a Russian émigré who came to the United States in 1981 — died Friday. He was 82. Belov taught at UNCSA from 1982 to 1997. He is survived by his wife, Tanya Belov, who is an associate professor in the School of Drama at UNCSA... 

‘Guys and Dolls’ flawlessly paced, performed
Winston-Salem Journal, April 9, 2015
UNC School of the Arts’ all-school production of “Guys and Dolls,” which opened Thursday at the Stevens Center, is an exuberant celebration of love and luck... 

UNCSA students take on one of Broadway’s biggest hits
News & Record, April 9, 2015
Lighting up the Stevens Center this month in a UNCSA 50th anniversary production, Guys and Dolls has been billed as “the greatest musical of all time.” Why? “No musical better encapsulates the magic of Broadway at its finest,” alleges Dean of Drama Carl Forsman... 

Time travel with T. Oliver Reid's 'Drop Me Off in Harlem'
Chicago Tribune, April 8, 2015
Get ready to tour 1930s Harlem speakeasies without leaving present-day Naperville. Cabaret singer T. Oliver Reid performs his one-man show, "Drop Me Off in Harlem," at 6 p.m. April 12 in North Central College's Madden Theatre... After graduating with a degree in music at the University of North Carolina School of Arts, he began work on the second national tour of "Once On This Island"... 

UNCSA presents "Guys and Dolls"
WFDD, April 6, 2015
Guys & Dolls with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser comes to The Stevens Center this month courtesy of UNC School of the Arts... 

TV Tidbits: UNCSA alumna has feature role on Hulu series
Winston-Salem Journal, April 5, 2015
Anna Camp, an alumna of UNC School of the Arts, has a guest role in Hulu.com's next original comedy series. "Resident Advisors," which will make its debut Thursday on Hulu and Hulu Plus, is described as a workplace comedy "set in the most hormonally overloaded, sexually active, out-of-control workplace in the world: a college dorm"... 

Alumni see value in performing in all-school musicals
Winston-Salem Journal, April 5, 2015
More than 200 students — about one-fifth of the student body — have been for working for a year on “Guys and Dolls,” which opens Thursday at the Stevens Center... 

UNCSA “Terra Luna” lighting designers will present portfolios at Lincoln Center
Camel City Dispatch, April 2, 2015
Three senior lighting designers in the School of Design and Production (D&P) at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will be in New York April 11 and 12 to participate in the prestigious Hemsley Lighting Portfolio Review at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.Manuel Da Silva, Alyssa Eilbott and Evan Higgins will participate in one-on-one and panel interviews with professional designers, Broadway production electricians, scenic and costume designers, directors, and other theatre professionals... 

Kapuskasing Music Festival News
Kapuskasing Times, April 1, 2015
The adjudicator for the 2015 Festival is Amélie Langlois. Collaborative pianist Amélie Langlois enjoys the busy life of an accompanist. She received her bachelor’s degree from Sherbrooke University and went on to study at the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, where she was the first to graduate with a Master’s degree in Piano Accompaniment from this institution...

Charlie Pollock, Wesley Taylor, Lauren Molina, Patti Murin and more to lead NERDS Labs in NYC next month; Broadway this fall?
BroadwayWorld, March 30, 2015
BroadwayWorld has confirmed that Nerds is headed back to to New York City!... The labs will star... (UNCSA alumnus) Wesley Taylor... 

Rose Brand announces winners of the 2015 Rose Brand / USITT Action Design Competition
Stage Directions, March 30, 2015
Based on their beautifully designed, developed and lit scenic environment, Team Autumn was voted this year’s winner of the Rose Brand/USITT Action Design Competition at the USITT Expo in Cincinnati, OH. Votes were tabulated via the Rose Brand Instagram and Facebook pages. Team Autumn was made up of the following student designers:
- Sarah Schwartz, Southern Oregon University, Costume Designer
- Mitch Weisbrod, Southern Oregon University, Lighting Designer
- Batul Rizvi, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Scenic Designer
- Gatlin Douglas, University of Texas at Arlington, Technical Director
A second portion of the contest includes winner for best designer in each category, which is selected by a panel of industry experts... Winners in each individual category were:
- Anne Suchyta, Wayne State University, Costume Designer
- Brian Sechrist, University of Alaska, Anchorage, Lighting Designer
- Batul Rizvi, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Scenic Designer
- Pamela Meadows, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Technical Director... 

Pankey to run for N.C. schools superintendent
Laurinburg Exchange, March 24, 2015
A Scotland County native who has made success of turning around troubled schools in New York and North Carolina and then writing books about how he did it, Henry J. Pankey, has announced he will seek election as the next North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction... Pankey, 63, is a registered Democrat and winner of more than 100 awards as an educator. He graduated from Scotland High School in 1970, attended the University of North Carolina School [of] the Arts on a scholarship, then matriculated on another scholarship to Stockwell College in Bromley Kent, England...

Actor Blake Cooper Griffin on working in Helen Hunt's feature "Ride"
Press Pass LA, March 22, 2015
You may recognize (UNCSA alumnus) Blake Cooper Griffin from TV shows like Castle, 90210, or this season of Disney’s hit show Jessie. But if you haven’t been lucky enough to catch his work yet, you can rest assured you won’t be able to miss him after his recent work in Helen Hunt’s Rideand Love is All You Need... 

WSSU grads No. 1 in UNC system for jobs, salaries
Winston-Salem Journal, March 20, 2015
Winston-Salem State University ranked first in the 16-school UNC system in percentage of undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees and landing jobs in North Carolina and the salaries they earned, Chancellor Elwood Robinson said Friday... UNC School of the Arts was last among the 16 schools in the UNC system with 16.7 percent of its undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees getting jobs in the state, according to the study. The conservatory’s students received an average of $15,536 annually, which also was last... 

UNCSA Symphony & soloist provide important "Fireworks" with concert
Classical Voice North Carolina by Jackson Cooper, March 19, 2015
"Don't you remember what it was like to live during that time?" bellowed the lanky conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky to his orchestra. It was during a rehearsal for Shostakovich's fifth symphony circa 1982 that, as the story goes, he was displeased with the orchestra's lackluster playing of such an emotional piece. He carefully raised the baton again and the sound was transcendent. The players involved in University of North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra's "Russian Fireworks" concert at the Stevens Center did not live during that time, although their devotion to the piece would have anyone thinking that they had. The concert was led by recently appointed conductor Christopher James Lees and featured as solo pianist faculty member Dmitri Shteinberg... 

Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble to be held March 25 - 28
Appalachian State University, March 18, 2015
The Appalachian State University Department of Theatre and Dance presents the 2015 Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble (SADE)... Choreographers for the 2015 production are faculty members Cara Hagan, Susan Lutz and Kathryn Ullom... The production is the choreographic debut for both Hagan and Ullom and marks the first time they have created work with Appalachian students. Hagan is a new faculty member in the Department of Theatre and Dance.... She is a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts... 

Music director Christopher Lees and UNCSA Symphony Orchestra present "Russian Fireworks"
WFDD, March 16, 2015
This week the UNC School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Christopher James Lees will be shooting off Russian Fireworks. On the program is the Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff’s second Piano Concerto with outstanding Russian pianist Dmitri Shteinberg, and the Prelude to Khovanschina by Modest Mussorgsky. Russian Fireworks will begin Thursday night, March 19th at 7:30 in the Stevens Center for the Performing Arts... 

UNCSA School of Filmmaking offering film appreciation class for community
Camel City Dispatch, March 15, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking is offering a film appreciation course for the community entitled 1939: It Was a Very Good Year. The course will be taught by Dale M. Pollock, associate professor, and will take place on Tuesdays from March 31 through May 5 from 7 to 10pm... 

High school brass musicians are invited to chamber music competition at UNCSA
Camel City Dispatch, March 13, 2015
Registration is now open for the Second Annual High School Chamber Brass Competition on Sunday, April 12, at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. The deadline to register is March 20. The competition is open to any high school chamber brass group of three to five players of like or mixed instruments. Prizes totaling $2,500 will be awarded, including a first prize of $1,250... 

Newcomer Gus Halper lands the lead in ABC pilot ‘The Kingmakers’
Deadline Hollywood, March 13, 2015
Will ABC’s drama pilot The Kingmakers be a star maker? After a lengthy search, the project has cast newcomer Gus Halper as the lead... Halper is a heartthrob in the making — the 2014 University of North Carolina School of the Arts graduate played Romeo in his drama school’s production of the Shakespeare classic last spring... 

'Bering Seas Gold' review: Woman leads search for gold in rugged Alaska on Discovery Channel
New York Daily News, March 12, 2015
Emily Riedel really hit the jackpot when the Discovery Channel came calling to cast her on the rugged Alaska mining show “Bering Sea Gold”... “It’s weird to be lumped in with all the other reality show folks,” says the well-spoken beauty who’s earned a vocal performance degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Works by Hollywood’s elite show strength of dimension
The Columbus Dispatch, March 12, 2015
For many film critics, 3-D movies have served as a convenient dartboard... Planning for 3-D and using the proper tools make a difference, said cinematography professor John LeBlanc of [the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts]... 

Armenia: Watch the video of "Don't Deny"
Eurovision, March 12, 2015
The song Don't Deny was composed by Armen Martirosyan and the author of the lyrics is Inna Mkrtchyan. It is about universal values... (UNCSA alumna) Mary-Jean O’Doherty Vasmatzian is the fifth confirmed member of the band...

 

Pickle — unfortunately — can’t play pickleball
Winston-Salem Journal, March 12, 2015
Pickleball is not the only preserved cucumber in town. UNC School of the Arts has a nationally renowned mascot, The Fighting Pickle. The Pickle was adopted as a mascot in 1972, received his official design — by student Dina Perez — in 2010, was No. 2 on the Reader’s Digest list of Most Lovable College Mascots in 2011 and was declared the Cheesiest Mascot in the U.S. in 2012 by the Cheetos mascot, Chester Cheetah... 

Genealogy's song for Eurovision to be premiered tomorrow
Armenpress, March 11, 2015
Armenia's entry song for Eurovision 2015 international song contest will be premiered tomorrrow on March 12 on Armenia's First TV channel... The Public Relations Department of Armenia's Public TV informed "Armenpress" that the fifth member of the band is (UNCSA alumna) Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian, who will represent the Australian continent... 

Anna Camp’s work schedule is all play
Charlotte Observer, March 6, 2015
You might know South Carolina native Anna Camp from the movies – perhaps the 2012 a cappella comedy “Pitch Perfect,” in which she played projectile-vomiting perfectionist Aubrey Posen. Or, you might know her from TV – the UNC School of the Arts alumna spent three seasons as vampire-hating psycho Sarah Newlin on HBO’s “True Blood"... 

Actor plays everybody in 'Buyer & Cellar'
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 5, 2015
There are two ways to look at what Jeremy Webb is doing, and as he prepares for “Buyer & Cellar” at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis he has considered both of them. There’s the scary way, and the exciting way... By the time he went to the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, his career was a foregone conclusion... 

In Charlotte debut, Helen Simoneau Danse will explore issues of identity
Charlotte Observer, March 5, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts shaped Helen Simoneau as a choreographer and dancer. The native of French-speaking Canada says, with no trace of an accent, "I responded to the vigorous training I got at school. They instill a sense of discipline and personal responsibility"... 

South Meck grad Jenn Lyon lands role in Larry David’s ‘Fish in the Dark’
Charlotte Observer, March 4, 2015
Jenn Lyon made it to Broadway. The South Mecklenburg High School graduate is showcasing her comedic chops among a marquee ensemble cast in “Fish in the Dark,” the hot new Broadway comedy starring and written by “Seinfeld” co-creator, Larry David... Lyon’s experiences at South Meck eventually led her to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where she graduated with a fine arts degree... 

8 tips for applying to college acting programs
Back Stage, March 3, 2015
So you’re a high school junior getting ready to apply to college theater programs. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s not an easy process; auditioning for acting programs in particular is a stressful, even terrifying endeavor. How do you put your best foot forward? Backstage sat down with admissions officers at three top-notch undergraduate programs for insight into auditions, the selection process, and what makes an application stand out... For Carl Forsman, dean of drama at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, authenticity is key as well. In addition to transcripts, recommendations, and personal artistic statements, UNCSA requires three monologues and an in-person interview. “It’s really a chance to get to know the energy of the student a little bit,” he says of the auditions, which number over 500 for only 28 slots. “I’m looking for people I want to spend four years with”... 

Campus climate change at UNC
Higher Education Works Foundation, March 3, 2015
By James Moeser, Chancellor Emeritus, UNC Chapel Hill
[...] My point here is not to re-litigate the closing of the Poverty Center at UNC Chapel Hill, the Center for Biodiversity at East Carolina University, or the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at N.C. Central University; or the abrupt dismissal without explanation of President Tom Ross. Rather, it is to focus on the collateral damage to the university from these actions and from statements from people in high places that suggest a lack of support for academic freedom, a lack of understanding of the real purpose of a public university. I saw this last year in Winston-Salem, where in my role as the interim chancellor of the UNC School of the Arts, I interviewed the finalists for the chancellor’s position. To a person, each candidate asked me something like this: “I’ve been reading a lot about what is going on politically in this state regarding the university system. Is this a good time for me to be thinking about moving to a position in North Carolina?” I did my best to convince them that they should come. I told them that this is a state full of wonderful, decent people with good values. I told them that the UNC system was held in universally high regard across the state... 

Editorial: New school of the arts facilities will enhance mission, reputation
Winston-Salem Journal, March 3, 2015
Cheers to the building boom at the UNC School of the Arts. It was a long time coming. Congratulations to all those who helped with the arduous task of bringing the construction to fruition... 

Armenia: Fifth artist of Genealogy known!
Eurovision, March 3, 2015
Stephanie Topalian, Essaï Altounian, Vahe Tilbian and Tamar Kaprelian have already been announced as members of the group Genealogy, representing Armenia in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. Today they are officially joined by Mary-Jean O’Doherty Vasmatzian from Australia... Mary-Jean O’Doherty Vasmatzian was born in Houston, Texas to an Armenian-Greek mother and an Australian father. Pursuing studies at (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts and East Carolina University Mary-Jean has received her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice and Flute performance as well as Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2005...

 Mary-Louise Parker to star in ‘Heisenberg’ Off Broadway
The New York Times, March 3, 2015
The British playwrights Simon Stephens and Nick Payne are likely competitors in June for the Tony Award for best play, given the critical acclaim and popularity of their current Broadway shows, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (Mr. Stephens) and “Constellations” (Mr. Payne). And now, just as the theoretical-minded “Constellations” is winding down its run at Manhattan Theater Club this month, the club announced on Tuesday that it will produce another new play this spring that has echoes of quantum mechanics – this one by Mr. Stephens. “Heisenberg,” about the spark lit when a woman kisses a much older man at a London train station, will star the Tony winner (and UNCSA alumna) Mary-Louise Parker (“Proof,” Showtime’s “Weeds”)... 

Rebecca Naomi Jones to star opposite John Cameron Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway
Broadway.com, March 2, 2015
It’s Rebecca Naomi Jones’ turn to invest in a packer! The Broadway (and UNCSA) alum will begin performances as Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on April 14... 

Study says local universities, colleges contribute $4.17 billion to regional economy
Winston-Salem Journal, March 1, 2015
Local universities and colleges contributed $4.17 billion to the regional economy during the 2012-13 fiscal year, according to a report from an Idaho research firm... The UNC School of the Arts had a $102 million economic impact in its service area of Forsyth County, which was the equivalent of creating 1,819 new jobs, according to the EMS report. UNCSA spent $31.3 million on payroll and benefits to 486 full-time and part-time employees. The school also spent $17.5 million on goods and services to carry out its daily operation and research, according to the report. “We are excited to have documented evidence of the school’s economic impact on the state of North Carolina,” said Jim DeCristo, UNCSA’s chief of staff. “We know that the arts, including UNCSA, attract business and industry because we add to the region’s quality of life in recruiting a competitive workforce”...

Brilliant inaugural concert of the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute
Classical Voice North Carolina by Peter Perret, February 28, 2015
A large and savvy crowd enthusiastically greeted the first performance of the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute in Watson Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. The diverse program was performed by members of the prestigious UNCSA faculty combined with the members of the Giannini String Quartet (in residence at UNCSA and composed of upper level students) and a trio of advanced brass and woodwind students... 

UNCSA Winter Dance, poet Tony Abbott, Blind Idol, and behind the scenes with Dale Pollock
WFDD, February 27, 2015
UNCSA's Winter Dance: This year’s UNC School of the Arts Winter Dance commemorates the past while celebrating the new with legendary choreographers Sir Frederick Ashton and Merce Cunningham, and two world premieres: Trish Casey’s Looking Back, and Metallurgy by Dean of Dance Susan Jaffe... Dale Pollock: It’s time to get a little dark, and maybe, just maybe a little hopeful at least with film producer, writer and UNC School of the Arts professor Dale Pollock. He takes us Behind the Scenes and light years into the future... 

UNC board of governors OKs fee increase
Winston-Salem Journal, February 27, 2015
The UNC board of governors on Friday approved tuition increases at Winston-Salem State University, the UNC School of Arts and the other 14 campuses in the UNC system... 

Darren Criss, Caissie Levy, Andy Mientus, Carly Hughes, Jackie Hoffman and more set for reading of new 17 AGAIN musical next week
Broadway World, February 26, 2015
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is holding a private developmental reading of 17 Again, a new musical with a book by Marco Pennette, music and lyrics by Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner, and direction by Adam Shankman, on Friday, March 6, 2015... The cast of the 17 Again reading will include... (UNCSA alumna) Sydney Shepherd... 

UNCSA presents Winter Dance 2015
WFDD, February 26, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts Winter Dance commemorates the past while celebrating the new with legendary choreographers Sir Frederick Ashton and Merce Cunningham, and two world premieres: Trish Casey’s Looking Back, and Metallurgy by Dean of Dance Susan Jaffe... 

Polk State artist-in-residence gives master class at Harrison, encourages students to learn history of dance
Polk State College, February 26, 2015
Thanks to Polk State College, aspiring dancers at Lakeland’s Harrison School for the Arts spent Wednesday afternoon learning from a professional. All week, the Polk State Lake Wales Arts Center is hosting Camille A. Brown, a New York-based choreographer and dancer whose credits include the Bessie Award and two Princess Grace Awards... Brown, who studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, led the Harrison students through a series of exercises intended to teach them about the evolution of social dances... 

Born in the 1980s: Reaganism, tribalism and AIDS
Triad City Beat, February 25, 2015
I remember the first time I ever heard the word AIDS... Even more context: That was right around the time that most of the cast of the UNC School of the Arts production of Angels in America was born... UNCSA’s troupe adheres to playwright Tony Kushner’s original version, which in its entirety runs seven hours in two parts, and — thankfully — tackled just the first half, Millennium Approaches... 

UNCSA announces launch of Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute
Camel City Dispatch, February 25, 2015
The School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts has created the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute, featuring two residencies by the renowned Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Dean Wade Weast has announced. A unique program aimed at helping graduate students reach their full potential as outstanding professional chamber musicians, the institute will serve both individual instrumentalists and small ensembles... 

Fredericksburg woman takes her classical ballet training to the air, earns title in U.S. Aerial Championship
Free Lance-Star, February 23, 2015
There’s not much room in the ballet world for a dancer with a red Mohawk, so Rebekah Burke took her unique sense of style and fashion to another platform... At 14, she went to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for ballet training. At 16, she moved to New York City on her own to attend the Ellison Ballet and the Kelsey Kirkland Academy of Ballet... 

Faith Briefs Saturday, Feb. 21
Salisbury Post, February 21, 2015
Ain’t That a Witness! A Concert for Black History Month: In celebration of Black History Month, “Ain’t That a Witness! A Concert of African-American Art Songs and Spirituals” will be performed Sunday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Vance St. The concert will feature (UNCSA alumni) Kannapolis native David Hamilton, tenor;... Jason McKinney, baritone... 

Kannapolis tenor shares a name with opera greats
Charlotte Observer, February 21, 2015
There’s something about the name David Hamilton that ups the chances of having a world-famous set of tenor pipes that audiences consider a gift from God... After attending Brown for two years, Hamilton transferred to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Helen Simoneau Danse creating new works during UNCSA residency
WFDD, February 19, 2015
Helen Simoneau Danse, celebrating its 5th year, is busy creating new works during their residency at UNC School of the Arts: Untitled Solo, Moonlight Parade, and The Task of Doing, a collaboration with composer Eric Schwartz... 

Catholic University students return to the music of their youth
The Washington Post, February 17, 2015
If you’re a child of the 1990s and a musical-theater fan, you probably grew up singing songs from “Pocahontas,” “Wicked” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” — which means you were raised to love songs written by Stephen Schwartz... “We were very excited to create a revue geared toward young people,” said co-creator (and UNCSA alumnus) Matt Cowart... 

UNCSA graduating dancers show Pluck
InfiniteBody, February 16, 2015
Students of the 2015 graduating contemporary dance class of University of North Carolina School of the Arts are excitedly preparing to perform next month at New York's Ailey Citigroup Theater-The Joan Weill Center for Dance. UNCSA's annual Pluck Project opens opportunities for students to jump-start careers by forging connections to established choreographers and other professionals in the field. This year, in addition to student-created solos, the culminating presentation features an ensemble piece by noted New York dance artist Kimberly Bartosik... 

Polk State hosting award-winning choreographer for two thought-provoking evenings
Polk State College, February 16, 2015
Polk State College will host award-winning choreographer Camille A. Brown for a two-night engagement in February... Brown studied at the University of North Carolina School [of] the Arts...

UNCSA presents Pulitzer Prize-winning "Angels in America"
WFDD, Febraury 16, 2015
Angels in America, Part One: Millenniem Approaches by Tony Kushner stands on its own as one of Americas truly great plays. What begins as a play about political climate, gay rights and the HIV epidemic, evolves into a story of human survival and the global community...

UNC School of the Arts faculty: The Seven Wonders
Classical Voice North Carolina by Nicholas Rich, February 15, 2015
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is known for its complement of stunning performance faculty. As one of the finest music institutions in the southern United States, UNCSA attracts professional artists of the highest caliber to its teaching force. In a performance dubbedThe Seven Wonders, three of UNCSA's finest joined forces with a visiting artist in an evening of virtuoso repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries... 

Studio Visit: Thom Miller
The News-Gazette, February 15, 2015
Studio Visit is a Q&A with a local artist. Here, a chat with (UNCSA alumnus) Thom Miller...

TV Tidbits
News & Record, Febraury 15, 2015
Asheboro High School graduate Elizabeth Lail’s turn on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” has come to an end, she may have another role on the horizon. Lail, who moved to Asheboro when she was 2, graduated from UNC School of the Arts... Sons of Serendip, a quartet that got its start on the NBC competition series “America’s Got Talent,” has released its first album. The group includes Kendall Ramseur, an alumnus of the UNC School of the Arts... 

'Angels in America' about more than AIDS in the '80s
Winston-Salem Journal, Febraury 15, 2015
When the actors starring in UNC School of the Arts’ production of “Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches” were born, the ’80s had come and gone... 

Documentary by two WFU students picked up for SXSW
Winston-Salem Journal, February 15, 2015
The documentary short “unmappable,” by Wake Forest University graduate students, is an Official Selection for the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival. The filmmakers, Diane Hodson and Jasmine Luoma, are third-year master’s degree candidates in the documentary film program at Wake... For “unmappable,” they sought further collaboration with local artists: Jeff Markee, who composed the score, and Tom Hauser, who mixed the sound; both are Music Composition graduate students at UNC School of the Arts... 

‘Ain’t That a Witness!’ Black History Month concert Feb. 22
Salisbury Post, February 15, 2015
In celebration of Black History Month, “Ain’t That a Witness! A Concert of African-American Art Songs and Spirituals” will be performed 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Vance Street. The concert will feature... Jason McKinney, baritone... Originally from Milwaukee, McKinney graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied voice with soprano Marilyn Taylor and tenor Glenn Siebert... 

Colleges reap rewards of record giving
Winston-Salem Journal, February 15, 2015
It’s a good time to be a college: Two new reports on university finances show that U.S. colleges had a great 2014... The UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem raised $5.53 million in charitable contributions during that period, a school spokeswoman said... 

Local dancer accepted to prestigious program
Statesville Record & Landmark, February 14, 2015
When Maggie Abbott started at Betty’s School of Dance as a 5-year-old, owner Natasha Marko knew from the young girl’s energy that was going to love it... Maggie, 13, was accepted this month into the American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

UNC School of the Arts looks to upgrade campus security
TWC News, February 13, 2015
UNC School of the Arts is one of the several universities in North Carolina looking to increase campus security with federal grants... 

Yadkin production brings old Savoy ballroom magic to Triad
Winston-Salem Journal, February 12, 2015
When the Savoy Ballroom opened in Harlem in 1926, it was one of the first racially integrated public places in the country... “People came to fall in love, to fight and then to fall in love all over again,” according to Ron Stacker Thompson, chair of the screenwriting department at UNC School of the Arts and artistic director of the Yadkin Arts Council’s Willingham Theatre... 

Triad movie makes debut in Berlin
Winston-Salem Journal, February 11, 2015
A movie shot in the Triad last summer made its debut Monday at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany... A crew of about 50 people, including alumni and some current students at the UNC School of the Arts, took part in the production... 

‘Banshee’ star talks plot twists, sex scenes
Charlotte Observer, February 11, 2015
Cinemax’s “Banshee” has been a game-changer for actress Trieste Kelly Dunn in some major ways. The UNC School of the Arts alumna has had recurring roles on three other TV shows, but none of those stints lasted longer than six episodes... 

Myrtle Beach native wrangles sound, award nominations
Myrtle Beach Sun News, February 11, 2015
Whatever sounds good in a movie really is music to Will Files’ ears, in a world of ways... Remembering his path to earning his filmmaking degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., Files spoke of meeting “one of my sound heroes,” Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound, with whom he was encouraged to touch base after graduation... 

Innovative organist Cameron Carpenter electrifies audience at McCarter Theatre
Town Topics, February 11, 2015
When one thinks of an organ recital, the first thought that comes to mind is a church setting, listening to an organist with his back to the audience, playing music for the most part written by classical composers. Cameron Carpenter, whose Princeton roots go back to his student days at the American Boychoir School, is trying to change all that... Cameron Carpenter is one of a kind. His musical training, whether in his hometown in western Pennsylvania, at the American Boychoir School, (the University of) North Carolina School [of] the Arts, or Juilliard, provided him with technical abilities to take his chosen instrument into new realms (not unlike what Liszt did with the 19th-century piano)... 

Natascia Diaz, Jessica Hershberg, Alex Brightman & Joshua Morgan will lead premiere of Nick Blaemire's SOON at Signature Theatre!
Broadway World, February 10, 2015
Virginia's Signature Theatre just announced the full cast for the world premiere production of Soon, a new musical by Nick Blaemire (Glory Days, A Little More Alive). Directed by Matthew Gardiner (Signature's Sunday in the Park with George, Really Really), the ensemble piece will feature... (UNCSA School of Drama alumnus) Joshua Morgan (Steven; Woolly Mammoth's A Bright New Boise, Arena Stage's Fiddler on the Roof)... 

FUNA International appoints Sean Reish Vice President of Sales
PR Web, February 10, 2015
FUNA International announced today that Sean Reish has joined the company as Vice President of Sales... After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida State University and a Masters of Fine Arts from (the University of) North Carolina School for the Arts, Mr. Reish began his career on numerous Broadway shows in Automation Design and Fabrication... 

USITT announces 2015 Young Designer & Technicians Awards
Broadway World, February 9, 2015
Eleven promising young theatre artists will receive 2015 USITT Awards for Young Designers & Technicians in the Performing Arts -- the YD&T awards -- at USITT 2015 in Cincinnati, March 18-21... Master Craftsmanship Award sponsored by Bernhard R. Works -- Emily Morrisey of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts will receive the award for excellence in Stage Properties. She will earn her BFA in Design and Production from UNCSA this year. USITT Makeup Design Award sponsored by Kryolan Professional Makeup -- Chia Chia Feng of UNCSA. She will earn her MFA in Makeup Design this year... 

Young Achievers: From film camp to Cruise
The Royal Gazette, February 9, 2015
Bermudian Christopher Frith first became interested in filmmaking after being “blown away” by the Star Wars films and realising during the credits that people actually get paid for this line of work... He was lucky enough to have attended one of the best film schools in the world — UNC School of the Arts — and specialised in editing and sound design before moving to Los Angeles...

Guitar virtuoso hopes to strum path for others
Chicago Tribune, February 9, 2015
When Jason Lewis was a mere 3 years old, he was already strumming a guitar. Now a high school senior who has been dazzling audiences and winning awards for his musical talents, Lewis is pondering whether to channel his abilities in the world of the arts or in science... By the end of his freshman year at New Trier, the Lewis family decided it was time to see where his musical ability could take him and that meant changing schools for a music-concentrated education. First he enrolled at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and for the last two years he has studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Cameron Carpenter drags the organ into the 21st century
Columbia Daily Tribune, February 8, 2015
Of the many adjectives used to describe Cameron Carpenter — “flamboyant,” “extravagantly talented” and “intelligent” among them — the quality noted most often about the 33-year-old Juilliard-trained organist is his flair for provocation... In fact, he trained as a dancer from age 8 to 22, while honing his musicianship at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., and the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts before graduating from Juilliard in 2006 with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees... 

Lindsay Bierman says the arts create ‘STEAM’ in our community
Winston-Salem Journal, February 8, 2015
As chancellor of the UNC School of the Arts, the Journal invited me to describe the challenges that face my institution. After 25 years in the private sector, I joined the school last August at a turning point in its storied history: a 50th anniversary that calls on us to reflect on our past and re-imagine our future as the nation’s first public arts conservatory...

Websters’ new folk art school has room to grow
Salisbury Post, February 6, 2015
In a rambling, late 1800s house on South Main Street, Carrie and Eric Webster have dedicated two rooms to Carolina Folkworks... In high school, Carrie Ezzell Webster was an intern violinist for a year with the Asheville Symphony. She then earned music scholarships to attend the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem... 

Free piano recital to be held at Western
Altus Times, February 6, 2015
The Western Oklahoma State College Music Department will present concert pianist and Cameron piano faculty member, Hyunsoon Whang in concert on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Herschal H. Crow Fine Arts Auditorium... Whang studied at the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and earned a doctorate from Indiana University... 

Renowned organist Jack Mitchener to inaugurate Hook & Hastings Organ at St. Timothy's Church
WFDD, February 6, 2015
UNC School of the Arts alumnus Jack Mitchener is one of today’s leaders in the field of American organ pedagogy and performance... 

Hires and promotions for the week of Feb. 2, 2015
Miami Herald, February 6, 2015
A. Margot Moss, a partner at Markus/Moss, is now a named partner at the criminal defense firm in Miami, which was previously known as Markus & Markus. She is president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami Chapter. She has a bachelor’s degree in music from (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, a master’s degree in music from the Unviersity of the Arts, and a law degree from Temple University... 

Burlington Ballet’s Winter Concert event is this weekend
Times-News, February 5, 2015
Burlington Ballet will perform its Winter Concert at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theater, 128 E. Front St., Burlington. The program will include... “Wandermind” and “At the Core,” two contemporary pieces choreographed by Maddie Braxton and Abigail Ray, students studying at UNC School of the Arts and UNC-Greensboro respectively...

Movie review: In ‘Goodbye to All That,’ man stumbles into a second life as a single father
News & Record, February 5, 2015
When Otto, the big lug at the center of “Goodbye to All That,” learns that his wife is leaving him, he reacts the way you’d expect from an oblivious doofus... You don’t have time to ponder the damage, though, what with Otto’s... love interest ([UNC School of the Arts alumna] Anna Camp) who is both very religious and very kinky. The movie, which was shot in Winston-Salem, is a chronicle of muddling through, but writer-director Angus MacLachlan ([UNC] School of the Arts graduate and Winston-Salem resident who also wrote “Junebug”) is sometimes too determined to keep things light... 

‘Kindly Rooted’ dance premieres Friday at DAC
The Herald Sun, February 5, 2015
A late-night conversation between two friends, Durham natives Allison R. Daniels and Kristin Taylor, inspired their new dance, “Kindly Rooted.”... Taylor earned a BFA degree from the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts... 

'A Chorus Line' debuts at Asheville Community Theatre
Citizen Times, February 5, 2015
For as long as she can remember, Taylor Aldrich has sought to charm audiences through song and dance... Indeed, her pursuit as a performing artist has proved encouraging — she spent a year in New York City performing in regional shows, after graduating from the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Guitar wiz Tim Sparks to perform
The Daily Iowan, February 5, 2015
On Friday at 8 p.m., Tim Sparks and his guitar will light up the stage at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Sparks is the National Fingerpicking Champion from 1993, after having trained in classical guitar at (the University of) North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Griffey, four-time Grammy winning tenor, coming to Southern Pines Feb. 15
Fayetteville Observer, February 5, 2015
American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey will perform at Weymouth Center in Southern Pines on Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. Griffey, a four-time Grammy winner and native of High Point, North Carolina, has performed all over the world including appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Paris Opera House and Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2011 and currently holds the position of Distinguished Artist in Residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute presents "Die Fledermaus"
WFDD, February 4, 2015
In a posh 19th century European neighborhood, the wealthy Gabriel von Eisenstein, his attractive wife Rosalinda, and their maid Adele live what appears to be a comfy, happy, uneventful life together... 

Acclaimed tenor presents concert at Weymouth
The Pilot, February 2, 2015
American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim on opera, concert and recital stages around the world.The combination of his beautiful and powerful lyric tenor voice, gift of dramatic interpretation and superb musicianship have earned him the highest praise from critics and audiences alike... Allison Gagnon, director of the Collaborative Piano Program at UNC-School of the Arts, will be Griffey’s accompanist... 

Barbizon Charlotte hosts Eighth Annual Extravaganza at UNCSA
Lighting and Sound America, February 2, 2015
For the eighth year, Barbizon Lighting Company's Charlotte offices brought together entertainment industry companies to set up for a day of technology at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina... 

UNCSA well-represented at Sundance
Winston-Salem Journal, February 1, 2015
About 30 alumni from the School of Filmmaking and the School of Drama at UNC School of the Arts have ties to at least 14 independent films screening at Sundance Film Festival and the alternative Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah...

UNC School of the Arts puts finishing touches on large construction project
WGHP Fox 8, February 1, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts is putting the finishing touches on four new buildings that will change the face of its campus and enhance the education of its students, school administrators said, according to the Winston-Salem Journal...

Tim's Top 5: Up-and-coming celebs with Triad ties
Winston-Salem Journal, January 30, 2015
The Triad has long given Hollywood celebrities, ranging from Pam Grier to Zach Galifianakis to plenty of stars to come out of the UNC School of the Arts. And that tradition continues... 3.Bridget Regan, “Marvel’s Agent Carter:” Something’s up with Dottie Underwood, the seemingly minor character played by UNCSA alumna Bridget Regan in ABC’s period adventure show, a spinoff of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” and the “Captain America” movies... 4. UNCSA Alums at Sundance: The Sundance Film Festival is currently underway, and UNCSA is well-represented there, with some familiar stars with UNCSA ties including Tim Guinee in “99 Homes,” Jennifer Ehle in “Advantageous” and Danny McBride in “Don Verdean.” ... 5. AndSlamdance: And at the edgier Slamdance festival, which ended Thursday, UNCSA alums were also involved in two films, including the opening night film “Bloodsucking Bastards,” a horror-comedy directed by Brian James O’Connell, a 1998 graduate of the School of Filmmaking... 

Business Achievements for Friday, Jan. 30, 2015
News & Record, January 30, 2015
Greensboro native Nathan Milholin, a 2010 University of North Carolina School of the Arts graduate, was one of three equal winners in a regional competition (Philadelphia District) of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions... 

Hit comedy Land Ho! breaks the ice
The Dominion Post, January 29, 2015
The film-makers of Land Ho!, Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz, attended the same film school as Chad Hartigan, who made Eenhoorn famous in indie film circles with Martin Bonner. Eenhoorn figured this school (the University of North Carolina School of the Arts) "must be on top of the next wave", and took a chance. He had no idea what he was letting himself in for... 

West Orange High reaches new heights with ‘Peter Pan’ production
West Orange Times & Observer, January 29, 2015
Benjamin Rush, a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts technical theater program, is the guest director for “Peter Pan.”... 

Drumming up, sorting out the stuff of a lifetime
Democrat & Chronicle, January 28, 2015
History is made up of stuff. Letters, books, pictures, snare drums, stuff. "For some reason, I never threw anything away," says John H. Beck as he looks at his history, his stuff... Beck points out a snare drum. It's a Rogers Dyna-Sonic, top of the line. Over the years, Beck used that drum to audition 1,618 students for admission to Eastman... What will happen to the Dyna-Sonic? Beck thinks it may go to his son, John R. Beck, who teaches percussion at the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem...

A Peek Inside "The Ella Zoo" - Heartwarming Poems of Captivating Creatures
WFDD, January 28, 2015
Last month, Bibi Coyne released The Ella Zoo, and out came the Ellaroo, the Koella Bear, a Girellaraffe, the Gazella, and many more. Bibi's fun and heartwarming poetry collection captures the energy and character of her own animal-loving daughter Ella. The smart, sweet poems will engage readers of all ages as will the illustrations by UNCSA graduate Valentina Felce... 

Student art recognized at Barton College
The Wilson Times, January 28, 2015
Barton College will welcome students from across the state to celebrate their creativity at the annual Scholastic Art Awards ceremony Sunday... Also sent to New York will be the works of five American Vision Award (best of show) nominees, including... Ashlyn Lund, grade 12, University of North Carolina School of the Arts (twice nominated)... From the Gold Key artworks, the jury also selected works for additional regional awards to be presented at the ceremony including... Jurors’ Choice Portfolio to Molly Mir, grade 12, University of North Carolina School of the Arts... and the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Recycled Materials Award to Anna Grace Waller, grade 12, University of North Carolina School of the Arts... 

Chapel Hill, NC, architect introduces tiny, modern, "micropolis" house plans
Archinect, January 26, 2015
Growing up in NC, architect Arielle Condoret Schechter, AIA, of Chapel Hill, NC, saw a problem: The mobile homes scattered or clumped together across North Carolina filled a great need for small housing options but they had no design integrity, they were usually made of poor materials, and she couldn’t see how they contributed to their owners’ quality of life... She attended the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, the Juilliard School of Music, and NC State University’s College of Design...

The UNCSA Cirkus Theatre Project | Gateway 1
UNC-TV, January 26, 2015
The UNCSA Cirkus Theatre Project, in partnership with Cirque du Soleil, sets student teams the task of producing original short scenes for the stage. A faculty panel aids the teams by reviewing their ideas in a series of "gateways" throughout... (link to video 

Bach and Bieler in Sacred Space
Classical Voice North Carolina by Peter Perret, January 25, 2015
Professor Ida Bieler of the UNC School of the Arts and of the Robert Schumann University of Music and Media in Düsseldorf (Germany) joined Provost David Nelson of UNCSA in a performance of and lecture on two unaccompanied works for violin by Johann Sebastian Bach in the neo-Gothic stone home of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Ms. Bieler is a fine violinist with beautiful tone, near-perfect intonation, and an admirably expressive approach to phrasing and musical architecture...

The UNCSA Cirkus Theatre Project | Overview
UNC-TV, January 23, 2015
The UNC School of the Arts & the Kenan Institute for the Arts have created an exciting interdisciplinary project inspired by Cirque du Soleil, in which student teams are challenged to create original short theater works that tell a story without dialogue. During the school year, the students develop their ideas, aiming to be one of the teams chosen to bring their production to the stage. (link to video)

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem's 65th Birthday
Arts Council Winston-Salem, January 23, 2015
The students of UNCSA surprised the attendees of The Arts Council's 65th birthday party/2015 Campaign Kick-Off with a modified rendition of Newsies "Seize the Day" urging everyone to realize that the "campaign starts right d%$*# now." (link to video) 

The Cirkus Theatre Project, author of "Descent" Tim Johnston, and singer/songwriter Johnathan Loos
WFDD, January 23, 2015
Nisshoku presents a young boy and his escape from the reality of his own broken home. He creates an imaginary world where he’s called upon to teach the sun and moon to co-exist in harmony before the earth is destroyed. Red Balloon draws from Japanese Noh theater in showing how an orphan boy rediscovers the beauty of childhood. Cirkus Theatre Project—the unique collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and their longtime partner University of NC School of the Arts—is now in its fourth season...

UNCSA School of Filmmaking alum may take on “Aquaman”
Camel City Dispatch, January 23, 2015
University of North Carolina School of the Arts alum Jeff Nichols could be about to make the move from the world of independently produced films like “Take Shelter” and “Mud” into the mega-budget world of big time super-hero flick movie making...

COCA adds dance directors
The Edwardsville Intelligencer, January 22, 2015
On January 9, 2015, COCA-Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis announced Antonio Douthit-Boyd and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, currently principal dancers with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will join the organization as Co-Artistic Directors of Dance... Antonio Douthit-Boyd began his dance training at age 16 at COCA under the direction of Ms. Lee Nolting. Lacking resources, but blessed with natural talent, Antonio received dance instruction and comprehensive support services from COCA. This beginning as a “COCA kid” started him on a path that would include training with the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, the Joffrey Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet... 

Arts notebook: Good times, great music when two guys classically 'Poke' fun at social media
Idaho Statesman, January 22, 2015
OK, so you've been poked on Facebook. But in the concert hall? Yep. This weekend the Boise Philharmonic will feature the cello and bass duo of Brooks Whitehouse and Paul Sharpe, aka Low and Lower, who will give audiences a comedic "Poke." ... Whitehouse and Sharpe met as faculty members at the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts... 

UNCSA offers acting classes to more children, adults
Winston-Salem Journal, January 20, 2015
Janine Hawley, program coordinator for UNCSA School of Drama Acting Out!, explains the importance of the program to teach children the basics of acting. (Link to video.) 

New season, top staffer at Cygnet
U-T San Diego, January 19, 2015
Besides its 2015-16 slate, Cygnet is also announcing that it has hired the director Rob Lutfy as the theater's new associate artistic director. Lutfy, who is directing Cygnet's current production of "Sons of the Prophet" (which officially opens Saturday), previously directed the company's 2014 production of "The Motherf--ker With the Hat." Like Cygnet co-founder and artistic chief Sean Murray, he is a graduate of the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts...

Short Film Showcase: Austin Taylor’s Death & the Robot
Dread Central, January 19, 2015
A lot of people contact us with their short films to share, and one of the most creative to cross our path recently is Death & the Robot, Austin Taylor’s 4th year thesis film at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts...

Dance program has started careers
Winston-Salem Journal, January 18, 2015
Matthew Donnell has come full circle. He grew up in Mount Airy, went to the Preparatory Dance Program at UNC School of the Arts when he was 10, graduated from high school at UNCSA in 1999, had a dance career at Kansas City Ballet (10 years) and in musical theater. Now, Donnell is back at the school as the new director of the dance prep program...

Tea & Tutus for “A Soul’s Two Feet”
Hometown Pasadena, January 18, 2015
To feel the pull of the dance floor, to feel the urge within to move one’s body, to hear the music and want to, need to dance. And not be able to. In 2012, Nicoletta Baffo established “A Soul’s Two Feet,” a scholarship fund to provide “the gift of dance.” ... Nicoletta is a dancer who left home at 16 to advance her ballet training. She is a senior in the high school program at the University of North Carolina School for the Arts (UNCSA)...

UNCSA reaches out to the community
Winston-Salem Journal, January 18, 2015
UNC School of the Arts, celebrating its 50th year, is a conservatory — a school for the study of the performing and visual arts — where students must audition or otherwise qualify to be admitted. It is, by its nature, elite, expecting the best from its students. But it’s not exclusive. The office of Educational Outreach and Summer Programs offers community classes in three disciplines throughout the year, and multi-disciplinary summer programs. All you have to do is sign up and pay up to take classes in music, dance or acting...

Art Briefs: Three UNCSA grads advance in opera competitions, UNCSA students performing National Anthem at championships
Winston-Salem Journal, January 18, 2015
Vocalists from the School of Music at UNC School of the Arts have advanced in three regional competitions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions... Students and faculty from the School of Music at UNC School of the Arts will take to the ice during the Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which started Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum. Instead of skating, they will be performing the National Anthem for four segments of the competition, and they are collaborating with top male skater Jeremy Abbott for an exhibition performance...

Cygnet Theatre announces Season 13 lineup
Broadway World, January 18, 2015
Cygnet Theatre has announced a Season 13 lineup featuring seven productions sure to take audiences on a rollicking theatrical journey. Adding a new creative influence to the season will be Cygnet's most recent addition, Rob Lutfy, who has been appointed as Cygnet's Associate Artistic Director and will start in the summer... Well before he was scheduled to start in his new position, Artistic Director Sean Murray looked to Lufty for input and advice in choosing the upcoming season... Lutfy is a graduate of the directing program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Drama where he returns annually to teach acting as guest faculty... "I was looking for someone to bounce ideas around with and who will help us grow the theatre," explained Murray who, along with partner Bill Schmidt, founded and has run the theater since 2003. "And it doesn't hurt that he is from my beloved (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts," Murray added...

Benjamin Walker, Zosia Mamet, Jennifer Damiano, Isabel Keating, Wesley Taylor among lab cast of American Psycho Musical
Playbill, January 17, 2015
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson star Benjamin Walker, "Girls" actress Zosia Mamet, Tony nominees Jennifer Damiano and Isabel Keating and "Smash" actor Wesley Taylor (UNCSA School of Drama 2008) are among the developmental cast of Duncan Sheik's American Psychomusical, Playbill.com has learned. The lab, which is scheduled to be presented at the end of this month, stars Walker as Patrick Bateman with... Taylor (The Addams Family) as Luis Carruthers... and Nick Bailey (UNCSA School of Drama 2009) (Casa Valentina) as Sean Bateman...

Booking It! Wesley Taylor talks "breaking through," fighting nerves and pigeonholes, self-producing and more
Broadway World, January 16, 2015
Playbill.com's new feature series Booking It asks leading industry members to share professional insights, need-to-know tips and essential tricks of the trade for up-and-coming and established theatre artists. This week we speak with Wesley Taylor, who works consistently both on stage and off. At 28 years old, Wesley Taylor has already established himself in the worlds of Broadway and television. After graduating from the (University of) North Carolina School of the Arts, he booked the 1980s-inspired musical Rock of Ages, which transferred to Broadway and took off (the production will close this weekend after 2,328 regular performances, ending its run as the 27th longest-running show in Broadway history)...

State universities want to raise tuition
WFDD, January 16, 2015
It may soon cost more to attend a public university in North Carolina. The schools want to raise tuition and fees an average of 4 percent next year and 3.5 percent the following year for undergraduate state residents. The governing board of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system planned to open discussion of proposals to raise the cost of attendance at its monthly meeting today. A UNC Board of Governors decision isn't expected until next month... 

3rd Shift- Politically appointed Board of Governors continues partisan purge with Board of Governor’s President- now targeting WSSU & UNCSA
Camel City Dispatch, January 16, 2015
Art Pope’s Civitas has long wanted to close North Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges… now they just may get their chance... UNCSA and WSSU’s Centers for Design & Innovation (which also do much work with W-S/Forsyth County School students) are also in their cross-hairs along with UNC-Charlotte’s Urban Institute and UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science...

Lincoln Center Education to showcase Kenan Fellows, 1/29-31
Broadway World, January 16, 2015
Kenan Fellows studying arts and education with Lincoln Center Education will present their work from January 29 - 31, 2015 at the Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center Education, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, Rose Building, 7th Floor... 

Brett Gelman's new Adult Swim special airs on February 13th
Split Sider, January 15, 2015
(1999 UNCSA alumnus) Brett Gelman is returning to Adult Swim next month, and it's a family affair. His new special, titled Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman's Family, will premiere on Friday, February 13th at 12:30am and costar Gelman with Tony Roberts and Patti LuPone... 

Hometown welcome for ‘Goodbye’ director
Triad City Beat, January 14, 2015
Angus MacLachlan is a hero in these parts. He spent most of his life in Winston-Salem and attended UNC School of the Arts for both high school and college. He’s written scripts for movies with renowned actors, such as Stone with Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton, and ones set across the world such as the dark, Swedish drama, Förtroligheten..

Tenor René Barbera, ethnomusicologist Andrew Raffo Dewar, and the New Winston Museum
WFDD, January 9, 2015
Since graduating from the University of NC School of the Arts, tenor René Barbera has quickly established himself as a rising star on today’s opera circuit. Opera Today wrote that his performance “…had us so bewitched we scarcely dared breathe, lest any sound break the honeyed perfection”...

Guillermo del Toro sets ‘Carnival Row’ as Amazon series
SlashFilm, January 8, 2015
Guillermo del Toro is building a carnival over at Amazon. Many years ago Pacific Rim writer (and UNCSA alumnus) Travis Beacham sold a script called A Killing on Carnival Row, and Guillermo del Toro was soon attached to direct...

High Point native's movie chosen to kick off film festival
High Point Enterprise, January 4, 2015
The title of (UNCSA alumnus) Brian O’Connell’s latest film may raise some eyebrows here in the Bible Belt, but the movie has raised the High Point native’s stature in Hollywood. The film, a horror-comedy called “Bloodsucking Bastards,” has been selected to open the 2015 Slamdance Film Festival later this month, an honor O’Connell says will be “very huge” for his career as an emerging film director...