Romeo and Juliet gets a Jazz Age treatment
February 09, 2017 Theatre UCF’s production of Romeo and Juliet will open on Thursday, February 16 and run through Sunday, February 26. The Shakespeare classic will be set in the 1930’s, and tell the tale of star-crossed lovers whose families clash in their fight to achieve the American Dream. The prohibition-era setting depicts...
UCF School of Performing Arts Student, Alumni and Staff Engaged in Upcoming Cabaret Performance
February 06, 2017 On February 11, 2017, The Orlando Gay Chorus is presenting Love Is…A Fairy Tale, an evening of cabaret performances featuring several UCF staff, alumni and a current student. “I realized as I was putting the show together how many people were part of the UCF School of Performing Arts now...
UCF students to present musical for youth about hunger
February 06, 2017 Orlando, Fla. – On Friday, February 24, Theatre UCF will present the musical Puddin’ and the Grumble, a coming-of-age tale that follows Puddin’, a young girl struggling with starting over at a new school, living with her eccentric, avid singer and yogi of a grandma, and most of all, overcoming...
Rupert & Drexler’s new release climbs jazz album charts
January 31, 2017 The latest album from UCF’s esteemed jazz faculty has been well received following its release on January 6. Imagination, a live duo recording from Rupert & Drexler, debuted at #16 during its first week on the CMJ chart, made the Top 50 on the Roots Music Report, and landed on...
Virtuoso Pianist André Laplante Returns for UCF Piano Day
January 25, 2017 Due to popular demand, virtuoso French-Canadian concert pianist André Laplante returns as the guest artist of the third Annual UCF Piano Day. Laplante will perform a solo recital on Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m. in the UCF Visual Arts Building Auditorium. General Admission is $25 or $10 with valid...
Piano Professor Reviews Student Auditions in Beijing
January 12, 2017 Piano professor Yun-Ling Hsu has been invited to review live piano auditions in Beijing, China in January. Hsu will attend the performances of young Chinese pianists and interview potential undergraduate and graduate students for UCF’s School of Performing Arts. During this trip, she will visit the Conservatories of Music in...
Potter to sing opera in Lakeland
January 12, 2017 Thomas Potter, UCF voice teacher and opera director, will sing the lead baritone role of “Tonio” in Leoncavallo’s famous opera Pagliacci (the clowns) with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra at the Branscomb Auditorium in Lakeland, FL on Saturday, January 21. I am very happy to be able to perform this amazing...
Wind Ensemble Concert Moves
December 02, 2016 Sunday’s concert by the UCF Wind Ensemble, which will feature a marimba concerto by Dean Jeff Moore of the College of Arts & Humanities as soloist, has a new venue and time. The free concert will be 5-7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at Timber Creek High School, 1001 Avalon Park...
UCF Marching Knights and Music Fraternities & Sororities Participated in Fall Classic Opening Ceremonies
November 29, 2016 On Friday, November 11th, members of the UCF Marching Knights and our Music Fraternities and Sororities participated in the Fall Classic Opening Ceremonies for the Special Olympics Florida State Fall Classic. The Special Olympics Florida State Fall Classic is the culminating celebration and competition for athletes, partners, and coaches participating...
UCF Alumna Bright As Broadway
November 17, 2016 Three weeks after earning her degree a semester early in December 2014, Abby Jaros sat on her bed alongside her parents in a packed up apartment. All at once, Jaros realized the leap she was about to take in moving to New York City to pursue a career in theater....
Jazz legend Ira Sullivan to join Flying Horse Big Band in concert
November 02, 2016 UCF’s Flying Horse Big Band will perform with five-time Grammy nominee Ira Sullivan on Friday, November 4. The premier ensemble of the university’s jazz studies program, the Flying Horse Big Band is under the direction of Pegasus Professor Jeff Rupert, director of Jazz Studies. Ira Sullivan is a world-renowned multi-instrumentalist,...
García performs at International Flute Convention near Paris
October 31, 2016 Associate professor Nora Lee García recently performed at the 5th International Flute Convention hosted by the Maurice-Ravel Conservatory in Levallois, France. García was the only U.S.-born artist invited to play at the prestigious event. She performed Claude Bolling’s “Picnic Suite” with acclaimed guitarist Rene Izquierdo, professor at the University of...
Cloud 9 is a thought-provoking spectacle
October 28, 2016 Theatre UCF opens Caryl Churchill’s time shifting comedy Cloud 9 on Thursday, November 10, in UCF’s Black Box theater. The play, a parody of the Victorian Empire’s sexual rigidity, runs through November 20. Cloud 9 takes place in Colonial Africa in the first act, and later moves to a modern...
UCF Percussionist Performs Soundtrack based on SunRail Travels
October 20, 2016 In October, UCF Music faculty and percussionist Dr. Thad Anderson will give two free performances of Northbound, a travel soundtrack he composed based on a light rail trip. The performances will take place on Thursday, October 27 on the UCF campus and Sunday, October 30, at the Timucua Arts White...
Feinstein at UCF School of Performing Arts
October 18, 2016 Award-winning performer Michael Feinstein takes his seat behind the Steinway Piano and accompanies Kyle Laing, a student in UCF’s musical theatre program, on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Love Look Away,” while an audience of Laing’s peers and professors listens intently. The performance, part of a larger master class session led by...
Monstrously Fun Young Frankenstein Also Provides Learning Opportunities
September 23, 2016 Just in time for the Halloween season, the Theatre UCF comes alive with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein,running October 20 through 30 on the UCF Main Stage. Based on the beloved 1974 film of the same name featuring the late Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein tells the story of...
Be Boyd Honored as Woman of Distinction
September 23, 2016 Theatre Associate Professor Be Boyd has been honored by the UCF Center for Success of Women Faculty as a 2016 UCF Women of Distinction. Three awards were granted to women faculty members this year for “Excellence in Innovation,” which the Center defines as the adaptation of one’s expertise to a...
UCF Music to Host All-State Preparation Clinic for Middle, High Schoolers
August 22, 2016 The University of Central Florida will offer a day-long All-State Preparation Clinic to middle and high school students on Saturday, August 27. The clinic is free, but advance registration is required. UCF Music faculty and guest instrumentalists will offer clinics on the Florida Bandmasters Association and Florida Orchestra Association’s All-State...
Dr. Steven Chicurel-Stein Takes the Helm at the School of Performing Arts
August 12, 2016 As director of the UCF School of the Performing Arts, Dr. Steven Chicurel-Stein is focused on enhancing the school’s strengths and showcasing those attributes to the community. Previously an associate director of the School, Chicurel-Stein was appointed as interim director following director Jeffrey Moore’s recent promotion to the position of...
Julia Listengarten is New Artistic Director for Theatre UCF
August 05, 2016 Theatre professor Dr. Julia Listengarten has been appointed the Artistic Director for Theatre UCF. The artistic director is typically responsible for conceiving, developing, and implementing the artistic vision of a theatre company. Listengarten envisions her role as working with the Theatre faculty to re-imagine artistic goals of the department and...