As part of the hybrid course offerings with the large instrumental ensembles this semester, the Bands and Orchestras have organized a series of panel discussions on current issues in music with compelling guests from around the country. These sessions are intended to stimulate meaningful reflection and dialogue within the School of Music.

The first in our three-part series on Music and Social Justice took place on the evening of Thursday, August 27, and was attended by more than 240 students and faculty. The panelists for our first webinar were:

Andre Dowell – Chief of Artist Engagement, The Sphinx Organization
William Lake, Jr. – Associate Director of Bands, Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam (DMA ’18)
Albert Lee – Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of Nevada Chamber Opera, University of Nevada, Reno

Upcoming Fall 2020 Panels

Issues in Music Education 1: September 8

Cecil Adderley – Chair of Music Education, Berklee School of Music (UNCG alumnus)
Sommer Forrester – Assistant Professor of Music Education, University of Massachusetts–Boston
Scott Laird – Orchestra Director, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

The Performer’s Experience (UNCG Alumni): September 21

Samantha Frenduto – clarinet, United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own”
Andy Hall – saxophone, The Moanin’ Frogs
Ian Mayton – horn, Houston Symphony Orchestra
Laura Poe – music assistant, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Dusseldorf, Germany, and San Francisco Opera
Kit Polen – double bass, Quad City Symphony, regular performer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Music and Social Justice 2: October 6

William Lake, Jr. – Associate Director of Bands, Crane School of Music
Eugene Rogers – Director of Choral Activities, University of Michigan
Joel Thompson – composer, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed

Issues in Music Education 2: October 19

Kiyoshi Carter – Band Director, Northern Guilford High School and Governor’s School of North Carolina (UNCG alumnus)
Colleen Conway – Professor of Music Education, University of Michigan
David Eccles – Orchestra Director, The Lovett School, former Director of String Music Education, VanderCook College of Music
Scott Rush – Author, Habits series (GIA Publication) former Fine Arts Chair, Dorchester District 2 (SC), former Band Director, Wando High School

Teaching at the University Level (UNCG Alumni): October 22

Andrea Brown – Associate Director of Bands, University of Maryland
Justin Bunting – Assistant Professor of Percussion, University of Arkansas–Little Rock
Shawn Copeland – Associate Professor of Clarinet, University of Idaho
Xin Gao – Assistant Professor of Saxophone, Truman State University
Melody Causby – Assistant Professor of Music Education, University of Southern Mississippi

Perspectives on Arts Administration: November 4

Sara Gibson – Operations Manager, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Carrie Graham – Manager of Artistic Planning, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Armand Hall – ROCmusic Collaborative (Eastman School of Music); Vice-Chair, El Sistema USA; Education Director, Archipelago Project
Anna Justice – Director of Development, Oregon State University Foundation
Harry Mullins – Manager of Orchestra Operations, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Paul Pietrowski – Director of Orchestra Personnel, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Music and Social Justice 3: November 18

Damien Crutcher – Founder, Crescendo Detroit; music faculty, Wayne State University
Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin – Director of Bands, Pennsylvania State University
William Lake, Jr. – Associate Director of Bands, Crane School of Music (UNCG alumnus)
Bethany Uhler – former director, Chatham Youth Detention Center String Program (UNCG alumnus)

The College of Visual and Performing Arts last night joined more than 1,500 organizations across the country in lighting theatres and other event venues in red to raise awareness for the arts and entertainment industry which has been devastated by COVID-19.

The event was called “Red Alert” and was organized by the advocacy group “We Make Events” which cited the following statistics:

Live events employ over 12 million people.
Live events contribute over $1 trillion annually to the US economy.
95% of live events have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
96% of companies have cut staff and/or wages.
77% of people in the live events industry have lost 100% of their income

On the UNC Greensboro campus, UNCG Auditorium, Taylor Theatre, and the Brown Building which houses The Pam and David Sprinkle Theatre, were glowing red until about midnight. Other buildings that were part of the public awareness campaign are Madison Square Garden in New York, National Cathedral in Washington, DC, the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and Capital Records in Los Angeles.

Organizers say their goal is to urge Congress to vote for the Restart Act and to push for an extension and expansion of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Read more about how to be a part of this arts advocacy here.

School of Music Alumnus Dr. Ian Passmore (’09 BA Music) has been awarded 2nd Place in the
2019-20 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting. Read more here.

In addition to the best professors and classes, many students say that what they need in college is an internship that will offer them “real world experience.” But what happens when the world is a little UNreal? For two of CVPA’s Arts Administration students it was a no-brainer: pivot and get placed in virtual internships.

Katie Grischow came to UNCG to study with Dr. Erika Boysen, and is pursuing a dual degree in Flute Performance and Arts Administration with a Minor in Business. The Nash County, NC native is on track to graduate this May.

“I hope to have a career that is somewhat equally split between an arts administration career and performing. I’m not completely sure what this will look like yet, but I’m excited to be able to have different areas to pull from to create my career. A more specific area that interests me is leadership in summer music festivals.”

Katie knew that to make that dream a reality, it would help to do an internship. So she went to Tennessee — in an online way — to work at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival where she helped develop marketing content, researched ways to diversify the student and faculty base, and worked on the annual report.

“As someone who had only experienced summer music festivals from the student perspective, it was so interesting to see what the staff and faculty were doing behind the scenes. I loved being about to see how different people were able to make their careers in arts administration, especially considering that degree programs are fairly new. Despite the circumstances, I learned invaluable lessons about how summer music festivals function. Everyone was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, which made me wish that much more that I could have met them in person!”

Arts Administration major and Music minor, Domanique McMillan is a senior from Fayetteville. She says she chose CVPA because she wanted her studies to combine artistry and administration.

“Ultimately, I envision myself having a career in a higher education setting, advising and recruiting students who are interested in pursuing the performing arts. I also have strong interest in non-profit organizations that work diligently to make the beauty of the fine arts accessible.”

Like Grischow, McMillan realized that an internship would help her along that path. She spent six weeks this summer with the Davis Shakespeare Festival in Davis, CA.

“The opportunities that I had in this internship will be incredibly beneficial. I have learned so much about theatre in the literary, historical, methodical, and administrative sense. I also had the opportunity to actively participate in programming a digital theatre season with other students from all over the country.”

McMillan says she learned far more than just the technical aspects of a good arts organization:

My internship supervisors were dedicated to creating a community of inclusion, diversity, and education. We had many conversations about the impact that arts administrators have in breaking through the non-inclusive barriers of the fine arts, and how the arts are for all people. This is the type of forward-thinking organization that I want to find myself in after graduation.”

Arts Administration Director Hannah Grannemann says the arts organizations that offered her students virtual internships created a great experience for the students:

“ The internships were thoughtfully and purposefully structured to offer meaningful interaction with the staff and fellow interns. It’s already a new experience for our students to work at an arts organization for the first time, so it was an extra challenge to do that work virtually. The students jumped in eagerly and enthusiastically. Both the organizations and students felt that the internships were successful.”

Grannemann adds that this is just the beginning for this kind of pivot:

“Virtual and hybrid virtual/in-person internships are going to continue throughout this pandemic. We are incorporating remote work skills into our Arts Administration courses to anticipate the changing world of work in which our students will enter.”

To see some of the projects that Katie Grischow and Domanique McMillan worked on this summer you can see The Sewannee Summer Music Festival annual report here and the Davis Shakespeare Festival’s Digital Season here.

Greensboro Project Space (GPS), the School of Art’s off-campus contemporary art center, has a new home.

Previously located on Lewis Street at the far south end of Elm Street, GPS is now located in the heart of downtown Greensboro at E. 111 February One Place and is open to the public with COVID-19 safety policies in place. The new GPS has four galleries, which allows for more concurrent exhibitions, and it will share an outdoor area with Cincy’s restaurant for concerts and performances.

As GPS opens in its new space, it may be fitting that the opening exhibition is “Home, revisited” by senior BFA Art (Painting) student Emily Moser. The works reflects Moser’s quarantine inspired examination of her home environment using drawing and painting. She is the recipient of the William Magnum Artistic Merit Award which she says made this show possible. “Home, revisited” is up until August 28th. Upcoming events include a virtual evening with Durham based documentary artist and UNCG Art alumnus Anthony Patterson and a Zoom Musical Salon featuring School of Music professors Andy Hudson and Annie Jeng.

GPS serves as a bridge between UNCG artists and the community, and it is a interdisciplinary space which hosts art exhibitions, as well as dance, music, and theatre performances -often in collaborative pieces that include more than one of the arts disciplines.

Hours and policies can be found at www.greensboroprojectspace.com/visit.