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Over lunch in midtown Manhattan, CVPA distinguished alumnus Hugh Hysell described his multifaceted career as a Broadway actor, producer, and marketer, and expressed a desire to pass on his knowledge to students who are just embarking on their careers. I asked Hugh if he would be interested in teaching a class at UNCG, and he leapt at the opportunity. Last spring via Zoom, Hugh taught “The Business of Show” not only to UNCG theatre majors but also to students from across campus who wanted to learn from this two-time Tony Award winner on how to launch a career.
Hugh’s course is just one way that our alumni are giving back and passing on what they know to our current students. Andrea Brown, CVPA distinguished alumna and Associate Director of Bands at the University of Maryland, has smashed glass ceilings with her career. As founder of “Women Rising to the Podium,” an online group of over 4,200 members supporting and celebrating women band directors, Brown was back on campus in February for the North Carolina Band Festival and Conductors Conference. Music majors had the opportunity to play under Andrea’s baton and to learn about the trail that she has blazed.
Caribbean artist Sheena Rosa is another CVPA distinguished alumna whose impact is being felt on campus. In 2021 she was commissioned by the Weatherspoon Art Museum to create a mural. Sheena recalled, “UNCG gave me a place to think about where I come from—my race, gender, sexuality, and culture as a Black woman from the Caribbean.” Now art majors and all who pass through the Weatherspoon’s atrium experience Rose’s vibrant and energetic mural “Pause and Breathe, We Got This” with its expansive explorations of culture and the human experience.
Some of our newest alumni are also back in Greensboro performing professionally. Last October the University Concert and Lecture Series presented Urban Bush Women, a company that weaves contemporary dance, music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African Diaspora. Dancing with the company was alumna Shayla Taylor who first learned about Urban Bush Women in Professor Ana Paula Höfling’s Dance Studies course, where she told Professor Höfling that one day she would like to dance with this company. While on campus with Urban Bush Women, Shayla offered a masterclass for dance majors.
As part of CVPA’s 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, The Path Forward, we are actively seeking ways to identify and to create opportunities for our current students to interact with such alumni as Hugh, Andrea, Sheena, and Shayla. These interactions enrich the curriculum and students’ education by providing current and real-world experiences with alumni who are working at the top of their professions. We recognize that co-curricular experiences—such as special courses, festivals, exhibitions, and masterclasses—are high impact educational practices that show our students what is possible with a UNCG degree for a life in the arts.
Sincerely,
bruce d. mcclung, Dean
College of Visual and Performing Arts
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ALUMNI TEACHING FROM EXPERIENCE | |
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Hugh Hysell (’88 BFA Theatre) is a two-time Tony Award winner teaching students “The Business of Show.”
Photo credit: Greg Salvatori.
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“I want to teach my students to say ‘yes.’ Life will give you opportunities, and you need to be open to that. If you say ‘no,’ this is your path that you decided on from the start then you might miss the opportunities. If you say ‘yes,’ there might be a very surprising and rewarding life for you in a profession that gives you great joy as an artist.”
Hugh Hysell (’88 BFA Theatre) knows all about saying “yes.” A two-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, Hysell has held several theatre roles, including actor (stage and television), director, marketer, event planner, and during the pandemic, heading up Broadway’s COVID-19 safety team.
Now he’s teaching School of Theatre students how to prepare for a variety of careers through a course that he created called “The Business of Show.”
Read full story here.
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ALUMNI FILM EXPLORES ARTISTIC CHOICES | |
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Michael Tourek (’16 MFA and ’12 BFA Theatre) and Thomas Mendolia (’12 BFA Theatre) collaborate on the
film 8 AM. Photo provided by Michael Tourek.
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What happens when the dreams you cultivate come into conflict with the real responsibility of life? Many people find their greatest talent cast aside in the face of life’s daily pressures and discover there’s rarely an easy answer forward. —Tagline for the film 8 AM
It’s a question that’s all too real for artists—one that Michael Tourek (’16 MFA and ’12 BFA Theatre) tackles in the short film 8 AM, which he is developing with fellow UNCG alumnus Thomas Mendolia (’12 BFA Theatre):
“This script has been on my desk for a long time. It’s my white whale that I’ve been chasing. I finally decided it was time to stop being afraid of going forward with it.”
He asked a former classmate to direct this very personal project:
“That’s the benefit of an alumni network—like-minded people who come from the same place with a mutual respect and love for that place. You’re going to help out your own. It’s never a bad thing to have people in your network who may have some level of success. But it’s not about ‘what can you do for me?’ It’s about ‘how can we help each other?’”
Read full story here.
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Alumni, Faculty, Staff, and Student Social
Thursday, October 19, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
Oden Brewing Company, 804 W. Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro
Music by Robinson Family Visiting Jazz Artist Julieta Eugenio
CVPA prize packs, swag, and discount drink tickets
No RSVP required, and free to attend.
UNCG Homecoming
Friday, October 20 & Saturday, October 21, 2023
Various locations and times
See full list of events here.
Free to attend, but registration requested. Sign up here.
Save the Date—Invitations for These Events Coming Soon*
New York City Alumni Brunch
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Faculty Artist Exhibition and Alumni Reception
Friday, February 9, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
Greensboro Project Space, 111 E. February One Place, Greensboro
Atlanta Alumni Brunch
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Los Angeles Alumni Brunch
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Alumni Reception following UCLS Presents: Garth Fagan Dance
Friday, April 5, 2024
UNCG Auditorium
Chicago Alumni Brunch
Sunday, May 5, 2024
*Invitations to CVPA Events come via email and/or snail mail, so please make sure we have your current contact information. Use the button below to submit updated information.
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Willa Bost (’22 MFA Drama) is making her Broadway debut in Purlie Victorious starring Leslie Odom, Jr. Bost is the understudy for the roles of Missy Judson and Idella Landy.
David Miller (’20 MM and ’13 BM Music Education) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Kentucky. As an educator, Dr. Miller has a range of experience teaching orchestra and band in North Carolina, including middle school, high school, summer camps, and youth orchestras. He has served as a quantitative research consultant and an analyst for grant-funded initiatives addressing such topics as arts educators in the United States and systemic barriers to equity for access to higher education.
Nicoletta Moss (’20 MM Instrumental Conducting) had their article “The Rise of Medical Orchestras in the United States: An Examination of Organizational Structure and Leadership Experiences” accepted for publication in the College Orchestra Directors Association Journal. The article will appear in volume 16 this fall.
Catheryn Shaw Foster (’18 PhD Music Education) has co-authored the book Developing Error Detection Skills in the Wind Band Educator with Ward Miller (GIA Publications, Inc. 2023).
Bailey Wingler (’18 BFA Studio Art) has been promoted to Lead Faculty over the Art and Design programs at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
Aaron Matson (’16 BM Jazz Guitar Performance) is going on tour as a member of the newly formed “Bryan Eng Circle Room Trio,” which has been playing at the legendary Bemelmans Bar
in New York’s Carlyle Hotel. The group is playing at the Middle C Jazz club in Charlotte on October 3rd.
Carmen Neely (’16 MFA Studio Arts) participated in a panel hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris with prominent artists Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon, and Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, last month. One of Carmen’s paintings has been hung in the Vice President’s house.
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FACULTY/STAFF NEWS & NOTES
Jonathan Caldwell’s (Assistant Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands) recent book, Original Études for the Developing Conductor, was awarded “highly commended” in the Impact Award category by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.
Hannah Grannemann (Director and Assistant Professor of Arts Administration) and Jackson Cooper (’16 BA Drama) will be writing a book on nonprofit fundraising for Columbia Business Publishing, an imprint of Columbia University Press. The book will envision new practices, approaches, and philosophies for nonprofit fundraising, which are successful and sustainable for organizations, staff, and donors at every level.
Lorena Guillén (Lecturer in Musicology), Alejandro Rutty (Professor of Composition), Adam Ricci (Associate Professor of Music Theory), and Guy Capuzzo (Professor of Music Theory) performed last month with their group, the Lorena Guillén Tango Ensemble, at the Charlotte International Arts Festival 2023. Following that, the group flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina where it performed two concerts: one at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Astor Piazzolla on September 22nd, in collaboration with faculty and the conservatory choir, and the other at the renowned festival of alternative new tango organized by the Club Atlético Fierro on
September 23rd.
Abigail Hart (Undergraduate Academic Advisor) has been elected to the UNCG Staff Senate as a representative for student affairs personnel. She will serve on UNCG Staff Senate for a two-year term. She plans to use this position to give a voice for CVPA staff in campus-wide discussions and to promote positive change.
Heather Holian (Professor of Art History) co-curated the Weatherspoon Art Museum exhibition “A Golden Age: Original Animation Art from the Walt Disney Studios, 1937–42,” which is open until December 9th. She also authored the exhibition’s accompanying essay, “Walt Disney Originals: Behind the Magic and Marketing of the Studios’ Golden Age.” In conjunction with this research and exhibition, Dr. Holian has been named the Weatherspoon’s inaugural Margaret and Bill Benjamin Faculty Fellow.
Nathaniel Mitchell (Lecturer in Music Theory) presented his paper “Elements of Soneo Theory: Vocal Improvisation Strategies in Salsa Music” as part of the School of Music’s Irna Priore Music and Culture Lecture Series on September 22nd.
Kasia Ozga (Assistant Professor of Sculpture) is showing print and video works in the Crown Letter Group show “Will we still want to dance tomorrow? Tales for a future.” The show opened September 13th and runs through October 4th at Galerie 35, Institut Français in Prague. Ozga has also been selected to show work in this year’s “Art in Odd Places Festival” in New York City from October 13th to 15th.
Elizabeth Perrill (Professor of Art History) and a team from the Phansi Museum in Durban, South Africa led by independent scholar and Indigenous Knowledge Expert Ntuthuko Khuzwayo have been awarded a Planning Grant for a year-long project archiving the Frank Jolles Collection of Zulu Arts and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. The South African-based team will be inventorying documents, ceramics, beadwork, woodworking, and photographic negatives as part of this archival project. This planning grant is supported by UCLA Library’s Modern Endangered Archives Program with funding from Arcadia. Read more here.
Faculty/Staff News & Notes are compiled from self-submissions
and from the University’s news clipping service.
Submit your Faculty/Staff News here.
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UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS | |
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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 San Diego 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 musicians in the 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.
Visit ucls.uncg.edu to get your tickets, and Live Your Life With Live Arts!
All events are on sale now.
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CLOSING SPOTLIGHT
Homecoming comes only once a year, but Blue and Gold Days happen every week! Wear your UNCG colors on Fridays to show your school spirit. Pictured here: James Davis (sophomore in the School of Music’s PopTech program) receives a Spartan tee from Dean bruce mcclung during a Blue and Gold Day give-away. Photo credit: Terri Relos.
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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 e-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
vpa.uncg.edu
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