This month we honor the Class of 2023. As freshmen they moved into the dormitories in August 2019, and seven months later, the campus closed because of the pandemic. These students’ classes, productions, and rehearsals all moved online. Their sophomore year was a mix of hybrid, online, and face-to-face classes as the campus re-opened, but fall semester concluded prior to Thanksgiving, and spring break was suspended. Their junior and senior years returned to “normal,” although mask wearing indoors was strongly encouraged, and performance protocols were necessary.
Not since the 1918 influenza pandemic has a class at UNCG traversed such a rocky road to earning their degrees. Whereas that microscopic killer circled the globe in just four months and claimed the lives of 21 million people, today’s virus has taken 6.9 million lives worldwide over the past three years. In 1918 the 1,164 female students at UNCG—then the State Normal and Industrial College—sheltered in place: no one was allowed to leave campus, and no one was allowed onto campus.
Thus, the classes of 1922 and 2023 will be forever linked for having survived world-wide pandemics, yet both classes kept their educational goals firmly in sight. Students from both pandemics dealt with social distancing, quarantining in designated dormitories, and having campus gatherings suspended. Whereas students in 1918 were able to celebrate the end of the influenza pandemic in a few months with a costume pageant, our students have had to live with the lingering effects of COVID-19.
Despite a global pandemic, the Class of 2023 will earn their academic degrees this month. CVPA will confer 263 degrees: 198 bachelor’s, 57 master’s degrees and post-baccalaureate certificates, and 8 doctoral degrees and post-master’s certificates. Five of the students receiving bachelor’s degrees have double majored in Arts Administration, Psychology, and Sociology. CVPA is the only college in North Carolina to offer terminal MFA degrees in art, dance, and theatre; and the DMA and PhD in music.
I am grateful that the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency will allow a full complement of graduation ceremonies. Together, as a community of artists, educators, performers, and scholars, we will gather to celebrate the perseverance of the Class of 2023. Amidst the UNCG traditions of tassel turning, bell ringing, and singing of the alma mater, our graduates will receive their hard-earned academic degrees. To each, I say Bravo, Well done, and Go make your mark!
Sincerely,
bruce d. mcclung, Dean
College of Visual and Performing Arts
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Quan Gabriel Apollo
BA: Studio Art
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“I found that my work has the ability to be my voice and also for those who take an interest in it. There are obvious joys that come with artmaking, and I find a sense of purpose in taking on residential commissions for people new to the art world and in creating works that inform people to world views that are parallel and adjacent to their own.”
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Heather Ann Lofdahl
PhD: Music Education
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“Much of my research and community-engaged work has repeatedly reminded me that the field of string education faces many challenges related to access and equity. Because of this work and everything that I have learned at UNCG, I am deeply committed to increasing access to string instruction for all people.”
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Jazmine Renee Warren
BFA Dance: Choreography/Performance
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“This turned out to be the perfect fit for me because I was able to deepen my passion for dance on a whole other level. Not only did I have the opportunity to perform numerous times and choreograph my own piece, but I had access to the most beautiful and spacious studios!”
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William L. Lake, Jr. (’18 DMA Conducting), Director of Concert Bands at George Mason University, and SSG Samantha Frenduto (’17 MM Clarinet) recently shared the stage during George Mason University Wind Symphony’s side-by-side concert with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” Dr. Lake is in his first year as Director of Bands at George Mason University, and SSG Frenduto has completed three years in the US Army Band. Lake and Frenduto were in bands together at UNCG—Frenduto played clarinet and Lake was a doctoral student in the conducting studio of John Locke (Professor Emeritus of Music) and former faculty member Kevin M. Geraldi.
Sherrill Roland (’17 MFA and ’09 BFA Studio Art and 2022 CVPA Distinguished Alumnus) was featured in a Los Angeles Times article about his solo exhibition Sherrill Roland: do without, do within at Los Angeles’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. The exhibition is inspired by the wrongful conviction that led to Roland spending ten months imprisoned. Read more here.
Thomas Linger (’15 BM Jazz Studies) recently competed as one of five finalists in the American Pianist Awards in Indianapolis.
Sarah Wildes Arnett (’12 MFA Dance) was awarded promotion to the rank of Professor at Valdosta State University. She teaches in the BFA Dance program and is Associate Department Head of Communication Arts.
Brendan Slocumb (’94 BM Music Education) has released his second novel, Symphony of Secrets. The New York Times calls it “thrilling” and Slocumb “a maestro of musical mystery.” Slocumb was in Winston-Salem on April 18th for the national book launch of Symphony of Secrets.
Ed Simpson (’80 MFA Theatre and 2019 CVPA Distinguished Alumnus) has been invested into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in a ceremony at the Kennedy Center. The College of Fellows of the American Theatre recognizes “distinguished artists, scholars, and industry leaders.”
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Alumni News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University’s news clip service.
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FINAL STOP ON THE 2022–2023 ALUMNI TOUR:
Alumni Brunch
May 7th @ 12:00 PM | Chicago
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NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENT:
LEE WALTON, DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF DANCE
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College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the appointment of Lee Walton as Director of CVPA’s School of Dance.
Lee Walton is a Professor of Art with a practice that spans performance art, new media, and social practice. Since joining UNCG’s faculty in 2007, Lee has held various leadership roles within the School of Art, serving as the Associate Director and Director of Graduate Studies. He is also the founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Art and Social Practice program, a program he created with faculty and administrators to bring students together from art, dance, music, and theater for collaboration and community. Read more here.
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FACULTY/STAFF NEWS & NOTES
Mya Brown (Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing) received a UNCG Scholars’ Travel Fund award to participate in the Association of Theatre in Higher Education Conference in Austin in August. Mya serves on the Executive Board for the Association of Theatre Movement Educators (ATME), and she is representing ATME during a roundtable session of “Being the Change They Say They Want to Be,” a discussion on being charged with change during the post-lockdown period.
Gavin Douglas (Professor of Ethnomusicology), An Ngo (’23 BA Music), and Sunny Vo (UNC Chapel Hill) hosted a Saturday Morning Vietnamese Music workshop at UNCG on April 1st. The workshop for local music and social studies teachers was organized through the North Carolina Teaching Asia Network. Douglas was also an invited speaker at the Carolina Asia Center at UNC Chapel Hill on March 29th. His talk, “Surveying the Sounds of Protest in Myanmar,” presented research on street protests during the 2001 military coup.
Steve Haines (Director of the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program and Professor of Double Bass) and Thomas Heflin (Assistant Professor of Jazz) received a $10,000 Office of Research and Engagement’s Spring 2023 Internal Funding Award for an upcoming recording project, which will feature arrangements of music composed by such famous North Carolina jazz musicians as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Woody Shaw, and Nina Simone. It will also feature current, internationally known musicians associated with North Carolina along with a supporting ensemble composed of members of the North Carolina jazz community. Through this project, Haines and Heflin hope to bring awareness to the rich cultural history of North Carolina and the wealth of world-class musicians who currently live here or are from here. They also hope the project will foster a wider sense of community through their collaborations with jazz musicians throughout the state.
Dan Hale (Assistant Professor of Animation) will be finalizing and presenting new physical animations as part of a ReGroup at GreenHill artist residency from May 23rd through June 2nd. These works are in collaboration with School of Music faculty members Annie Jeng (Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy) and Andy Hudson (Assistant Professor of Clarinet) and focus on the shared connections between the two mediums.
Abigail Hart (Undergraduate Advisor) and Jennifer Reich (Director of Undergraduate Advising & Student Success) had their presentation “The Jiminy Cricket Effect: Using A Peer Guide Program to Enhance the First-Year Experience” accepted for the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) annual conference in Orlando in October. Hart has also been invited to present at the same conference on utilizing peer advising for first-time students.
Andy Hudson (Assistant Professor of Clarinet) was recently a guest artist at the University of Michigan where he gave a clarinet masterclass and two performances with the international chamber sextet Latitude 49.
Janet Lilly (Director of School of Dance) is featured in Rosalynde LeBlanc’s dance film Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters, which chronicles the process of re-staging D-Man in the Waters, a piece choreographed by Bill T. Jones and in which Lilly was an original cast member. The film began airing on PBS stations on May 1st.
Christine Morris (Associate Professor Emerita of Theatre) has a chapter included in Vocal Traditions: Training in the Performing Arts (Routledge, 2023). The chapter, co-authored with Dr. Bill J. Adams, is “Acting and Singing with Archetypes.” Both Adams and Morris are certified teachers of the vocal archetypes training methodology developed by Frankie Armstrong and Janet Rodgers. Read more here.
TC Nordan (Business Services Coordinator) received the 2023 CVPA Staff Excellence Award.
Nicole F. Scalissi (Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art History) received the 2023 CVPA Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.
Joan Titus (Associate Professor of Musicology) has been named a Fellow of the National Humanities Center for 2023–2024 for work on her third book project, Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Thaw-Era Cinema. This year, 541 applications were received for these competitive national fellowships, and just 35 were chosen. Titus has also received additional funding for the book through a UNCG Faculty Grant, the Dean’s Research/Creative Initiative Fund, and two Kohler Awards.
Kevin Vanek (Foundry Director and Academic Professional-Assistant Professor of Art) took undergraduate students and recent alumni from the School of Art to Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham in April to participate in the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices. The students built an iron melting cupola furnace and competed in the Student Cupola Contest. Their furnace performed wonderfully and won the Crowd Favorite Award. Vanek has also received an Office of Research and Engagement’s Spring 2023 Internal Funding Award to attend the Sculpture Trails Iron Art Residency in Indiana and to create a new 14’ tall, 2000+lb, cast-iron sculpture.
Faculty/Staff News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University’s news clip service.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO RETIRING FACULTY |
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From left: Ashley Barret, Dean bruce mcclung, and Sarah Dorsey |
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Five faculty members are retiring from CVPA this year:
Ashley Barret, Professor of Oboe
Kelly Burke, Professor of Clarinet
Noah Davis, Lecturer in Theatre and Light and Sound Shop Supervisor
Sarah Dorsey, Director of the Harold Schiffman Music Library
Donald Hartmann, Professor of Voice
Together they have a total of 123 years of service and were recognized for their professional contributions at CVPA’s Closing Assembly on April 28th. Dr. Barret, Dr. Burke, and Lecturer Davis were named emeriti faculty by the UNCG Board of Trustees.
Also recognized at the Closing Assembly were School Directors Chris Cassidy who is returning to the faculty after leading the School of Art for 7 years and Janet Lilly who is returning to the faculty after leading the School of Dance for 12 years.
Thank you, and Best Wishes!
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UNC GREENSBORO CONCERT AND LECTURE SERIES
SEASON ANNOUNCED FOR 2023–2024
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UNC Greensboro’s Concert and Lecture Series, the longest running series of its kind in North Carolina, offers an exciting line-up of both up-and-coming and world-renowned artists:
Chris Botti: Grammy award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer, who has been the largest-selling American instrumental artist since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love; Jewel: Four-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, actress, and author whose life story—from homelessness to discovery in a coffee shop to selling millions of albums—is as compelling as her music; Garth Fagan Dance: an internationally acclaimed contemporary American dance company led by The Lion King choreographer Garth Fagan; and Collage: a captivating and totally unique performance featuring School of Music faculty and students in one riveting work after another.
The season also includes performances by three top jazz musicians in our Robinson Family Visiting Jazz Artists Series and an artist talk with Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi, known for her staged photographs of Arab women in contemporary art.
Get your tickets to Live Your Life With Live Arts!
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CLOSING SPOTLIGHT
Miles Davis Jazz Studies students played and gave tributes at a reception honoring Drs, Pam Pittman and Ward Robinson (’19 PBC Jazz Studies, ’10 MPH) who have generously supported the jazz program through scholarship endowments and funding for visiting artists.
From left: Tyson Baker, Ward Robinson, and Robinson Family Fund Scholars Alston Harris, Roland Burnot, and Cecilia Richardson. If you are interested in supporting CVPA students, email David Huskins or call him at 336.256.0166
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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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