Charlotte Offers Art Students Access To Extraordinary Guest Artists
Masterclasses and conversations with star professional artists are a key part of performing arts students’ education in the College of Arts + Architecture. This semester, we are pleased to welcome a range of extraordinary guest artists to enhance the curricular experiences of our students.
Lorenzo Pagano
Lorenzo Pagano is an international award-winning contemporary dancer whose career has spanned across concert dance, musical theatre and opera. A former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, he is currently performing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
Pagano came to the College of Arts + Architecture on January 30, where he performed for and engaged in conversation with music and dance students for the Department of Music and taught a masterclass in the Department of Dance.
Olga Kern
Internationally touring pianist Olga Kern is widely recognized as one of the great artists of her generation, having won first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition and a Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, among other major achievements.
On February 13, Kern will conduct a masterclass in the Department of Music, which is free and open to the public. Her appearance in the Department is presented in partnership with the Charlotte Symphony.
Bisi Adigun
Bisi Adigun is a playwright, performer, and theatre director/producer. He is the founder of Arambe Productions, Ireland’s first and only African theatre company, for which, as its Artistic Director for over 16 years, he produced and directed more 25 productions in Ireland, Nigeria and America.
In conjunction with the theatre department’s production of “The Playboy of the Western World, A Modern Adaptation” (by Bisi Adigun and Roddy Doyle of J.M. Synge’s 1907 world classic of the same title), the Department of Theatre will host a live discussion with Adigun on February 14. The discussion, led by Theatre Chair David Janowiak, will focus on Adigun’s process of updating and adapting a world classic for modern audiences. Adigun will join the discussion virtually via Zoom.
Aruna Quartet
Based in central Texas, the Aruna Quartet has been awarded prizes at numerous national and international competitions including the Gold Medal and Grand Prize at the 46th Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. This saxophone quartet includes UNC Charlotte alumnus and baritone saxophonist Andrew Schoen ’16.
Funded by the Anne R. Belk Visiting Artist Series, the quartet will be in residence in the Department of Music the week of February 17 and will perform with the Wind Ensemble on February 19.
De’Anthony Vaughan
De’Anthony Vaughan is a member of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and a former member of Dallas Black Dance Theatre, where he performed works by Matthew Rushing, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Alvin Ailey, Elisa Monte, Donald McKayle, and many more.
A former student of Associate Professor of dance Kim Jones, Vaughan will teach a masterclass in the Department of Dance on February 20, which the College community is invited to observe.
Hannah Jewel Kohn
Hannah Jewel Kohn, who has toured in productions of Frozen and Beauty and the Beast, currently plays Marcia Murphy in the Broadway touring show A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. She will present an Acting Through Song workshop with musical theatre students on February 27.
James Kopecky
James Kopecky is a former member of Ballet San Jose and recently retired from Charlotte Ballet, where he danced principal roles in both classical and contemporary repertory. As a choreographer, he has created works for Butler Ballet, Ballet San Jose School, Opera San Jose, Charlotte Ballet II, and Charlotte Ballet.
Kopecky is working with UNC Charlotte dance students this semester to create a contemporary piece for the Spring Dance Concert, April 10-13.
Douglas Tappin
Douglas Tappin is the writer and composer of eight works, including I Dream, a musical-drama based on the last thirty-six hours of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., which has been performed to sold out houses by Opera Carolina, Toledo Opera and Opera Grand Rapids, on Atlanta’s Alliance Stage, on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and in Los Angeles at a private event hosted by Chaka Khan.
Tappin will host a mock audition for his new original work, DIVA, The Musical, as part of the Musical Theatre Certificate class “New Musical Development” curriculum unit on March 25.