Department Archives: School of Performing Arts

By Tanesha Bridenback “Swingin’. Cookin’. Ground Breaking.” Three words that Jeff Rupert, director of jazz studies, uses to describe Miles Davis’ album “The Birth of the Cool.” Originally produced in 1949, the album features a nine-piece band, that includes traditionally classical instruments like the French horn and tuba. However, what makes this piece truly “groundbreaking” […]

Theatre UCF’s production of Hot Mikado brings a unique design concept to the show and to the company: Japanese anime. Based on The Mikado, a comedic 1880s operetta which follows young lovers living in a fictional Japanese town where acts as small as flirting are a capital crime, Hot Mikado sets the original story and […]

Although Harriett Lake couldn’t explain her devotion to clothes, something led the Orlando fashion icon and philanthropist to spend her life collecting the most unique and eye-catching outfits and accessories. A new book titled “Too Much is Not Enough: The History in Harriett’s Closet” by Kristina Tollefson, a costume designer and associate professor of theatre at UCF, […]

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the College of Arts and Humanities – activities and initiatives across disciplines

BY JENNA MARINA LEE | AUGUST 31, 2018 When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released on bookshelves in the United States on Sept. 1, 1998, Andrew Carnero ’15 was 5 years old. And while he remembers peering over his older brother’s shoulder to see what he was reading, the UCF theatre major could hardly have predicted the influence the series would […]

Eric Ulloa ’06BFA (musical theatre) will be playing Jud in Theatre Under the Stars’ production of Oklahoma! with Tony Award winner Priscilla Lopez. Ulloa is the author of 26 Pebbles, which had its world premiere at The Human Race Theatre Company. The play was featured in American Theatre Magazine and The New York Times and won […]

UCF alumnus Alexander Bornstein ’09 is an award-winning composer currently based in Los Angeles. His music has been heard on television, independent films, feature films, web series, documentaries and concert halls around the U.S. Alexander has also been at the forefront of new multimedia platforms, composing music for one of the first VR television series.

Congratulations to Corin Staves ’17, an alumnus of the Bachelor’s of Music in music performance and the Piano Studio, on being named a 2018-19 Fulbright Scholar and awarded a scholarship to participate in international exchange programs in Munich, Germany!  Staves is drawn to Munich because of its vibrant music community and plans to join a […]

This year’s All-Steinway Summer Piano Progam held this June at the School of Performing Arts brought a special collaboration between two groups of pianists; young pianists from the age of 12-17 from Florida and professional piano teachers from China. These nine young piano teachers came from five different cities in China and were visiting as […]

Five opera students had the opportunity to participate in a private master class with Denyce Graves in front of a small audience at Snap! Space on June 10. “The morning consisted of a Q&A with [opera star Denyce] Graves, followed by arias from five of the students with the Washington native giving notes on their […]