Coro di Belle Voci and Old Time Ensemble

Founded in the spring of 2008, the UNCG Old Time Ensemble focuses the learning of American vernacular music traditions, including American old-time string band music, American folk songs, jug band music, work songs, blues, gospel, shape-note singing, ballads, and student compositions which reflect these styles. The Old-Time Ensemble has a long tradition of including both music and non-music majors, and is open to all UNCG students regardless of major and without an audition. The emphasis is on learning and teaching traditional music through traditional means: including “lined-out” singing, learning by ear, learning through jamming, and learning from the wider old-time and traditional music community in North Carolina. The Old-Time Ensemble has worked with local and national tradition bearers, including Alan Jabbour and Ken Perlmann, Peter Rowan, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens, Riley Baugus, and Richard Hartness and Tolley Tollefson. The group has performed at the North Carolina Folk Festival, the Charlie Poole Music Festival, and other local and regional events. Members and Alumi of the UNCG Old-Time Ensemble have gone on to be leaders in the folk and roots music scene, and in music classrooms across the Southeast.

The mission of the UNCG Choirs is dedicated to the teaching, performance, study and cultivation of choral music of the highest quality representing not just the western choral canon but also choral music of other cultures by a diverse body of historical and new composers. We believe that the UNCG Choirs are a serious and distinctive medium of musical expression, of vital service and importance to its members and to UNCG. Through ensemble performance, we strive to create an environment of trust, communication, and expressive freedom, to present outstanding performances throughout the year, and to enhance the institutional sprit and character of UNCG. To music as an art and a profession, the UNCG Choirs seek to bring increasing artistry, understanding, and respect by efforts within our own immediate sphere and by providing leadership and sponsorship to school choral programs and through cooperation with all other agencies pursuing similar musical goals.