North Carolina School of the Arts
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The North Carolina School of the Arts is a well known arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation.[1] Established by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in 1965 after nearly a million dollars was raised to win the new school for Winston-Salem. In 1972, the School became part of the University of North Carolina system.
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[edit] About the School
The School’s mission is to train students from middle school through graduate school for professional careers in the performing, visual, and film and television arts. Performance is an integral part of the training program, and students, faculty and guest artists present more than 400 public performances and screenings annually in the School’s facilities in Winston-Salem, as well as across the state and the Southeast, in major U.S. cities and overseas.
Five professional schools make up the North Carolina School of the Arts: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. With its full academic program, the School is accredited to award the high school diploma, the College Arts Diploma, the Professional Artist Certificate, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Students must audition or interview for admission to NCSA. Of the more than 1,000 students enrolled, half come from two-thirds of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Half come from 45 other states (from New York to California) and nearly two dozen foreign countries (from Germany to Japan).
Students study with resident master teachers who have had successful careers in the arts, such as the New York City Ballet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and who remain active in their professions. Noted guest artists such as filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Mandy Patinkin bring lessons directly from the contemporary arts world.
School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others. Among the best-known are Mary-Louise Parker, Tony Award-winning actress for Proof; Chris Parnell, former SNL castmember; Gillian Murphy, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre; Tony Fanning, art director for theatre and film (War of the Worlds); David Gordon Green, filmmaker who made the critically acclaimed George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Undertow; and Lisa Kim, violinist with the New York Philharmonic.
On May 12th, 2006, the UNC Board of Governors unanimously approved the appointment of John Mauceri as the seventh Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts [2].
[edit] Mission statement
The North Carolina School of the Arts is the University of North Carolina’s conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the professional training of students possessing exceptional talents in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Students enter NCSA when they are ready for focused, intense professional development at the baccalaureate level and in select programs at the master’s and high school levels in its schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking, and Music.
Committed to the idea that art combines craft, imagination, passion and intellect, the faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum; research and creative opportunities in the arts; student life programs and support; dedicated staff; outstanding facilities; community service activities; guest artists and teachers; and distinguished alumni. Students emerge transformed, poised to become leaders and creators in their chosen fields.
Founded by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the State of North Carolina and the region, NCSA offers numerous public performances, both on- and off-campus, community education in the arts, as well as faculty and student lectures and workshops. The School collaborates with educational, cultural, civic, business and other partners to promote the universal importance and innovative impact of the arts to our society.
[edit] Performance Opportunities
NCSA offers many performance opportunities throughout the course of a school year. Dance students have three seasonal performances: Fall dance, Winter dance, and Spring dance. They also perform the Nutcracker every Christmas, and have many other minor performances throughout the school year. Music students have the chance to perform in front of their peers every Wednesday at performance hour, and students are usually in a large ensemble, such as jazz band, orchestra, opera, or wind ensemble. These ensembles each perform several times a year.
The School of Design and Production is responsible for the scenery, costumes, lighting, sound, and stage management for all shows produced by the School of Drama, two operas that NCSA produces each year through the Fletcher Opera Institute, as well as dance performances, although dance costumes are provided by the School of Dance's own professional costume shop.
Last but not least, the Film making school is host to the ACE Exhibition Complex, where students can display their work and watch others. This complex, along with the Steven's Center, is host to the RiverRun Film Festival every spring.
[edit] All School Musicals
Once a decade, NCSA produces an all school musical- a massive, extensive, broadway style production involving all five arts schools of the conservatory. All students have the opportunity to audition for a role, and each school contributes its talent as well (music- musicians for the pit, d&p- sets, film- projections, etc.). Past all-school musicals have included have included Brigadoon, Oklahama!, Kiss Me Kate, and Canterbury Tales[1], with the upcoming one being Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story (for the fiftieth anniversary). The purpose of the all-school musicals are not only to provide the students with a professional experience, but also to raise money and awareness for the school. For example, for the upcoming all school musical the lead roles and Chancellor John Mauceri traveled to New York to promote the school and the school's revival of the musical[2]. West Side Story will perform at NCSA's Stevens Center from May 3-13, 2007, and then it will also go on tour to the Chicago's Ravinia Festival [3] on June 8, 2007. West Side Story will be directed by Dean of Drama Gerald Freedman (the assistant director of the original production), and conducted by NCSA Chancellor and world renown conductor John Mauceri. It has also been reported that Arthur Laurents has changed portions of the dialogue for the NCSA production[2].
[edit] Professional schools
There are five professional schools of the North Carolina School of the Arts:
- School of Dance
- School of Design and Production
- School of Drama
- School of Filmmaking
- School of Music
[edit] Summer Session
NCSA offers five week summer courses in dance, filmmaking, visual arts, and drama, as well as two week courses in voice, guitar, and percussion, and a three week course in stage combat, to middle school, high school, and college students seeking intensive study in the arts. All summer programs are highly reputable, and a great introduction to an art form for some, and an opportunity to delve into a discipline for others.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Diedrich Bader - actor, attended but did not graduate
- Victor Barbee - dancer, choreographer
- Gary Beach - Tony Award winning actor The Producers
- Gwendolyn Bradley - soprano
- Carlo Curley - organist
- Mark Dendy - dancer, choreographer
- Jennifer Ehle - Tony Award winning actress
- David Gordon Green - writer and director
- Tim Guinee - actor, Tai-Pan, stage, film, television
- Peter Hedges - writer and director
- Hilary Howard - actor, screenwriter and journalist
- Tom Hulce - actor, Amadeus, Animal House
- David LaChapelle - photographer and music video director
- Terrence Mann - actor
- Joe Mantello - theatre director
- Gillian Murphy - dancer, American Ballet Theater
- Mary Louise Parker - actress
- Chris Parnell - actor/comedian
- Jada Pinkett-Smith - actress, attended but did not graduate
- Missi Pyle - actress
- J. T. Rogers - playwright
- Monti Sharp - actor
- Drew Tretick - electric violinist
[edit] Fictional alumni
- Angela Forrest - writer and actress
[edit] Student Organizations
NCSA has many active student organizations, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Pride (NCSA's Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender support organization)
- the NCSA Democrats
- the Kudzu Gazette (School Newspaper)
- the NCSA SGA (Student Government Association)
- the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Student Chapter
[edit] Facts
Founded: In 1963 and opened in 1965, established by the N.C. General Assembly
Mission: To train students for professional careers in the arts
Status: Public, coeducational, one of the 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina
Campus: 67 acres in Winston-Salem, N.C., near Old Salem, a national tourist attraction
Accreditation: By the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Calendar: Trimester schedule (fall, winter and spring, August/September to May/June. Includes two week Intensive Arts Term from late November to December)
Schools: Five – Dance, Design and Production (includes Visual Arts), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music – plus High School and Undergraduate Academic Programs
Enrollment (fall 2004): 1,057 includes 266 high school/middle school, 684 undergraduate, 96 graduate, 11 special.
Student Profile (fall 2004): 556 from North Carolina; 501, out-of-state. From 66 North Carolina counties, 45 states, 21 foreign countries. 201 in Dance, 196 in Design and Production, 128 in Drama, 240 in Filmmaking, 253 in Music, 37 in Visual Arts. 554 male; 503 female.
Faculty Profile: 172 includes 135 full-time, 37 part-time. Resident faculty is complemented by 200 notable guest artists each year.
Student/Faculty Ratio: 8:1
Average Class Size: 10
Tuition (2004-05): High school: $0 (in-state*), $6,583 (out-of-state) Undergraduate: $2,755 (in-state), $14,035 (out-of-state) Graduate: $3,167 (in-state), $14,601 (out-of-state)
- The state of North Carolina now pays the full cost of attending NCSA (tuition, fees, and room and board) for all in-state students who are accepted into the high school program.
Facilities: Eleven performance and exhibition spaces comparable to the best in the industry
Endowment: $15.3 million (as of June 30, 2004)
Operating Budget: $27.3 million (as of July 1, 2004)
Degrees, Diplomas Awarded: Dance – High School Diploma (8th-12th grades), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), College Arts Diploma; Design and Production – B.F.A., College Arts Diploma, Master of Fine Arts (three years); Drama – High School Diploma (12th grade only), B.F.A., College Arts Diploma; Filmmaking – B.F.A., College Arts Diploma, M.F.A. (two years); Music – High School Diploma (8th-12th grades), Bachelor of Music, College Arts Diploma, Master of Music (two years), Professional Artist Certificate (one year, post-master’s); Visual Arts – High School Diploma (11th & 12th grades)
[edit] References
- ^ 50th Anniversary West Side Story Coming to NCSA and Ravina, Broadwayworld.com, Tuesday, March 6, 2007, http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=16399
- ^ a b West Side Story Visits New York City, the Kudzu Gazette, Monday, March 12, 2007 http://www.kudzugazette.com/mar1207/wss.php
- ^ North Carolina School of the Arts Presents New Production To Celebrate 50th Anniversary of West Side Story, Tuesday, March 6, 2007, [http://www.ncarts.edu/pressreleases/Releases2007/March07/wssannouncement.htm ]
[edit] External links
- NCSA website
- RealMedia Webcast of Mozart Requiem: NCSA Orchestra and Vocal Soloists from Appalachian State University
and Duke University
- the Kudzu Gazette (Student Newspaper)
| University of North Carolina System |
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| Appalachian State • East Carolina • Elizabeth City State • Fayetteville State • N.C. A&T • N.C. Central • N.C. School of the Arts • N.C. State • UNC Asheville • UNC Chapel Hill • UNC Charlotte • UNC Greensboro • UNC Pembroke • UNC Wilmington • Western Carolina • Winston-Salem State • N.C. School of Science & Math |
