Triad Arts with David Ford Triad Arts Weekend!March 16, 2012Of the many famous American novels and plays that have been converted into operas, today's TAUC guest tops the list: American composer, and Durham, North Carolina resident Robert Ward. The ninety-four year old composer and educator has written eight operas, and in 1962 his opera The Crucible, based on the renowned play of the same name by Arthur Miller, won both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Music Critics Circle Citation. The Crucible weaves a tale of lust, pride, revenge, and power against a backdrop of the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century. Miller’s powerful play was written as an allegory for 1950s McCarthyism of which he himself was a victim. It remains extremely relevant today, and it’s coming to the Triad courtesy of Piedmont Opera in collaboration with the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Their production runs Friday, March 16 through the 20th at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem.
Last year Robert Ward was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors. He was presented the award by current UNCSA Chancellor John Mauceri. Robert Ward himself was the Chancellor of the then North Carolina School of the Arts from 1967 until 1975. He stopped by WFDD last week to talk with TAW host David Ford. Here's Part 2 of their conversation.
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Austro-Hungarian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold is best known today as one of the founders of film music. In 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood was the first movie in which the composer, Korngold, and not the studio music department head, was awarded the Oscar. But when Korngold fled the Nazi regime and remained in the U.S., he brought with him a wealth of first-hand experiences having absorbed the European musical traditions of composers like Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, as well as the great staged play genre popular in Europe from the 18th century to around 1925. From that tradition comes the first fully integrated production of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare with music by Korngold since the music was outlawed by the Nazis in 1933. Korngold champion, and University of NC School of the Arts Chancellor John Mauceri will conduct the American premiere performed by members of UNCSA’s Schools of Drama and Music March 29-April 7, with evening performances at 8:00pm and weekend matinees at 2:00pm in the Agnes de Mille Theatre on the UNCSA campus in Winston-Salem. Last week John spoke with TAW host David Ford by phone from New York.
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Looking for a truly authentic way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year? Well, thanks to the new band Brynmor and Encore American Bistro, you don’t have to book a flight to Dublin to enjoy an incredible evening of Irish dancing, live Celtic music and a cold Guinness beer. The St. Patties party kicks off at 9:00pm on Saturday, March 17, at the Bistro on 4th Street in Winston-Salem, and you can dance and sing along till midnight, with the exciting Celtic-rock sounds of Brynmor live in concert. Today I’ll be speaking with three members of the band, and we’ll be sampling from their recordings throughout the show. Singer/guitarist Robert Gabb, fiddler Rex McGee and Sharon Fogarty who plays flutes and whistles dropped by WFDD to talk about it.
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Triad Arts for March 2, 2012
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