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Jessica Henderson, a senior Acting major, won the Irene Ryan Acting Competition at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival last week in Sacramento, Calif., and will represent UNC at the KCACT national festival April 15-21 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C
 University of Northern Colorado alumna Neyla Pekarek and the band she joined after graduating, the Denver-based indie group The Lumineers, have been nominated for two 2013 Grammy Awards.
The group, which is scheduled to perform during the live TV broadcast of the awards on Feb. 10, received nominations in the Best New Artist and Best American Album categories.
The Lumineers are touring in front of sell-out crowds and have enjoyed multiple television appearances over the past two months including a recent performance on Saturday Night Live.
Pekarek earend her bachelor's degree in Music Education in 2010.
Read more about Pekarek in a story on the Greeley Tribune's website. |
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 Music Professor Uncovers Story Behind Chopin’s Composition
Stories can be told with words, images, and even gestures. To those with musical expertise, stories can be told in tones as well. Musical compositions have their own vocabularies and narrative strategies, and these have a great deal to tell about the cultural conditions in which such works were produced.
Although the story a musical composition tells is not always clear at first blush, a close inspection of its narrative structure can illuminate its meaning. A recently written book by UNC Professor of Music Jonathan Bellman, titled “Chopin’s Polish Ballade: Op. 38 As Narrative of National Martyrdom,” helps to unravel the mysteries behind Frédéric Chopin’s Second Ballade. Read the whole story. |
Four Saxophones for Six Suites - Developing the Saxophone as a Classical Instrument
Three years ago, Andrew Dahlke, associate professor of Music, began researching Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, some of the most performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for the cello. Recently he became the first musician to transcribe and professionally record Bach’s cello suites using four different types of saxophones.
Previously, the suites had been transcribed and recorded using a variety of instruments, including a single style of saxophone. However, Dr. Dahlke, to his knowledge, is the first musician to transcribe them and professionally record them using a soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone. Read the whole story.
At the annual Henry Awards (July 17, 2012) in Denver, UNC Theatre Arts professor Tom McNally was honored with the Colorado Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Theatre Guild. At the same ceremony alumna Megan Van De Hey received the Henry Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Mother in the Arvada Center’s production of Ragtime.
A first-ever UNC alumni band concert July 24 that's part of UNC's Concerts Under the Stars series promises to be an entertaining evening for concert-goers at the Garden Theatre.
Click here to read more.
John Moore's Honor Roll of Coloradoans on National Stages includes many UNC Alumni read article & watch video at http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_15109780 |
Adventures of a Traveling Artist
Krysten Koehn lives for adventure. She runs marathons, even if she questions her sanity for doing so. She climbs mountains, calling an overnight snowfall that left her tent roof crunchy and cold “a wonderful surprise.” When she returned home to Colorado for a few days in the summer, she regretfully missed a few close friends because she climbed four fourteeners in two days.
But her toughest challenge yet may have also been her greatest adventure. Since she graduated from UNC in 2007, she’s lived in two diverse parts of the world, including one that couldn’t be more different than the state she used to call home.
Read Krysten's story here http://www.unco.edu/northernvision/spring2012/World_Krysten.html
Expedition Yucatan
Seventeen UNC students will spend the last two weeks of June in the Yucatan Peninsula with Michael Kimball, director of the Honors, Scholars and Leadership Center, and Gillian McNally, assistant professor of Theatre Education.
The trip is part of MIND Global, a new initiative in UNC's Life of the Mind interdisciplinary studies program that promotes MIND courses taught in international locations. MIND is the course prefix for interdisciplinary courses offered as part of the Life of the Mind program.
Expedition Yucatan is a hybrid online MIND course that incorporates international service learning experience. Unlike most study abroad opportunities, Expedition Yucatan is just two weeks long, instead of an entire semester or summer.
"One of the benefits of this program is it allows students to experience a different culture in a short period of time," Kimball said. "It's the best of both worlds; the trip is short, yet the students are immersed in the culture from the moment they arrive and begin to understand what community life is like for people in the Yucatan Peninsula almost right away."
Students in the course this summer will be involved in service learning projects in the Mayan village of Yunku. One of the projects will be joining McNally in helping the children in the village put together a play, which will be performed for everyone in the village to see.
Students will have time for some sightseeing outside of the village toward the end of their expedition.
Seth Morones, a senior Sociology major, said he's most looking forward to exploring global education with the village youth.
"I have always had a passion for working with at-risk youth and homeless students, which had stemmed from my own experiences in homelessness when I was younger," said Morones. "I'm hoping this trip will be like kindling the flame for me, and enhance my desire to learn about people and cultures - building connections with them and seeing what's out there."
Click here for more stories.
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University of Northern Colorado’s student chamber choir Prima Voce was selected to perform in May at the International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria.
Led by conductor Jill Burleson and assistant director Karen Lange, the choir also toured Austria and the Czech Republic. The ensemble performed at concert venues that included the Stephansdom and Stift Klosterneuberg in Vienna; Saint Vitus and St. George's Basilica in Prague; and Haydn Hall at Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt. Prima Voce's repertoire is a cappella, and comprises an array of choral chamber literature ranging from Renaissance to 21st century.
Acceptance into the prestigious international competition was based on the submission of performance recordings, repertoire lists, and a proposed competition program. It was a wonderful opportunity to represent the UNC Choral Program and College of Performing and Visuals Arts on an international level.
Read about the trip on line at http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Prima-Voce/
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UNC Pride of the Rockies Marching Band drum major Andrew Holcombe was selected to speak at May 2012 Graduation. When asked about his speech, he said, “I’ll just be talking about “real life” - about how it’s this nebulous thing people talk about that we have been preparing for these many years...and now, all of a sudden here it is. I’ll talk a little about UNC history, and a lot about being the change and making our world the way we want it to be. More activity and less idling. And also I’ll ask people to thank their supporters — teachers, friends, families, community — for their support along the way.”
Also pictured: Shaina Rush and Dylan Ford
View highlights of UNC’s 2011-12 school year athttp://www.unco.edu/life/components/year/ |
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Theatre Arts & Dance 2012 American College Theatre Festival Region Seven Festival UNC
Design Technology Competition Results:
Katie Gruenhagen - 1st Place Lighting Design
Chris Lundahl - 2nd Place Lighting Design
Katie will now go on to compete nationally at the Kennedy Center this summer. Katie and Chris also received 17 callbacks each at the URTA Graduate School Auditions/Interviews in Chicago!
UNC at the Arvada Center - Alumni Amada Earls and Rikki James have joined the cast of the Arvada Center’s Legally Blonde-the Musical, which already includes UNC’s Hayden Stanes, Aisha Jackson, Andrew Russell, Heather Marie Doris, Matt La Fontaine and Julia. The production is directed by UNC alumnus Gavin Mayer, who recently completed his MFA (Directing) at the University of Florida. The show runs June 12 – July 1, 2012 in the Main Stage Theater.
http://arvadacenter.org/on-stage/legally-blonde-the-musical
The Student Auditions of the Colorado/Wyoming district of the National Association of Teachers of Singing were held at Metro State College in Denver in, April. There were 390 students auditioning, many of them in both Classical and Musical Theatre. UNC students performed very well, winning many of the first, second and third prizes, as well as numerous honorable mentions.
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The School of Art and Design was saddened be the death of Paolo Barucchieri on April 9, 2012 in Rome, Italy. Paolo received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1969.
In 1972, he joined the Arts faculty at UNC. Paolo taught art history and design courses. He initiated a study abroad program in 1972, leading a group of UNC students to his native Italy. The program began in a converted monastery near Florence, where Paolo established UNC’s La Poggerina, study abroad program.
Professor Chip Coronel first met Paolo when he joined the faculty in 1975, when he and Paolo shared an office. “ I really established an instant friendship, he was incredibly generous with his knowledge and love of art. As a new faculty he had a profound affect on my teaching style/philosophy and most importantly taking students outside the classroom. Paolo encourage me in 1977 to take my first group of students to Italy. I have been returning with UNC students ever since. Last summer 18 students were able to experience Italy, and most importantly Paolo,” Coronel said.
Over the 10 years that Paolo led the UNC program, numerous faculty and students from a variety of academic disciplines experienced Italy and the privilege of Paolo’s generosity and wisdom. In 1982, due to UNC budgetary cuts, Paolo moved the program to Texas A&M, where it is still based. In 1989, The Santa Chiara Study Center was founded in Castiglion Fiorentino.
Paolo is survived by his wife Sharon Jones, who graduated from the UNC Art Department in 1975. She is instrumental in the success and popularity of the program. He also leaves a
son, two daughters and two brothers.
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Sharon shared her favorite quote of Paolo’s:
“This journey of my life gave me much joy.
I was blessed with good friends that helped me understand more.
The people and moments that colored my world will remain with me always.” |
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Ragtime Opens February 29th This highly acclaimed musical won Tony Awards for Best Score, Book and Orchestrations, and won both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. Ragtime is a powerful portrait of life in turn-of-the-century America, and a relevant tale for today. Get your tickets today - info at http://www.arts.unco.edu/calendar/tickets.html
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Tickets are going fast for the 42nd Annual UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival
The largest event of its kind in the nation, the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival brings together internationally recognized artists, jazz lovers, award-winning clinicians, and over 275 college, high school, and middle school big bands, combos, and jazz vocal groups from across the country. Each year, over 7,500 participants enjoy the main stage concerts, after-hours sessions, daytime performances, and the many educational workshop sessions. Click here for all the details
http://www.unco.edu/arts/music/jazz_festival/default.html
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Alumnus Vale Rideout was among the cast of Florentine Opera's Elmer Gantry that took home a Grammy award; the world premiere of the opera by composer Robert Aldridge and librettist Herschel Garfein at Nashville Opera also included UNC alumnus Greg Gerbrandt. Vale and Greg will be reunited for a performance of The Barber of Seville at Opera Fort Collins with Artistic Director Brian Clay Luedloff, Director of Opera Theatre at UNC.
Vale - 3rd from left in photo by Reed Hummel/Nashville Opera
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Soprano Rose Sawvel (B.A. 2005 and M.M. 2008) was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional auditions, and has been cast in the prestigious Merola Opera program of the San Francisco Opera. Following her performances in California she will play the title role of Marie in Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment with Opera Fort Collins with Luedloff.
Rose -2nd from left in photo by Charles Ralph/Opera Pronto |
Producing a 'Smash' Musical... After learning she landed her Denver public school one of 20 national grants from NBC's "Smash: Make a Musical" project, Mindy Loughhead's mind shifted for a moment to her UNC graduate thesis. She couldn't stick to the script now. Continue Reading http://www.unco.edu/news/releases.aspx?id=3683&utm_
source=February%2022%202012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=unctoday
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The Concert Choir was honored by being one of twelve choirs throughout the US selected through blind audition to perform for the recent National Choral Conductor's Organization biennial conference. On March 24th, the Concert Choir will perform the St. John Passion of J.S. Bach with renowned British conductor Simon Carrington, as well as professional orchestra and soloists. Carrington is a former member of the British male ensemble The King's Singers, and has well over 1,000 performances with the ensemble throughout the world.
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Save the Date! Cotton and Wood, the annual UNC Paint Club silent auction and raffle fund raiser is March 24th from 6 to 8pm. Cocktails, food, music, and art - all to be found in the University Center Panorama room.
Wonderful results School of Theatre Arts and Dance from the 2012 American College Theatre Festival (region 7)
held February 13-17:
Design Technology Competition - Katie Gruenhagen - 1st Place Lighting Design. Katie will now go on to compete nationally at the Kennedy Center this summer. Chris Lundahl - 2nd Place Lighting Design. Katie and Chris also received 17 callbacks each at the recent URTA Graduate School Auditions/Interviews in Chicago.
*7 UNC students competed in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition with excellent outcomes:
Aisha Jackson - Second Alternate - Irene Ryan Awards
David San Miguel - Finals - Irene Ryan Awards
Jeff Zicker - Semi Finals - Irene Ryan Awards
Brenna Larson - Semi Finals - Irene Ryan Awards
Here are some current stories from the College of Performing and Visual Arts at UNC. Don’t forget to check out our calendar of Spring Semester events at http://www.arts.unco.edu/calendar/
The first event is the January 17th Faculty Recital, Melissa Peña, oboe, Milne Auditorium, 8pm, Tickets 351.2200
has picked the 10 feature stories from 2011 that they think best capture the spirit of the university and its students, faculty and staff. Clink on the link to read the stories:
http://www.unco.edu/news/releases.aspx?id=3489&utm_source=December%2030%202011&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=unctoday
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Art is the Best Teacher: Works by Colorado's Higher Education Faculty
This Creative Capitol exhibition highlights visual arts faculty from fourteen higher education campuses across Colorado. A broad range of media, subject matter, and disciplines show the diversity and the overall unity of Colorado's art in higher education.
UNC School of Art & Design faculty members, Lynn Cornelius, Lauren Eisen, Tom Stephens, Andrew Svedlow, and Anna Ursyn, have been selected to show their work in the Creative Capitol Exhibit Highlighting Faculty in Higher Education. Their pieces are on display at the Colorado State Capitol thru May 14, 2012.
The exhibition will be on display at the Colorado Capitol Building in the Lt. Governor's offices and the basement rotunda through May 13, 2012. The Capitol is open to visitors from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
http://www.coloarts.state.co.us/programs/creative/index.htm
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 The University of Northern Colorado's Wind Ensemble spent most of the school's winter break on a multi-city performance tour in China. The 47-member group, under the direction of Music Professor Ken Singleton, left Dec. 21 for a two-week trip that included performances in Shanghai, Beijing and Qingquan.
The ensemble, whose ranks include both undergraduate and graduate students, performed an "American sampler" consisting of 13 pieces, most of which the audiences had not heard before.
They were accompanied by Richard Mayne, associate director of bands at UNC, and Assistant Professor of Music Lei Weng, who joined the group on piano for the concert's closing number, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Weng is a Chinese national, and the trip was organized through his Chinese agent's management group, which funded the majority of the trip's costs. Additional funding is came from the students, the UNC School of Music and other campus organizations.
The Wind Ensemble is comprised of the university's foremost musicians. Essentially an orchestral woodwind/brass/percussion section supplemented by saxophones and keyboards, the ensemble explores challenging one-player-per-part wind music by a variety of composers. Membership is determined by audition and is open to music and non-music majors.
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The 2012 Broadway season begins next week with 6 STAD alumni currently appearing on the "Great White Way."
Jason Vesey – The Lion King
Derek Hansen – Anything Goes
Alena Watters – Sister Act
Josh Buscher – Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Jenny Fellner – Wicked
Victoria Matlock – Million Dollar Quartet
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Victoria Matlock |
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Megan Van De Heywas named Actress of the Year in the Denver Post’s 2011 Ovation Awards. Megan has also been cast in the upcoming production of the musical Chess at the Arvada Center and will appear 2012 summer in the Little Theatre of the Rockies production of Next to Normal. http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_19604222 |
Melissa Kidd who has worked for the past two season as the set costumer on The Closer will be moving to a spin off TV show entitled Major Crimes when The Closer wraps production this season. Collen Munch is now employed as an over-hire carpenter at the Denver Center for the Performing arts. Karli Kaiser just appeared on an episode of the TV show Reno 911 with Nicey Nash and will also appear in an upcoming music video for Matthew McConaughey. Travis Shupe has been promoted to Eos Operator and Assistant Lighting Designer at Harpo Studios in Chicago, Il. Lynnsey Ooten has been cast in the youth outreach touring productions (Shakespeare-To-Go) of Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Lynnsey will teach as well as perform. Rose Sawvel, MM 2008, was recently chosen to sing the role of Serpetta in La Finta Giardiniera (Mozart) in the highly prestigious Merola Opera Program sponsored by the San Francisco Opera. Laura Bateman, DA 2011, was selected to receive the Graduate Dean's Citation for Excellence, which was conferred at commencement in December.
selected through blind audition to perform for the National Choral Conductor's Organization biennial conference during fall semester. The Men's Glee Club was featured in the First Congregational Church Advent Concert Series, performing the distinguished "Missa Cum Jubilo" by French composer Maurice Durufle. Organist Alice Crawford played the church's new pipe organ.
Consider the gift of a great experience as you plan your holiday shopping. Greeley is blessed with wonderful opportunities for high quality arts, entertainment and enrichment. The UNC College of Performing and Visual Arts Box Office will be open weekday afternoons through December 22nd to help you with gift certificates or ticket purchases for a wide variety of music and theatre events or community arts classes.
Gift items could include the award-winning University Symphony Orchestra, the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival, or Ragtime at Langworthy Theatre. Perhaps you are presenting a young musician with a first guitar. Why not add a series of guitar lessons offered by UNC Community Arts? New camera or a paint set? Community Arts has low-key, affordable lessons to match.
The UNC arts box office is located in Frasier Hall on 10th Avenue at 17th Street. They can be reached by phone at 351-2200 Monday through Friday noon to 5:30pm.
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UNC Community Arts and City of Greeley "Paint the Town" project join forces to create a mural on the old Frank's Seed and Hatchery building. The mural, called 'hands in the dirt, head in the sky' was the culmination of a class that looked at mural painting from the historic to the very practical aspects of large scale public paintings.
More photos...
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Like Father, Like Daughter
Tom and Gillian McNally share a father-daughter moment.
Photo, Video / Katie Owston
Tom McNally and his daughter, Gillian McNally, are mainstays in UNC's theater programs. In the next week, they'll be honored by their peers on the national and regional levels, respectively, with Gillian receiving the same award her father earned 16 years ago.
Read the complete story here. |
Award-winning UNC Jazz Lab Band I featured at Telluride Jazz Festival in August
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 Opera Theatre Students Garner Rave Reviews for Performances in Germany
"I just wanted to let you know how well all of the UNC students did in Germany this year! I sang the Queen of the Night in the professional performance of The Magic Flute! The reviewer gave us excellent reviews." - Melissa Dalton
The Link for the Review of our Student Performance
The Link for the Review of my debut in Bad Schwalbach
Powerful Coloratura Thrills the Audience (Translation of German Review)
The same can be said of Melissa Sue Dalton. The student from the University of Northern Colorado culminated her six-week study period in this production in the role of the Queen of the Night. Rightly so, for even the charisma with which she rose in her first appearance down the stairs was highly professional. She also impressed us with clean intonation, a large voice and especially with her powerful coloratura, for which she was rightly received with great applause.
School’s Starting - Gear Up! Can having UNC College of Performing and Visual Arts swag make you happy? Buy some and find out! We have t-shirts, sweatshirts, water bottles, mugs, bags, bears and more. Order by phone from the PVA box office at 970-351-2200. All items available by individual order and can be picked up or shipped in approx. 10 days. |
UNC alumnus Jake Mendes
Nominated for Theatre Award
School of Theatre Arts and Dance graduate Jake Mendes is nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award (IT Awards) for Outstanding Ensemble for his work in The Drowsy Chaperone, which was produced by The Gallery Players.
Jake said this about his experience, “I couldn't ask for a better show to have been a part of for my first production in New York!”
“It is a rare show where the entire ensemble not only adores each other, but adores their work and the story that they are telling. This infectious trait sent audiences beaming from ear-to-ear,” said producer Heather S. Curran.
The nominees were announced at a sold-out event in August, 2011 that was attended by nearly 500 artists and guests. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on September 19th.
A little about the IT Awards which are given annually to honor individuals and organizations who have achieved artistic excellence in Off-Off-Broadway theatre: New York IT Awards recognize the unique and essential role Off-Off-Broadway plays in contributing to American and global culture, and believe that publicly recognizing excellence in Off-Off-Broadway theatre will expand audience awareness and appreciation of the full New York theatre experience.
http://www.nyitawards.com
Melissa Pena, Assistant Professor of Oboe, was a member of the Colorado Music Festival as part of the woodwind quintet chamber performances. She was Principle Oboe with the Astoria Music Festival in Astoria, Oregon where she amazed audiences with her performances of Beethoven and Mahler. Melissa and the Astoria Music Festival are up for The American Prize in the Opera Performance Category for their work last year of Wozzeck. She is also busy with the Santa Fe New Music Ensemble where she’ll be performing Louis Andriessen’s Worker’s Union and she will complete her summer work with the Santa Fe Opera for their production of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.
Professor of Percussion Dr. Gray Barrier, along with four UNC percussionists (Lindsey Pietrek, Adam Davis, Jessica Darling, and Dan Oblunda) attended the Alan Abel Percussion Seminar at Temple University in Philadelphia in June. Here’s a picture of Gray’s group with famed percussionist Alan Abel. |
Marian Hesse, our horn Professor, traveled to El Salvador as a guest of the U
S Embassy with her Grammy award-winning group the Chestnut Brass Company. She and the Company were interviewed on TV and radio shows and held master classes, youth programs, and recitals. In June, Marian performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on their Wagner concert and she recently was in San Francisco for the International Horn Society Symposium, a group for which she serves on the Advisory Board. She will also be doing some promotion events for her two new books of horn routines, published this past April.
Dr. Melissa Malde, Professor of Voice, has been at Montclair State University in New Jersey at the Andover Educators Conference where she performed a duet of Lee Holby as part of the opening concert and where she is touting her book, What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body. She will also be in Jacksonville, Florida, for the annual board meeting of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
In the School of Theater Arts and Dance, Brian Hapcic has recently returned from Prague where he worked on the lighting design for the USA National Exhibit for the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design. His colleague, Andrea Moon, Assistant Professor and Head of Theatre Studies has been traveling the continent along with fellow faculty member Gillian McNally as they both presented papers at the ITYARN/ASSITEJ Conference in Copenhagen and Malmo, including a joint presentation on producing and touring the youth theatre piece El Viaje de Beatriz. Dr. Moon went from Denmark to Seattle for a three-week long Pacific Performance Project (P3) Approaches to Physical Performance Intensive and Master Teacher Training. Andrea is working with the P3 group on a potential teaching/performance trip to Japan in 2013. In August, Andrea will be taking part in a more local event in Boulder with the International Aerial Dance Festival. Here’s a picture of our ever-intrepid Assistant Professor of Theatre Education, Gillian McNally in Copenhagen – Ms. McNally took time out of her travels to co-director with Professor Connie Bethards in Art and Design our summer Creative Spaces camp for 12-18 year olds. |
Associate Professor of Saxophone, Dr. Andrew Dahlke completed his sabbatical this past spring semester by recording two CDs of Bach’s 6 cello suites on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones for White Pine Music in Michigan. He also made a DVD with Capitol Saxophone Quartet of Philip Glass’s Saxophone Quartet Concert. Dr. Dahlke will also be performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Vail Bravo! Music festival, and he will be performing at the Aspen Music Festival playing woodwinds in West Side Story and playing Shostakovich with the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.
Dr. Ron Brooks in our trumpet program shared the news that our recent graduate in music theory, Dr. Jittapim Yamprai is presenting part of her dissertation work at the International Conference on Thai Studies in Bangkok this summer.
Our Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Galen Darrough has gotten some very good news for our choral program, the National Collegiate Choral Organization will be holding their 2011 conference here in Colorado this fall semester where Dr. Darrough will guide our students in a concert of Argentine choral music. Dr. Darrough has also been asked to present a session at the next ACDA divisional conference in Dallas next February. Our highly accomplished UNC Concert Choir will be singing the Bach St. John Passion with Simon Carrington in March, 2012 under the direction of Dr. Darrough.
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