Tenor René Barbera, Ethnomusicologist Andrew Raffo Dewar, and the New Winston Museum

René Barbera

Since graduating from the University of NC School of the Arts, tenor René Barbera has quickly established himself as a rising star on today's opera circuit. Opera Today wrote that his performance “…had us so bewitched we scarcely dared breathe, lest any sound break the honeyed perfection”. After rounding out last year's season with the Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago opera companies just to name a few, this weekend René brings that perfection to Greensboro Opera's production of Gaetano Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment. It's the featured performance of the 60^th Annual National Convention of the National Opera Association Friday night January 9^th at 8pm and Sunday the 11^th at 2pm in Aycock Auditorium. There will be a bus service provided to Greensboro for Winston-Salem opera buffs. René's joined by Metropolitan Opera Soprano Ashley Emerson as Marie, conducted by Arizona Opera Conductor Laureate Joel Revzen, and directed by David Holly who dropped by to chat with me about the program. Rene spoke with me from his home in San Antonio, Texas.

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New Winston Museum

There was considerable rivalry among the major cities of our state to host the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. It took the intensive combined efforts of visionaries like N.C. Gove Terry Sanford, author John Ehle, composer Vittorio Giannini, as well as Winston-Salem community leaders, business owners and citizens to raise the funds that led to N.C. General Assembly establishing the school in 1963. It opened its doors two years later and the school's incredible first five decades are carefully chronicled in the exhibit This School, This City: Celebrating 50 Years of UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem at the New Winston Museum.

It's accompanied by an entire season of related programming with musical and theatrical events, lectures, workshops and more. This City:Celebrating 50 Years of UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem at the New Winston Museum includes film footage of the school's first president, Vittorio Giannini, live theatre, original composition performances, and a sculpture composed of 37,000 drinking cups.

Coming up on Wednesday night, February 4^th, the talented students from the studio of renowned UNCSA guitarist and teacher Joseph Pecoraro will perform a recital titled “Strings of Connection”. Then on the 11^th it's “Two Chancellors on a Stage” at UNCSA's Freedman Theatre. A public dialogue between current UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman and former Chancellor Alex Ewing on leading an arts conservatory in Winston-Salem.

Director of Education and Programming Chris Jordan is joined by UNCSA Division of Liberal Arts faculty Mike Wakeford share more about this special exhibit.

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Andrew Raffo Dewar

Southern Constellations is an NEA funded curatorial project now in its second season at Elsewhere, Greensboro's living museum.

The fellowship program brings six dynamic artist teams from across our region for special residencies at Elsewhere, and each team explores experimental art in the South. Composer, soprano saxophonist, ethnomusicologist, and educator Andrew Raffo Dewar was among the first group of Southern Constellations fellows to work on site at Elsewhere. 

When you think of Western Classical Music, you might picture a series of dots and lines on a page. Through his work as a noted performer Andrew is well acquainted with this traditional system of notation, but his musical background extends far beyond the traditional. From his longtime involvement in traditional and experimental Indonesian music, and recordings with NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton, and the Bill Dixon Orchestra, to performances with musicians from around the world, Andrew has pushed the boundaries of how music is shared and interpreted.

In 2013, the Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts in New College and the School of Music at the University of Alabama spent two weeks at Elsewhere creating a graphic and tactile score entitled “Material Music”, and we sample from a live performance recording of the work in today's show. 

Note: Elsewhere is now accepting applications for residency and fellowship opportunities, staff positions, internships, and university retreats. Deadlines are coming up in January 2015.