January brings faculty artists to the stage

Guest blog by Christopher T. Barton
The beginning of a semester can be a quiet time at Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts. Auditions, rehearsals, choreography and set construction have only just begun for the many student performances that will take place on our stages. And unless you’re a set designer, an empty stage just doesn’t quite capture the imagination. Fortunately for UNC Charlotte, we have talented and active faculty in the performing arts and in these next several weeks we have exciting opportunities to enjoy their work.

In October, our newly appointed Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professor of Music, violinist David Russell, performed his inaugural recital and earlier this month he helped “Light the Knight” at the gala opening of Charlotte’s new Knight Theater with a solo performance that Classical Voice of North Carolina called “impossible not to enjoy.” This Friday, January 22nd, David is joined by fellow faculty members Mira Frisch (cello) and Dylan Savage (piano) as well as a distinguished group of guest artists from The UNC School of the Arts, The Hartt School, and West Virginia University for the next program on our Faculty & Friends Concert Series. This concert promises to be an exceptional performance of two of the great masterworks of the chamber music repertoire by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – his Piano Quartet No. 1 – and Franz Schubert – the Cello Quintet. The concert series will also continue through February and March with performances by tenor Brian Arreola and Duo Savage, the musical partnership of husband and wife Dylan and Susan Savage.

January also brings two remarkable performances of dance to the Belk Theater at Robinson Hall. Our Department of Dance once again hosts the annual tour of the North Carolina Dance Festival on Friday, January 29 and Saturday January 30. Unique in the country and now a North Carolina institution, NC Dance festival began in 1991 as a weekend of concerts in at UNC Greensboro and has grown into an annual tour showcasing dance artists from across the state. Eight different dance companies tour (stops in 2009-10 include Boone, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Wilmington) and are joined on the program by artists local to the host communities. Those local artists featured in our UNC Charlotte performances are E.E. Motion, Caroline Calouche & Co., and NCDT II. E.E. Motion is directed by E.E. Balcos, Assistant Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte and will perform “The Party”, a work for six dancers choreographed to music written by UNC Charlotte composer, Dr. John Allemeier. Caroline Calouche & Co., a Gastonia based contemporary and aerial dance company, will perform an excerpt from the piece “The Macabre Mask”, an original work that blends the poetry and literary works of Edgar Allan Poe. And in a very special appearance, North Carolina Dance Theatre 2 (NCDT II), a group of young professional artists affiliated with Charlotte’s prestigious North Carolina Dance Theatre, will perform the piece “City South”, an NCDT signature piece choreographed by Mark Diamond.

These special performances are just the beginning of an exciting semester at Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts. Please join in – once again or for the very first time – as we support and celebrate our faculty and student artists. Visit www.performances.uncc.edu, stop by our Box Office, or call 704.687.1TIX (1849) for information and tickets to upcoming performances.

See you at Robinson Hall!

# # #

Chris Barton in marketing/box ofice manager for Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts