UNCSA Magazine, WINTER 2015

WINTER 2015 UNCSA MAGAZINE | 1

SECTION NAME

withCelebrate

Us!

INSIDE: The Value of an Arts Education

50th Anniversary Coverage

UNCSA’s Resident Poet, Joe Mills

Volunteer Tamara Michael:

Stay Open

UNCSAVOLUME THREE, NUMBER ONE WINTER 2015

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER ONE

CONTENTS

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER ONE WINTER 2015

1533 South Main St., Winston-Salem, NC 27127 336-770-3399 phone 336-770-3342 fax www.uncsa.edu

Published by the Communications & Marketing Office, Advancement Division, of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as a service to alumni, students, parents and friends of the school.

Contributors include: Jim DeCristo, Interim Chief Advancement Officer, [email protected]

Amy Werner, Annual Fund Manager, [email protected]

Jonas Silver ’98, Director of Alumni Affairs, [email protected]

Marla Carpenter, Director of Communications & Marketing, [email protected]

Terri Renigar, Brand Marketing Manager, [email protected]

Lauren Whitaker, News Services Manager, [email protected]

Design by LinTaylor™ Marketing Group

Printing by Collinsville Printing

Photographers include: Allen Aycock, Jeremy Cowart, Drew Davis, William Glenesk, Brent LaFever, Peter Mueller, Rosalie O’Connor, Richard Phillips, 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: The Tales of Hoffmann, 2014 opera

This Photo: Chancellor Bierman and the Fighting Pickle greet Community Festival attendees.

50th Anniversary Coverage 2

News 6

Faculty Profile 12

Feature Story 14

Giving 20

Losses 23

Donor Profile 24

Alumni Notes 25


Friends

WELCOME

Dear Friends,

I arrived on campus in July fully aware that the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a special, magical place and one that’s unique in the world. Nowhere else will you find dancers, actors, directors, musicians, filmmakers, designers, technicians and visual artists working and living together in a state-supported conservatory. As I have spent time here with the students, faculty and staff, and have met so many of you friends and alumni over the past few months, my appreciation and admiration for the school have grown exponentially.

During UNCSA’s 50th anniversary, we rightfully reflect on the rich history of the school and honor the founders’ vision. But we must also keep our eyes on the future and find new ways to fulfill our mission. I envision our future as the public arts conservatory for the 21st century: a modern, forward-leaning institution that remains dedicated to classical training but becomes much more responsive and relevant to modern audiences. A place where the world’s most talented young people come to create their own futures, and their own success stories.

Some of these stories are about brilliant careers in the arts. Through the years we have trumpeted the achievements of alumni who have risen to the tops of their fields. We like to brag that they got their start here on this little campus in Winston-Salem. We also know that thousands of alumni have built meaningful and fulfilling careers creating art in towns and cities across North Carolina, the country, and the world. They contribute to the creative economy by running regional theatres, making indie films, dancing in ballet and contemporary companies, designing sets and costumes, and playing in orchestras. They also feed our souls.

What’s not as well known is that many of our alumni have built careers outside of the arts, and that the School of the Arts was their springboard to success.

This issue of UNCSA Magazine focuses attention on some of our lesser-known alumni who have applied lessons learned in their arts education to excel in fields like medicine, law, higher education, banking and business. We are equally as proud of them, because they illustrate what we know to be true: Training in the arts teaches creativity, critical thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship. With a conservatory education (whether it’s high school, undergraduate, graduate, or all three) you are equipped to find success in any field you choose and to serve your community in ways we can only imagine!

That’s a message you will be hearing from us again and again in the days ahead as we continue to advocate for the value of the arts and the benefits of an arts education. We know that what we do here matters, and as chancellor, one of my priorities is making sure we communicate that message loud and clear, on every platform available to us. This magazine is one platform, and our website is another. We are currently working toward a new website that will be dynamic, interactive and cutting-edge – in keeping with a 21st century arts conservatory. We also will refine and define our brand, so that we can present a unified, unforgettable image to the world that will portray us as that extraordinary place where dreams come true.

I am pleased to announce we have a strong new voice to help us spread our message. Edward J. Lewis III, senior director of development for the performing arts at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, joined us as chief advancement officer on Feb. 1. He has worked for more than a decade in higher education, running campaigns for music, theatre, and dance. I can’t imagine anyone more suited or better qualified to lead our growing development team.

In closing, I will repeat what I’ve said in many settings: I am equal parts leader and student of this school. I appreciate every effort to ease my transition into this new and exciting chapter of my life, and am grateful for your guidance, wisdom, and support. I look forward to what we can achieve together.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Bierman Chancellor

UNCSA receives Salute to Business Award from Greater Winston-Salem Chamber

of Commerce, Twin City Quarter, Signs by Tomorrow, and Winston-Salem Journal. L-R, front row: Jim DeCristo, director of

external affairs, UNCSA; Lindsay Bierman, chancellor, UNCSA; Gayle Anderson,

president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce; George Burnette, chief operating officer,

UNCSA. Second row: Terry Barber, director of catering, Twin City Quarter; Jill Atherton, vice president for economic & community

development, Chamber. Third row, Dan Joyner, owner, Signs By Tomorrow; Ron

Stephens, director of marketing, Twin City Quarter; Kevin Kampman, publisher,

Winston-Salem Journal

Bierman

VOLUME THREE, NUMBER ONE2 | UNCSA MAGAZINE

50TH ANNIVERSARY

AnniversaryCelebrations

Community FestivalMore than 600 people attended UNCSA’s 50th Anniversary Community Festival on Sept. 20. “It was a beautiful fall day, and that helped our turnout,” said 50th Anniversary Committee Co-Chair Jim DeCristo. “We saw lots of people who had never been to campus before, discovering what we do here. And I heard nothing but positive feedback from the many School of the Arts ‘faithful’ who came to support us. It just goes to show what the school can do when everyone comes together for a cause. The day was a hit!”

Chancellor Lindsay Bierman led a parade to Daniels Plaza where he addressed the crowd, along with Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines and 50th Committee Co-Chair Elaine Pruitt. Then it was time to let them eat birthday cake!

Among the activities of the day were a kids-zone area with face painting, puppet making and yard games; a musical instrument petting zoo; and open rehearsals, performances and workshops from all the arts schools.


50TH ANNIVERSARY


50TH ANNIVERSARY

This School, This City“This School, This City: Celebrating 50 Years of the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem” (TSTC) is a year-long exhibition and programming series between the school and the New Winston Museum. Co-curators Mike Wakeford, historian and UNCSA Division of Liberal Arts faculty member, and Chris Jordan, the museum’s education and programming director, have planned programs throughout the year in keeping with both the New Winston Museum’s identity as a museum of living conversation and UNCSA’s continuing commitment to public engagement.

The exhibit features a large-scale installation designed by UNCSA School of Design and Production student Michael Harbeck.

In addition, TSTC features a digital projection of artist Nick Bragg’s newest mural — This School, This City, below. The mural has been installed in the new library that will open soon on the UNCSA campus.

TSTC held an opening reception on Sept. 19, followed by “Look Who’s Coming to Town – A Community Reflection on the First Years of the School of the Arts in Winston-Salem,” in collaboration with the UNCSA Alumni Office, on Oct. 18 (right, top). On Nov. 4, TSTC held “Revisiting ‘A Passionate Preference,’” a retrospective look at the first published institutional history of the School of the Arts with its author, Leslie Banner, and Douglas Zinn, director of the NCSA Oral History Project.

Upcoming TSTC programs include “Two Chancellors on a Stage,” a public dialogue between UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman and Chancellor Emeritus Alex Ewing, on Feb. 11; an ongoing Student-Artists-in-the-Museum Series; and others. For more information, see newwinston.org.

The museum is located at 713 South Marshall St., Winston-Salem. The exhibition is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.

L-R, back row: Mike Wakeford, John Pruett, Jeanne Jennings, Frank Smith, John Williams. Front row: Philip Dunigan,

Bill Van Hoven, Ira David Wood III, Alix Hitchcock

L-R: Mike Wakeford, Douglas Zinn, Leslie Banner

WINTER 2015

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UNCSA MAGAZINE | 5

50TH ANNIVERSARY

Speaker SeriesUNCSA is examining its rich, but overlooked, literary heritage in a three-part 50th Anniversary Speaker Series.

The first in the series, “Working Here/Writing Here: a Celebration of UNCSA Faculty Writers,” featured six faculty members reading from their works (right).

The second event, on Jan. 18, featured alumni writers Angus MacLachlan and J.T. Rogers.

A third event is scheduled for March 22.

Liberal Arts faculty member Joe Mills serves as emcee.

Founding Faculty/Staff ReceptionPresented by the 50th Anniversary Committee, a Founding Faculty/Staff reception on Sept. 19 in BB&T Lobby of the School of Filmmaking drew nearly a dozen people who were there at or near the beginning of the School of the Arts in 1965 (right).

Current faculty, staff and students – including new Chancellor Lindsay Bierman – turned out to honor those who had a hand in establishing this unique institution.

L-R: Robert Listokin, Bill Van Hoven, June Putt, John Sneden, Sherwood Shaffer, Lesley Hunt,

Margaret Sandresky, Philip Dunigan, Mollie Murray

L-R: Matt Bulluck, Nola Schiff, Ellen Rosenberg, Dale Pollock, Laura Hart McKinny, Joe Mills, Julian Semilian


NEWS

Call Blankinship named interim dean of D&PJamie Call Blankinship has been named the interim dean of the School of Design and Production (D&P), following the announcement this past summer that Joseph P. Tilford would step down as dean and become a full-time professor in set design after a one-year research leave.

An alumna of the D&P school, Call Blankinship is an associate professor of stage management. She received a B.F.A. in 1981, and has taught at UNCSA since 2005, first as an adjunct instructor and then as full-time faculty since 2009.

“Jamie Call Blankinship is well-suited to this leadership role,” said Provost David Nelson. “Since assuming the interim position in July, she has proven that the School of Design and Production is in good hands.”

Nelson said an international search is under way for the permanent position.

Call Blankinship has worked as a stage manager for opera companies including San Francisco Opera; Spoleto Festival, U.S.A.; The Washington Opera; Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Anchorage Opera; Augusta Opera; Charlotte Opera; and Piedmont Opera. She has also served as a rehearsal director for the 1994 World Cup Opening Ceremonies and project manager for Francis Coppola’s “Secret Journal” at Zoetrope Studios. Her credits include numerous corporate and live entertainment events as an executive producer at the Jack Morton Production Company, as a producer and line producer at Production Group International, and as a production manager for Gail Stern and Associates.

New chief advancement officer namedChancellor Lindsay Bierman has announced that Edward J. Lewis, III of Washington, D.C., will be UNCSA’s chief advancement officer, effective Feb. 1.

Lewis most recently served as senior director of development for the performing arts at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. There he provided strategic direction for a comprehensive fund-raising program, including The Clarice’s Artist Partner Program of international and national visiting artists, the UMD School of Music and the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Lewis is also is a violist with 30 years of performance history, and has taught music at the university level.

“Ed’s talent and experience as a fund-raiser, artist, and educator will serve him well at the School of the Arts,” Bierman said. “I can’t imagine anyone more suited or better qualified to lead our growing development team.”

Lewis was interim senior director of development for the performing arts at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park from 2010 until he assumed the permanent position in 2011.

He was formerly associate director of development for the performing arts there from 2006-10, and associate director of development for the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities from 2004-06.

Previously, Lewis was director of development at the Cathedral Choral Society, and assistant director of development for the Kogod School of Business at American University, both in Washington, D.C.

Lewis has a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and a Master of Music in viola performance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Lane to step down; rejoin faculty Jill Lane, dean and headmaster of the High School Academic Program at UNCSA, announced in October that she will step down at the end of the academic year to return to a full-time teaching post at the school.

“I have grown professionally and personally during my time as dean, and I am deeply grateful to the school

for granting me the opportunity,” Lane said. “My heart remains in the classroom, and I am excited to return to working with students full time.”

Lane has taught math in UNCSA’s high school since 1994. In 2006 she assumed leadership for the academic program.

Lane is credited with initiating a parent support organization that has steadily grown in membership and has raised about $10,000 per year to support the academic program. She has increased learning support opportunities, diversified course offerings, and expanded advanced placement (AP) courses to include art history, psychology, and U.S. government and politics.

Under her leadership, the percentage of UNCSA high school students earning a three or better (on a five-point scale) on AP exams has risen to 91, compared to a national average of 64 percent. Lane also has led the high school program through two successful reaccreditation cycles.

Provost David Nelson said a search for Lane’s successor will begin soon.

Lewis

Call Blankinship Lane


NEWS

CDI names Pamela Jennings as directorIn October, the Center for Design Innovation (CDI) named Dr. Pamela L. Jennings as its new director.

Jennings is a former National Science Foundation (NSF) program officer in the Computer Information Science and Engineering directorate. As research director at the Banff New Media Institute, Jennings led the Advance Research Technology lab. She also served as the founding director of the Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her NSF Small Business grant supported the commercialization of technologies developed at Carnegie Mellon University that led to her business startup, CONSTRUKTS, Inc., a smart hands-on learning platform.

Jennings earned her Ph.D. in human centered systems design and digital media at the University of Plymouth, UK, and her M.B.A. at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She also holds an M.F.A. in computer art from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

The CDI is a multi-campus research center of the University of North Carolina system, in partnership with UNCSA, Winston-Salem State University, and Forsyth Technical Community College.

Jennings

Lopina named interim director of new centerJoseph Lopina has been named the interim director of the new Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at UNCSA.

Lopina has taught film and animation courses in the School of Filmmaking since 1999, and served as assistant dean of the film school from 2006 to 2009.

As interim director of TLC, he will oversee the writing center, the English as a second language program, academic technology services, student support services, learning services, disability services, and faculty development support. Those services are now offered in different locations on campus, but will be brought together in the new library.

Vice Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs David English said a national search for a permanent director will begin soon. “We are grateful to Joe for stepping into this leadership position. His passion for teaching makes him perfectly suited to the role.”

Co-founder of Click Ltd., a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to integrating the arts into the K-12 curriculum, Lopina holds an A.A.S. in electronic engineering technology, a B.F.A. in film from Syracuse University, and an M.A. in educational media from Appalachian State University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in educational leadership with an emphasis on media literacy and critical thinking.

Davis named interim police chiefCapt. Gary Davis was appointed interim chief of police effective Sept. 6, following the departure of Chief Deb Cheesebro. Cheesebro accepted the position of chief of police at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Davis has been at UNCSA for 15 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Western Carolina University, and is a graduate of the Law Enforcement Executive Program at North Carolina State University. He has a criminal justice instructor certification from the state of North Carolina and has received training in criminal investigations, drug investigations, domestic violence, sexual assaults, Clery Act, accreditation, property and evidence, incident command, emergency preparedness, and supervision and management.

A national search for a new chief is currently under way.

Counseling Center director wins national leadership awardThomas L. Murray Jr., director of Counseling and Testing Services at UNCSA, is the recipient of the 2014 Professional Leadership Award from the American College Counseling Association (ACCA). He has led the counseling center at UNCSA since 2006.

ACCA is a division of the American Counseling Association, with more than 1,400 members dedicated to the promotion of the college counseling profession. Members are mental health professionals working in a higher education setting in the fields of counseling, psychology, and social work.

“This award is an honor for Dr. Murray, and is well earned,” said Vice Provost and Dean of Student Affairs Ward Caldwell. “It is testament to the caliber of professional service that he and his staff provide to our students.”

Murray


Film students honored for their work Students from the School of Filmmaking continue to represent the School of the Arts well.

UNCSA swept the 2014 National Student Operator competition conducted by the Society of Camera Operators (SOC). Joseph Blankinship VI of High Point took first place for his work on the film STARLIGHT. He graduated last May. Returning seniors Tyler Harmon-Townsend and Donald Monroe took second and third, respectively. Harmon-Townsend, of Winston-Salem, was recognized for his work on THE MATADOR. Monroe, of Cornelius, won for the film COMBUSTABILLY. The awards were announced at the organization’s annual meeting last summer in Burbank, Calif.

Harper Alexander, a 2014 graduate, won the Linwood Dunn Heritage Award for Excellence in

Undergraduate Cinematography from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). Alexander, of South Thomaston, Maine, was recognized for his work on the film STARLIGHT. Alexander, who accepted the award

at a ceremony in Los Angeles, is the third Heritage Award winner from UNCSA.

A recent graduate is one of two filmmakers nationwide named to the 2014 Art Directors Guild (ADG) Production Apprentice Training Program. Nathan Krochmal of Greensboro is the first undergraduate student named to the program, now in its second year.

NEWS

North Carolina Symphony does “side-by-side” with UNCSA On Oct. 8, the North Carolina Symphony came to Winston-Salem to do a “side-by-side” reading of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra. The student orchestra had performed the monumental work on Sept. 27, in new Conductor/Music Director Christopher James Lees’ debut concert at the Stevens Center.

Lees (left) shared the podium with N.C. Symphony Associate Conductor David Glover (right, with Chancellor Lindsay Bierman) for the side-by-side.

Side-by-side rehearsals allow students to interact with professional musicians and give the students an up-close view of how professional players prepare.

Alexander

WINTER 2015

Armstrong

UNCSA MAGAZINE | 9

NEWS

Student selected for Prix de Lausanne Sierra Armstrong, a 10th-grade student in the School of Dance, will compete in the Prix de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, in February. She is one of 70 dancers selected from among 296 candidates of 34 nationalities.

The Prix de Lausanne is an international competition for dancers ages 15 to 19 who are not yet professionals. Its mission is to reveal the potential of exceptionally talented young dancers by having them perform before a jury of world-renowned dance personalities.

“The School of Dance at UNCSA is very proud of Sierra, as the Prix de Lausanne is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world,” said Dean of Dance Susan Jaffe.

Armstrong, who began studying in UNCSA’s Preparatory Dance Program when she was eight years old, is the daughter of Roger and Amy Armstrong of Advance, N.C. She danced the role of Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2014 The Nutcracker and Clara (above) in 2013.

Music student in Guinness Oboe student Walker Harnden of Pittsboro became a media sensation when word spread that he made the

Guinness World Records for whistling the highest note, a B7. The B7 is the B just below the high C on a piano.

The achievement was recorded on Nov. 7, 2013, in Hood Recital Hall at UNCSA, under the watchful eyes of School of Music faculty members Sheila Browne and Allison Gagnon. Harnden is a student of oboe professor Robin Driscoll at UNCSA.

Since his achievement, Harnden has done numerous newspaper, radio and TV interviews across North Carolina, including the Raleigh News & Observer, WFAE radio in Charlotte and Fox 8 WGHP. The story was subsequently picked up by The Huffington Post and Yahoo News, among others. He also made the “News of the Weird,” a syndicated newspaper column that for 21 years has been the gold standard in reporting strange news.

Quartet Performs for Yo-Yo MaLast fall, UNCSA’s Giannini Quartet played concerts at Charlotte’s Bechtler Museum with Wu Man, a pipa player who was recently named instrumentalist of the year by Musical America. Wu Man is a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble, along with Yo-Yo Ma. As it turns out, the quartet also played for Ma while he was in town for the Winston-Salem Symphony’s gala concert on Oct. 5. Pictured with Ma, front, are Giannini Quartet members, L-R, Lucia Kobza, Nicole Wendl, Eli Kaynor and Peter Ayuso.

Harnden


NEWS

Family Weekendgives glimpse into life of a student-artist Family and friends of current students turned out for UNCSA’s annual Family Weekend, Oct. 17-19.

Each of the arts schools hosted behind-the-scenes tours, open rehearsals, and faculty and student panel discussions. Specific workshops and demonstrations ranged from stage combat to cameras and lighting.

High school academics also hosted parent-teacher conferences.

10 | UNCSA MAGAZINE

NEWS


UNCSA, SECCA kick off “The Artist’s Studio”Two state organizations that bring premier arts education and programming to North Carolina are partnering in a first-of-its-kind collaboration designed to explore and showcase the creative process.

Last fall, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) and UNCSA announced a new program series, “The Artist’s Studio,” which will support dialogue and understanding around contemporary art for the public, while creating unparalleled educational opportunities for students. Under the program, contemporary artists brought in by SECCA and UNCSA will work with students and faculty from UNCSA to create original new works while documenting the creative process.

“The visual and performing arts have always informed each other,” said UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “‘The Artist’s Studio’ makes art more accessible by showing the live creation of original, modern works. In this case, the process is the performance.”

The inaugural collaboration involved a multi-day workshop with conceptual artist Neil Goldberg, whose work was exhibited at SECCA, working with UNCSA dance students under the guidance of faculty artist Ming-Lung Yang, as well as UNCSA film students, working under the guidance of faculty John LeBlanc and Julian Semilian. The project culminated with a public event at SECCA on Sept. 21.

At press time, a winter collaboration between the School of Dance at UNCSA and SECCA exhibitor Martha Whittington was scheduled for Feb. 22 (subject to change).

Want to show your school spirit? Visit our online spirit wear store, www.directgear.net/uncsa, to order custom apparel – including outerwear, hoodies, headwear, bags, and much more!

Our 50th logo and the Birthday Pickle are available, too! Check back often for special offers and discounts.


NEWS

Joe Mills: Writer, poet, teacher By Lauren Whitaker

Growing up in Indiana, Joe Mills wanted to be a mountain man or a marine biologist. “I wanted a horse, a gun and a knife,” he says of the former, and “I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau” of the latter. Problem: Indiana has neither mountains nor ocean.

Mills also loved to read and he wanted to see the world. So he travelled around earning three degrees in literature (B.A. from the University of Chicago, M.A. from the University of New Mexico, and a doctorate from the University of California-Davis), seeing much of the world on his journey, and becoming a published poet and author. And 16 years ago, he became a college humanities instructor in Winston-Salem.

The Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professor of Humanities in UNCSA’s Division of Liberal Arts has published five volumes of poetry, including “Somewhere During the Spin Cycle” and “Angels, Thieves, and Winemakers” (as well as “A Guide to North Carolina’s Wineries,” with his wife, Danielle Tarmey). Though he does not consider himself a poet: “I am a writer who writes poetry.”

By all accounts, he writes it well. Mills’ poems have been featured five times on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” Former Virginia Poet Laureate Kelly Cherry said of Mills’ most recent volume, “This Miraculous Turning”: “Joseph Mills gives us poems that could change the world. … Everything here is true: measured, faultless. You do not want to miss this book. (It) is a bona fide miracle.”

Mills says the book is his best so far, in part because it illustrates interactions with his family – Tarmey, who teaches sixth-graders at Winston-Salem’s Arts Based Elementary School, and children Noelle, who is 12, and Benjamin, who is nine. “I am so inspired by my family, by our daily living together. My interactions with them change how I see the world.”

His experiences as a parent have also changed him as a teacher, a career he never expected to have. Mills started teaching via fellowships, as a way to pay for graduate school. “I immediately loved it,” he said. “I thought, we’re going to talk about ideas and books, and they are going to pay me for this. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t.”

Mills also never expected to stay at UNCSA, or in Winston-Salem, more than a few years. A man who once moved 10 times in five years, Mills and his wife loved the anonymity of living in big cities, including the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago, and Salt Lake City. But he says they have found a community here that feels like home.

School of Filmmaking ranked No. 13 in the country Just months after ranking UNCSA’s School of Drama No. 6 in the world, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) ranked UNCSA’s School of Filmmaking among the top 25 film schools in the country.

In THR’s August issue, UNCSA’s film school was ranked No. 13.

“It is gratifying to be counted as one of the best, and it is quite an achievement for a school that has been in existence for only 20 years,” said Film Dean Susan Ruskin.

In its description, THR noted: “The 20-year-old school in Winston-Salem looks like a Hollywood studio backlot and has fielded a small studio’s worth of talent.”

Mills


PROFILE

As a writer who teaches and a teacher who writes, Mills appreciates UNCSA’s heritage of nurturing writers, but also wishes for more opportunities to hone the craft. “It’s mostly electives,” he said. “It’s never been really emphasized in the curriculum, though we have great writers among our alumni, like Angus MacLachlan (GOODBYE TO ALL THAT and JUNEBUG) and Peter Hedges (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN). And students are hungry to learn how to write.”

This year Mills has worked to honor the heritage by planning a 50th Anniversary Speaker Series of authors talking about their work and their craft. “It’s a way of focusing our attention briefly on a part of our campus culture that has not been widely acknowledged,” Mills said.

Meanwhile, he continues to teach, and write, and read. His favorite writers include Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut and William Shakespeare. He reads a lot of young adult literature so he can keep up with his daughter. “That’s how I know what she’s talking about,” he said, noting with pride that his daughter has inherited his love for both reading and writing. “Noelle has always loved books, and she has scribbled since she was very young.”

Mills is working on his next book, a collection of poems based on stage directions of Shakespeare. “It began as writing poems to amuse myself, and then it occurred to me it would make a good book,” he said.

He writes in other forms, including short fiction and criticism, and “more than once” has begun a novel. “I can’t figure out the shape of it,” he recounts, admitting that he has struggled with a novel over the span of years. “I realized I was at 300 pages and nothing had happened,” he shrugs. “I got bored.”

Poetry is more to his liking. “I can do it anywhere,” he said. “I don’t need equipment, or a camera, or a theatre or an audience. I really don’t even need a pen and paper.”

But he does use pen and paper, writing first longhand, then transferring to computer as the first revision, printing it out to see the words on paper. He writes most days for an hour a day. “Two hours is a good day.”

And he continues to teach, in a style that students say is challenging and interactive. “Joe teaches his students by learning with them,” said Vera Herbert (‘11 Film). “He often designs courses based around subjects he is interested in and wants to explore with students, so he teaches with a sense of curiosity.”

Christene Hurley, a fourth-year Film student, said, “Joe’s teaching style is driven by the involvement of the class. He uses a lot of personal experiences to make connections with things he is teaching and makes us make personal connections as well.”

Mills said his Liberal Arts courses, though electives, help students develop important life skills like critical thinking and the ability to listen, interpret and analyze. “I tell my students that what I teach them is not about getting a job. It’s about having a better life,” he said.

His students agree the takeaways from Mills’ classes are both meaningful and satisfying. “One piece of advice Joe gave me early on was to write everything down,” Hurley said. “That a good idea is like a bird … it will fly away.”

Herbert, who experienced success right out of school with the TV series “Awkward” and the TV movie BLINK, said Mills taught her to challenge herself. “Joe’s attitude toward his classes is that you will get out of them what you put into them… .

“The same is true in the life of a creative person,” she said. “No one is going to make you show up and do the best work that you can, whether that’s writing, performing, whatever it might be. The onus of continually challenging yourself to master your craft is on you.”

Teaching, Mills says, is both a delight and a privilege. Still, if forced to choose between writing and teaching, he would probably have to choose writing. But, he adds, “I like the fact that I don’t have to choose.”

The Writing TeacherHe says take that

memory and make it an essay.

He says try turning that essay into a story.

He asks what if the story were changed into a poem.

This is what we have to do he is saying

again and again

take this life, turn it, change it, form it.

Joe Mills, from “Love and Other Collisions,” published in 2010


FEATURE

Illustration by Mike Wakeford, based on responses to the This School, This City Historical Survey. It’s not too late to take the

survey! Please visit This School, This City on Facebook.


FEATURE

It may not be what you think.By Lauren Whitaker

It’s a fact: Graduates of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts appear on stage and work backstage of the world’s theatres, concert halls, and performing arts centers; on the big screen and the small screen; and behind the camera and in the orchestra pit.

But many of them find fulfillment as doctors, lawyers, bankers and entrepreneurs in a variety of fields. And they credit the education they received at the School of the Arts for their success!

“The more alumni I come into contact with, the more I realize how much this school breeds success – all kinds of success – by nurturing creativity and the ability to innovate,” said Alumni Director Jonas Silver (Dance ‘98).

Silver came to the School of the Arts at age 14, admittedly unfocused and unmotivated, and quickly warmed to the challenges and the support he found in the conservatory environment. “It lit a fire in my belly,” he said. “The drive and determination that I found here are the same drive and determination I have today, aimed in a different direction.”

Silver entered the high school program to study classical guitar, and later changed to ballet. After graduating from high school, he studied ballet and danced professionally for four years. Switching gears, he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and worked in banking and politics before landing back at UNCSA in 2010.

Silver’s career path is not that unusual for UNCSA alumni, or any artist, for that matter. Whether it is a realization that they were not “cut out” for a life as a performer, or the revelation that their life’s work called them in another direction, students who trained at the School of the Arts – but are not currently practicing their art – have no qualms about the time devoted to the pursuit of their art.

Historian Mike Wakeford, who teaches in the Division of Liberal Arts, has spent the past year gathering stories of alumni success as a byproduct of the This School, This City Historical Survey. Launched in January 2014, the survey was Wakeford’s vehicle to amass data for a year-long exhibit at the New Winston Museum illustrating the school’s 50-year history in Winston-Salem.

value of an arts education?

The real

Silver


FEATURE

“I wanted to tell a new story about the personal experiences of those whose paths have crossed with this place,” Wakeford said, explaining that he solicited responses from alumni, former and current faculty and staff, and friends of UNCSA. In the first 10 months, he got 1,000 responses, and 75 percent of them were from alumni, many of whom self-reported careers outside the arts.

“We tend to brag about the famous ones,” he said, “but there are countless numbers of alumni who are doing really remarkable things in other professions, and they credit what they learned here with helping them succeed.”

That’s no surprise to Dean Wilcox, dean of UNCSA’s Division of Liberal Arts, who has given a lot of thought to the value of an arts education – particularly a conservatory education rich with arts, but grounded in subjects like literature, history, science and math.

“Our students learn to look at things in a different way,” Wilcox said. “That is creativity. It’s problem-solving and innovation. Every single student does it every single day on this campus. Creativity and innovation might be

economic buzzwords, but they are skills that are applicable to any endeavor.”

Economists concur. According to Americans for the Arts, creativity is one of the top three personality traits most important to career success. In fact, 72 percent of employers say creativity is of primary concern in hiring, but 85 percent say they can’t find the creative applicants they seek. According to employers and school superintendents, a college degree in the arts is the most significant indicator of creativity in prospective employees.

That’s music to the ears of John Michael Schert (Dance ‘00) who is one year into a two-year appointment as the inaugural visiting artist and social entrepreneur in the Social Enterprise Initiative program at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Schert believes his is the first position of its kind anywhere in the nation, and is an effort to bridge the gap between business and the arts.

“There’s a big disconnect,” Schert said. “Business is realizing they can’t continue in the same way. They have to look at things in a new way, to be innovative. That’s what we have always done in the arts.”

Wakeford

Wilcox

Schert

16 | UNCSA MAGAZINE


FEATURE

Schert danced with American Ballet Theatre and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. In 2004, at the age of 22, he co-founded the Trey McIntyre Project, serving as the company’s executive director, and a dancer, for nine years. “I had to translate all that I know about dancing and being an artist into being a

businessman, a producer,” he said. “What is there about the creative process that can be translated to raising money for a dance company, to booking performances and marketing the value of what we do?”

For business, creativity is the new frontier, Schert said. “Technology has gotten us just this far. Now we have to re-invent and be more innovative. Artists are good at that. We always have been.”

That frontier is called “the creative economy,” where innovation, agility and collaboration are marketable skills, and entrepreneurship is essential. That’s a lesson Bryan Mason (Drama ‘92) learned from Peter Hedges (‘84) when he was on campus as a guest artist. “You are your own theatre. You go out to work for yourself, by yourself. You are your own creative team, your own marketing staff, accounting department and legal advisor,” Mason recalls.

After graduating, Mason lived in New York for many years, supplementing acting gigs with work in theatre production and front office. While acting on the long-running soap opera “All My Children,” Mason realized he wasn’t all that interested in the job, and that his passion was producing. A mentor at Playwrights Horizons suggested politics as a way to build his skill set, particularly fund raising. “If you are going to work in theatre management, you have to know how to raise money. And that’s what you do in a campaign; you ask people for money,” he said.

Mason worked in the Clinton White House, for the John Kerry and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns, and still moonlights with the Obama administration, managing events and logistics. “It’s stage management,” he said. “It’s what you learn running a show, but you have five days to build it, it’s for the leader of the Free World, and you’re around lots of dudes with guns. But it’s pretty much the same work.”

He moved to the West Coast, where one of his first jobs was managing a conference for web designers and developers. From there he launched a career in tech start-ups, eventually selling his ventures to companies like Adobe, Google and Capital One. He now helps to lead Adobe’s Creative Cloud, where he applies his knowledge of the creative process to provide business support for creative professionals worldwide.

“The creative process is learning to solve problems. I learned that at UNCSA. I don’t use my tap dancing skills much anymore, but I use the skills that I developed learning how to tackle difficult creative problems. That training is still useful. Script analysis is problem-solving. It’s the same as contract law. If you can break down Shakespeare, you can understand a contract.”

Mason says UNCSA’s conservatory training taught him to think critically and reject preconceived notions. “That’s what artists do, and what business is coming to appreciate. When business leaders say they value creativity, what they mean is they appreciate people who challenge norms, who reject the way things have always been done, who can understand the context and then make up something new, some new solution.

Schert

Mason, right, with Weird Al Yankovich“Creativity and

innovation might be economic buzzwords,

but they are skills that are applicable to

any endeavor.”


FEATURE

“UNCSA made me an entrepreneur,” he said. “My career so far has been a three-act play of sorts, and not always parts of the same play. But I’ve always been entrepreneurial.”

Wall Street investment advisor Sarah Colvin (Music ‘96) is another self-described entrepreneur who says the lessons she learned as an artist got her where she is today: vice president of investor relations and marketing for Twin Capital Management LLC, a billion dollar hedge fund.

“I learned about finance the way I learned about music,” she said. “You study, you rehearse, you perform. If it’s not so good, you go back and practice some more. It’s the same for finance. I had to learn the history of my business, and I

had to learn to speak the language. I had to perfect my role.”

After graduating from high school at UNCSA, Colvin went to New England Conservatory of Music. She was a professional musician for eight years, performing both opera and jazz, before transitioning to finance full time. “I had to have a day job to pay the rent in New York City, so I went to work for a hedge fund manager, and I worked my way up.

“I recreated myself,” she said. “My training in the arts gave me the skills to do that.”

Colvin quickly lists the skills necessary for success in the creative economy:

• You have to be nimble. “I see opportunity and I take it. I am able to grow at a fast pace. I was trained to do that as an artist.”

• You have to tolerate risk and proceed without fear. “I can work for anyone because I am not afraid of anything. I have performed in front of a crowd, and I can perform in a board room.”

• You have to market what you do. “I’m a sales person and I have been my whole life. You have to learn how to get yourself out there. You have to find a way to appeal to

people, whether it’s an audience or clients. It’s the same in music as in finance – on stage at the Met, for Jazz at Lincoln Center, or in the corporate board room.”

• You have to be collaborative, and you have to build relationships. “You have to build a network, just like building a jazz ensemble or a chamber orchestra. Which instruments do you need? What are the skills you are lacking? And you go and find them in colleagues.”

Like Colvin, Drama alumnus Edward Pankey (‘96) found it necessary to reinvent himself, and he applied his conservatory training to the field of medicine. He struggled in New York for four years, juggling several jobs while auditioning for acting gigs. “I got a few jobs, but ultimately the pursuit of an acting career was not fulfilling an important need in my life,” he said.

When family matters called him home to New Orleans, he found time to reflect. “I realized that what I really wanted was to impact people’s lives in a meaningful way,” he said. “That’s what I ultimately desired from acting. I wanted to reach an audience, and really make a difference in their lives.”

Pankey went back to school at a local university, taking classes in

economics, business, law and science, trying to find a vehicle through which to contribute. A volunteer job in a neuropsychology lab led him to apply to medical school. He has now completed a medical degree and Ph.D., and is looking forward to a career as an academic physician.

Conservatory training, Pankey said, taught him how to be introspective. “I was trained to inspect everything, to look beyond what is right in front of us. That helped me figure out what I really wanted.”

At UNCSA, he said, he learned to work hard, focus and be disciplined. “And I learned how to empathize and really listen in a conversation and understand what is being said. Listening

Colvin

Pankey


FEATURE

is a crucial skill for a physician, and I did not learn it in medical school. I learned it at an arts conservatory.”

He noted that some medical schools are adding actor training to the curriculum to foster empathy and communication skills in their students.

Pankey also learned self-awareness and the ability to relate to others. “I can walk into any room and be the biggest person or the smallest, depending on what is called for. I can comfortably interact with anyone, putting him or her at ease, establishing genuine rapport and laying the foundation for mutual trust that is necessary for a successful physician/patient relationship.”

High school Music alumna Carrie Vickery (‘03) said her three years at UNCSA opened her eyes and helped her find her calling, which turned out not to involve an oboe. A required civics class ignited her interest in politics and led her to law school. “I was beginning to realize that I didn’t want to be a professional oboist, and as my interest in the oboe waned, my fascination with politics increased,” she said.

Vickery completed high school in three years, got a bachelor’s degree in three years, and was a member of the first graduating class at Elon University School of Law. She is an attorney with the Holton Law Firm in Winston-Salem, specializing in family law.

“It was a diverse and unique learning experience for me,” she said of her time at UNCSA. “One of the things I value the most is the diversity of people I met there. I am from a small town in Rutherford County (N.C.). I had never met a gay person when I got to the School of the Arts.”

Now, she can relate to clients across every spectrum, and can mingle and network throughout the community. “That is a valuable skill in any profession,” she said. “I don’t know that I would have developed it in my hometown public high school.”

Vickery said her arts education also taught her to be dedicated to goals, and to focus on the steps necessary to reach them – skills that helped her through law school and into her professional life. “The work ethic that you work first and play later is deeply ingrained in me,” she said.

Alumni agree that no matter what age they entered the School of the Arts, the excellent arts training, exceptional academics, and personal support nurtured their creativity and prepared them for success.

“I think everyone can point to a personal connection in their lives where they grew the most, learned the most, were challenged and supported,” said Alumni Director Silver. “For me that was the School of the Arts. I’m grateful for what this school meant to me then, and what it means to me today.”

Wall Street’s Colvin is also grateful for the support she found at UNCSA. “In the professional art world, you don’t get a lot of positive reinforcement; you don’t know if you’re getting it right,” she said. “The School of the Arts is really good at nurturing. It’s a safe place to work at your craft. I know that now. It gives you confidence for whatever comes next, in or out of the arts.”

Wakeford said gratitude was a common theme for alumni who responded to his survey. “I was struck by how many of them expressed profound gratitude to those who founded this school,” he said. “Even if they didn’t enjoy every aspect of being here at the time, they now realize they went to a school that is really special.”

UNCSA is special, Dean Wilcox says, because it nurtures the whole person. “The arts training here is superlative,” he said. “And the academics, through history, literature and philosophy, help refine the arts training by exposing students to different cultures and different ways of thinking.”

“The work ethic that you work first and play later is

deeply ingrained in me.”

Vickery

Design & Production faculty member launches new technologyIf innovation is one of the values of an arts education, the UNCSA faculty has the entrepreneurial spirit in spades. Take, for example:

David Smith, director of the Sound Design Program in the School of Design and Production, has been working on the design of a new product concept over the last several years that is now coming to fruition. He has created a new product called “Battery Vampire,” which extracts the remaining power from batteries in order to extend their useful lives.

Smith filed a patent for the technology in December 2013. In 2014, he formed 2ndLifeTech and conducted a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign to help him bring the technology to market.

After winning the prestigious USA Creative Business Cup last July, Smith competed in the international competition, which was held in Copenhagen in November. He was assisted in his efforts by Notis A. Pagiavlas, interim senior associate dean and professor of marketing at Winston-Salem State University, and his students, who conducted market research that could be

used to predict potential sales and develop marketing concepts.

Smith’s business is a project of the Center for Creative Economy in Winston-Salem, with support from the UNCSA Office of the Provost and the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.

Lindgren studio dedicated The largest dance studio at the School of the Arts now bears the name of the founding dean of the School of Dance and his wife, thanks to donors who established the endowment.

Robert “Bobby” Lindgren, who led the School of Dance for 22 years, died May 10, 2013, at the age of 89. His wife, Sonja Tyven Lindgren, who lives in Winston-Salem, also taught at the school.

On Sept. 14, 2014, Studio A, located in Gray Building, was dedicated as the Robert Lindgren Sonja Tyven Founders Studio. At a small gathering, Dean Susan Jaffe remembered their collective impact on the school, while

students performed two short duets for Tyven, who was in attendance.

During their tenure at the School of the Arts, Lindgren and Tyven choreographed the school’s first production of The Nutcracker and founded the Preparatory Dance Program. Many rehearsals of the Lindgren-Tyven Nutcracker took place in Studio A.


Benefit performanceraises funds for Hamlin ScholarshipOpening night of Vaclav Havel’s The Memorandum, right, on Oct. 23 raised more than $7,000 to benefit the Larry Leon Hamlin and Sylvia Sprinkle Hamlin / Urban League Endowed Scholarship at UNCSA. A reception preceded the night’s performance (above). The Hamlin Scholarship provides talented artists of color in UNCSA’s schools of Drama and Design & Production an opportunity to further their training and education in the arts, through a beneficial partnership between UNCSA and the National Black Theatre Festival.

Pictured, L-R, at the reception are Quinten Gordon ’08, Drama faculty; Dr. Mary Perkins, Hamlin Scholarship Committee co-chair; Carl Bryant, scholarship recipient; Rosio Medina, scholarship recipient; Col. (Ret.) Andrew Perkins, Hamlin Scholarship Committee co-chair; Carl Forsman, dean, School of Drama; and Jamie Call Blankinship, interim dean, School of Design and Production.

GIVING


Visual Arts student works adapted to note cards Last fall, acrylic paintings created by high school Visual Arts Program students in Pam Griffin’s Color and Design class were turned into note card sets for use by the school’s Board of Visitors and Advancement Office. Patterns on the paintings were based on students’ research of organic forms like flowers, insects, and trees. Lines, textures and shapes abstracted from these forms became the subject matter for lessons in painting and color theory. The elegance of the students’ designs, and their coloration and craft, led to the idea of sharing these images with others through the creation of note cards.

GIVING

Pictured, L-R: Kneeling – Ali Blalock, Ivy Simmons, Molly Mir. Standing – Will Taylor, director, Visual Arts Program;

Jamie Call Blankinship, interim dean, School of Design and Production; Reann Orr; Hayley Watson; Emi Bender;

Ali Gelbron; Pam Griffin, VA faculty.

Beseda honored with scholarshipBy Amy Werner

For many students, alumni and parents, Robert Beseda embodied the School of Drama at UNCSA – his loud voice booming down the corridors, his laugh rolling amongst the audiences.

In his 22 years as a faculty member and assistant dean, Beseda had a hand in faculty recruitment, student recruitment, financial aid, program reviews, and much more. To many, he is integral to the success the School of Drama has achieved.

Friends, colleagues, former students and community members created the Robert Beseda Endowed Scholarship Fund to honor him after his retirement in summer 2013. The scholarship provides funding every year to a student with demonstrated need. It continues his passion and commitment to securing scholarship dollars for talented but economically disadvantaged students.

In a matter of weeks, the scholarship reached the $25,000 minimum threshold for endowment, and more than $50,000 has been contributed to date.

Beseda was honored at a dinner (left) in January 2014. Many alumni and friends attended.

With Dean Carl Forsman

With, L-R, Chancellor Emeritus Alex Ewing, Drama Dean Emeritus

Gerald Freedman, and Forsman

With Neal Bledsoe, left, and Billy Magnussen, right


GIVING

Benjamin F. Ward leaves legacy to UNCSADr. Benjamin F. Ward, a beloved member of UNCSA’s Board of Visitors, died Dec. 14, 2013, in Durham, at the age of 65. He was an adjunct associate professor of philosophy and associate dean for the faculty program at Duke University, and a concert pianist.

Dr. Ward’s generosity toward UNCSA will extend far beyond his lifetime, in the form of a $2.1 million endowment for the School of Music, the largest planned gift UNCSA has ever received. The Benjamin F. Ward Endowed Fund for Music will provide financial support for scholarships, guest artists and programs for generations to come. Dr. Ward’s gift to UNCSA also includes two beautiful grand pianos and thousands of recordings and scores of music.

In recognition of Dr. Ward’s generous contributions, the UNCSA Board of Trustees has approved a plan to name the music library in UNCSA’s new library the Benjamin F. Ward Music Library. Dr. Ward was also posthumously awarded an honorary doctorate from UNCSA during college commencement in May 2014.

During his life, Ward took great delight in seeing UNCSA’s students thriving and learning. He had a special enthusiasm for inspiring young people to listen to the great works of chamber music, participate in making music, and attend concerts. Several times he hosted music students in his home in Durham. Ward performed for the last time in UNCSA’s Watson Hall in October 2013 (above) in an open reading of the Brahms F minor Piano Quintet and the Mozart G minor Piano Quartet for an invited audience of friends and students.

Ward began playing piano at the age of six, performing regularly at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., where Martin Luther King, Jr., was the minister. In 1964, at the age of 10, he performed at a dinner honoring King as recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He also played at King’s funeral in 1968.

A graduate of Yale University, Ward was often called upon to collaborate with string students at the Yale School of Music in their degree recitals. He participated in master classes with Pierre Fournier, Joseph Silverstein, Janos Starker, Donald Weilerstein, and Mstislav

Rostropovich, and performed on several occasions with the legendary Yale Quartet. He also founded the Berkeley Chamber Players in Berkeley College at Yale.

L-R: Janet Orenstein, Sheila Browne, Kevin Lawrence, Benjamin Ward,

Brooks Whitehouse

Ward

Dr. Ward’s generosity toward UNCSA will extend far beyond

his lifetime, in the form of a $2.1 million endowment for

the School of Music....


LOSSES

WINGS

Sgt. Gary CobbUNCSA Police Sergeant Gary Cobb died Oct. 21. He was 51.

Cobb faithfully served with the UNCSA Police for more than 17 years as a patrol supervisor, field training officer, certified instructor, and driver’s ed instructor.

A candlelight walk, organized by UNCSA students, was held in his memory on campus on Nov. 5.

Richard DeheckRichard Howard “Mr. D” Deheck, beloved food service director at the School of the Arts for many years, died Dec. 12. He was 84.

Many alumni have taken to social media to praise Mr. D as “family,” noting how he took care of them as students, and how he transformed the school’s cafeteria into a home that was warm and welcoming.

Borden MaceBorden Mace, a film producer who helped to establish the School of Filmmaking at the School of the Arts, died Nov. 21 at his home in Connecticut. He was 94.

A native of North Carolina, Mace was coaxed out of retirement in 1991 by then-Chancellor Alex Ewing to spearhead the creation of the film school. School of the Arts founder John Ehle referred Ewing to Mace, who served as the chief executive officer for producer Louis de Rochemont’s affiliated film and TV companies for 30 years. His last Hollywood project was based on Ehle’s novel “The Journey of August King.”

A celebration of his life was held in Connecticut on Nov. 29.

Anna Matthews Anna Matthew, wife of founding Music faculty member Clifton Matthews for 54 years, died Oct. 22. She was 83.

She taught vocal diction and literature courses at the School of the Arts and private voice students through the Salem College preparatory department. She played the viola in the Winston-Salem Symphony for more than 25 years.

Gifts in her memory may be made to the Matthews Piano Endowed Scholarship Fund at UNCSA. A memorial concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. April 12 in Watson Hall.

Julia SnedenJulia Sneden, wife of School of Design and Production Dean Emeritus John Sneden for 49 years, died Oct. 4. She was 77.

Fondly remembered as a mother figure to all the students, faculty and staff of the School of the Arts, Julia Sneden taught for some 25 years at The Summit School in Winston-Salem.

Gifts in her memory may be made to the John and Julia Sneden Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at UNCSA. A gathering to celebrate her life was held on Nov. 1 at D&P.

Cobb

Sneden

Mace

In MemoriamSarah M. TurnerSarah M. Turner, veteran School of the Arts employee and advocate, died Oct. 19 at the age of 73.

Turner worked in UNCSA’s Advancement Division for more than 20 years, retiring in 2007 as the director of donor communications. Since her retirement, she had continued to support the school by administering the prestigious Kenan Excellence Scholarship Program for the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. Turner also served as the assistant secretary and assistant treasurer of the Semans Art Fund.

Turner is perhaps best remembered for her encyclopedic knowledge of the school’s founders and other important figures in the school’s history, as well as its students and alumni. This came from her close, personal attention to them. Far more than donor stewardship, Turner practiced caring and compassion for each person she touched. She organized drives to benefit many students in need, whether they were victims of disasters, or just needed a plane ticket home. She made a point to keep up with students after they left the school, forming indelible bonds that lasted her lifetime.

Two endowment funds were established in Turner’s name at UNCSA upon her retirement. They are the Sarah M. Turner Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Sarah M. Turner Unrestricted Endowment. She also established the Martha T. and W. Henry Turner Endowed Scholarship in Voice at UNCSA in memory of her parents. To make a donation in her memory to any of these funds, please contact the Office of Advancement at 336-770-3330.

A celebration of her life was held at UNCSA on Nov. 22.

Turner

PROFILE


By Amy Werner

It all began with a cough drop.

That’s how Tamara Michael became involved in supporting the students and programs at the School of the Arts.

“We were going to the Mozart birthday concert, and my date got the flu,” Michael said. “I decided to go anyway and ended up sitting next to three ladies. I started coughing, and one of them gave me a cough drop. We got to talking about the school, and the rest is history.” Two of those ladies were Pat Shore Clark and the late Copey Hanes, two of UNCSA’s longest and most dedicated supporters.

Next, Michael went to the annual luncheon for The Associates, UNCSA’s group of volunteers. She knew no one, but thought it might be interesting. That led her to join the group, later serving on the group’s board, and then as president.

Michael is not afraid to try new things. She’s visited nearly half the countries in the world – most of them by herself – and plans to visit Japan this spring. “Stay open,” she advises. “You never know who you’re going to run into and the experiences you’ll have.”

Her world travels inspired her to write a novel, “The Suitcase Wife,” which was published in 2013. The book has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com, and one reviewer said the book is “a most enjoyable read, a combination travelogue and personal diary about the narrator’s journeys to the world’s remote corners, high and low… . Ms. Michael has a sense of humor, and of wonder. She really captures the remote beauties she encounters.”

Some of the more interesting places she’s been, she said, include Iran, North Korea and Base Camp on Mount Everest.

And everywhere she goes, she talks about the talented students at the School of the Arts. It’s one of many ways she advocates for the school and supports its students.

Over the years, she’s served as a host for several students through The Associates’ “Host Family” program, which provides home environments for high school students. Hosts take students to doctor appointments, to the airport to fly home on breaks, and out to eat or to a movie.

On a recent trip to Korea, Michael was happy to meet the parents of the student she has hosted for the past four years, and hear their gratitude for her support. Michael keeps in touch with all the students she has hosted.

The more involved Michael became as a volunteer at UNCSA, the more she realized how important it is to financially support the school, as well. She started giving in 2005 at the Giannini Society level, and has done so each year since. Over time, she’s also supported scholarships and other incentives, along with more volunteering: most recently as a member of UNCSA’s Board of Visitors.

“I give to help other people with their dreams,” she says. “My Aunt Bess helped me.”

Her Aunt Bess paid for her first three years at Moravian College, a private, liberal-arts college in Bethlehem, Pa., where Michael earned a bachelor’s degree in art history.

After college, Michael went to work for the U.S. Post Office, serving in five different states before settling in North Carolina, where she retired as postmaster in Clemmons. She was known for turning operations around at underperforming branches during her career of more than 30 years.

“I don’t have a lot of money, but I give what I can comfortably afford,” she said. “I do it monthly because it’s easier on the budget – plus, I can do a little more this way than if I donated at once.”

Michael recently attended the senior recital of School of the Arts alumnus Jie Fang, whom she hosted, at Juilliard. Celebrating at DROM, a club in New York, were, L-R, Fang, flute alumnus Ransom Wilson, Michael, Kathleen Supové, and Randy Woolf.

From volunteer to donor:

Tamara Michael

UNCSA MAGAZINE | 25WINTER 2015

Alumni Notes

1960sPatricia Hill ’69 has been a member of Local 600, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in Los Angeles for 38 years. Her work includes operating the camera for shows such as “MASH,” “Cheers” and “Frasier.” She is currently operating on the new FOX show “Mulaney” which premiered on Oct. 5.

1970sMurphy Cross ’71 co-produced and directed Me & Ella at 54 Below in New York City.

Marilyn McIntyre ’72 was named director of the Acting Program at the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Melbourne, Australia. She also teaches at the HFA studio in Los Angeles and is working on the independent feature film LOVE.MEET.HOPE.

Terrence Mann ’78 received the Hardee-Rivers Award for the Dramatic Arts from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association in November in New Bern. The annual award honors notable contributions to the dramatic arts in North Carolina. Mann also received one of six of Raleigh’s (N.C.) Medals of Art in November. Mann is Western Carolina University’s Phillips Distinguished Professor of Musical Theatre.

Celia Weston was honored at the Sonnet Repertory Theatre’s 12th annual benefit and cabaret in November. Sonnet Repertory is run by alumni including Todd Loyd ’00, Katrina Kent ’98, Tiffany Little Canfield ’00, Robyn Parrish ’98, and Sean Kent ’96.

1980sAngus MacLachlan ’80 wrote and directed the feature film GOODBYE TO ALL THAT, released by IFC Films in December. In the cast are alumni Paul Schneider ’98, Anna Camp ’04, Celia Weston, and Beth Bostic.Peter Pucci ’81 choreographed Dracula: The Original Vampire Play at the Alley Theatre in Houston, along with performer Jeremy Webb ’94, who returned to the Alley Theatre to play the role of Renfield.

Joe Mantello ’84 directed The Last Ship by Sting, which opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre in October. He then directed alumnus K. Todd Freeman ’87 in Airline Highway at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in December.

Steve Small ’85 is the art director at Addison Repertory Theatre and runs the art program at the Patricia Hannaford Career Center in Vermont.

Ed Stephenson ’85 has been teaching at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. He also performs regularly in the area as a soloist and with his nuevo-flamenco combo, Paco Band.

Cynthia Strickland ’87 played the title role in Paper Lantern Theatre’s Mrs. Mannerly by Jeffrey Hatcher at HanesBrands Theatre in Winston-Salem.

Ruben Graciani ’89 chairs the dance department at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Previously he was on faculty at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Jeff Crevier ’89 is artistic director of the Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant, a yearly show that not only has two Emmys, but is broadcast in 41 countries in 11 languages. The Christmas Pageant was featured in three different booths for innovation and large show programming at the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology conference.

Robert Mellette published his first novel, “Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand” from Elephant’s Bookshelf Press. He also continues to work with Dances with Films, an independent film festival in Santa Monica, Calif.

1990sMargaret Griffith ’90 has showcased her work in several exhibitions around the country. Her project New Sculpture and Foil Works on Paper was on view at Western Project in Culver City, Calif., in September and October. She also had work in the Art on Paper exhibition at the Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and was part of the exhibition 6018 Wilshire at Edward Cella in Los Angeles. Lastly, Gateway to the Sun, a collaborative exhibit featuring work by her and Jamison Carter and curated by Elizabeta Batinski, was on view at Terminal 3 Arrivals at Los Angeles International Airport until January.

Andy Corren ’91 continues to represent actors in film, television, digital media, and theatre. Over the past four years, he’s represented clients on “Suits” (USA), “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix), and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (FOX), among others.

Lindsay Jones ’92 won his seventh Joseph Jefferson Award for his work on Grounded at the American Blues Theater in Chicago. He was also nominated for best sound design in the BroadwayWorld Chicago awards for the same show. In addition, Jones returned to UNCSA to talk with sound design students during Intensive Arts in December.

T. Oliver Reid ’93 performed his show Drop Me Off in Harlem at the Metropolitan Room in New York City and played Oliver Shreeks in the live TV performance of “Peter Pan” in December.

Nicholas Ade ’94 has been appointed by the board of directors at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as interim executive director. He will maintain his responsibilities as CPYB’s school principal. Ade has been with CPYB since 2012.

Avery Glymph ’95 was featured on ABC’s “Forever,” in the episode NY Kids.

Missi Pyle ’95 played Ellen Abbot in GONE GIRL with Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry. She shot CAPTAIN FANTASTIC opposite Viggo Mortensen and plays herself being stalked by Penn Jillette (Penn and Teller) in the satire movie DIRECTOR’S CUT.

John Langs ’96 was named artistic director of Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre, one of the leading professional companies on the West Coast.

Craig Hanemann ’97 received a grant through the United Arts Council of Raleigh to fund a recording of a piano quartet piece.

Danny Sherman ’98 is Don in Broadway’s Tony Award-winner for best musical, Kinky Boots. He also guest starred as John Coogan on CBS’s “Blue Bloods.”

Chad Leslie ’99 is resident artistic director for Dragone Production’s The House of Dancing Water in Macau, China. Dragone is renowned in the world of live entertainment with critically acclaimed productions such as Le Rêve in Las Vegas. Leslie visited UNCSA in November to speak with the senior class of the School of Drama.

ALUMNI NOTES

School of Music high school graduate Stefan de Leval Jezierski ’72 (pictured) returned to his alma mater to give a recital and master class in Watson Hall on Oct. 9. Jezierski plays third horn for the Berlin Philharmonic, which recently toured the United States, including a stop at Carnegie Hall. The native Bostonian studied with Fred Bergstone at the School of Arts and at the Cleveland Institute

of Music. He performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and spent two years as principal horn of the Kassel Staatstheater before taking the high horn position with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1978. As a soloist and chamber musician, Jezierski appears at leading international music festivals in Europe, Asia and North America. He is one of the founding members of the Scharoun Ensemble of Berlin.


2000sTravis Smith ’00 appeared in the world premiere of the musical Bull Durham, based on the MGM movie, at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in October.

Camille A. Brown ’01 choreographed the new musical The Fortress of Solitude, based on the acclaimed novel by Jonathan Lethem. She also heads her own dance company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

Aubrey Deeker ’01 played the title role in Hamlet at the Denver Center Theatre Company. On television, he is a recurring guest star opposite Rachael Taylor on NBC’s “Crisis” and was a top-of-show guest star on CBS’s “NCIS New Orleans.” On film, he had the leading role in DISTANCE shot on location in Wyoming. In addition, he voiced the roles of Malcolm in Macbeth and Laertes in Hamlet in the new audio-recordings by Apple Audio/iTunes in partnership with Simon & Schuster Publishing. He also balances a regular gig teaching Advanced Shakespeare and Styles at American Musical and Dramatic Academy, College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

Tony Shaff ’01 directed and produced HOTLINE, a feature-length documentary film edited by Charlie Dugan ’02 and available on iTunes and other video-on-demand platforms. Post-production sound was provided by Zach Seivers ’06 and J.M. Davey ’08 of Snapsound. Color correction was provided by Alex Bickel ’04 of Color Collective. Rebecca Green ’01 served as a consulting producer and Jack Pennington ’13 did additional camera work.

Bess McCrary ’02 recently was selected to be an artist-in-residence for May 2015 by the Serenbe Community and Chat Hills Music. McCrary also will be releasing her second full-length album as a singer/songwriter in spring 2015, with a tour following.

Andrea (Crampe) Braswell ’04 worked on the independent 1920s jazz movie BOLDEN as first assistant accountant. Aeric Adams ’03 also worked on the film as background production assistant. Filming will finish in early 2015.

Matt Cowart ’04 co-produced the “Live From Lincoln Center” telecast of the New York Philharmonic’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on PBS.

Shawn Harmon ’04 upgraded the lighting in three of UNCSA’s seven on-campus venues. Patrons Theatre and Watson Hall both received two ETC Sensor® dimmer racks through ETC Lighting Systems.

Bridget Regan ’04 plays the recurring role of Rose, beautiful trophy wife and whip-smart attorney, on CW Network’s “Jane the Virgin.” Regan and Alex Reznick ’01 hosted a weekend acting intensive in Los Angeles featuring former faculty member Martin Rader. The three-day master class was held at The Complex in Hollywood where they focused on three of Chekov’s plays: Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Seagull.

Bryan Hall ’05 performed with the winners of the Piano-e-Competition in July, held in Fairbanks, Alaska. Hall is term instructor of violin and viola at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and concertmaster of the Fairbanks Symphony.

Emory LeCrone ’05 has been named one of the dance world’s hottest young choreographers by Dance Spirit magazine.

Adam C. Banks ’06 is post-production supervisor on Marvel’s “Daredevil,” which will premiere on Netflix in May 2015.

Helen Hayes Award winner Joe Isenberg ’06 played Louis XVI in David Adjmi’s Marie Antoinette: Let Them Eat Cake at D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre, directed by Yury Urnov. He was a guest artist during Intensive Arts.

Isaac Klein ’06 directed Falls for Jodie by Eric Holmes featuring fellow alumni Ted Schneider ’02 and Trevor Vaughn ’05 at Little Theater in the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City. Klein also directed The Discarded featuring fellow alumnus Will Rogers ’04 for the Vertigo Theater Company’s Collab, a collaborative workshop program promoting the development of original work, co-curated by alumna Emily Simoness ’07 at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fisher Hillman Studio. Simoness, founder and executive director of Space on Ryder Farm, will speak at “TEDxBroadway” on Feb. 23. She is a UNCSA alumni representative.

Andrew Robinson ’06 is production coordinator at CoSA VFX. He’s worked on several shows including “Person of Interest” on CBS and “Gotham,” which premiered on FOX in September.

Jordan Brown ’07 plays the role of Christopher in White Guy on the Bus by Bruce Graham, directed by Artistic Director B.J. Jones, premiering at Northlight through March 1. Lynn Baber ’81 is the casting director. Brown was also nominated for a Jefferson Award for his work in Brigadoon.

Wood wins North Carolina AwardIra David Wood III of Raleigh, a Drama alumnus, was one of six North Carolinians to receive the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor, on Nov. 13 in Durham. He received the award in recognition of his contributions to fine arts in the state.

Wood is founder and executive director of Raleigh’s Theatre in the Park and director of “The Lost Colony,” the country’s oldest outdoor drama, where he spent summers during his college years as a leading actor.

The North Carolina Awards are administered by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. Susan Kluttz, secretary of the department, said that Wood and the

other recipients have “enriched the lives of our citizens and propelled North Carolina onto the national and world stages.”

Over the course of 40 years, in excess of a million people have witnessed Wood’s bravura performance as the miserly Dickens villain in A Christmas Carol at Theatre in the Park. Consistently voted best local actor in decades of public opinion polls, Wood has managed to accumulate impressive film and television credits, having appeared on screen with such stars as Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Neil Patrick Harris, Cliff Robertson, Matthew Modine, James Earl Jones, Burt Reynolds and Louise Fletcher.

Wood wrote and directed the Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Olympic Festival — the largest single event ever held in North Carolina. His original production, A Capitol Idea, was the highlight of Raleigh’s bicentennial celebration. Four of his original productions have aired on WRAL-TV. Two of his original plays (Eros & Illinois and Requiem for a King) have had extended runs off-Broadway.

He is a recipient of the UNCSA Distinguished Alumnus Award, the university’s highest honor for its graduates.

ALUMNI NOTES

Music alumni collaborate for London debut, premiere

Music alumnus Matthew Michael Brown ’04 made his Westminster Abbey recital debut in December in London.

In addition to playing Bach, Durufle, and Flor Peeters, Brown premiered fellow Music alumnus and faculty member Kenneth Frazelle’s ’74 “Aria, with Diversions.” The work was commissioned by the UNC

School of the Arts with support from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.

Brown

Frazelle

26 | UNCSA MAGAZINE

Wood, right, with Gov. Pat McCrory


ALUMNI NOTES

Several alumni turned out recently for an event, hosted by the School of the Arts Alumni Office, in Washington, D.C. A prime activity during the gathering was the signing of the Picklestock 2015 Reunion banner. Pictured, L-R, are: Stacey Price ’03, Daniel Liebman ’73, Nora Hamme ’04, Lance Lewman ’82, Carol Miller ’78, Stephen Snyder ’86, Elizabeth Snyder ’86, Alumni Director Jonas Silver ’98, and Evan Rooney ’12. The 50th Anniversary Picklestock is slated for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-7, 2015. For more information, visit the Picklestock or the School of the Arts Alumni Network pages on Facebook.

Billy Magnussen ’07 plays Rapunzel’s prince in Disney’s screen adaptation of Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS, with Meryl Streep. Tiffany Little Canfield ’00 was the casting director. Canfield also was the casting director for FOCUS, starring Will Smith, and for the new AMC series “Line of Sight.” Magnussen and his band, Reserved for Rondee, performed in Los Angeles; the band includes fellow alumnus Trevor Vaughn ’05.

Brittany Bailey ’08, who has worked with Merce Cunningham and Michael Clark, re-performed Marina Abramovic’s classic pieces as part of her 2010 MoMA retrospective, worked with Bucksbaum Award-winner Sarah Michelson, and lived with the Whirling Dervishes in Turkey. She has also honed a particularly sculptural approach to dance, creating durational pieces that can last for an hour and a half, as was the case with a performance she did as part of the Watermill Center’s July gala. It was the culmination of a residency at theatre impresario Robert Wilson’s foundation that also yielded her new “Book of Shapes,” a catalog of the more than 25 shapes she creates with her body during her performance as a way of articulating and defining space.

Paloma Garcia-Lee ’08 was featured in the November issue of Dance Spirit magazine, teaching the “New York, New York” dance as a cast member of the Broadway show On the Town.

Anna Wood ’08 starred in the CBS series “Reckless” as Jamie Sawyer. She guest stars in the recurring role of Sarah Eckhart on the CBS series “Madam Secretary.”

Nick Bailey ’09 can be seen on the Amazon Studios comedy pilot “Red Oaks” directed by David Gordon Green ’98 and produced by Steven Soderbergh.

Clint Buckner ’09 was key second assistant director on Kevin Smith’s feature TUSK, which was released in theatres in September, and was key second assistant director on YOGA HOSERS, also from Smith. He served as key second assistant director for seconds unit/stunts unit on MAX, which can be seen in theatres in early 2015.

Jared Outten ’09 wrote, directed, and produced his first feature film, SAMUEL’S GAME. The horror film, premiered in September at the 14th Coney Island Film Festival, winning best feature. It screened at the Bushwick Film Festival in October. Many alumni were part of the project: Alexander Taylor ’09, producer; Greg LeFevre ’09, cinematographer; Kevin Tadge ’09, editor; Joe Morgan ’10, composer; Scott Newberry ’09, script supervisor; Clint Buckner ’09, co-producer; W. Andrew Gorrell ’09, gaffer; Trevor Metscher ‘10, first assistant camera; Eli Wallace-Johansson ’10, second assistant camera; John Maynard ’09, production sound mixer; and Andrew J. O’Keefe ’09, publicist.

Hayley Treider ’09, recipient of the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship for the

Performing and Visual Arts, premiered Dawn, her play with original music, in a workshop performance as part of the Emerging Artists Theatre’s New Works Series at the TADA Theatre in New York. The play was directed by Samip Raval ’12, with musical direction by Leo Hurley ’11. The cast includes Sydney Shepherd ’13, Alex Hoeffler ’10, Casey Predovic ’09, Kacie Brown ’12, Jackie Robinson ’12, Chris French ’09, Lauren Karaman ’14, Max Stampa-Brown, and Mary Kate Harris ’14.

Blythe Auffarth can be heard voicing one of the heroes in the international animated feature DRAGON NEST: WARRIORS DAWN. This is the first of a trilogy. She also filmed a national commercial for Chick-fil-A.

Erich Bergen plays the recurring role of Blake Moran in “Madam Secretary” on CBS. Gotham Magazine also voted Bergen the most eligible bachelor in New York in November.

Two alumni star on “America’s Got Talent” Two UNCSA alumni were among the 12 finalists on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” this past fall.

Coming in fourth place in the competition was School of Music alumnus Kendall Ramseur ’09 (B.M.) and Sons of Serendip, a musical group of four friends who, through a series of serendipitous events, came together while pursuing graduate degrees at Boston University. A music teacher and performer, Ramseur is a cellist and vocalist with the group.

School of Dance high school graduate Nick Mishoe ’99 is part of Blue Journey, an innovative dance duet created by choreographer David Middendorp. The act combines video projection, animation, music and dance to immerse the viewer in a new and surreal world.

Ramseur, right


In MemoriamCarlos Lopez IV ’11Susan Weinstein ’75

2010sJessica Moretti ’10 works on the studio design team at Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, where fellow alumnus Mark B. Gill ’06 is carpenter/craftsperson. Moretti also served as the scenic designer for The Tempest at the Taffety Punk Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.

Emily Riedel ’10 was featured in Millennial magazine for her role in the reality TV show “Bering Sea Gold” and her use of the gold dredging money to help pay for her to study opera in Vienna.

Nancy Cantine ’11 choreographed a piece for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative in New York and is dancing for Dances Patrelle and Eglevsky Ballet. Her first screen dance, GOLDEN MISOLOGIES with Andrew Harper ’13, was accepted into the 2014 Physical Plant Screenings. She is studying long-form improvisational comedy in the conservatory program at Magnet Theater. Recent commercial credits include talent coaching for Turn Up the Speakers by Afrojack and Martin Garrix, choreography for The One by Ed Kowalczyk, It Can Only Get Better by Cedric Gervais, and choreographing and dancing in visuals for 2013’s Ultra Music Festival.

U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Payton A. Harkins ’11 graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas.

Luke Smith ’11 played Alan in One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean, based on Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

Cameron MacManus ’11 is the new interim coordinator for UNCSA’s Community Music School.

John Bowhers ’12 and Anna Rooney shared the Arts Development Award from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County with Reynolda House Museum of American Art for their work running Peppercorn Children’s Theater. They also created and ran the first Field of Fears event at BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem.

Brian Mahnke ’12 is now a consulting associate at Grenzebach Glier and Associates, Consultants in Philanthropic Management.

Tom Hauser ’13 presented an engineering brief titled “Film Production Sound in Secondary Markets – The Power of Networking” at the 137th Audio Engineering Society Convention. The Audio Engineering Society is the largest international organization for sound engineers in the world. Hauser runs an ISDN-equipped post-production studio on Waughtown Street, not far from the UNCSA campus.

Rob Morris ’13 is the author of the blog At the Elephants, a collection of stories from alumni, students, and faculty in a talk radio style audio blog. He is also an instructor in the School of Drama’s new “Acting Out!” classes for the community.

Alec Shaw ’13 plays Stephen Undershaft and Snobby Price in Pearl Theatre Company’s Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw.

Megan West ’13 guest starred as Lila Stangard on the ABC series “How To Get Away With Murder” starring Viola Davis.

Michael Labbadia ’14 played Gus in Strictly Dishonorable with The Attic Theatre Company in New York.

Elizabeth Lail ’14 made her prime-time debut on ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” as Anna from Disney’s Oscar-winning FROZEN.

Jennifer Lazarz ’14 played Berta in Rossini’s Barber of Seville as part of a six-week intensive program for emerging professionals at the Martina Arroyo Foundation. She is a young artist at Syracuse Opera, studying with Dr. Marilyn Taylor.

Tyler Sandborn ’14 joined Charlotte Ballet.

Send us your note or those of fellow Pickles to [email protected], or update your information at the Pickle Portal at https://uncsa.thankyou4caring.org

UNCSA alumni among Emmy winners, nominees Film alumna Jane Bloom’s ’04 work on ABC’s “Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin” won a 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Travel Program. Bloom produces for the shows “Sea Rescue,” “Game Changers,” and “Lucky Dog,” which also received Emmy nominations. She works for both Ampersand Media and Litton Entertainment in Burbank, Calif., holding various titles such as supervising producer, executive in charge of production, and director of development. She was recently engaged to Jay Baur.

Drama alumnus and Two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello ’84 was nominated as Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in HBO’s movie THE NORMAL HEART. He plays Mickey Marcus in the film, which received a total of 16 nominations, the most for any television movie.

Several graduates of the School of Filmmaking are involved with Discovery Channel’s “Alaska: The Last Frontier” which received two nominations, for Unstructured Reality Program and Outstanding Cinematography for Reality Programming. They include: Brian Mandle ’99, director of photography; Scott Gardner ’99, camera; Neil Moore ’02, field producer, camera; David Short ’03, camera; Frank Gibson ’03, producer; Scott Kyger ’07, associate producer; Charles Dugan ’02, editing; David H. Price ’07, editing; and Andrew Taylor ’13, camera assistant.

Drama alumnus Taylor Roberts ’02 appeared in KILLING KENNEDY on the National Geographic Channel. It was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie. Roberts also received her high school diploma from UNCSA in 1998, graduating from the School of Dance.

A feature science documentary, KILLER IN THE CAVES, produced in part by a local research team in collaboration with the Center for Design Innovation (CDI), was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography in a Documentary Film. CDI design researchers Nick Hristoy and Louise Allen directed a team of students from Winston-Salem State University and recent UNCSA Film graduates Ian McClerin ’12 and Eduardo Uruena ’13 in the production of film footage that anchors the overall piece.

ALUMNI NOTES


ALUMNI NOTES

Cirkus Theatre ProjectNow in its fourth year, the Cirkus Theatre Project was inspired by a School of Design and Production partnership with Cirque du Soleil and challenges student teams to create original performances without the use of words.

In January, UNCSA partnered with UNC-TV to air a School of Filmmaking documentary about the project.

The Cirkus Theatre Project is made possible through the generous ongoing support of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. Broadcast support is from The A.J. Fletcher Foundation.

The work was commissioned for and premiered at the 2014 AxS Festival, a 17-day (Sept. 19-Oct. 5) event exploring the intersection of art and science, in Pasadena. It debuted inside the SPHAERAE pavilion, a large-scale temporary public artwork by Dutch architect Cocky Eek.

A concerto for solo viola/percussion/soundscape, Sol Path features live performance by renowned viola soloist Brett Deubner, and immersive multi-media by School of Filmmaking alumnus Adam Larsen ’98, of Asheville, N.C.

Inspired by the exploratory path that the Mars Rover takes over the course of a sol – a Martian day – Sol Path explores the interactions between an Earth-bound team of explorers and a robotic space lab as it searches for signs of life millions of miles away. It was developed through a residency at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where Louchouarn collected interviews,

images and data that are incorporated into his score and the media installation.

As part of the iterative process, the collaborative team worked with resources at CDI to hone and polish the system and structure of the interactive piece.

Sol Path is presented by Madden’s L’Atelier Arts, a Los Angeles-based company that creates live events in partnership with other cultural and educational institutions in the United States and around the world. She also directed.

A cognitive scientist and composer, Louchouarn also teaches in the School of Design and Production and in the Film Music Composition program.

The couple hope to bring Sol Path to CDI and other North Carolina venues in coming months.

Alumni Madden, Larsen collaborate with Louchouarn on Sol Path Last fall, Drama alumna Corey Madden ’79, executive director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, and her husband, Division of Liberal Arts (DLA) faculty member and Center for Design Innovation (CDI) design researcher Bruno Louchouarn, collaborated to present Sol Path, an immersive, interactive music and media work.

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Guys and Dolls production, gala slated for AprilOne of the most highly anticipated events of the year is the spring production of Guys and Dolls, the Tony Award-winning musical that was one of the biggest hits of Broadway’s Golden Age.

This featured production, presented in conjunction with UNCSA’s 50th Anniversary, will be directed by School of Drama frequent guest artist Gus Kaikkonen.

Featuring music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, Guys and Dolls is a perennial favorite that has delighted audiences since its rollicking premiere in 1950. Its songbook includes such irresistible classics as “Luck Be a Lady,” “My Time of Day/I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.” Featuring an array of characters both engaging and enduring, some of the snappiest, smartest lyrics ever written, and a score that seamlessly traverses comedy, romance, and the thrill of a throw of the dice, Guys and Dolls has justifiably been called “the greatest of all American musicals” (Time magazine). It recently made Laurence Maslon’s list of the top 16 best American musicals, published by the Library of America.

It’s a sure bet that UNCSA’s production of Guys and Dolls will be the talk of the town!

Certain to be the social event of the year, UNCSA’s 50th Anniversary Gala will take place on April 11, directly following a special performance of Guys and Dolls (6 p.m. curtain). Downtown Winston-Salem’s Millennium Center will be transformed into a swank supper club evocative of the City that Never Sleeps in its most glamorous era. Sumptuous food, a live band, and plenty of surprises will delight guests of this once-in-a-half-century kind of celebration. All gala proceeds will benefit scholarships at UNCSA. If you are interested in sponsoring a table or attending the gala, please contact the Office of Advancement at (336) 770-3332.

Guys and Dolls performances will be at 7:30 p.m. April 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, and 18; at 2 p.m. April 12, 18, and 19; and at 6 p.m. April 11 (Gala Performance). All shows will be at the Stevens Center, 405 West Fourth St., downtown Winston-Salem.

Ticket prices range from $20 to $100. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the UNCSA Box Office at 336-721-1945 or visit uncsaevents.com.

Documents

UNCSA Magazine, WINTER 2015