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One of the pleasures of serving as Dean of UNCG’s College of Visual and Performing Arts is experiencing the artistry of our faculty. This can happen in both predictable ways and when I least expect it. Settling down to watch the Super Bowl, I was planning to focus on the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, but, midway through the game, Universal Pictures aired the first trailer for Wicked, the highly anticipated Hollywood adaptation of the Broadway musical. As Cynthia Erivo sang the first goosebump-inducing notes of “Defying Gravity,” I knew that it was School of Theatre faculty member Dominck Amendum cueing her and conducting the orchestra as this film’s Music Supervisor.
When I arrived at the Clara O’Brien’s Memorial Concert in the School of Music’s Tew Recital Hall, I was in a somber mood, but vocal faculty member Janinah Burnett’s performance of the Gershwin brothers’ “Love Is Here to Stay” took me by surprise. We all listened as Professor John Salmon tore into a Harlem rent piano accompaniment as Professor Burnett let go with volleys of scat vocals, which lifted the roof and took everyone to church. I imagined Professor O’Brien—in a greater light and on a distant shore—smiling to hear her colleagues reaching such musical heights.
During the memorial service for Professor Emerita Gay Cheney at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro, I had my breath taken away by Professor B.J. Sullivan’s and Professor Emerita Jill Green’s dance performed in her memory. Their dance captured both the modernist roots of contemporary dance and Professor Cheney’s research interests in Native American dance ceremony and ritual. With a Native American drummer participating in the service, Professor Sullivan’s and Green’s circular movements together and apart captured letting Professor Cheney’s spirit go but holding on to her memory.
At the School of Art’s recent faculty exhibition at Greensboro Project Space, I was bowled over by Professor Patricia Wasserboehr’s marble sculpture Circuitous, which she created in Germany and Italy last summer with its soft curves and a texture resembling satin. Professor Michael Ananian has recently traded his brush and pallet knife for digital drawing on a tablet to an expressive effect for his female nude Eclipse. And Animation Professor Dan Hale’s artwork Keys featured School of Music Professor Annie Jeng’s piano performance in a mechanical symphony of black-and-white conveyer belts and moving images, evoking a Busby Berkeley routine from the silver screen.
The faculty of CVPA are not only dedicated and talented teachers but are also performing and visual artists. It is the power of their expressions as artists that enriches and deepens the curriculum. The faculty members’ accomplishments as artists, scholars, educators, and technical designers show our students how to achieve a state of artistic flow: where under the right conditions, artists become fully immersed in their art, which can lead to a state of transcendence, a sense of clarity where one moment logically leads to another, and a unity when an artist and their medium become one.
Sincerely,
bruce d. mcclung, Dean
College of Visual and Performing Arts
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FACULTY ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: MARIELIS GARCIA | |
Assistant Professor of Dance Marielis Garcia performing Possibilities of Dialogue. Photo credit: Frank Baratta | |
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Assistant Professor of Dance Marielis Garcia has been a teaching artist since she was barely a teenager—a gutsy teenager who knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it:
“My parents are both immigrants from the Dominican Republic and there just wasn’t a whole lot of surplus cash for extracurricular activities, so everything we did was through our public school or free. When I was thirteen, my dance class took a field trip to a studio. One of the teachers said I should take classes with them because I showed some talent. I said, ‘My parents can’t really afford this, and besides you’re just trying to make money. If you really mean it (and I don’t know where I got the courage to say this) then I’ll need some sort of work study.’”
Garcia says she didn’t really know what work study was, but the teacher did. The studio turned out to be one connected with Dance Theatre of Harlem, and so Marielis began studying and acting as an assistant with the younger students in the program to pay for her classes:
“Even back then, there was an element of teaching dance while doing my own dance. It’s never been about me singularly. It’s always been about bringing myself in as authentically as possible and sharing, which inevitably is both performance and teaching. It’s finding this two-way connection. We’re creating or facilitating spaces where we can connect. That really speaks to my pedagogical and creative approaches.”
Read more here.
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FACULTY ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DOMINICK AMENDUM | |
Musical Theatre Coordinator Dominick Amendum (at piano) working with students. Photo credit: Martin Kane | |
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Smart-Tillman Artist-in-Residence and Musical Theatre Coordinator Dominick Amendum has been Wicked busy.
Amendum, who is an alumnus of UNCG’s School of Music (’01 BM Piano Performance), spent a year in London acting as the Production Music Supervisor for the Wicked films, Universal’s adaptation of the Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical, which is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
Amendum had worked with composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz on the Broadway production as the show’s Musical Director. Still, he says he was surprised to get the call:
“Universal had talked about making the films for a decade. But even though I had a long involvement with the show when it was on Broadway, I never in a million years dreamed that I’d be asked to work on the films. I had dabbled in some film projects, but this is the largest movie musical ever shot, so to go from dabbling to that has been amazing.”
And so, the teacher became a student:
“That was what was so exciting about it. And terrifying. I know Wicked like the back of my hand. I know Broadway. The film element was what was new for me. I was out there doing the work, but I was also a student again and learning so much about that industry that I was able to bring back to our classes here at UNCG.”
Read more here.
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FACULTY/STAFF NEWS & NOTES
David Aarons (Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology) published “‘We Should be Louder’: Rastafari, Amplified Spirituality, and Spacemaking in Shashemene, Ethiopia” in Ethnomusicology, the official journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, in its Winter 2024 issue.
Joseph DiPiazza (Professor Emeritus of Piano) has created a YouTube channel with fellow pianist Pat Gray to share performances, commentary on music-making, and perspectives on the repertoire, the history of pianism, and music’s role in life. Listen here.
Dan Hale (Assistant Professor of Animation) received $2,000 in Internal Funding for his upcoming project BookEnding. This work will continue his research into physical animation with a theme focused on the human impact on climate change.
Steve Landis (Part-Time Lecturer in Music Composition) will have his Tuba Concerto premiered by the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra on April 26th with a repeat performance on April 27th. The work was composed in memory of Dennis AsKew, former UNCG Professor of Tuba and Director of the School of Music. The tuba soloist is UNCG alumnus Will Beach. Get tickets here.
Billy Lee (Professor Emeritus of Sculpture) has been selected to represent the United States with the creation of a sculpture in Argentina this summer. Lee was chosen from 140 applicants from forty countries.
Elizabeth Perrill (Professor of Art History) delivered a public lecture in collaboration with the UNC Asheville Archaeological Institute of America chapter and the Department of Art and Art History. The lecture was titled “Zulu Ceramics: A Label, a Tool, a Tradition of Improvisation.”
Kailan Rubinoff (Associate Professor of Musicology) was selected by the Office of the Provost to participate in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity Faculty Success Program in Summer 2024.
Faculty/Staff News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University’s news clip service.
Submit your Faculty/Staff News here.
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Triad Alumni Reception following UCLS Presents: Garth Fagan Dance
Friday, April 5, 2024
UNCG Auditorium
Register Here for the Reception
Purchase Tickets to Garth Fagan Dance
Chicago Alumni Brunch
Sunday, May 5, 2024
12:00–2:00 pm
Barrio
65 W. Kinzie St, Chicago, Illinois
Register Here
Invitations to CVPA alumni events come via email and/or snail mail, so please make sure we have your current contact information. Use the button below to update your information.
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Eli Motley (’23 MFA Dance) spent a week working with UNCG School of Dance students as its inaugural artist-in-residence.
Leanna Crenshaw (’19 MM Vocal Performance) recently performed the role of Yum-Yum in a “steampunk” version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado with the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company.
William L. Lake, Jr. (’18 DMA Instrumental Conducting) served as guest conductor of the Capital Wind Symphony and presented its fall “Inspirations” concert. After a national search, Dr. Lake was appointed Music and Artistic Director. The Capital Wind Symphony is regarded as one of the nation’s premier wind symphonies. Based near the nation’s capital, the ensemble attracts many of the finest musicians from Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia and welcomes new players each season by audition.
Samantha Frenduto (’17 BM Clarinet Performance) recently performed at the American Bandmasters Association’s 89th Annual Convention with the United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own.”
Ashley Ortiz (’09 BFA Theatre) is performing in the world premiere of Las Borinqueñas by Nelson Diaz-Marcano and directed by Rebecca Aparicio, running April 3rd–28th at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York.
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Alumni News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University’s news clip service.
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UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS | |
There are just three more artists left in the 111th season of UNC Greensboro’s Concert and Lecture Series. Visit ucls.uncg.edu to get your tickets to live your life with live arts! | |
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Moroccan photographer
known for her staged photographs of Arab women in contemporary art
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Internationally acclaimed contemporary American
dance company led by
The Lion King choreographer Garth Fagan
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Saxophonist, recording artist, and educator | |
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CLOSING SPOTLIGHT
As the Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson song goes: “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning...,” and that is especially true on the campus of UNC Greensboro right now. Spring is has sprung, and it’s a great time for a visit! Prospective students: set up your tour with Director of Recruitment Sandra Barinowski here. Alumni: contact Director of External Relations Terri Relos to plan your visit here. Photo credit: Martin Kane
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The College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) e-Newsletter is published eight times a year in September, October, November, December, February, March, April, and May.
The Newsletter is emailed to CVPA alumni, faculty, staff, students, patrons, and donors. Please feel free to forward your copy, and anyone who would like their name to be added to our distribution list can contact us via uncgarts@uncg.edu.
The e-Newsletter is edited by Terri Relos, Director of External Relations. Archived issues can be found in the “News” section of the CVPA website. To submit Alumni News & Notes, please use this form. To submit Faculty/Staff News & Notes, use this form.
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100 McIver St, Greensboro, NC 27412-5010
Tel: 336-334-5789
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