Although UNCG’s College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Concert & Lecture Series is on temporary hiatus during the pandemic, CVPA will continue its commitment to connecting artists and performers with the campus community through insightful, inspirational, and informative events.
CVPA is offering a series of arts-related masterclasses that are open to all faculty, staff, students. The fall events are as follows:
Sarah Lewis
Wednesday, September 16, 2020, 6 p.m.
Webinar Registration
Lewis is the bestselling author of “The Rise”, which is the biography of an idea – a big idea – that no current term yet captures. It’s about creative human endeavor, and how innovation, mastery, and new concepts are found in unlikely places. Lewis also guest-edited the “Vision & Justice” issue of Aperture—a landmark collection that address race, photography, and social justice. Lewis is also the guest-editor of Aperture magazine’s instant classic “Vision & Justice” issue, which has received unprecedented press coverage and sparked a national conversation.
Lewis is an Associate Professor at Harvard, in the Departments of History of Art and Architecture, and African and African American Studies. She has spoken at SXSW, appeared on Oprah’s “Power List,” served on President Obama’s Arts Policy Committee, and been profiled in Vogue. Lewis has held positions at Yale’s School of Art, the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her essays have been published in Artforum and The Smithsonian, and her book on Frederick Douglass is forthcoming from Harvard University Press. She received her B.A. from Harvard, M. Phil from Oxford, and Ph.D. from Yale.
Alicia Graf Mack
Monday, September 28, 2020 11 a.m.
Webinar Registration
Graf Mack enjoyed a distinguished career as a leading dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has also been a principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and she has danced as a guest performer with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Beyoncé, John Legend, Andre 3000, and Alicia Keys. Graf Mack graduated magna cum laude with honors in history from Columbia University and holds an MA in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2007, Smithsonian magazine named her an American Innovator of the Arts and Sciences. She is a recipient of the Columbia University Medal of Excellence, an award given each year to an alumnus who has demonstrated excellence in their field of work.
In 2008, she delivered the keynote address to the graduates of Columbia University’s School of General Studies. As a dance educator, Graf Mack most recently taught as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Houston and was a visiting assistant professor at Webster University. She is a co-founder of D(n)A Arts Collective, an initiative created to enrich the lives of young dancers through master classes and intensives. She began her inaugural season as director of the Juilliard Dance Division in the fall of 2018.
Black Violin
Friday, October 2, 2020, 3 p.m.
Webinar Registration
Black Violin is lead by classically trained string players Wil B. (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin). The band uses their unique blend of classical and hip-hop music to overcome stereotypes while encouraging people of all ages, races, and economic backgrounds to join together to break down cultural barriers. In the past year alone, the band has performed for over 100,000 students in the US and Europe, and has partnered with Yamaha and NAMM (National Association of Music Manufactures) to continue supporting music education.
Black Violin has recently joined with Turnaround Arts, alongside artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Elton John to bring arts education to struggling schools in underserved communities. Turnaround Arts is a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts founded by President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
The group has collaborated creatively with artists such as Kanye West, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean and Alicia Keys. In addition, Black Violin has composed for a major FOX Television original Pitch and has been featured by ESPN as the official artist of the 2017 US Open (tennis) and 2016 & 2017 Heisman Trophy Award ceremonies. They have been featured on The Tonight Show, Ellen, The Wendy William’s Show, NPR, and more.
