UNCSA Magazine, SUMMER 2015 by UNCSA

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VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

SUMMER 2015

Keep your eyes

Us!

INSIDE:

SUMMER 2015

For the School of Design & Production, the focus is on professionalism Commencement Coverage Alumna Ida Bieler: Back to her roots Longtime trustee, donor Don Flow enjoys UNCSA association UNCSA MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS

Commencement Coverage . 2-3 News . . . . . . . .

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Faculty Profile . . . . . 15-16 Cover Story . . . . . . 18-22 Giving . . . . . . . . 23-25 Donor Profile . . . . . . . 24 Alumni Notes . . . . . 26-29

This Photo: World-famous photographer Dane Shitagi was a guest artist in the School of Dance during May. Shitagi, creator of the Ballerina Project, photographed dance students on campus and at various locations around the city for the school’s new website that is slated to launch in the fall. Constructed over the span of 15 years, the Ballerina Project is carefully crafted and cultivated and features ballerinas from some of the most prestigious companies around the globe. Currently the Ballerina Project has one of the largest networks of followers for ballet-related pages on Facebook and Instagram and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and the Huffington Post.

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO SUMMER 2015 1533 South Main St., Winston-Salem, NC 27127 336-770-3399 phone 336-770-3342 fax www.uncsa.edu Published by the Marketing & Communications Office of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as a service to alumni, students, parents and friends of the school. Contributors include: Marla Carpenter, Director of Communications, carpem@uncsa.edu Terri Renigar, Recruitment Marketing and Digital Asset Manager, renigart@uncsa.edu Amy Werner, Annual Fund Manager, wernera@uncsa.edu Lauren Whitaker, News Services Manager, whitakerl@uncsa.edu Design by LinTaylor Marketing Group Printing by Graphic Visual Solutions Photographers include: Allen Aycock, Drew Davis, Brent LaFever, Peter Mueller, Rosalie O’Connor, Christine Rucker, Dane Shitagi, and Jay Sinclair UNCSA is an equal opportunity, constituent institution of the University of North Carolina. Please mail address changes to: Advancement, UNCSA, 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem, NC 27127 Every effort has been made to avoid errors in this issue. Please notify us of any errors, and accept our apologies. Cover Photo: Technical rehearsal for “Guys and Dolls” at the Stevens Center. Photo by Christine Rucker.

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

WELCOME

Greetings! Greetings!

Welcome to the summer issue of UNCSA Magazine. In these pages, you will find exciting news about our one-of-a-kind institution, and about our extraordinary students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. Perhaps the biggest news is that in its best colleges issue, Money magazine has placed the School of the Arts as North Carolina’s highest ranking public university, at No. 38 – second overall in the state to private Duke, at No. 21. In addition, The Hollywood Reporter has ranked our School of Drama No. 6 in the world, and our School of Filmmaking No. 14 in the country. For more on those stories, see Page 4. While these rankings affirm our value in the global arts and entertainment industry, our recent fundraising successes are attributed to the value placed upon the school by our many supporters.

Lewis

Thanks to Chancellor Lindsay Bierman, our hard-working deans, faculty and Advancement staff, and a multitude of donors and advocates, the financial strength of the school is the strongest it has ever been. Even while a large part of our focus this past year was ensuring the success of the Guys and Dolls 50th Anniversary Gala (see Page 23), we continue to find new friends for the school who are interested in supporting UNCSA’s endowment and scholarship programs. Gifts to endowments, scholarships, discretionary funds and other designated projects totaled more than $7.2 million this past fiscal year! Most strikingly, investments made on behalf of the school have reached a combined market value of more than $50 million. This is a major milestone for such a young institution. Surpassing the $50 million mark during our 50th anniversary year underscores the strong commitment to the school by so many individuals, foundations, corporations and businesses over our rich history. Endowments support scholarships, professorships, guest artists, programs and general operations. The largest endowment at the School of the Arts is the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, with more than $13 million. In addition to that of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, substantial gifts and grants have been made by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, and by individuals through contributions of cash or stock as well as bequests. Most of the more than 150 distinct endowment funds at UNCSA are named to honor donors, alumni and faculty. A $50 million endowment places UNCSA in the top 16 percent of colleges and universities for endowment size. UNCSA has the second highest ratio of endowment dollars per student in the UNC system. We appreciate all our donors, board members and volunteers who support the school financially and who keep the school at the forefront of their conversations with others. Thank you for the real difference you make in helping the school achieve its mission to train talented students for professional careers in the arts. In closing, I want to invite all of you to the installation of Chancellor Bierman at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 25 in the Freedman Theatre of Performance Place, and to our 2nd Annual Community Festival, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 26 on the campus proper. Without question, they will be part of a monumental celebration done in peerless Fighting Pickle fashion! Sincerely,

Edward Lewis Chief Advancement Officer

Stay Connected with Us! Facebook: facebook.com/uncschoolofthearts Twitter: twitter.com/UNCSchoolofArts Instagram: instagram.com/uncsacam

SUMMER 2015

UNCSA MAGAZINE

COMMENCEMENT

John Sneden receives doctorate from Chancellor Bierman

Boone Isaacs

Boone Isaacs advises university graduates:

Artists must protect freedom of expression Artists are responsible for protecting freedom of expression, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), told the 200 college graduates of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts during her commencement address on May 9 at the Stevens Center. “As the world becomes smaller and more globally connected, you as artists have a responsibility to protect freedom of expression and ensure that no one’s voice is silenced by threats, violence or prejudice, and that different opinions can be shared without fear of personal or professional attack,” she said. Boone Isaacs was recently re-elected to her third term as president of the 7,000-member Academy, presenter of the Oscars. “Every year at the Oscars we honor the courage of filmmakers who cross borders and test boundaries, who give voice to challenging ideas and alternative points of view, and who encourage us to see the world and those around us in new ways,” she said.

“As you embark on the next phase of your careers in the arts, I hope you will carry that torch, tell the truth about the world as you perceive it and change the narrative.” She also urged the graduates to remain faithful to their aspirations: “I want you all to follow your passion. There may be detours … but just keep moving forward. Stay focused on your goals and dreams. Happiness is a goal of life.” As head of CBI Enterprises, Inc., Boone Isaacs has consulted on marketing efforts on such films as THE ARTIST, THE KING’S SPEECH, PRECIOUS, SPIDER-MAN 2 and TUPAC: RESURRECTION. Previously, she oversaw marketing for New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures. Wearing custom-designed academic regalia created by UNCSA costume design faculty and students, Chancellor Lindsay Bierman presided over his first UNCSA commencement. “I’ve loved seeing your work in our shops and studios, and on our stages and screens,” he said. “But I’m personally very, very sad to see you go. Wherever you go from here, I want you to know this: I will always admire your creativity, respect your individuality, and applaud your extraordinary talents.” Honorary doctorates were presented during the ceremony to Boone Isaacs and to Dean Emeritus John Sneden, who led the School of Design and Production from 1970 to 2002 and established the first graduate program at the School of the Arts.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

Bierman

COMMENCEMENT

LaChapelle

LaChapelle advises high school graduates:

Listen to the voice inside Turn off the noise so you can hear your artistic voice. That was the advice David LaChapelle, world renowned photographer, filmmaker and director of music videos and stage productions, and alumnus of UNCSA’s high school Visual Arts Program, offered to the 126 high school graduates of the School of the Arts on May 16 at the Stevens Center. “Get away from the noise of the world and find that solitude so you can hear your voice,” he said. “Every one of you has a different path, and you have to follow your dream and forge your own path,” he said. “How do you know what’s right? By listening to your inner voice.” LaChapelle, who received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, said people ask him what his big break was. “It was getting into this school. This school changed my life.” At the School of the Arts, LaChapelle said he came to be a painter, but “got turned on to dance,” and then discovered photography. After his senior year he headed to New York and exhibited his work at galleries. The shows caught the eye of pop artist Andy Warhol, who offered LaChapelle a job photographing celebrities for Interview magazine.

SUMMER 2015

Maxine Ford

Over two decades, his photographs graced the pages of top editorial publications such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and GQ. After making a name for himself as a visionary in the field of photography, he expanded into the direction of music videos, live theatrical events and documentary film. His directing credits include music videos for artists such as Christina Aquilera and Jennifer Lopez, as well as Elton John’s Caesar’s Palace spectacular, The Red Piano. His documentary film RIZE opened the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. Eventually, he “fell out of love” with the work, bought a farm in Maui, and spent some time in solitude. “Then life took another turn and I was invited to show my work in galleries. It was where I began, where the dream started,” he said. LaChapelle is represented in the world’s most prestigious galleries and museums. His work is in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art. His photographs have been collected into several monographs, including “LaChapelle Land” and “Hotel LaChapelle.”

UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

UNCSA is highest ranked public university in North Carolina No. 38 on Money magazine’s list of best colleges UNCSA ranks No. 38 on Money magazine’s second annual list of 736 best colleges, published July 13. Tied with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., UNCSA is the highest ranked public university in North Carolina, and the highest ranked arts-specialty school. The list ranks schools “that provide the best value for your tuition dollar.” “We’re honored to be recognized by the editors of Money as North Carolina’s highest-ranking public university,” said Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “The data reaffirms the value of an arts degree as a pathway to a lucrative career in the global, multi-billion-dollar arts and entertainment industry.” He also noted that the School of the Arts is the only university that is a conservatory devoted entirely to the arts in the top 500. In creating its list, Money screened out schools with graduation rates below the median and those facing financial difficulties, and then considered 21 factors in three equally weighted

From Money magazine

categories: educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings. The magazine noted UNCSA’s average SAT/ACT score of 1,115/23, acceptance rate of 45 percent, $90,971 net price of a degree, and $55,000 average annual salary of alumni five years after graduating. “The art school gets high marks for affordability — more than three-quarters of students receive some form of financial aid, and low-income families pay less than $5,000 a year on average,” the magazine noted. “The School of the Arts also shines in career outcomes. Recent graduates reported earning an average of $55,000 a year, about 35 percent higher than other graduates with a similar focus in the arts.” Bierman noted that UNCSA’s students put on 300 public performances a year, juggling real-life pressures, budgetconstraints, and deadlines along with a full load of academic coursework. “A conservatory education prepares our graduates for success in any industry that benefits from creative problemsolving in high-pressure, fast-paced environments,” he said. “Our alumni include not only some the most recognizable faces on the stage and screen, but also some of the country’s most accomplished lawyers, doctors, business executives and entrepreneurs.”

The Hollywood Reporter ranks Drama No. 6 in the world; Film No. 14 For a second straight year, the School of Drama is ranked No. 6 in the world by The Hollywood Reporter (THR). The June 5 issue ranked 25 undergraduate drama schools.

Last year, the School of Drama moved up a notch from No. 7 in the world in 2013. In 2012, it was among the magazine’s first published unranked list of 25 best programs.

The magazine also ranked the School of Filmmaking at No. 14 in the country in the August issue.

The School of Filmmaking was ranked No. 12 in 2013 and 2011, but had dropped off the list in 2012 “due to an influx of prestigious foreign schools,” according to THR.

Drama Dean Carl Forsman said alumni continue to shine a light on the quality of training they receive from top-notch faculty. “The progress of our recent graduates indicates that we are among the top-tier acting programs,” he said. “We’re happy to be recognized.”

“North Carolina can be very proud of its top-tier film school,” said School of Filmmaking Dean Susan Ruskin. “We are doing here in Winston-Salem what the really big schools are doing in major metropolitan areas.” Ruskin, too, credited alumni for their bearing on the ranking. “Our alumni are the next generation of filmmakers,” Ruskin said. “We will be hearing their names and viewing their work in film and television for years to come.”

L-R: Angels in America, Part I: Millennium Approaches; Misalliance 4

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Film school partners with NURAY Digital The School of Filmmaking has announced a new partnership with NURAY Digital, a leader in media conservation, restoration and preservation.

Film school to offer new M.F.A. The UNC School of the Arts will offer a new Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking in fall 2016. The UNC Board of Governors approved the new program in April. The new two-year M.F.A. program will offer concentrations in creative producing and screenwriting, in addition to the existing M.F.A. concentration in film music composition. The Film school also currently offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts program with concentrations in animation, art direction, cinematography, directing, editing and sound, producing, and screenwriting. Susan Ruskin, dean of the School of Filmmaking, said the focus of the new M.F.A. will be “discipline-specific programs that are about generating content and producing that content in an entrepreneurial way. These programs will prepare entrepreneurs, executives, producers, department heads – the kind of professionals North Carolina needs to move beyond providing labor for productions and become a hub for the creation of original content of all kinds. “We will be training the job creators of tomorrow.” UNCSA Provost David Nelson, who worked with Ruskin and others to spearhead the new program, said, “We identified this need in the industry and found that the student demand is there. A survey of our own current and former film students reported that 76 percent value an M.F.A. in Filmmaking and 79 percent would recommend an M.F.A. at UNCSA to others.

In this partnership, NURAY Digital will work to restore and preserve key film titles from UNCSA’s Moving Image Archives, including prints from the Walter J. Klein film and videotape archive. “We are very pleased to be partnering with NURAY Digital to help preserve one of the largest film archives in the country housed at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts,” said Film Dean Susan Ruskin. “We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Dee and Rick Ray, who have been supporters of the film school since it began 20 years ago. “We look forward to a partnership in the future that will allow us to grow the archives and help others to preserve the work generated here in North Carolina,” Ruskin added. Dee Ray, CEO of NURAY, said, “We are proud of our association with UNCSA over the past 20 years and look forward to continuing the association through the preservation of their impressive film collection, which is an important part of film history and should be preserved for all time.” School of Filmmaking Senior Curator David Spencer will work to identify the prints NURAY will be digitizing. It will be an ongoing effort to restore and digitize the films to make them available to UNCSA students, faculty and film historians.

Ruskin said she anticipates the new M.F.A. program will attract experienced professionals seeking an advanced credential in the field and/or specialized instruction in feature film, television and new media producing, writing, or film music composition. The program’s target enrollment will be approximately 35 students. The Film school has five core faculty in place to launch the program, with expertise in the concentration areas. However, another three faculty members will be needed by Year Four.

Studio Village

SUMMER 2015

UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

Winston-Salem selected as pilot Community Innovation Lab Through a highly competitive process, Winston-Salem has been selected as one of two U.S. cities to pilot a Community Innovation Lab, a new approach to solving tough social challenges by deeply integrating artists and artistic practices into a rigorously facilitated change process. Over the next six months, the Lab will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders including city agencies, community organizers, business leaders, artists, cultural organizations and nonprofit service providers to begin to address inequities in employment, income and wealth in the city. The Winston-Salem Lab is convened by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at UNCSA, The Arts Council of WinstonSalem and Forsyth County, and The Winston-Salem Foundation. The Community Innovation Labs framework was developed by EmcArts, a nationally recognized service organization for innovation and adaptive change, with lead support from the Kresge Foundation. It brings together the best from the fields of social innovation labs and creative placemaking.

“This is a significant opportunity for Winston-Salem, especially our diverse and creative community,” said Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “For EmcArts and the Kresge Foundation to recognize our city as a community working at the forefront of artsfocused social innovation is an extraordinary honor. UNCSA is very proud of the Kenan Institute for the Arts for taking a leadership role in attracting this important opportunity.” Corey Madden, executive director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, said, “We are excited to collaborate with The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and The Winston-Salem Foundation, as well as a diverse selection of key stakeholders in our community, to create innovative strategies to effect positive change in our city. “We are particularly excited that this project integrates artists and artistic approaches into the change process. That is something that is integral to the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts’ mission and vision,” Madden added.

Providence, R.I., also will participate in the pilot program.

Drama school teams with North Carolina Symphony, Carolina Choir The UNCSA School of Drama teamed up with the North Carolina Symphony and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Choir to present a semi-staged version of William Shakespeare’s popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in May in Chapel Hill and Raleigh. “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,” said Jackson Cooper in Classical Voice North Carolina. Joining Forsman from the Drama faculty was Mary Irwin, who played Titania.

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NEWS

Four film grads on Variety’s list Four 2015 alumni of the School of Filmmaking landed on Variety’s list of “110 Students to Watch,” a feature in the publication’s Annual Education Impact Report released in April. “This is an accolade that is very well deserved,” said Film Dean Susan Ruskin. “We are thrilled that these students have been selected, and we believe they represent UNCSA incredibly well.” In honor of the magazine’s 110th anniversary this year, Variety includes thumbnail profiles of the rising stars of tomorrow – “students who represent the future of film, media and entertainment.” Tyler Harmon-Townsend of Winston-Salem, Christene Hurley of Wilmington, Tori Lancaster of Pfafftown and Evan Scott Russell of Carollton, Ga., are among “the best of the best,” according to Variety’s editors.

Smith and COLLECTION producer Tay Niconovich

Harmon-Townsend

Hurley

Lancaster

Russell

Two UNCSA student films selected for PBS Online Film Festival Two short films created by students in the School of Filmmaking competed in the 2015 PBS Online Film Festival. KILROY WAS HERE and HELPLESS were among only 25 films nationwide selected for the festival. The contest ran from June 15-July 17. HELPLESS finished third, and KILROY, 10th. HELPLESS was written and produced by Evan Scott Russell, directed by Christene Hurley, with cinematography by Chris Ellison, and edited by Isaac Banks. KILROY WAS HERE was written and directed by Charlie Boyles, produced by Laurka Marciniak Kobylanski and Dustin Bricker, with cinematography by Dave Martin, sound design by Zach Seivers, art direction by Rhea Lidowski, edited by Andrew Corvey, with an original score by Seth Neuffer. UNC-TV presented the films on PBS.

Film alumnus wins Student Emmy UNC School of the Arts alumnus Nathan Fenwick Smith won a College Television Award for Best Original Composition for his original score for the student film THE COLLECTION. He received his M.F.A. from the School of Filmmaking in 2014. Commonly known as Student Emmys, the College Television Awards were presented April 24 in Los Angeles. “This award is an indication that Nate has a very bright future ahead of him in the film and television industry,” said Film Dean Susan Ruskin. “It is also evidence that we have built a strong graduate program in film music composition, producing artists whose work is evocative and essential to the storytelling process. The score for THE COLLECTION was one of two musical compositions by Smith that reached the selection panel. His score for STARLIGHT was also in the running for a nomination. Smith is the third UNCSA alumnus to win a College Television Award.

HELPLESS SUMMER 2015

UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

D&P students win national recognition Nine May graduates from the School of Design and Production (D&P) have earned prestigious national honors in recent months. Two students received Young Designer and Technician Awards from the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) at its annual conference in March. Along with four additional students, they also participated in the highly selective Young Designers and Young Technicians Forums. Emily Morrisey, from Williamsville, N.Y., received the Master Craftsmanship Award sponsored by Bernhard R. Works. It is the second consecutive year a UNCSA student has received the award. Morrisey received the award for excellence in stage properties. She also participated in the Young Technicians Forum. Chia-Chia Feng, from Taipei City, Taiwan, received the Makeup Design Award sponsored by Kryolan Professional Makeup, and participated in the Young Designers Forum. Feng, who received her M.F.A., is the seventh UNCSA student to receive the Makeup Design Award in the past nine years.

Visual Arts students dominate Scholastic Awards Visual Arts students won big at the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, bringing home 44 gold keys, 32 silver keys and five honorable mentions. In addition, one student received two “best of show” nominations, and two students received other special awards. Ashlyn Lund of Concord received two of the district’s five American Vision (“best of show”) nominations. Her works were exhibited at Parsons School of Design and the Pratt Institute in New York in June. Lund also received 10 gold keys and an honorable mention. Molly Mir of Winston-Salem won a Judges Choice Portfolio Award, in addition to three gold keys. Anna Grace Waller of Asheville won the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park Recycled Materials Award, in addition to six gold keys, one silver key and an honorable mention. Nearly half (17) of the 37 students in the VA Program received awards.

Mir

Will Taylor, director of the Visual Arts Program, said there are no more important awards for high school visual artists. “Through the Scholastic Awards program, students can develop art and design portfolios for college admissions, scholarships, or professional work,” he said.

Also participating in the Young Designers Forum were scene design students Audrey Bodek of Gobsonia, Pa., and Garret Daub of Winston-Salem. Jessie van Oss, of Phoenix, Ariz., who received her M.F.A. in costume design and technology, and Kiera Bunch, of Walnut Cove, stage properties, presented their work in the Young Technicians Forum. USITT is the nation’s leading association for the backstage industry. Three students were selected to participate in the Hemsley Lighting Portfolio Review in April at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Manuel Da Silva of Lake Worth, Fla., Alyssa Eilbott of Guilford, Conn., and Evan Higgins of Monroe Township, N.J., participated in one-on-one and panel interviews with professional designers, Broadway production electricians, scenic and costume designers, directors, and other theatre professionals.

Molly Mir, self portrait 8

UNCSA MAGAZINE

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NEWS

UNCSA, AFAS bring art tower to Wake Forest Innovation Quarter A 15-foot art tower marks the intersection of art and innovation, thanks to a collaboration between the UNCSA, Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS) and Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

project under way at the School. “We were asked to choose a location for the tower, either on campus or downtown. The students chose downtown,” she said.

As part of AFAS’ Public Art Initiative, students in UNCSA’s School of Design and Production (D&P) created 12 paintings around the theme of UNCSA’s 50th anniversary for the tower.

While AFAS was looking for a site, they were contacted by representatives from the Innovation Quarter. “They were interested in an art piece for Bailey Park,” Rosenberg said. “Harry Knabb (president of AFAS) brought them the idea of the UNCSA Arts Tower as part of AFAS’s Public Arts initiative. The location is perfect to illustrate the interconnectedness of Winston-Salem’s art community with the innovative business community,” she said.

Students created the paintings under the guidance of Howard Jones, assistant dean of D&P and director of the scenic arts program. Jones said the initial paintings will be replaced as they age due to weather. “The students will change and so will the topics as we pass by the 50th anniversary,” he said. Ellen Rosenberg, associate professor of humanities in UNCSA’s Division of Liberal Arts and a board member of AFAS, got the SUMMER 2015

The tower, at the corner of Fourth and Patterson Streets, was unveiled in April.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

Hans Gabriel receives Board of Governors Award

Gabriel

Liberal Arts Associate Professor Hans Gabriel received the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching in the spring.

Hans Gabriel at commencement

Gabriel has taught German and German-language literature, culture and intellectual history at UNCSA since 1999. He earned his Ph.D. and Master of Arts in German language and literature from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in German and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We have many extraordinary teachers on this campus who deserve to be recognized,” said Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “No one is more deserving of this – UNC’s highest honor for teaching – than Hans Gabriel.” Dean Wilcox, dean of the Division of Liberal Arts, said, “As a master teacher and scholar, he embodies the best we have to offer as an institution.” For the system-wide award, Gabriel received a stipend of $12,500 and a commemorative bronze medallion, and was honored during University Commencement on May 9. Each year, UNCSA honors faculty members who are nominated by students and peers, and then forwards one recipient’s name to the Board of Governors. That board chooses a faculty member from each of its 17 institutions for the system-wide awards which encourage, identify, recognize, reward and support good teaching within the University. Gabriel is one of six recipients of Teaching Excellence Awards at UNCSA this year. The others are Tanya Belov and Mary Irwin from the School of Drama, Bill Brewer and John Coyne from the School of Design and Production, and Taimur Sullivan from the School of Music. They were recognized during the campus Celebration of Excellence in April.

L-R: Millette, UNC Board of Governors member David Powers and Banks

Staff members recognized The UNC School of the Arts has recognized two staff members with outstanding service awards. Diane Millette received the Professional Excellence Award, and Laurel Banks received the Community Service Award. “Diane and Laurel represent the spirit and dedication of our staff,” said Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “I appreciate the hard work I’ve seen in every department on campus, and extend a special thanks and congratulations to our award winners.” Millette recently retired after 25 years as administrative manager in Facilities Management. Banks has been a case manager in the Division of Student Affairs since 2013. The awards are sponsored by UNCSA Staff Council. The winners were recognized during the campus Celebration of Excellence in April.

Donate to UNCSA online: www.uncsa.edu/donate 10

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NEWS

Jaffe appears in ABT tributes, choreographs world premiere School of Dance Dean Susan Jaffe has had a busy 2015. On June 24, she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House during American Ballet Theatre’s spring season in a Spotlight Seminar with alumna Gillian Murphy. Jaffe danced with ABT for 22 years, and Murphy has been with the company since 1996. On May 18, Dean Jaffe was one of the speakers at American Ballet Theatre’s 75th Anniversary Gala. She appears prominently in the PBS American Masters program “American Ballet Theatre: A History,” by filmmaker Ric Burns, which premiered nationwide on May 15 in honor of the ballet company’s anniversary. The full film also streams on the American Masters website, pbs.org/wnet/ americanmasters. In February, she choreographed Metallurgy, with original music by Bruno Louchouarn, stage design by Joseph P. Tilford and costumes designed by Eduardo Sicangco, as a world premiere for UNCSA’s Winter Dance. Choreographed on UNCSA students as well as dancers from ABT’s Studio Company, Metallurgy celebrates the affiliation between ABT and UNCSA. The piece had its New York premiere by the ABT Studio Company in April in New York as part of a shared bill with Royal Ballet School of London. Jaffe also taught and coached at the inaugural Indianapolis International Ballet Competition in June, and in July was a

Jaffe

featured speaker for MOTION Dance Theatre’s New/Now/ Next program in Asheville. Dean Jaffe continues to introduce UNCSA’s School of Dance to ballet lovers across the country. “Her leadership of the program and care for the well-being and success of students is nothing short of remarkable,” said Provost David Nelson. “She has raised new and increased support for the school and has helped to raise the visibility of the entire university.”

Dancer competes in YAGP finals

Lukens is 2015 Lucia Chase Fellow A professional dancer, choreographer and educator who has taught on six continents was in residence in the spring as the 2015 Lucia Chase Fellow at UNCSA. Raymond Lukens, artistic director of American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, was a guest artist in the School of Dance for two weeks, staging August Bournonville’s Napoli for Spring Dance. UNCSA Chancellor Emeritus Alex C. Ewing established the Lucia Chase Endowed Fellowship for Dance in 1988 as a memorial to his mother, principal dancer with and longtime artistic director of ABT.

SUMMER 2015

James Rogers, a rising college sophomore in the School of Dance, competed in the Finals of the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in New York City in April. He received offers from world-renowned training programs including Houston Ballet 2, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet West and the Trainee Program of the Joffrey Academy of Dance. Coached by Mikhail “Misha” Tchoupakov, assistant professor of ballet, Rogers and rising 11th-grader Sierra Alexis Johnson and Rogers Armstrong both competed at in “The Nutcracker” the YAGP Semifinals in Indianapolis.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

Wade Weast leaves School of Music;

Police chief named Gregory C. Harris, a veteran law enforcement professional with more than 25 years of experience, became the new chief of police at UNCSA on June 26. Harris comes to UNCSA from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, where he served for five years. Prior to that, Harris served four years as the director of law enforcement services/chief of police at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. He also served for four years as the chief of police for Clemson University, the second largest Division I university police department in the state of South Carolina. Harris

He received a Bachelor of Arts in criminology from Saint Leo University in Florida in 1994, and a Master of Public Administration from Kennesaw State University in Georgia in 1998. Harris succeeds Deb Cheesebro, who left the School of the Arts in September 2014 to become the chief of police at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Capt. Gary Davis, a 15-year veteran of the department, served as interim chief of police.

Beres named interim dean Music Dean Wade Weast announced in April that he accepted the position of associate dean for Music and the Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. His last day at UNCSA was July 6. “Wade has been a tireless advocate for our School of Music, and the biggest fan of its talented students, extraordinary faculty and dedicated staff,” said Provost David Nelson, who added that an international search will begin soon for the next Music dean.

Weast

Nelson named Karen Beres interim dean, effective July 7. “Karen is a long-time, respected member of the faculty,” Nelson said. “Her work has been outstanding. I am confident that she will lead the School of Music expertly during this transition period.” Weast became dean of the School of Music in 2010. In addition to establishing the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute (see article on Page 14), Weast saw the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute flourish (see article on Page 13), attracted numerous accomplished faculty-artists, and helped raise more than $4.7 million for scholarships, guest artists and support of the school’s programs and activities. In addition, the School of Music recently received the largest planned gift in the history of UNCSA, from the estate of Benjamin F. Ward. At UNCSA, Beres is associate professor and coordinator of group piano/piano pedagogy and assistant dean of enrollment, recruitment, and outreach in the School of Music. She joined the school in 2002.

Dodds

Dodds named Yale Fellow Dr. Michael Dodds of the School of Music has been named a Senior Fellow of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He will spend the 2015-16 academic year on sabbatical in New Haven. His official title at Yale will be Research Scholar. Dodds is an associate professor of music history at UNCSA. He joined the school in September 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in musicology at the Eastman School of Music and his B.M. in violin performance at the Wheaton College Conservatory. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including Fulbright and NEH research fellowships, a UNCSA Excellence in Teaching Award, and a research grant from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.

Beres holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Penn., a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. She has previously served on the faculties at Bowling Green State University and the University of Oklahoma, the accompanying staff at Beres the Interlochen Arts Camp for six summers, and the staff of the Classical Music Festival in Austria as collaborative pianist and piano seminar faculty for three summers. As a pianist, Beres has performed throughout North America, in addition to recitals in Italy and Austria. As a member of the CanAm Piano Duo, she was awarded a Silver Medal in the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition of the Chamber Music Foundation of New England and a Distinguished Award in the IBLA Grand Prize Competition in Ragusa, Sicily.

His work as a composer is the subject of an upcoming documentary, BLESSED UNREST.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

NEWS

Nicholas Muni named Fletcher Opera artistic director An award-winning stage director with experience on three continents is the new artistic director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the UNC School of the Arts. Nicholas Muni’s appointment began Aug. 11. “Nic Muni’s artistic accomplishments, creative spirit and passion for training young artists make him a perfect fit for the Fletcher Opera Institute,” said Provost David Nelson. For more than 30 years, Muni has directed opera productions across North America, in Australia and Europe. He has worked with New York City Opera; San Francisco Opera; Los Angeles Opera; Houston Grand Opera; Canadian Opera Company; Vancouver Opera in British Columbia; Victoria State Opera in Melbourne, Australia; National Theater of Prague; Opera Ireland; Tirolerlandestheater in Innsbruck, Austria; and the International Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau, Germany, among many others. In February, he designed the scenery for and directed San Diego Opera’s Don Giovanni, earning the praise of Entertainment Today: “The penultimate scene is breathtaking, a testament to and consummation of Muni’s able directorial skills.”

A vehicle for advancing the career potential of exceptional young singers, Fletcher Opera Institute offers performancebased training at the graduate and post-graduate levels to several institute Fellows and Scholars each year. Established in 2000, the institute has received generous funding from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, including $5 million in operating funds and $5 million in endowment funds. The institute now has an endowment of more than $13 million, including a recent gift from the Fletcher Foundation in the amount of $1.25 million. “We’re grateful for the partnership we have with UNC School of the Arts to carry on the legacy of A.J. Fletcher and his love for opera through the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute,” said Damon Circosta, executive director of the Fletcher Foundation. “We welcome Nic Muni to the Fletcher Institute and look forward to his leadership there.” At UNCSA, Muni will hold the rank of full professor. He will oversee two opera productions per year. Muni succeeds James Allbritten, who resigned in June 2014 to become general director of Piedmont Opera.

This summer, he directed Powder Her Face with Odyssey Opera of Boston and a new production of Don Pasquale for San Francisco Opera’s Merola program. In January 2016, he will make his debut with Florida Grand Opera with a production of Norma. Muni is the recipient of six National Opera Association Awards, including four first place awards. He won best opera production from the Canadian DORA Awards. In Australia, he received a best opera production award for his work with Victoria State Opera. SUMMER 2015

Scenes from “Die Fledermaus” UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS

Giannini String Quartet

Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute established The School of Music at UNCSA has created the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute, 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. “Just as a chrysalis is a safe haven for a butterfly’s transformation, our conservatory is a safe haven for young musicians to learn and grow into professional artists who will beautify our cultural landscape,” said former Music Dean Wade Weast as he announced the institute in the spring. Features of the institute include chamber music and entrepreneurship seminars covering rehearsal techniques, interpersonal relations in a chamber setting, professional ethics, score reading and analysis, repertoire, performance practice, and preparing for festivals and competitions; coaching by faculty-artists and visiting chamber ensembles;

an annual Chrysalis Chamber Music Festival; touring, outreach and engagement opportunities; and professional audio and video recording sessions. Components will be phased in gradually, under the leadership of faculty-artist and alumna Ida Bieler, who will serve as artistic director of Chrysalis, according to Composer in Residence Lawrence Dillon, who worked with a committee of colleagues to plan the institute. (For more on Bieler, see Page 15.) As artistic director for Chrysalis, Bieler will take the lead in creating ensembles, advising on repertoire and promoting opportunities for students studying in the program. She will teach seminars on topics such as rehearsal techniques, artistic understanding and interpretation, and personal ensemble ethics and responsibility. And she will work to establish and promote relationships between the institute and chamber musicians and organizations throughout the world. Dillon said chamber music is one of the most intimate art forms. “To become a great chamber musician requires the utmost technical and artistic brilliance, coupled with a deeply human connectedness.” Dillon noted that chamber music is a traditional strength of the School of Music. “We have an outstanding artist-faculty, a broad network of professional affiliations, excellent facilities, a region known for supporting small ensembles of all kinds, and a school that has always cherished tradition while welcoming the new,” he said.

Wu Han

O’Neill

Through a new partnership with the renowned Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center, CMS ensembles will visit UNCSA for two residencies, culminating in performances on Oct. 24, 2015, and Jan. 24, 2016, and will provide coaching in New York for select student ensembles each year. Among the performers on Jan. 24 will be CMS Artistic Director Wu Han, piano, and UNCSA alumnus Richard O’Neill, viola.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

Last spring, UNCSA’s Giannini String Quartet – the inaugural participants in the institute – was selected for coaching with acclaimed cellist and conductor Paul Watkins of the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, at Lincoln Center.

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

PROFILE

Alumna Ida Bieler: Back to her roots By Lauren Whitaker Bieler

Ida Bieler was 3 years old the first time she heard a violin. She was living in a log cabin in the Virginia mountains, listening to her father’s records, and she was instantly in love. “I was fascinated by the violin. I could not hear enough,” she said, recalling that her lifelong passion began with her father’s recording of Scheherazade, the Russian symphonic poem based on One Thousand and One Nights. “I wanted to be part of this music, to become this musical Scheherazade,” Bieler says. Instead, she became a virtuoso violinist, the first female concertmaster of a major European orchestra, an acclaimed chamber musician, dedicated music educator, and the first artistic director of the new Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute at UNCSA. Bieler, who joined the School of Music faculty in 2013, says teaching at UNCSA feels a lot like coming home. The career that has taken her around the world began some 50 years ago, when she became a member of the school’s first high school freshman class. “I was so happy to be here,” she said. “I knew this to be my first great opportunity, my great chance to become a musician.” Bieler fondly recalls her audition with violinist Marc Gottlieb in the School of Music. “It was amusing,” she recalled. “Almost certainly for him, albeit less so, for me.” When Gottlieb’s solemn request that she perform a scale and étude was met with a desperate blankness from Bieler, he asked, “Well, whatever then, can you play?” “I will never forget it,” Bieler said. “I guess I did all right.” Bieler spent three years as a high school student at the School of the Arts, but left shortly after the death of founding President Vittorio Giannini. (Her sister, Suri Bieler, graduated in 1971 and went on to run one of the largest prop rental companies on the East Coast and serve on the School of the Arts’ Board of Trustees.) At Gottlieb’s urging, Ida Bieler headed for New York to study in Juilliard’s preparatory department for a year. continued on page 16

SUMMER 2015

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PROFILE

She earned two degrees from Juilliard and stayed in New York, performing and teaching to earn a living. “In the early years, I felt it most important to study, work, and be in the musical world of New York,” she said. “But after I’d had the privilege to work and study there, I felt ever more artistic questions growing, ever more curiosity and a need for new and diverse experiences and musical impulses.” So she headed to Europe, and “a whole new world opened up.” Bieler has won international competitions on three continents and has performed and been a frequent guest artist in major international festivals in Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Scandinavia and the United States, including Puerto Rico. As a chamber musician, Bieler was a member of Germany’s legendary Melos String Quartet for 12 years and Bieler has performed and recorded with the Ensemble Villa Musica, the Heine Quartet and the highly acclaimed Xyrion Piano Trio. In 2009 she founded the Robert Schumann Ensemble Düsseldorf. Back in the early ‘80s, though, she was struggling to establish herself in Europe. She applied for concertmaster positions throughout Europe, to no avail. She recalls one explicit letter of rejection that illustrated common attitudes at that time. It was from a chamber orchestra in Switzerland, and it read, “Thank you for your application and fine résumé, but unfortunately, we do not want a woman leading as concertmaster. Please forgive our attitude and decision.” She persevered. Eventually, she auditioned, initially uninvited, for a first violin position for the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, receiving unanimous accolades and an offer of the position of concertmaster. With that, Bieler became the first female concertmaster of a major European orchestra, a post she held for five years. Despite that achievement, she does not consider herself a pioneer. “It felt like a battle,” she said. “It is heartwarming to know this situation does not exist today. Now, there is greater effort taken by orchestras to make careful selections based on qualifications alone.”

UNCSA MAGAZINE

That is no doubt music to the ears of some of Bieler’s students, including Lucia Kobza of Switzerland, winner of the UNCSA Concerto Competition and concertmaster of the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. The recent recipient of a Master of Music, Kobza is a member of the Gianinni String Quartet, Chrysalis Institute’s first ensemble fellows. She has returned to pursue a Professional Artist Certificate. Kobza met Bieler at a festival in Germany and was invited to attend UNCSA as a graduate student. She has studied with Bieler for two years and says she has not faced the gender discrimination that her role model experienced. “I don’t think that happens today,” Kobza said. “Ida helped that situation, definitely. She is profoundly accomplished in so many areas – chamber music, orchestra, teaching. She embodies the whole palette of a musical career.” Since 1988, Bieler has been professor of violin and chamber music at major music schools in Germany, England and Austria. She has led international master classes in Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, South America, Canada and the United States. Teaching, she says, never gets boring. “I love the problem-solving; the unlocking and discovering of hidden talents and sensitivity in a person; helping young people to refine their own finest abilities and gifts; guiding them through manifold passages to becoming the individuals and musicians they truly are and can be. Doing these things is my highest reward in my teaching experience.” Violinist Kevin Murphy, a rising senior from Wake Forest, N.C., has studied with Bieler for three years, and says she has a “brilliant mind for teaching” and a natural, organic approach to the violin. “The sensitivity, thoughtfulness and intuition Ida Bieler demonstrates in private lessons carry well into chamber music -- a nuanced art form that depends on a delicate synergy between often (highly) contrasting and individual personalities,” he said. And the thing she shares best? “The wonderful education that started at the School of the Arts, and the experience I gained through all of the remarkable people I have had in my life.” Bieler is happy to be back where she started. “It is gratifying to see my learning and love of music reflected in others,” she said. “That is what makes me very, very happy.”

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

LOSSES

In Memoriam Yury Belov School of Drama Faculty Emeritus Yury Belov died April 10 at the age of 82. Known by his colleagues and students as the “quintessential clown,” Belov was exiled from the former Soviet Union and came to the United States seeking artistic freedom. He taught at the School of the Arts from 1982 to 1997. He is survived by his wife, Tanya Belov, who is an associate professor in the School of Drama at UNCSA; two sons, Pytor and Kenny; and three grandchildren. Belov

Belov specialized in Stanislavski techniques and comedy acting. Trained in Russia, he was the director of clowning at the Moscow State Circus and artistic director of the Moscow Clown Pantomime Theatre and the Moscow State Music Hall Company. By the late 1970s, Belov grew tired of artistic oppression and censorship. He refused to incorporate Soviet propaganda into his productions and created an underground theatre in his Moscow apartment. His daring actions forced the Soviet authorities to strip the family of their citizenship and sent them off to the West. In 1981 the Belovs moved to New York where Yury was welcomed by the artistic community that was familiar with his work in the USSR. In the spring of 1982, Malcolm Morrison, then dean of the School of Drama, hired them to teach. At the School of the Arts, Belov taught some of the Drama school’s most renowned alumni and directed numerous plays, including Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and The Sea Gull, which he took to Moscow in 1990 as part of an exchange with the Moscow Art Theatre School.

Yury and Tanya

In America, Belov formed the “Clown Conspiracy” with his wife and others; it toured the country. He wrote and directed My Heart is in Your Shoes, which enjoyed a successful run at the Theatre for the New City in New York. He also appeared in MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON with Robin Williams, whom he coached. Once in Winston-Salem, Yury and Tanya formed the Belovs’ Contemporary Clown Drama, which toured throughout the state and abroad. Friends who would like to make a gift to the School of the Arts in Yury Belov’s memory may mail a check to the UNCSA Foundation, Inc., 1533 S. Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27127, designated to: Scholarship Fund in Memory of Yury Belov; or donate online at www.uncsa.edu/donate (for the designation, select “Other” and type in “Scholarship Fund in Memory of Yury Belov”).

Franklin

SUMMER 2015

Jerry Franklin

John S. Carroll

Jerry Franklin, longtime School of the Arts employee in the Grounds Department of the Facilities Management division, died May 19 at the age of 68. He retired in 2008. Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Nanci; three children, Jamie, Kelli and Matthew; five grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

John S. Carroll, a widely admired newspaper editor who helped bring The Los Angeles Times 13 Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure as editor, died June 14. He was 73. He was the son of Wallace Carroll, editor and publisher of the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel, who wrote the famous front-page editorial, “Give Us the School.” John Carroll and his sister, Patricia Carroll, attended the 50th anniversary kickoff gala and met the recipient of the Wallace Carroll Endowed Scholarship in Piano.

Sylvia Upton Wood Sylvia “Sib” Upton Wood, a former member of the Board of Visitors, died in July. She was 81. A champion horse breeder, she was also a lover of music and the arts, and served on the board of the Frederick S Upton Foundation (named for her father), a longtime contributor to the school.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

FEATURE

For the School of Design and Production,

the focus is on professionalism

Stevens Center

UNCSA MAGAZINE

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

FEATURE By Lauren Whitaker

n 18-year-old college freshman from Texas sat in a large room along with a couple dozen of her peers. At the front of the room, a faculty member told them, “Look to your left, and look to your right. One of the three of you will not be here for graduation.”

That comment stuck with Hillary Hart, and she determined that she would be one of those who graduated from the School of Design and Production – known as “D&P.” By the time she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in stage management in 2000, she had already started work as a production stage manager for a small theatre in Hartford, Conn. She is now general manager of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Milton Davis recalls a similar scene during his student orientation nearly two decades earlier. “We were told if you do what it takes to make it through this program, you will have a job,” said D&P’s first graduate in sound design (1983), now an engineer for Doug Fleenor Design in Arroyo Grande, Calif. Hart and Davis – and the Class of 2015 – are living proof that’s true. This year, nearly 95 percent of the school’s graduates have jobs in the arts and entertainment industry, according to Jamie Call Blankinship, who graduated from the stage management program in 1981 and returned to teach in 2005. She served as D&P’s interim dean for 2014-15. “That is amazing, but it is not surprising, and it is not unusual,” Call Blankinship said. “Our graduates have always been successful in finding employment. “ According to a survey conducted by D&P staff at this year’s Portfolio Review, the Class of 2015 is working for organizations such as Walt Disney Theme Parks, Universal Creative and Cirque du Soleil; for companies including Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and Weston Playhouse; and commercial shops like Wigfits, Electronic Theatre Controls and Global Scenic Services. One is working a national tour of Beauty and the Beast; another is a sound intern with Hamilton on Broadway. They join an international network of D&P alumni who enjoy fulfilling and well-paying careers – some in unexpected areas. Michael J. Kelley, the new dean of D&P, was senior producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, building a brilliant career in themed entertainment after he’d found success working on stage productions and in television and film. A 1987 graduate in scene design, Kelley said his professional toolbox is filled with lessons learned and skills developed during his student years in D&P. He got started in themed entertainment after moving from New York City to Los Angeles. A friend referred him for a job as props painter for Universal Studios’ Jurassic Park attraction. “It was a total fluke,” he recalled. “I never had a desire to work in themed entertainment, but I was blown away by what they were doing, and I had the skill set they needed.” continued on next page

SUMMER 2015

UNCSA MAGAZINE

FEATURE Jessica Moretti, a 2010 graduate in Scenic Design, works year-round for Macy’s Parade Studio in New York, sketching designs for floats and the giant balloons that grace the iconic Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s a position that utilizes the drafting skills she learned at UNCSA and allows her the freedom to take on freelance theatre jobs. She is currently working with fellow alumnus Ryan Wineinger (’09, Stage Management) on a production opening in December for the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. “It’s wonderful to collaborate with fellow alumni from UNCSA,” she said. “You know they share your standards for quality. You know they have the skill set.” Like Moretti, Ryan Guerra has followed an unconventional career path. A 2011 graduate in Stage Management, he is an associate producer for Barkley Kalpak Agency in New York, where he designs and manages corporate events ranging from conferences to product launches. It began as a summer internship through contacts made at D&P’s annual Job Fair. “It’s not what I thought I would do,” Guerra admits. “But it’s a great career for a stage manager.”

“Because of the rigorous training I received at the School of the Arts, I honestly feel there is nothing I cannot do,” said Hart, who has stage managed for Alvin Ailey II, was general manager of Dallas Theater Center and managing director for Flat Rock Playhouse in Hendersonville, N.C. “They give you more than you ought to be able to handle, but you learn to prioritize and problem solve and you find a way to do it. And that’s incredibly important when you enter the professional world.” The new dean said his training gives him confidence. “I am not intimidated by much,” Kelley said. “What I learned at the School of the Arts has been the foundation of my career. What I learned, the vocabulary I was taught, I use each and every day of my professional career.” Individual attention from faculty brought out the best in Davis. “I was not in a class of 200, taking classes designed to weed us out,” he said. “Because of the size of the school, we had the opportunity for a lot of one-on-one guidance and advice. That’s what it takes to produce the quality of artists that graduate from the School of the Arts.” Call Blankinship said the school strives to maintain a studentto-faulty ratio of 7-to-1, with 26 full-time faculty. “That is a critical element of our success – individual access to faculty who are experts in their fields and are sought-after as working professionals because of their skills.”

Other alumni have followed more traditional career paths. An estimated 59 are currently working on Broadway productions. They include Paul Tazewell (‘86), recently nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design for his work on Hamilton.

That’s been the case since day one in 1968, when Chancellor Robert Ward decided to create a stand-alone school for theatre design and technology, removing those programs from the School of Drama. To create and mold the new school, in 1970, Ward hired veteran scenic designer and educator John Sneden, who served as dean for 32 years before retiring in 2002.

Whatever route they have taken to career success, alumni agree their training at the School of Design and Production paved the way.

Credited with developing D&P into a highly respected and rigorous professional training program, Sneden was the first recipient of the Dean Emeritus title at UNCSA, and received an

Winston-Salem Light Project For seven years, students in the lighting program of the School of Design and Production have used technology and innovation to elevate awareness of Winston-Salem’s urban environment while providing a unique visual experience. The Winston-Salem Light Project, conceived and produced by Norman Coates, director of D&P’s Lighting Program, is an annual display of light, projection and sound using downtown Winston-Salem as the canvas. Sample the history of the WSLP, or enjoy the entire feast at www.lightproject.org.

2008

A Celebration of Light and Art Location: The Millennium Center

2009

Re-Imagining Resources Location: Pepper Building

UNCSA MAGAZINE

2010 Urban Revelations Location: Nissen Building

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

FEATURE Guerra’s career so far is a case in point. Just four years out of school, he now hires stage managers for events, and says he doesn’t think twice about hiring UNCSA grads. “I know them,” he said. “I know how they work.” Davis said D&P alumni have a sort of short hand. “There is a common vocabulary. You have a very good sense of what graduates of this program know and how prepared they are. You can immediately speak with them in these terms, using this vocabulary,” he said. “It’s very quick and efficient.”

honorary doctorate at commencement this year. Hart remembers many encounters with the founding dean. “Dean Sneden knew who you were. He knew what program you were in, and he knew your GPA. That was part of the intensely personalized nature of the school,” she said. “He was such a steward of our growth.” Sneden, who taught scenic design as the dean, opened the school with three other faculty members and 20 to 25 students. “There were not that many programs like ours,” he said. “The nature of our program – being highly focused on production – set us apart.” And finding jobs for graduates was never a problem, according to Sneden. “It wasn’t too difficult to place our graduates – and to place them well,” he said. “Through the years, as more and more graduates went out to work, the network expanded. It’s all about the associations – of students, alumni and faculty.”

Kelley has never hesitated to refer UNCSA graduates to anyone in the industry. “It is very low risk. I understand their pedigree,” he said. “I know their work ethic. I know what they’ve been taught and who taught them.” Sneden said graduates are well-prepared because they are treated as professionals from the day they arrive at the School of the Arts. “We always tried to create an atmosphere that was very close to what they would face when they got to the real world.” Call Blankinship said professionalism is job one. “We tell students on the first day, ‘your professional career starts now.’ Everything we do is geared toward launching them on their careers,” she said, explaining that shops are run on professional models found in the nation’s most successful theatre organizations, performance companies and related industries. “Our students are exposed to a huge volume of production experience, in five different theatres, for opera, drama, both ballet and contemporary dance, classical works and new ones. They can work in all areas of the entertainment industry,” Call Blankinship said. “Employers tell us that because of the volume and scope of our productions, our graduates are five years ahead of what other schools can offer.” continued on next page

Winner of a Downtown Excellence Award from the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership

2012 2011 Energizing City Life

Location: The Stevens Center SUMMER 2015

Lumanotas

Location: Winston Square Park

Artery

Location: Strollway from downtown to the Southeast Gateway

2014

2015 Terra Luna

First Baptist Church on Fifth Street UNCSA MAGAZINE

FEATURE With competition from schools including Carnegie Mellon, Emerson, DePaul, SUNY Purchase and Yale, the School of Design and Production does have to actively recruit students. “We might not be able to offer big scholarships, but dollar for dollar a UNCSA education is a great investment,” said Call Blankinship. “What we can offer is a custom-designed education and a proven track record. ”If you don’t want your kid living in your basement, this is the program you want.” Case in point: Davis, who came to UNCSA from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., had never traveled much out of the state, but had multiple job offers when he graduated. He wasn’t sure any of them were the right fit, so he stayed in the area, installing and servicing home stereos. Before long, the right offer came along, from a student he had worked alongside at the Stevens Center. He landed in Texas, as master electrician and sound designer at Dallas Theater Center. Since graduating, he’s traveled across the country and in Europe, an estimated half million miles a year. He was a field service engineer and manager for a lighting supply company before joining Doug Fleenor in a role he describes as “the artistic conscience. I am the interface between the technical and the artistic. As an artist, I have a theatrical sense of urgency. The curtain goes up at 8 p.m. Period. Typical engineers don’t get that,” he said.

I went there,” he said. “I am fortunate and honored to say I have never looked for a job once in my life. I owe that to the School of the Arts.” Davis advises students to follow his lead: “Don’t take the first job that comes along if it doesn’t feel right. There will be other opportunities. Pursue the passion. The money will come. Focus on producing art the best that you can.” Hart echoed those sentiments. “If you love it, just do it. It will at times break your heart, but it will also enrich you in ways you cannot imagine.” The rewards, Hart explained, are about more than the paycheck. “There is this moment of transformation in the audience, whether it’s 50 people or 2,000 people. Seeing that feels good. It reminds you of what you do and why. “Theatre takes you out of your life for a minute. It makes you laugh or cry. When you witness that in an audience, it is so powerful.” Their advice rings true with the man who built the School of Design and Production from the ground up. “If you love it, keep at it,” said Sneden. “That will sustain you through the 12- to 15-hour days, because that is the way it is going to be.” “It’s wonderful that your vocation can be your avocation,” he added.

Artistic vision is a byproduct of his training in D&P, along with a strong work ethic, perseverance and dedication. “I’m so glad

Alumnus Kelley named new D&P dean Provost David Nelson announced in June that Michael J. Kelley, a two-time Emmy Award-winning alumnus whose experience includes stage productions, film, television and themed entertainment, is the new dean of Design and Production. His first day was July 15. “Michael is a multi-faceted creative professional whose experience ranges from the Broadway stage to network television to museum projects and themed entertainment,” Nelson said. “He embodies the diversity of training and experience that our School of Design and Production is known for, and he is the perfect person to lead the school.” Kelley won Emmys in 2005 as assistant art director for HBO’s “Deadwood” and in 1994 as set decorator for Children’s Television Network’s “Sesame Street.”

His producer credits include Dubai’s Marvel Theme Park, China’s Shanghai Expo, Disney Shanghai Resort and Walt Disney Imagineering. He worked in the art department for “Deadwood” for four years, garnering two Emmy nominations in addition to his win, along with three Art Directors Guild award nominations. He has also won two Thea Awards from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2002 as set decorator for Tokyo DisneySea and in 2008 as project manager for CSI – The Experience and has worked on 13 Thea Award-winning projects.

Kelley

In 1988, he worked on Tony Award-nominated Born Yesterday as set decorator.

For 11 years, he was with Walt Disney Imagineering – the planning, creative development, research and creative design entity of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliates. He joined as a senior set decorator from 1996 to 2001, and then again as logistics producer and senior producer since 2009.

Kelley has extensive experience as set decorator, set designer, property master and property fabrication for companies including New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Cleveland Play House, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.

Kelley has been art director and set decorator for HBO, Nickelodeon, Universal Studios, Lifetime Network, Children’s Television Workshop and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Kelley succeeds Joseph P. Tilford, who stepped down as dean a year ago to devote more time to teaching and scene design. Tilford rejoins the D&P faculty this fall as professor of scene design.

UNCSA MAGAZINE

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

GIVING

Guys and Dolls performance, gala commemorate school’s 50th anniversary, raise money for scholarships The University of North Carolina School of the Arts commemorated its 50th Anniversary as only it can: with a performance and a party. More than 10,000 people saw the featured performance of the Tony Awardwinning musical Guys and Dolls, directed by School of Drama frequent guest artist Gus Kaikkonen, which played at the Stevens Center from April 9-19. One of the biggest hits of Broadway’s Golden Age, Guys and Dolls “surpasses the hype and completely dazzles,” according to the Winston-Salem Journal, which also called it “flawlessly performed from overture to finale.” Classical Voice North Carolina called it “a knockout … (and) a hit.” Following a special early performance on April 11, the audience moved to the Millennium Center, which had been transformed into a swank Havana supper club, conceived by Film production design faculty member Burton Rencher.

The Gala

Nearly 600 people attended the gala, including four chancellors (Lindsay Bierman, John Mauceri, James Moeser and Alex Ewing). The gala featured the highest number of corporate sponsors in UNCSA gala event history, representing $157,000 in sponsorships. The gala also netted more than $100,000 above the school’s original goal, and together, the gala and the production raised more than $325,000 for scholarships. Wells Fargo was the presenting sponsor of UNCSA’s gala celebration and the gala performance. Gala co-chairs were Lynn and Barry Eisenberg and Sue and Doug Henderson. L-R: Mauceri, Bierman, Moeser and Ewing (seated) SUMMER 2015

UNCSA MAGAZINE

PROFILE

Longtime trustee, donor Don Flow enjoys School of the Arts Association By Amy Werner “You realize you’re walking among young stars.” That is what Don Flow feels every time he sets foot on campus at the School of the Arts. The Winston-Salem businessman and community leader joined UNCSA’s Board of Trustees in 2004. Since then, he’s seen a lot of changes at the school, but he says one thing remains constant: the dedication of the students, faculty and staff. “I always saw the school as a place where extraordinarily gifted people worked,” he said, “but I didn’t understand the depth of the dedication needed to attend and teach here.” The best analogy he can give to those who aren’t familiar with the school is that of a first-class college athlete. “Here, every student is at the level of a Division I athlete,” he said. “Not all Division I athletes will go on to play professionally, but here, everyone goes on to the pros.” The students aren’t the only ones who inspire him. “The faculty are extremely dedicated and have a real servant orientation,” he said. “They are there to help the students become the best they can be, even choosing to lose some of the highlights or accolades they could have in order for the students to grow.” He says the faculty have a deep sense of caring for the students that allows them to provide a nurturing environment, but also challenge the students at the same time so they can grow artistically. He says it’s a fine line, but “I’ve watched faculty do a great job of holding those together and it’s a great lesson for me as a person who has a responsibility in the workplace.” Flow grew up in Winston-Salem and played football at the University of Virginia, where he earned a degree in Commerce. He received a diploma in Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and earned his M.B.A. from Wake Forest University, where he graduated first in his class. His father began Flow Companies in 1957, and Flow began working there as a technician. He worked his way through every job at the company before taking over as chairman and CEO. Flow Companies now operates 31 vehicle franchises in North Carolina and Virginia and employs more than 900 people.

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One of those employees is a former UNCSA student, a videographer. Flow became very familiar with the work of students in the School of Filmmaking through a curricular program he helped to create with former Dean Jordan Kerner. Students pitch ideas and write scripts and scores for commercials for local companies, Flow which are then aired. Since the project began, School of Filmmaking students have produced commercials and public service announcements for several companies and statewide organizations, providing financial support for the School of Filmmaking. Flow has said that he operates his business on three foundations: a covenant with customers, community with one another and a commitment to the common good. He believes the School of the Arts provides an intrinsic value to the common good of people living in Winston-Salem, the Triad and North Carolina. In a capitalistic society, he said, you cannot have economic capital without social capital; both are important for life to flourish. “Art is engaged – intellectually, politically and economically,” he believes. “It has an intrinsic value on its own. There is something beyond the pure material that engages us as a people. Beauty is embedded in opening our eyes, helping us to pay attention. It awakens our imagination.” At the School of the Arts, there is “a wonderful matching of passion and gifts in a place that is intentional in matching them,” he said. In addition to volunteering his time on the Board of Trustees, Flow has sponsored UNCSA’s annual holiday production of The Nutcracker, the Music Academy of the American South, student scholarships, the Annual Fund through the Giannini Society, and tables at past galas, including the 50th Anniversary Kickoff Gala – either through the company, or personally, with his wife, Robbin. He recently transitioned off of the Board of Trustees, having reached his term limit. He said he will miss several things about being so intimately involved with the school, including “seeing ideas become a reality and the joy in how they are realized.” He said he and Robbin will remain active participants and supporters of the school and would be happy to be of service in the future if the school feels they are needed in a different capacity. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you see them on their bicycles riding through campus every now and then – enjoying being among the stars of the future.

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

GIVING

Martins named Giannini Award recipients Jim and Mary Allen Martin of Winston-Salem are the recipients of the 2015 Giannini Society Award. One of the school’s most prestigious honors, the award was presented at University Commencement on May 9. “We honor Jim and Mary Allen with the 2015 Giannini Award for their extraordinary allegiance to the school,” Chancellor Lindsay Bierman said in presenting the award. “We are so fortunate to have them as friends, supporters, and advocates.” Chief Advancement Officer Edward Lewis said the Martins have been associated with the school for three decades, and have been members of the Giannini Society since 1994. “We are grateful for their friendship,” he said. “We are pleased to

recognize them for their generous investments of time, talent and financial support.” The Giannini Society was established in 1989 and was named in honor of Vittorio Giannini, a founder and the first president of the School of the Arts. It is a group of dedicated ambassadors who seek to provide support for the training of UNCSA students. The award is given annually to members of the society in recognition of their service and support. Previous recipients include founders, board members, alumni, volunteers, and former chancellors and faculty members.

Jim and Mary Allen Martin

Mrs. Louis Moyse donates flute archives to School of Music The Louis Moyse Flute Archives have found a home at UNCSA. This generous gift from Janet W. Moyse, wife of the late flutist, pianist and composer, Louis Moyse, consists of his original compositions, editions and arrangements of music for flute and chamber ensembles, as well as recordings, photos, letters and other memorabilia of interest to flutists everywhere. “My goal was to partner with an institution where these musical archives will be cherished and kept alive not only for today’s flutists but for future generations of flutists, as well,” said Mrs. Moyse. “With UNCSA’s outstanding flute tradition, I am sure that Louis would be pleased with this decision.” Wade Weast, former dean of the UNCSA School of Music, worked with Mrs. Moyse and former Moyse student Rebecca Cochran, now of Greensboro, to bring the archives to the School of the Arts. “Mrs. Moyse could have given this archive to any university in the country,” he said, “but she chose UNCSA -- a good indicator of the regard she Louis Moyse has for the School of Music, its long history of top-tier flute instruction, and its flute professor, Dr. Tadeu Coelho.” An outstanding flutist and heir to the great French flute tradition, Louis Moyse (1912–2007) studied at the Paris Conservatory with Philippe Gaubert and with his father, Marcel Moyse. Before World War II, Louis performed as pianist in the internationally renowned Moyse Trio. Following World War II, the Moyse family left France for the United States, co-founding the Marlboro School of Music with friends Rudolph Serkin and Adolf and Hermann Busch. Louis taught flute, piano and chamber music at Marlboro College and co-founded the Brattleboro Music Center. He is regarded as the world’s most prolific contributor of music for the flute. SUMMER 2015

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ALUMNI NOTES

Alumni Notes

UNCSA Alumni West awards inaugural Westward Bound grant

1970s

Mark Land ’78 joined the UNCSA Board of Trustees in July. He is a senior

managing director at Foundation Source, the nation’s largest provider of comprehensive support and advisory services for private foundations. Land previously served as vice president, trust and investment advisor at High Point Bank, and as managing director at Wells Fargo Bank’s Center for Planned Giving. Land performed professionally with North Carolina Dance Theatre and served as director of Alumni Relations at the School of the Arts for seven years in the 1990s. He served on the search committee to select UNCSA’s new chancellor in 2014 and is a member of the UNCSA Board of Visitors. He recently established a new scholarship in the School of Dance in memory of his wife, UNCSA alumna Pat Land.

1980s

Fire Pink Trio, a critically acclaimed chamber ensemble featuring flutist Debra Reuter-Pivetta ’86, and UNCSA faculty members Sheila Browne, viola, and

Jacquelyn Bartlett, harp, announced the release of their debut CD, Poetry in Motion. The CD includes works by Albert, Locklair, Debussy, Moreno-Buendia, and Burnette. The CD release concert and signing took place at Salem College in Winston-Salem, on March 6; other release concerts were April 17 at the Dimenna Center in New York and April 19 at Cabrini College in Philadelphia. For more information, visit: firepinktrio.com.

Tom Frey ’89 played Max Sennett in Jerry Herman’s musical Mack and Mabel at Houston’s Stages Repertory.

2000s

COCA-Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis announced Antonio Douthit-Boyd ’00, and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, principal dancers with Alvin Ailey American

Dance Theater, joined the organization as co-artistic directors of dance.

Tiffany Little Canfield ‘00, a casting director at Telsy + Company, has been working on some very high profile projects. She cast RICKI AND THE FLASH, which stars Meryl Streep (and also includes alumnus Gus Halper ’14); THE INTERN, directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway; and Flesh and Bone, a Starz series about ballet, with choreography by former UNCSA Dance Dean Ethan Stiefel. As the guest lead on the two-part series finale of “The Mentalist” for CBS and Warner Bros. Television, Aubrey Deeker ’01 was recently a part of television history as the first actor filmed by a major television studio utilizing commercial drones for aerial photography. Other recent work includes Ridley Scott’s THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE for Amazon Studios, FOX’s “Backstrom” with Rainn Wilson, “NCIS: New Orleans,” and the title role in the short film PETER’S PLAN.

Charlie Dugan ’02 recently edited the Peter Berg HBO Documentary series “State of Play,” episode “Broken,” available on HBO Go. Sean McElwee ’04 was cinematographer, Matt Goldberg ’04 was co-executive producer and Zach Seivers ’06 of Snap Sound was sound re-recording mixer. Dugan is also editing “Alaska: The Last Frontier,” Season 4, along with David H. Price ’07. Additional UNCSA alumni on the show include Neil Moore ’02 as field producer, David Short ’03 as camera operator, Scott Gardner ’99 as camera operator, Brian Mandle ’99 as supervising producer and cinematographer, Frank Gibson ’03 as producer and production manager, and Brian Sides ’97 is an associate producer. Dugan also served as editor for Tony Shaff’s ’01 documentary HOTLINE, which is available now on VOD, Amazon, and iTunes.

After more than 1,000 performances as Billy in Tony winner Once, Paul Whitty ’02 appeared in the critically acclaimed world premiere musical Be More Chill at the Two River Theatre, Red Bank, N.J. 26

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UNCSA Alumni West has awarded its inaugural Westward Bound grant to Kristina “Jubilate” Cox, a graduate of the 2015 School of Filmmaking Production Design class. Cox

Established in 2014, the UNCSA Westward Bound Grant, sponsored by UNCSA Alumni West, is an annual grant designed to support undergraduate students transitioning from UNCSA to the West Coast. One grant each year will be awarded to an undergraduate student who has demonstrated strong academic performance, outstanding abilities in their art discipline and an intent to relocate to the West Coast to pursue a career in the arts. Cox was accepted into the Film School after attending the high school Visual Arts Program. During her four years of undergraduate study, she worked on 42 sets, including three feature films and two music videos. With the support of the Westward Bound Grant, Cox will venture to Los Angeles to pursue a career in production design. Jennifer Haire of UNCSA Alumni West said, “The transition from North Carolina to the West Coast to pursue a dream can be incredibly daunting and a big financial burden. Creating this grant has been a long-term goal of UNCSA Alumni West and I’m so proud that we have grown our organization to a place where we can not only be an instant support network for alumni, but also provide financial assistance as a way to nurture the undeniable talent of our new graduates.” The mission of UNCSA Alumni West is to celebrate the uniqueness of the UNCSA experience, to assist in the advancement of alumni in the pursuit of excellence, to build strong and mutually beneficial ties between the University and its diverse alumni, and to establish UNCSA alumni as ambassadors of the arts.

Rebecca Naomi Jones ’03 was Lydia in Charles Mee’s Big Love directed by Tina Landau at the Signature Theatre on 42nd Street in New York. Timothy Eulich ’03 was stunt coordinator on Disney Channel’s “KC

Undercover” which premieres in January. He can also be seen as a stunt double on “CSI: Cyber” on CBS.

Colin Hovde ’04 is artistic director of D.C.’s Theatre Alliance, which presented the world premiere of Occupied Territories. School of Drama adjunct faculty

Mollye Maxner ’09 conceived, co-wrote, co-choreographed and directed the show, which was co-choreographed by Kelly Maxner ‘00, director of the High School Drama Program. The cast included Freddie Bennett ’10, Desmond Bing ’09, Thomas Rowell ’12, and Cody Robinson ’17. Kyle Grant ’11 was lighting designer.

The Cry Havoc Company presented three short plays for Lincoln Center Originals at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, including Grievous Circle by Jerzy Gwiazdowski ’04, directed by Matt Cowart ’04, featuring Allan K. Washington ’13, with the following Drama alumni in the ensemble:

Bobby Allan ’14, Will Bethmann ’15, Michael Calciano ’15, Lindsay Carter ’11 & ’15, Madeline Fox ’15, Benton Guinness ’15, Andrew Manning ’15, and assistant director Rebecca Brinkley ’15. The play featured lighting by D&P alumnus Travis McHale ’05 and sets by Steven Royal ’08. VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

ALUMNI NOTES

Alumni win, receive nominations for Helen Hayes Awards Six alumni won Helen Hayes Awards in April, recognizing excellence in professional theatre in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Fourteen alumni were nominated. It is the fourth straight year that UNCSA alumni have been recognized.

Christopher Baine ’06 won two awards for outstanding sound design for The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Colossal. He was nominated for a third production, The BFG. The Wonderful World of Dissocia was one of two multiple award-winning plays produced by Theatre Alliance, where Colin Hovde ’04 is producing artistic director. Dissocia won a total of four awards, including best direction for Hovde and Nathaniel Mendez ’07, outstanding play and outstanding lighting. A second production by Theatre Alliance, Black Nativity, won three awards. Bennett

Wayne Bennett ’10 won The James MacArthur Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for Seven Guitars, produced by No Rules Theatre Co., which was based in Winston-Salem and D.C. The theatre company was founded by three alumni of UNCSA. Seven Guitars also was nominated for four additional awards, including outstanding actor, Ro Boddie ’09. D&P scenic design graduate Steven Royal ’08 won best directing for Bat Boy: The Musical.

Paul Tazewell ’86 won for outstanding costume design for Side Show.

Tazewell

Other nominees and connections include: Joe Isenberg ’06, for choreography in The Totalitarians and for fight choreography in We are Proud to Present … ; Andrew Cissna ’06, for lighting design for Sex With Strangers; Lindsay Jones ’92, for sound design for The Tallest Tree in the Forest; and Klyph Stanford ’04, for set design for Stuart Little. Jon Hudson Odom ’08 was featured in Colossal, which won for outstanding new play; and Shirley Serotsky ’99 is acting artistic director of Theatre J, which won two awards.

Second annual B West Travel Fellowship awarded The School of Design and Production has awarded its 2nd Annual B West Travel Fellowship to Brittany Rappise. Rappise, a second-year graduate student studying wig and makeup design, traveled to London this summer to work with master wig makers there. The B West Travel Fellowship is funded by alumna Dee Blackburn ’12. The fellowship provides $2,500 for a graduate student in D&P to travel in pursuit of continuing education.

By Amber Primm

Amber Primm, a graduate student in scenic design, was the recipient of the inaugural B West Travel Fellowship. Primm used the fellowship to travel in France and Italy last summer, studying the concept of design in the context of events and their locations. “The B West Travel Fellowship provided an amazing opportunity for Amber,” said faculty advisor John Coyne. “I cannot think of a better place than Europe to observe firsthand the best of art, culture and design.” Coyne said the faculty are grateful for the gift, which affirms their continued engagement with alumni. “D&P alumni feel connected to this program and to this outstanding faculty who have mentored them. We are proud to watch our alumni grow and succeed professionally, and we are humbled by their gestures of giving back.”

SUMMER 2015

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ALUMNI NOTES Matt “Smokey” Cloud ’04 handled the sound FX recording and assistant duties for the Nicholas Sparks romance THE LONGEST RIDE, presented by Fox 2000. Matthew Skala ’05 finished post-production on a personal photography series currently titled “On Common Ground.” It chronicles 20 years of periodic wandering around Mexico and aims to inspire empathy for immigrants and Hispanic culture. Selected images are regularly posted on his Instagram, Flickr, Facebook and VSCO accounts. Skala also was the cinematographer on three films on the festival circuit in 2014: features TEACHER OF THE YEAR and REPUBLIC OF RICK and the short, THE BIG MEET. Rob C. Givens ’05, who served as cinematographer on I’LL SEE YOU IN

MY DREAMS, and his wife, Yoko, had their first child in August 2014, Sage Lucas Givens.

Alumni among Tony, Drama Desk nominees, winners Three alumni of the School of Drama were honored with Drama Desk Awards, presented May 31. Numerous other alumni were nominated for or were connected with shows that received Drama Desk and Tony nominations or wins. The Tony Awards were presented June 7. At the Drama Desk Awards, K. Todd Freeman ’87 won Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Airline Highway, which was nominated for Outstanding Play. Freeman also was nominated for a Tony Award for the role. Airline Highway, which received four Tony nominations, is directed by Joe Mantello ’84. Mantello also directed The Last Ship, which received two Tony nominations.

Lindsay Jones

Andrew Cissna ’06, “is the man at the switch,” according to the WinstonSalem Journal, which published a feature on the former Kernersville resident in May. Cissna, an independent lighting designer who now lives in Washington, D.C., has been the lighting coordinator at Spoleto in Charleston, S.C. for the past four years. Before that, he was a master electrician there for six years. Shanna Beauchamp’s ’06 film SEMPER FIGHT was released by Breaking Glass Pictures and is now available on VOD. Beauchamp wore many hats on the project including producer and was part of the cast along with Michael Anderson ’06. Her next project, SEPULVEDA, is in pre-production. Steven Rambousek ’06 is completing a two-year design and build contract

for Walt Disney Imagineering. The brand new Shanghai Disney Resort is due to open in early 2016 and will feature Treasure Cove, a themed land including several state-of-the-art attractions based on the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise.

After 11 years with BalletMet, Jackson Prescott Sarver ’04 took his final bows on stage during performances of the American Masters world premiere in May.

Jordan Brown ’07 appeared in the world premiere of White Guy on the Bus by Bruce Graham at Chicago’s Northlight Theatre. Fellow Drama alumna Lynn Baber ’81 is Northlight’s casting director. Mark Karafin ’07 directed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 108 as part of The Sonnet Project NYC starring fellow alumnus Billy Magnussen ’07. Karafin is in

residency at Mass Moca as assistant director of Phantom Limb Company’s Memory Rings due at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2016.

Rajeev Rajendran ’08 and Matthew Hager ’05 performed in three

Also at the Drama Desk Awards, Quincy Dunn-Baker ’05 and Jenn Lyon ’03 were honored with a special award for outstanding ensemble for The Wayside Motor Inn.

productions at The Cockpit Theatre in London with the Burning Coal Theater Company: The Shape of the Table, Pentecost, and Prisoner’s Dilemma. The productions received many four-star reviews, including one from Michael Billington of The Guardian.

Jon Goldman ’11 is the assistant lighting designer on An American in Paris, which won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical.

Fletcher Opera alumnus René Barbera ’08 is the winner of Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Prize, providing a $10,000 grant. You can see him back at the Stevens Center as the Duke of Mantua in Piedmont Opera’s Rigoletto, opening Oct. 23.

Two alumni are cast members in shows that received Tony nominations. Marc Damon Johnson ’02 & ’07 is in the cast of You Can’t Take It With You, nominated for Best Revival of a Play; Paloma Garcia-Lee ’08 is in On the Town, nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. On the Town was also nominated for a Drama Desk.

Samip Raval ’08, ’12 is assistant director of Quiara Alegria Hudes’ The Happiest Songs Playlist directed by Shishir Kurup at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival through Nov. 1. Clint Buckner ’09 is 2nd assistant director on the TV pilot “Outcast,” directed by Adam Wingard and executive produced and written by Robert Kirkman of “The Walking Dead.”

Others nominated for Drama Desk Awards were: Stephen McKinley Henderson ’72, for Outstanding Actor in a Play for Between Riverside & Crazy; Josh Grisetti ’00, for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for It Shoulda Been You; Paul Tazewell ’86, for Outstanding Costume Design for Hamilton (Maria Wurttele ’15 is an intern on the show, under the tutelage of legendary sound designer Nevin Steinberg.); and Mary-Mitchell Campbell ’92 & ’96, for Outstanding Orchestrations for Allegro. L-R: Laura D. Smith, alumni Rebecca Green and Brett Haley, and Film Dean Susan Ruskin 28

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VOLUME THREE, NUMBER TWO

ALUMNI NOTES

Sundance Film Festival Nearly 30 alumni from the School of Filmmaking and the School of Drama had ties to at least 14 independent films that screened at Sundance Film Festival and the alternative Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January. Films with UNCSA connections that screened at Sundance include A WALK IN THE CLOUDS, LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT, I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS and DON VERDEAN in the Premieres category; ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, Z FOR ZACHARIAH, PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS, and ADVANTAGEOUS in the U.S. Dramatic Competition; CITY OF GOLD in the U.S. Documentary Competition; IT FOLLOWS in the Park City After Midnight category; 99 HOMES in the Spotlight Category; and H in the Next Category. At Slamdance, BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS was the World Premiere Special chosen to open the festival, and FEMALE PERVERT screened in the Beyond Program. Alumni involvement with the films includes: • 99 HOMES – Tim Guinee ’85 appears. • ADVANTAGEOUS – Jennifer Ehle ’88 appears. • A WALK IN THE WOODS – Reynolds Anderson ’05 is assistant to Director Ken Kwapis. • BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS – Directed by Brian O’Connell ’98 with Scott Kyger ’07 as first assistant director and Tim Eulich ’03 as student coordinator. • CITY OF GOLD – Sound design by Zach Seivers ’06. • DON VERDEAN – Danny McBride ’99 appears. • FEMALE PERVERT – Produced by Melodie Sisk ’04, with cinematography by Alex Sablow ’09. • H – Will Janowitz ’00 appears. • I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS – Written, directed and produced by Brett Haley ’05; with Rebecca Green ’01, producer; Rob Givens ’05, cinematographer; Zach Seivers ’08, sound designer/sound re-recording mixer; Rachel Fowler ’12, main titles design; Jennifer Haire ’02, unit production manager; David Dean ’03, associate editor; Mike Hartman ’01, attorney; Alex Bickel ’04, colorist; Jacob Shrum ’14, additional music; Kevin Wheatley ’02, cast; Stewart Carrico ’02, location permits; and Brandon Zachary ’07, camera vendor representative. Premiered to a standing ovation and sold to Bleeker Street for worldwide distribution. • IT FOLLOWS – Produced by Rebecca Green ’01. • LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT – Sound design by Zach Seivers ’06 and Justin Davey ’08. • ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL – Co-produced by Michael

Sledd ’01.

• PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS – Summer Shelton, executive producer, line producer and post-production supervisor. • Z FOR ZACHARIAH – Directed by Craig Zobel ’99; Tim Orr ’98, cinematographer; Jane Rizzo ’98 editor; and Will Files ’02, sound re-recording mixer. Send us your note or those of fellow Pickles to wernera@uncsa.edu, or update your information at the Pickle Portal at https://uncsa.thankyou4caring.org SUMMER 2015

2010s

Erika Boysen ’10 joined the UNC-Greensboro School of Music, Theatre, and Dance as assistant professor of flute. Known for her verve and energy while teaching, she has served on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Northwestern Michigan College and the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts.

Alex Hoeffler ’10 and Austin Vaccaro ’07 appeared in Sons of the Profit directed by Directing Program alumnus Rob Lutfy ’05 & ’10 at San Diego’s Cygnet Theatre. Sean Murray ’89 is the artistic director of Cygnet. Braxton Molinaro ’11 appeared as Charles in the Los Angeles premiere of Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Sons of the Prophet.

Konstantin Vadamovich Sumtsev ’13 is the 2nd assistant accountant on

WETV’s “South of Hell” in Charleston, S.C. Last February, Sumtsev joined the accounting team on CBS’s “Under the Dome,” Season 3, which films in Wilmington, N.C.

Eli Williams ’14 played the lead in Chicago Musical Theatre Festival’s One Thousand Words this summer. In its second year, CMTF showcases Chicago’s emerging musical theatre creator community. Kate Farrar ’14 performed Kate Pinkerton in Madam Butterfly and Emily in The Ballad of Baby Doe. She is a graduate of the master’s program at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at UNCSA. Rachyl Duffy ’14 placed first out of eight in the Hugo Kauder Viola Competition in New Haven, Conn., on June 5. She performed works by Hugo Kauder, Bach, Brahms, and others at the Winners Concert on June 6. Darion Flores ’14 competed this summer on Season 12 of “So You

Think You Can Dance” on Fox. He was selected for the Top 20, among the 10 “stage” dancers.

Commemorative Bricks are back! You can now leave a permanent mark at the School of the Arts. The Alumni Office brought back the popular commemorative brick program this past spring, and more than 130 parents, alumni, faculty and friends had their bricks installed over the summer on the path from the new library to the Student Commons or at Sneden’s Landing by the School of Design and Production. Bricks are available for $120 each. If you’d like to order one to celebrate your time at UNCSA, acknowledge a student on campus, recognize the support of family or honor a member of the faculty or staff, go to www.uncsa.edu/donate and choose “Brick Program” in the designation drop-down box. You may enter the wording you would like for your brick in the comments section of the donation page. Each brick comes with three lines of engraving at 18 characters per line, including spaces. A portion of the proceeds from each brick supports the Annual Fund, which provides assistance for student travel, programs, scholarships, guest artists and much more.

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Non Profit Org. US Postage Paid Winston-Salem, NC Permit No. 1

1533 South Main Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127

Second Annual Community Festival

slated for Saturday, Sept. 26 The University of North Carolina School of the Arts will host its second annual Community Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26. Festivities will take place on the campus at 1533 South Main St. from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. The family-friendly day will include performances and presentations by each of the five arts schools, and tours of the new library and film production design facility. A special “kid zone” will feature face painting, a balloon artist, yard games, and more. Among the activities available in the specific arts schools are: • Dance – creative movement workshop and open rehearsals for Fall Dance; • Design and Production – Visual Arts character drawings, storybook sound project, tours of costume shop and wig and makeup studio, and finger casting; • Drama – stage combat demonstrations, acting workshop, and Studio IV showcase sneak peek; • Filmmaking – interactive camera demonstrations and screening of student films; and • Music – opera performance, drumming circle, performances by the Cantata Singers and the Jazz Ensemble, and the Community Music School petting zoo and class demonstrations. Refreshments will be available for sale by several local food truck vendors, and ice cream will be available for purchase. An Alumni Breakfast will precede the Community Festival. If you are an alumnus interested in attending, please call 336-770-3330. The festival will be the culmination of the school’s 50th Anniversary celebration, which started in 2013, the 50th anniversary of the school’s founding (1963). “The School of the Arts students enrolled its first students on Sept. 5, 1965,” said 50th Anniversary Committee Co-Chair Jim DeCristo. “It seemed fitting that our Community Festival would wind up our birthday celebration. “It’s also 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!”