Author Archives: mccauleyn

IN THE MIX Music Business Series to Examine Proper Compensation for Modern Songwriters

The College of Charleston’s widely popular IN THE MIX speaker series returns this fall for the fourth consecutive year with all new discussions on the state of the modern music industry.

The Fall 2017 series kicks off on Monday, September 18 with Music Publishing: The Hurdles of Proper Compensation for Songwriters. Host Mark Bryan will be joined by guests Richard “Gus” Gusler and Tom DeSavia to discuss how songwriters are currently compensated in today’s evolving musical economy, and how the industry can better support the modern songwriter.

Richard “Gus” Gusler

Tom DeSavia

Gusler has worked in entertainment for almost 35 years, most notably as an entertainment attorney who has negotiated countless recording, publishing, and endorsement contracts, while DeSavia’s career in the music industry spans a wide range of executive and creative positions, most recently as the Head of Creative Services at SONGS Music Publishing.

The event is presented by the Arts Management Program in the College’s School of the Arts and will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Simons Center for the Arts first floor Recital Hall (54 Saint Philip St). The session will be free and open to students and the public.

Since the spring of 2014, IN THE MIX has connected over 500 students, musicians, and alumni to industry professionals and moguls. Previous sessions have featured guest speakers Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish and Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope. [View a history of topics and speakers.]

The College’s arts management major offers students who are musicians or interested in music management the opportunity to pursue a music industry concentration, with courses like Introduction to the Music Industry, Legal Aspects of the Entertainment Industry, Music in the Marketplace, History of the Recording Industry, and more. For information visit artsmgmt.cofc.edu or call 843.953.6301.

Objectification of Women, Forced Migration and Other Social Justice Issues to Be Explored in THE TROJAN WOMEN

Exploring the depth of wartime suffering and human trafficking, The Trojan Women by Euripides and adapted by Ellen McLaughlin, will open the 2017-2018 performance season for the College of Charleston’s Department of Theatre and Dance. The season’s theme, Sustain This!, supports the College’s sustainability literacy initiative, which aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to solve future challenges of social justice, economic disparity and looming environmental concerns. The department is committed to exploring these critical challenges this season and every season.

In The Trojan Women, the ten-year siege of Troy during the late Bronze Age has ended. The men of Troy are gone, most slain in battle or during the bloody night of the Trojan Horse. Only the women remain, waiting to be taken away by their conquerors while grappling with grief, fear and the loss of family, friends, husbands and lovers. Though the war is over, exile and degradation lie ahead for these women.

The production is for mature audiences and will run September 21-25, 2017  Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2017 (new dates due to Hurricane Irma). Curtain times will be 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday show at 2:00 p.m. only. Performances will take place at the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. A talkback with cast and crew will take place on opening night.

Admission is $20 for general public; $15 for senior citizens College of Charleston employees and non-College of Charleston students; $12 for College of Charleston students. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 843.953.6306 or emailing oleksiakm@cofc.edu.  Subscriptions are available for the 2017-2018 season. Learn more. 

Inspired 20 years ago by the effects of the Bosnian War, McLaughlin’s adaptation of this timely and timeless play reflects experiences that seem to have always been a part of the human condition: war, separation, rape, slavery, grief, and the will to survive. In relation to her adaptation, McLaughlin was a recipient of a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award in 1995, which enabled her to lead dramatic workshops for refugees from the former Yugoslavia. Currently, she teaches playwriting at Barnard College, having held prior teaching positions at Princeton University and Yale School of Drama.

The College’s production of “The Trojan Women” is directed by theatre faculty member Evan Parry, who describes this production as “an examination of the worst and best aspects of the human condition, as well as the plight of women during and after warfare, and their objectification in cultures worldwide.”

“The production seeks to depict human trafficking and the forced migration of refugees as part of the College’s sustainability literacy initiative.”

The design and dramaturgical team includes faculty member Ellen Iroff Swick (costumes) and Michelle Ramos (choreography), graduates Claire Ahlin (lighting) and Christina Matthews (costumes) and current students Felise Horne (scenery) and Leon Williams (dramaturgy). The stage manager for the production is student Meagan McMahon.

Principal actors include a Chorus made up of outstanding Theatre Performance and Dance Performance majors, as well as Abriana Quiñones (Hecuba), Kirstin McWaters (Cassandra), Mary Pumper (Helen), Bess Lawson (Andromache), Liam Aidan Toumey (Poseidon) and Joel Watson (Talthybius).

 

Events with Quattlebaum Artist-in-Residence ROBERT STORR

Robert Storr joins the College’s School of the Arts and the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (HICA) as the 2017 Quattlebaum Artist-in-Residence to discuss the state of realistic representation in painting over the past several decades. His free talk will be held in the Simons Center Recital Hall on Thursday, September 14 at 7:00pm in coordination with the HICA exhibition Marc Trujillo: American Purgatory. Storr will also take part in a conversation with current exhibiting artist Marc Trujillo on Saturday, September 16 at 2:00pm in the HICA galleries.

Robert Storr is an artist, critic, and curator based in New York City. Storr was the curator and then senior curator of the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Painting and Sculpture from 1990 to 2002. Following his tenure at MoMA, he became the Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University until 2006.He then served as Dean of the Yale School of Art for the next ten years. From 2005 to 2007, he was visual arts director for the Venice Biennale, becoming the first American to assume this position. He has been a contributing editor at Art in America sine 1981. Storr also writes for Artforum, Frieze, and Corriere della Sera and has authored catalogues on Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, and Phillip Guston. He has received a Penny McCall Foundation Grant for painting, a Norton Family Foundation Curator Grant, and many more awards for his contributions to art criticism and scholarship.

Arts Abound | Fall 2017 Events Calendar

With events ranging from fully-staged, professional dance and theatre productions to scholarly lectures on art and architectural history, the College of Charleston School of the Arts offers numerous public arts experiences for well-seasoned patrons and curious novices alike.

Throughout the academic year, the school presents a robust season of CofC Concerts, arts management sessions on navigating the music industry, theatre + dance performances, studio art exhibits and lectures, historic preservation/community planning lectures, plus the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art’s unique exhibitions, lectures and films.

View our fall arts calendar for a listing of this semester’s arts opportunities. Events are added as the semester progresses, so be social with the School of the Arts for the latest news.

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Piccolo Spoleto Festival: College of Charleston Young Artists Series

The Young Artists Series features some of the College of Charleston School of the Arts’ most accomplished music students and alumni. Tickets are $11 (FREE for kids 12 and under) and available for purchase(up to 2 hours before performance) at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Box Office in the Charleston Visitors Center, by calling 1-(866)-811-4111, online, or at the door. All concerts take place at 12:00 noon in the College’s Recital Hall in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street, except for May 27 at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St.

Follow #CofCyoungartists
 

Saturday, May 27 – College of Charleston Concert Choir [tickets]
Robert Taylor, Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, will lead this outstanding and award-winning ensemble. The College of Charleston Concert Choir has been featured in juried performances at several national conferences and has toured the Southeast. The choir returns to Piccolo Spoleto with an invigorating performance of many choral classics.. This concert takes place at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St.

Monday, May 20 – Get off my Bach! [tickets]
This performance of the Baroque period’s greatest composer includes Cello Suite no. 4 as well as arias from the St. Matthew Passion. A group of talented musicians bring this renowned composer Bach to life!

Tuesday, May 30 – Early Romantics [tickets]
From the charm of Chopin’s piano to the passion of Schubert’s and Schumann’s lieder, this concert will bring out the romantic in you. Featuring Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor and more, come and hear the intricacies of these masters through the articulation of award-winning performers.

Wednesday, May 31 – College of Charleston Alumni  [tickets]
College of Charleston alumni Diego Suarez (piano) and Fernando Troche (guitar) return to Charleston to demonstrate their ever developing talents. In 2013, Suarez won the Edwin Davis Peacock Award for Excellence in Piano, and in 2014, he won the School of the Art Scholars Award, the Outstanding Student Award, and the Sue Simons Wallace Award for Excellence in Music. Troche has been teaching guitar at the Charleston Academy of Music since 2008 and has been a part of the academy’s satellite programs at Memminger Elementary School and Mason Preparatory School.

Thursday, June 1 – Beethoven to Brahms  [tickets]
Beethoven’s chamber music is prominently featured in this concert as award winning young artists bring to life his Trio in E-flat for violin, cello and piano and his Sonata quasi una Fantasia for piano. Lieder of Brahms, Schubert, and Schumann will be interpreted as well.

Friday, June 2 – What’s Opera Doc?  [tickets]
Enjoy famous arias and ensembles from the great operas of the repertoire. Included are selections from Don Giovanni, La Boheme, Die Zauberflöte, and many more.

Saturday, June 3 – College of Charleston Jazz  [tickets]
Students of the College of Charleston’s immensely successful jazz program play standards and originals.

Monday, June 5 – Go for Baroque  [tickets]
The music of J.S. Bach and Handel are featured in compositions for piano, chamber music and voice. Selections will include Bach’s Suite for Cello No. 2 in D minor, Prelude & Fugue in C minor from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and operatic arias from various Handel operas. Enjoy an afternoon of music from some of the world’s most renowned composers.

Tuesday, June 6 – To Infinity and Beyond  [tickets]
Music of the 20th Century and beyond, into the 21st Century. Included are pieces from Shostakovich, Barber, and College of Charleston’s own, Edward Hart.

Wednesday, June 7 – Mostly Mozart  [tickets]
The College of Charleston’s regionally and nationally recognized students will perform some of Mozart’s most recognizable operatic arias along with piano sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. Featured operas will include Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. This program will feature both ensembles and sonatas of Mozart, performed by the young talent at the College of Charleston.

Thursday, June 8 – A Day With the Romantics  [tickets]
Enliven lunch hour by spending it with Brahms, Strauss, Rachmaninoff, Paganini, and more. This program will feature music for violin, cello, piano and voice in a series of works by favorites of the Romantic era.

Friday, June 9 – College of Charleston Jazz Alumni  [tickets]
Spend the afternoon listening to the College of Charleston Jazz alumni in a delightful and energizing presentation of a series of jazz standards.

Piccolo Spoleto Stelle di Domani Theatre Series

Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto Festival present a 17-day feast of the arts featuring some of the most talented artists from the School of the Arts, from the local area and from around the world. The cultural adventure begins on Friday, May 26 and continues through Sunday, June 11.

Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s Stelle di Domani series features students, faculty and alumni from our award-winning Department of Theatre and Dance. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll feel the power of dance and the theatre in five professionally produced events. 

    
UNDER THE LIGHTS – A series of 10-minute plays written by students, Under the Lights features winners of the Franklin B. Ashley Playwriting and the Todd McNerney Student Playwriting Awards. Spend an evening celebrating the voices and ideas of the next generation of writers. [more info and tickets]

EMERGING ARTISTS DANCE CONCERT – This concert celebrates the connection between alumni and the department, and promotes creativity between professional and emerging dance artists. Enjoy unique choreography and impressive performances from a group of talented dancers. [more info and tickets]

STAGED READINGS – Staged reading of the 2017 Todd McNerney National Playwriting contest winner and runner-up. Previous winning plays have come from such notable playwrights as Caridad Svich (lifetime Obie award winner), James Still, William Missouri Downs, and Donnetta Lavinia Grays. FREE admission. [more info]

BETWEEN US – This concert, the culmination of a residency with Annex Dance Company, presents students and professionals performing company repertory that explores relationships between dancers in a series of duets. [more info and tickets]

17 HOURS: AN ACOUSTIC MUSICAL – 17 Hours is a new American musical written by and featuring Nashville recording artist, South Carolina native, and College of Charleston Alumna Rachel Troublefield ’10. Told acoustically through original stories and songs, 17 Hours follows three individuals whose lives are intertwined as they find themselves, each other, and their own sense of home in unexpected places. [more info and tickets]

2016-17 School of the Arts Awards

The School of the Arts honors the achievements of a select group of students who have demonstrated excellence in their respective disciplines. The Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 11 recognizes those who have set a standard for their peers as well as those who will follow in their footsteps.

The School also acknowledges illustrious alumni:

ALUMNI AWARDS
Award of Achievement
Clay Ross ’98

Award for Philanthropy
Lisa Decker Roy ’06

Young Alumnus Award
William Bennett ’04
Eliot Dudik ’07

ART and ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY
School of the Arts Scholars
Sarah Frances Cohen
Cathryn Maitland Gibbs
Christina Laura Lilly
Margaret Grace Nolan (double major in HPCP)

Dean’s Excellence Award
Natalie Pagan

ARTS MANAGEMENT
School of the Arts Scholars
Victoria Blunt
Kayla Bray
Ashley De Peri
Constance Dewey
Delaney Hogan
Carolyn McCalley
Colleen McManus
Rebekah Rast
Madeline Ryan
Cortney Shea
Jessica Spence

Outstanding Student Award
Addison Brown
Veronica Grace Davis
Ashley De Peri
Constance Dewey
Aliana Holliday
Katie Jones
Carolyn McCalley
Kyrstin McDonald
Patrick McKiernan
Annamarie Morris
Rebekah Rast
Perri Schwartzman

Dean’s Excellence Award
Jessica Spence

Julie Jett Arts Management Citizenship Award
Justine Hall

Dr. Norton M. Seltzer Prize in Arts Management
Victoria Blunt

HISTORIC PRESERVATION & COMMUNITY PLANNING
School of the Arts Scholars
Martha Claire Henry
Margaret Grace Nolan
Andrew Zachary Spitzer
Emily Claire Whisenant
Johnsie Caroline Wilkinson

Outstanding Student Award
Aubrey Grooms
Andrew Spitzer
Johnsie Wilkinson

Dean’s Excellence Award
Margaret Grace Nolan

MUSIC
School of the Art Scholars
Madison Anderson
Sarah Milowic
Alan Peter Schmitt

Outstanding Student Award
Madison Anderson
John Nerges
Courtney Pourciaux
Alan Peter Schmitt
Craig Torella
Sarah Ae-Lin Youn

Dean’s Excellence Award
Courtney Pourciaux

Mary Stewart Allan Award for Violin
Jin Hui

Marguerite Elfe Erckman Vocal Award
Courtney Pourciaux

The Deborah and John Zeigler String Award
Anna Galura
Rafe Goldman

The Melvin H. & Virginia Peacock Goodwin Award for Instrumental Performance
Sarah Ae-Lin Youn

Edwin Davis Peacock Award for Excellence in Piano
Eleni Kamaratou

Reba Kinne Huge Award in Music
McKenzie Anderson

Sue Simons Wallace Award for Excellence in Music
Maxx Bradley

Robert and Pamela Dickson Outstanding Achievement in Violin Award
Mengting You

STUDIO ART
School of the Arts Scholars
Kylie Beall
Hannah Malone

Outstanding Student Award
Ellie Dreyer
Samantha Horodecki
Danielle Lewis
Rayne MacPhee
Annamarie Morris
Neha Muppala
Anna Self

Dean’s Excellence Award
Rayne MacPhee

The Artists and Craftsman Award
Meredith Huff

Brian and Kathryn Rutenberg Studio Art Award
Christian Birk
Samantha Horodecki
Jessica Mack
Michael Williams

The Corrie McCallum Award for Printmaking
Joshua Wyndham

The Laura M. Bragg Memorial Award
Ellie Dreyer

Dr. Norton M. Seltzer Prize in Studio Art
Hannah Malone

Dr. Norton M. Seltzer Prize for Young Contemporaries
Anjali Naik

Summerville Artists Guild Award in Memory of Detta Zimmerman
Francisca Palazuelos

The Tyzack Prize
Danielle Lewis

THEATRE and DANCE
School of the Arts Scholars
Caitlin Barth
Anna Bengtson
Lydia Brown
Nicholas Brown
Delaney Hogan
Julia Marks
Rebekah Rast
Nicole Tarcza

Outstanding Student Award in Theatre
Kaitlyn Bailey
Krista Grevas
Price Long
Julia Marks

Outstanding Student Award in Dance
Lydia Brown

Dean’s Excellence Award (Theatre)
Caroline Connell

Dean’s Excellence Award (Dance)
Lacey Heffernan

Arthur McDonald Award for Theatre
Brianna Rodriguez

Center Stage Award
Julia Marks

Eliza Ingle Dance Honor
Madeline Goodman

Faculty Award of Merit – Theatre & Dance Faculty Award
Jennifer Asouzu
Kaitlyn Bailey
Lydia Brown
Gracie Lawson
Price Long
Bailey McFaden

Franklin B. Ashley Playwriting Award
Brent Dorwart

Future Teacher Award
Nicholas Brown

Hannah Strickland Award for Excellence in Design
Carrie Ferrelli

Maria Alicia Elfe Award for Theatre
Price Long

Dr. Norton M. Seltzer Prize in Theatre
Nicholas Brown

The Stelle Award in Theatre
Jordan Benton

Valerie Morris Award for an Outstanding Performance
by an Actor or an Actress in a Play
Joel Watson

ADDITIONAL AWARDS
Jean W. Johnson Study Abroad Awards
Emma Penny | University of Westminster (Arts Management, fall 2016)
Margaret Grace Nolan | Edinburgh Internship Program, Arcadia University
(Art and Architectural History, and Historic Preservation and Community Planning, fall 2016)
Le’ah Griggs | College of Charleston in Spain (Music, spring 2017)
Elliot Slovis | CIEE: Global Architecture and Design in Prague
(Historic Preservation and Community Planning, spring 2017)
Ceili Hesselgrave | British Studies Program (Theatre, summer 2017)
Alexandra Higakim | Florence University for the Arts (Arts Management, summer 2017)
Stephanie Tanzi | American Hellenic Institute Foundation, Greece (Arts Management, summer 2017)

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AWARDS
ExCEL Awards (Excellence in Collegiate Education and Leadership Awards)
Jennifer Asouzu | Student of the Year, School of the Arts
Tyana Woodard | Eugene C. Hunt Award for a Rising Senior

STATE, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AWARDS
South Carolina National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Auditions
McKenzie Anderson | Third Year College Women (regional), Second Place
McKenzie Anderson | Third Year College Women (state), Honors Winner
Jasmine Crowder | Third Year College Women (regional), First Place
Jasmine Crowder | Reid Alexander Brown Scholarship for
Outstanding College (Classical) Woman (regional)
Jasmine Crowder | Third Year College Women (state), Honors Winner
Mary Ott | Third Year College Music Theater Women (regional), Third Place
Mary Ott | Third Year College Women (regional), Competitor
Mary Ott | Third Year College Music Theater Women (state), Honors Winner
Mary Ott | Third Year College Women (state), Honors Winner
Josh Overby | Lower Advanced College Men (regional), Fourth Place
Josh Overby | Lower Advanced College Men (state), Honors Winner
Katherine Kuckelman | Third Year College Women (regional), Competitor
Katherine Kuckelman | Third Year College Women (state), First Place
Eli Major-Wright | Second Year College Men (state), Honors Winner
Harper Mobley | First Year College Women (regional), Competitor
Harper Mobley | First Year College Women (state), First Place
Laura Owens | Lower Advanced College Women (regional), Honors Winner
Laura Owens | Advanced College Women (state), Honors Winner
Courtney Pourciaux | Fourth-Fifth Year College Women (state), Honors Winner
Trevor Walker | First Year College Men (regional), Competitor
Trevor Walker | First Year College Men (state), Honors Winner

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region IV Conference Excellence in Lighting Design
Alexia Sosa

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region IV Conference
Summer Fellowship at the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas
Carrie Ferrelli

Southeastern Theatre Conference Undergraduate Scenic Design Award (Runner Up)
Rebekah Rast

Graduates with honors from the National Honor Society of Dance Arts
Victoria Conley
Lacey Heffernan
Chelsea Taborn

Cellist/Alumnus Wade Davis ’08 to Perform

The 2nd Monday Series at the College of Charleston School of the Arts will present a concert by cellist Wade Davis, a 2008 alumnus. An active solo and chamber performer, he has prepared for this concert a virtuosic collection of music by Francois Couperin, Gabriel Faure, Johann Sebastian Bach, plus others. Pianist Robin Zemp will join Davis on stage.

The concert will take place on Monday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m., at the Recital Hall of the Simons Center of the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. General admission is $15 and $10 for all students with school I.D. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or reserved by emailing concerts@cofc.edu.

Hear a clip of Davis performing.

Davis was born in New York in 1982. At the age of seven, he began studying the cello in the String Project at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, S.C. After two years of studying privately with Ashley Gobbel, he began studying with Dr. Robert Jesselson, Professor of Cello at the University of South Carolina. Davis was the winner of the South Carolina Philharmonic Jr. Young Artist’s Prize in 1998 and the South Carolina All-State Orchestra Concerto Competition winner for 2001. His studies continued with Dr. Jesselson for eight years until his graduation in the inaugural class of 2001 at the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He then attended the North Carolina School for the Arts in Winston-Salem. After two years of tutelage with Marcy Rosen, Davis transferred to the College of Charleston where he completed his undergraduate studies with Professor Natalia Khoma. He was named the ExCel Student of the Year for the School of the Arts at the College of Charleston in 2007. He then obtained both a Master’s Degree in Baroque Cello Performance and a Graduate Performance Degree in Historical Cello from Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, as a student of John Moran.

Davis is an active solo and chamber performer in Baltimore, Md., and his newest project is an Early Music group called S’amusant in which he plays baroque cello. Recent performances include a fundraiser concert for the Westchester Oratorio Society’s Annual Gala in Westchester, N.Y., a concert engagement at Baltimore’s Walters Art Gallery featuring the world-premiere of “A Valediction of Weeping,” a new work written for the ensemble by Baltimore-based composer John Belkot, and pre-Evensong recital at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roland Park.

When Davis is not performing he spends his time teaching for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra OrchKids program. He was published in Early Music America for the article “Seeing Ourselves in Early Music: Working for Diversity in the Field.” Davis writes “It is so meaningful to me as I think on upcoming events to not only to be teaching these children but to also have the opportunity to experience of being black in the world of classical music onstage, side-by-side with them. It is an incredible privilege to be showing classical audiences that myself and the next generation of young black musicians are thriving and will continue to strive for increased diversity in the field.”

Collaborative Music Series to Present Concert of 21st Century Composers

Magnetic South, a collaborative project between the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the College of Charleston Department of Music, will present its second contemporary classical music concert to Charleston audiences during the 2016-2017 season.

The spring concert, “Ambiguous Symmetries,” is an evening of music from 21st century composers and includes Festino Notturno by Mario Davidovsky, As We Do, an Etude for Mixed Ensemble by Kurt Rohde, and Deep Water by John Allemeier, as well as a performance of the winning composition from a Call for Scores administered by the College of Charleston’s Music Department; the winning piece, is Sift by Connor Elias Way, a new work that masterfully treats musical texture and instrumental color to create a slowly unfolding narrative inspired by Renaissance vocal music. 

College of Charleston faculty member Yiorgos Vassilandonakis and CSO Music Director Ken Lam will conduct the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Yuriy Bekker is concertmaster.

The “Ambiguous Symmetries” concert will take place on Friday, April 7, 2017, at 7:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming Street, Charleston, SC 29403. Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and can be purchased at the door, by calling (843) 723-7528, ext. 110, or at charlestonsymphony.org.

About Magnetic South:

Magnetic South is an innovative partnership between the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the College of Charleston Department of Music. It combines the resources of the two institutions to present contemporary classical music in Charleston in an informative context. The goal of the Magnetic South partnership is to bring to the audiences of the Lowcountry, including students at the College, masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries along with important new works by living composers. The concerts, performed by CSO musicians and conducted by College of Charleston faculty member Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, feature carefully selected works from a variety of aesthetic directions and styles to represent the panorama of the music of our time. Magnetic South was co-founded in 2012 by Vassilandonakis, fellow faculty member Edward Hart and CSO concertmaster and Principal Pops conductor, Yuriy Bekker.

CofC Theatre to Stage Tony Award/Pulitzer Prize-winning musical ‘Rent’

Presented by the College of Charleston’s department of theatre and dance, Rent is a multiple award-winning musical based loosely on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme. With music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson, this rock musical shares the story of eight impoverished artistic friends struggling to survive bohemian life in Manhattan’s East Village in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The group’s dreams, losses and love stories weave through the musical’s narration to paint a stunningly raw and emotional portrait of life at the end of the millennium in a gritty world being torn apart by drugs, HIV/AIDS, social tension and political unrest. Yet, through all of that darkness, it offers a positive outlook on life and living that resonates with everyone.

The production will run Thursday, April 6 through Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Curtain times will be 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday show at 2:00 p.m. only. Performances will take place at the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. Admission is $20 for general public; $15 for senior citizens College of Charleston employees and non-College of Charleston students; $12 for College of Charleston students. Tickets can be purchased at theatre.cofc.edu or by calling (843) 953-6306. This production contains mature thematic material including drugs, sexuality, and some adult language. Discretion is advised.

Following its off-Broadway run and a Pulitzer Prize win, the Rent premiered on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in April 1996 and ran for 12 years, having presented over 5,000 performances. Winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Featured Actor, “Rent” is the eleventh longest-running Broadway show. During its 20th Broadway-opening anniversary last year, a national tour was launched in celebration.

The College’s production is directed by theatre faculty member Todd McNerney with musical direction by guest artist Justin Wham and choreography by adjunct dance faculty member Jessica Cerovic.

The score features a number of famous songs, including “Seasons of Love,” “No Day But Today,” “Rent,” and “La Vie Boheme.” A five-piece rock band will perform with the show.