Distinguished Alumnus Presented Award from Society of American Music
Distinguished Alumnus Marian Wilson Kimber (BA ’83) was recently awarded the Sight and Sound Subvention from the Society for American Music for her work “In a Woman’s Voice: Musical Readings by American Women Composers.”
This project will be a video recording of musical readings for spoken word and piano by women composers, performed by Marian Wilson Kimber, reciter, and Natalie Landowski, piano. It is based on the work in Wilson Kimber’s book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (University of Illinois Press, 2017). The influx of female performers into elocution during the Progressive era resulted in women’s dominance of spoken-word compositions, which were frequently performed for audiences in women’s clubs from the 1890s to the 1940s. The texts treat stereotypically feminine topics—fashion, courtship, or domestic life—often in satirical tones, supported by musical commentary in the piano. Composers such as Phyllis Fergus and Frieda Peycke created works that specifically appealed to women while subtly resisting existing gender norms. Wilson Kimber and Landowski have been performing these works for several years to warm response in academic settings and for the music’s original audience, women’s groups; this recording will help further the rediscovery of this practice.
Marian Wilson Kimber is Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa. She has published numerous articles about women in music, Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and recitation in concert life. Her book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (University of Illinois Press, 2017) won SAM’s H. Earle Johnson Subvention, as well as a subvention from the American Musicological Society. With pianist Natalie Landowski, Wilson Kimber is a founding member of the duo, Red Vespa, which is reviving the performance of comic spoken word pieces by women composers. Red Vespa has delighted audiences in Kansas City, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC, and has appeared at Ohio State University as the William A. Hammond Lecture in the American Tradition.
School of Dance Alumna Giving Greensboro “Something Our Community Needs Right Now”
School of Dance Alumna Princess Johnson, founder of Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet, is taking her company’s Juneteenth Arts Celebration online.
“The entire Greensboro community will benefit from watching it as we all seek healing and reconciliation in our varying ways,” Johnson said.
Read more in this Greensboro News and Record Article.
Photo from News and Record article. Princess Johnson talking with Ryan Deal, Executive Director of Creative Greensboro, at a recent rehearsal for the Juneteenth Arts Celebration.
School of Dance Alumna Organizing for Change
Melanie Greene (’13 MFA Dance) is a dancer and writer who hosts the Dance Union Podcast, with dancer J. Bouey. When the document titled “An Open Letter to Arts Organizations Rampant With White Supremacy” began circulating on the internet, Greene and Bouey used their podcast to begin dialogue and action to make a difference.
Their work is featured in this New York Times article, A Model for the ‘Dance World We Want’.
Spartan Artists ‘Say Their Names’
Downtown Greensboro looks a lot different this month. Vibrantly painted storefronts, challenging quotes from authors and musicians, and art that refers to love, justice, peace, grief, support, and hope.
Several Spartan students, alumni, and faculty are among the many on Elm Street proving the power of art.
Read the full article here:
Five Alumni Selected for GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinals
The UNCG School of Music is proud of the five alumni who have been selected as quarterfinalists for the 2021 Music Educator Award™ presented by the Recording Academy® and GRAMMY Museum®. These graduates span four decades of excellence in the Music Education area.
- Alisha Cardwell (BM ’17) — Riverside High School, Williamston, NC
- Jordan Lee (BM ’17) — Western Guilford High School, Greensboro, NC
- Brian McMath (BM ’96, MM ’10) — Northwest Guilford High School, Greensboro, NC
- Neil Underwood (BM ’82, MM ’87) — Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC
- Donny Walter (BM ’94, MM ’12) — Northwest Guilford Middle School, Greensboro, NC
The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators (kindergarten through college, public and private schools) who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. A joint partnership and presentation of the Recording Academy® and GRAMMY® Museum, the recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY® Week 2021.
Congratulations to all and good luck!
Read the full list of 2021 Music Educator Award quarterfinalists.
