Karen S. Thomas is currently a Ph.D. student in Music Education at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she also serves as a graduate assistant. Prior to pursing a doctoral degree, she taught middle school general music in Randolph County for one year, elementary general music in Guilford County for two years, and elementary general music in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools at Kernersville Elementary for the last ten years. In 2008, she received National Board Certification in Early and Middle Childhood Music. She earned a M.M. in Music Education in 2005 and a B.A. in Music in 1997, both from UNCG. Karen was Chairperson/Lead Elementary Music Teacher for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools from 2010 – 2013 and was selected as Kernersville Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2012. She was a clarinet instructor at the Music Academy of North Carolina from 2001 – 2010 and was Director of Music Camps from 2003 – 2009.

Karen is a recent winner of the UNCG Graduate Research & Creativity Expo, where she presented research titled “Musicians Earplugs: Does Their Use Affect Performance or Listeners’ Perceptions.” Her article titled “Music Preferences and the Adolescent Brain: A Review of Literature” was recently published in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. She has presented at the NC Music Educators Association Conference in 2009 and 2014. Karen will be a presenter, along with Dr. Constance McKoy (UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance) and Jackie Secoy (UNCG Ph.D. student), at the Mountain Lake Colloquium for teachers of general music methods in May 2015. Karen’s research areas of interest are auditory discrimination, aural-based instruction, and music perception.

Guy Cappuzo has been appointed to the the editorial board of Music Theory Spectrum (Oxford) and the advisory board of the Journal of Elliott Carter Studies. 

May 5, 2015–Tony award nominations were announced on April 28. Among the list of nominations are some productions involving UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance alumni:

Best Revival of a Musical, On the Town: Bonnie Becker , Production Stage Manager ’76; Julie DeVore ’10, Assistant Stage Manager; Stephanie Yankwitt ’00 (Artistic Associate, Barrington Stage Company)

Best Original Score & Best Orchestration The Last Ship: Eric Tysinger ’03, Assistant Stage Manager

Best of luck to all the nominees and the continued success of our alumni!

Associate professor B.J. Sullivan was recently awarded the “Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activity” award on April 7, 2015 for her work with the American Dance Legacy Initiative (ADLI.) B.J. performs with ADLI’s Dancing Legacy Company and teaches workshops connecting these etudes through her Safety Release Technique.  ADLI is devoted to the legacy of modern dance in America and creates etudes of dance master works by choreographers like Robert Battle, José Limón, Donald McKayle, David Parsons. ADLI’s mission is to make these etudes accessible to larger populations through workshops, lecture demonstrations and performances.

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The School of Music, Theatre and Dance welcomed five of its most accomplished alumni back to campus Thursday and Friday to recognize their achievements in the school’s first Distinguished Alumni awards.

“We’re honored to have these five alumni return to campus so our students and faculty can learn from their accomplishments and experiences,” said Peter Alexander, dean of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. “These alumni, with their achievements in performance, research and education, are great examples of how far a UNCG music, theatre or dance degree can take you.”

The five distinguished alumni are:

Chris Chalk, Distinguished Alumnus in Theatre (2001)
Chalk is an actor known for numerous TV, stage and movie roles. He played Clemens Ray in the 2013 Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave. He’s also had roles in a number of TV series, including Gotham, The Newsroom, Sons of Anarchy and Homeland.

Laura Poe, Distinguished Alumna in Music Performance (2001, 2004)
Poe is a highly accomplished pianist and an experienced conductor; she also plays a number of instruments. She is currently based in Duesseldorf, Germany, where she has been a member of the music staff at Deutsche Oper am Rhein since 2011. She will join the San Francisco Opera for the 2015-16 season.

Dr. Donald Hamann, Distinguished Alumnus in Music Education (1980)
Hamann is an internationally published professor of music education who currently teaches at the University of Arizona. He is director of the Institute for Innovation in String Music Teaching and has been published in national and international music education and research journals.

Anna H. Celenza, Distinguished Alumna in Music Studies (1989)
Celenza is the Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University and has published several academic books as well as an award-winning series of children’s books. Her work has been featured on national radio and television programs.

Christal Brown, Distinguished Alumna in Dance (2001)
Brown is an innovative dancer, choreographer, educator, writer and activist. She is the chair of the dance program at Middlebury College, founder of the INSPIRIT dance company and Project: BECOMING, and creator of the Liquid Strength training module for dance. She is currently in the midst of a 44-month interdisciplinary movement study funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.