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REMEMBRANCE CONCERT
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UNITED A Remembrance Concert evokes art’s healing power BY JARED MOON
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o mark the first anniversary of the campus shooting that took place last year on April 30, UNC Charlotte will host a Day of Remembrance. On Thursday, April 30, 2020, events on campus will honor the lives of the students who died and the sacrifices of those injured. In addition, a commemorative concert, UNITED: A Remembrance Concert, conceived by Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and developed collaboratively by members of the campus community and Charlotte’s performing arts community, will be presented at 7:30 p.m., at Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in uptown Charlotte. “There exists no universal way to move forward after trauma,” said Dubois. “We believe, however, that students, faculty and staff, and the greater Charlotte community, which has demonstrated time and again its generous love and support for UNC Charlotte, can continue to recover by remembering and reflecting upon such a tragic day. Our hope is that this concert serves as a unifying celebration of community, guided by remembrance, resilience and resurgence.” The program, under the direction of Lynne Conner, chair of the Department of Theatre, will feature artists from the community and
Don Dahler ‘91
UNC Charlotte in a variety of music, dance and multimedia performances. The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Christopher Warren-Green, will perform an original composition by the Department of Music’s John Allemeier. The Charlotte-based band Water from Fire, whose members include three UNC Charlotte alumni, will play favorite songs of Riley Howell and Reed Parlier, the students who perished on April 30. The evening’s host is CBS News Correspondent Don Dahler, who graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1991. “The mark of a strong community isn’t that it suffers needless, tragic deaths, but how it responds to them; that’s why I wanted to come back to UNC Charlotte for the Remembrance Concert,” said Dahler. The professor and students and alumni have decided to honor the courage exhibited that day, and the outpouring of love and care in the days and months and soon to be year afterwards. I am proud to be a part of the UNC Charlotte family and want to be a part of this important evening.” On the following pages, participating faculty members and students, alumni and other artists share their thoughts about their opportunity to convey the healing power of art through UNITED: A Remembrance Concert.
UNITED: A Remembrance Concert Belk Theater at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 30, 2020 Tickets: blumenthalarts.org/events/detail/united-a-remembrance-concert All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the April 30 Remembrance Fund.
40 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine
| Winter 2020
