News

Music Students Perform Carmen in Joint Production

Opera Workshop students sang major roles in production with Central Piedmont Opera Theatre.
   December 1, 2022

UNC Charlotte music students recently performed in a production of Bizet’s Carmen jointly presented by the Central Piedmont Community College Opera Theatre and the UNC Charlotte Department of Music’s Opera Workshop program. Performances took place November 17-20 in the Halton Theater on the main campus of Central Piedmont. Dr. Brian Arreola, director of the Opera Workshop program,...

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Professor of Musicology to Speak at United Nations

Dr. James Grymes will present his research on music and the Holocaust.
   October 28, 2022

Dr. James A. Grymes, professor of musicology, will present his research in a panel at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The program, Music and the Holocaust: History, Memory and Justice will take place on November 10.

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Musical Theatre Students Win A1 Auditions

Nine students were selected to attend the conference in January.
   October 12, 2022

Nine UNC Charlotte students, including singers, dancers, and actors, have been chosen to attend the All-In-One (A1) Conference, where they will attend classes and workshops, meet with industry professionals, and audition for top casting agents and producers...

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Tohoku University Musical Exchange Creates Lifetime Memories

Japanese students join Women’s Chorus to traverse geographies and cultures.
   September 14, 2022

Just two days into their two-week exchange trip to Charlotte, the 17 students from Japan’s Tohoku University were scattered across the floor of Robinson Hall lobby, sitting in circles with members of the Women’s Chorus and laughing as they discussed foods they would “never eat.” Professor Ginger Wyrick, director of the Women’s Chorus, also known as The Charlotteans, and orchestrator of the “...

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Music Student To Present at American Musicological Society Conference

Emily Sheffield will present her paper at the Southeast Chapter meeting on October 1.
   September 7, 2022

Senior music education major Emily Sheffield has been invited to present her paper, “Hedda Grab-Kernmayer and the Intersectionality of Gender and Cultural Identity in the Nazi Ghetto of Theresienstadt,” at the Southeast Chapter conference of the American Musicological Society. The conference will be held on October 1 at N.C. State University.

Sheffield began her research as an Office...

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Students Excel at Hawaii Performing Arts Festival

Logan Pavia and Charity Williams participated in the professional development program.
   August 9, 2022

Musical Theatre Certificate students Logan Pavia and Charity Williams had the opportunity this summer to participate in the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, a prestigious, international professional development program for emerging artists. Now in its 17th season, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival offers...

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Role in Japanese Opera Continues Professor’s Explorations of Asian and Asian-American Composers

Brian Arreola will sing tenor lead in Asako Hirabayashi’s “Hebionna.”
   June 10, 2022

Dr. Brian Arreola will perform the lead tenor role of "Yoshizo" in the Japanese opera Hebionna (Snake Woman) by Asako Hirabayashi. The opera will receive its world premiere on June 27 in a production in Rowe Recital Hall and will be filmed for future distribution. The performance is the latest project...

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Music Department Announces New Director of Bands

Dr. Hunter Kopczynski has taught in middle school, high school, and university programs.
   May 10, 2022

The Department of Music has announced that Hunter Kopczynski will join the faculty as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music this fall.  He will conduct the UNC Charlotte Wind Ensemble, teach courses in conducting and music education, and oversee the university bands program.

Kopczynski comes to Charlotte after his role as Director of Bands at Mars Hill University (Mars...

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UNC Charlotte to present East Coast premiere of “Violins of Hope” Song Cycle

“Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope” is inspired by music professor’s book.
   April 11, 2022

A new song cycle about violins recovered from the Holocaust will be the centerpiece of Charlotte’s Holocaust Remembrance Day event, the Community Yom HaShoah Commemoration. Presented by the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture in partnership with community and educational partners, Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope will receive its East Coast premiere on April 26 at...

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Voice Professor’s Opera Performed at Kennedy Center

Brian Arreola’s opera tells story of family separated at the US/Mexico border.
   April 9, 2022

The Washington, D.C. company IN Series presented an opera composed by Professor of Voice Brian Arreola at The Kennedy Center on Saturday, April 9. ¡Zavala-Zavala!: an opera in v cuts ...

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