November 2020
In this issue:
- 2020-2021Alumni of Distinction Awards
- Gifts from Alumni Make Impact
- News & Notes from Alumni, Faculty, and Staff
- Calendar Check-In
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Recently, I have been enjoying the images of fall here in Greensboro. While driving down West Market Street, a field of pumpkins being sold in front of a church caught my eye, suggesting the bounty of harvest. In the College Hill neighborhood, the piles of leaves curbside remind me of the changing season. And although this Thanksgiving season will be different from those that came before, there is still much to be thankful for as we sit down together.
I am personally grateful for all the ways that CVPA alumni enrich this College. The luster and diversity of their careers brings recognition to our programs and faculty. School of Music alumna Catherine “BB” Bowness, the only banjo alumna of the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program, received this year’s $50,000 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo. And last month, School of Art alumna Lauren Holt joined the cast of Saturday Night Live!
Alumni also frequently return to share their artistry and wisdom. School of Theatre alumna Calandra Hackney has been back twice to guest direct productions. Last fall School of Dance Distinguished Alumna Kathleen Kelley was on campus guest teaching and discussing how her UNCG degree prepared her for a career of exploring collaboration, feminist modes of community, and mutual support structures.
Alumni give back by creating additional opportunities for both faculty and students. Distinguished Alumnus Douglas Risner has established a testamentary gift that will enhance the School of Dance by supporting dance faculty research, retaining high performance dance faculty, and incentivizing incoming tenure-track or tenured faculty. Recently, alumna Mary Ida Yost established a testamentary gift that will provide an organ scholarship for the School of Music.
Our alumni have also formed strong networks here in North Carolina and in cities across the United States, providing professional and collegial support to one another. Last year at a CVPA Alumni Event in New York, I witnessed this networking firsthand and saw instrumentalists being recruited for a musical theatre performance in Connecticut. And at last year’s All Arts Education Alumni Conference here in Greensboro, alumni in our arts education disciplines shared best practices and a day together.
Personally, I am grateful for the myriad of ways that alumni enrich the reputation and direction of this College. Their presence on the Board of Visitors and input on how to decolonize the curriculum and how to improve the experiences of the College’s Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color is proving invaluable. So, in this season of Thanksgiving, may we all stop and reflect on the ways that our alumni reap what they have learned here and sow it back for future alumni.
Sincerely,
bruce d. mcclung, Dean
College of Visual and Performing Arts
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2020-2021 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI REPRESENT
EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS.
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Sheena Rose
MFA Studio Arts 2016
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Sheena Rose is a contemporary Caribbean artist who lives and works in Barbados. Rose is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a BFA Honors degree from Barbados Community College, 2008 as well as an MFA from UNC Greensboro, 2016. She has a multi-disciplinary practice. Her oeuvre includes hand-drawn animations, drawings, paintings, performance art, and new media. Read full bio
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Sue Stinson
EdD Curriculum/Cultural Studies 1984
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Sue Stinson, Emerita Professor of Dance, became a full-time faculty member in the Department of Dance at UNC Greensboro in 1979, having been recruited to develop the K-12 licensure program. She subsequently earned her
EdD in Curriculum/Cultural Studies from UNC Greensboro in 1984. Read full bio
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Andrew Lankford
DMA Trombone Performance 1999
MM Music Education 1991
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Andrew Lankford, Professor of Trombone at James Madison University, holds a BM in Music Education from UNC Greensboro, an MM in Trombone Performance from the University of Kansas, and a DMA in Trombone Performance from UNC Greensboro. His primary teachers include Randy Kohlenberg and Max Bonecutter.
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Fran Page
EdD Music 1980
MM Music Education 1975
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Fran Page is Professor Emerita from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. During her thirty-six years there, she served in many capacities, including Chair of the Department of Communication and Performing Arts, Coordinator of Music Education, and Director of Choral Activities. She taught methods courses for music education majors and also K-6 teacher licensure students, advised music education majors, and directed and supervised student teaching. Read full bio
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Sue Scarborough
MEd Theatre 1999
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Sue Scarborough is a long-time theatre arts practitioner. She is the founder of the North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators, a statewide organization for and by theatre educators and the NC Young Playwrights Festival, a statewide playwriting program for grades 4 - 12; the Artist in the School Directory for Wake County, a resource connecting artists and schools; Raleigh Creative Costumes, a costume rental and design house; and Teen Co, a county-wide Improv Company. Read full bio
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ALUMNI DONORS MAKE IMPACT |
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Tom Sloan and
Linda Fisher Sloan '82 MFA Theatre
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“This scholarship means so much to me,” says Raven Sizemore. “It’s the difference between going to UNCG or not going at all.”
Raven, a first-year School of Music student, is the inaugural recipient of the Sloan Endowed Scholarship, a $2 million commitment that will eventually sustain two Sloan Scholars per class for study at the University.
“Linda and I feel very fortunate to be able to make this scholarship gift,” said Tom Sloan. “It is recipients like Raven who have the potential to make an impact in this life. We are honored to be a part of encouraging her success.”
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Hugh Hysell '88 BFA Theatre |
“The School of Theatre develops your passion,” says Hugh Hysell. “UNCG encouraged me to find and nurture my passion, so I could enjoy every turn my career took.”
Hysell is grateful for the role
UNC Greensboro played in creating the foundation for his successful career – so grateful that he is establishing the Hugh Hysell Scholarship Endowment to support rising seniors majoring in theatre and provide critical professional development opportunities before they enter the theatre world.
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Joe Forbes ('76 BFA Theatre and 2018 CVPA Distinguished Alumnus) and Hugh Hysell ('88 BFA Theatre and 2017 CVPA Distinguished Alumnus) have connections to this year's Tony Award nominations. Hysell is a producer of Best Play nominee The Inheritance, which received a total of 11 nominations, and Forbes painted the drops for Best Musical nominee Moulin Rouge, which received a total of 14 nominations. Read more here.
Brian McMath ('96 BM Music Education) and Donny Walter ('12 MM and '94 BM Music Education) are the semi-finalists from North Carolina for the Grammy Music Educator Award. They are the only teachers from NC to make it through to the semi-finals and are two of the 25 nominees. They both work at Northwest Guilford High School, and Donny also works at Northwest Guilford Middle School. Read more here.
Dominick Amendum ('01 BM Piano Performance and Coordinator of Musical Theatre) is a co-producer on the world premiere recording of the musical Secondhand Lions, featuring a score by Alan Zachary and Michael Winer and a book by Rupert Holmes. Read more here.
Ali Duffy ('09 MFA Dance) has published a book Careers in Dance: Practical and Strategic Guidance from the Field. Read more here.
Catherine “BB” Bowness (Miles Davis Jazz Studies) is a co-winner of the $50,000 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo or Bluegrass this year. Bowness, who is from New Zealand, attended UNC Greensboro in 2011. Read more here.
Alumni News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University's news clip service.
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FACULTY/STAFF NEWS & NOTES |
Tami Draves (Associate Professor of Music Education) has published an article in the international journal Music Education Research. Read more here.
Robin Gee (Associate Professor of African, Contemporary Technique, Choreography) and Vania Claiborne ('16 BFA Dance) were two of the featured choreographers in this year's North Carolina Dance Festival. The festival, begun by the late School of Dance emerita faculty member Jan Van Dyke, is entering its 30th anniversary season and to mark the occasion, 20 choreographers came together to create a dance film, which was screened virtually on October 24, 2020. Watch here.
Andy Hudson (Assistant Professor of Clarinet) and his sextet Latitude 49 were awarded 3rd Prize in the Ariel Avant Impact Performance Competition for their program “Don't Say a Word,” which features music by Gity Raza, Annika Socolofsky, and Shelley Washington with visual collaboration from artist and filmmaker Xuan. Read more here.
Andrew Willis (Professor of Piano and Historical Keyboard Instruments) performed a recital earlier this month of Romantic era piano music, presented online by Greensboro's Music for a Great Space. The program included music of Chopin, Clara Schumann,
Felix Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, and was recorded at his home on an 1841 Bösendorfer piano. Watch here.
Faculty/Staff News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University's news clip service.
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CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS
Call of the Wild: Exhibition by Sidney Stretz
November 3-14, 2020 // M-F 11:00 AM-5:00 PM
Greensboro Project Space, 111 E. February One Pl.
Fall Dances (Performed in 2 parts)
November 14 and 21, 2020 // 8:00 PM
Hear Our Voices: An Inclusive Celebration of New Musical Theatre
November 12-14, 2020 // On-demand streaming; for tickets, call the Theatre
Symphony Orchestra
November 23, 2020 // 7:30 PM
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Closing Spotlight:
A beautiful fall day in the newly renovated Elizabeth Herring Memorial Garden
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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 Marketing and Alumni Outreach. Archived issues can be found in the “News” section of the CVPA website. To submit Alumni News & Notes, please use this form. For Faculty/Staff News & Notes, use this form.
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