Welcome SPA Faculty Member: Si-Yan Darren Li
June 30, 2016 The UCF School of Performing Arts is pleased to welcome Assistant Professor Si-Yan Darren Li to the Music faculty. Li will be leading the cello studio at the university. Li started studying cello at age five and now holds prizes from numerous prestigious competitions around the world, such as the Tchaikovsky...
Theatre grads from UCF's early days hold reunion
June 23, 2016 On June 10, dozens of actors, directors, costume designers and other denizens of the theater descended onto a small party venue in Winter Springs to reunite with one another. Despite the vivid experiences they shared long ago, many of them hadn’t seen each other in more than 40 years. The...
UCF's Voicebox Reaches International A Cappella Finals
June 21, 2016 Voicebox a cappella group from UCF has sung its way to the finals of this weekend’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella in New York. The 13-member group, which formed in the fall of 2014, beat out another UCF group – Gemini Boulevard – in the southern regionals to advance....
Fringe Festival keeps Orlando theater weird
June 21, 2016 Veterans of The Orlando Fringe Festival describe it as a celebration of art in all its forms. The festival, now in its 25th year, has something of a raunchy reputation — at Fringe, anything goes, whether that’s musical revues featuring all-nude casts, R-rated comedy performances or drag queen battle royales....
UCF alumnus cast on Broadway, again
June 21, 2016 Quentin Earl Darrington, a recent graduate of UCF’s master’s program in acting, will hit the New York City stage next month for his second Broadway show. Darrington, 37, will play Old Deuteronomy in the revival production of Cats and has the opportunity to work alongside Tony Award-winning director Trevor Nunn....
Tremon Kizer Will Oversee UCF Athletic Bands
June 16, 2016 As the University of Central Florida’s new Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands, Tremon Kizer will oversee all aspects of the athletic band program and teach courses in music education. Kizer is well-versed in university band programs. Previously, he oversaw the University of Dayton Marching Band, as...
Welcome SPA Faculty Member: Shawn Boyle
June 13, 2016 The UCF School of Performing Arts is pleased to introduce assistant professor Shawn Boyle. Boyle will be part of the Theatre faculty, teaching lighting design and working on Theatre UCF’s productions starting in August. He’s excited to become part of the community at the University of Central Florida, which was...
UCF's The World Goes 'Round is a Song-and-Dance Extravaganza
June 09, 2016 The UCF School of Performing Arts opens The World Goes ‘Round, a musical revue of songs by songwriting team John Kander and Fred Ebb. The production runs June 23 through July 2 on the Theatre UCF Main Stage. Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman and David Thompson, Kander and Ebb’s...
Music Professor Rupert Honored by UCF Board of Trustees
June 02, 2016 Music Professor Jeffrey Rupert has been honored as a “foremost scholar” by the UCF Board of Trustees and has been granted one of eight “Trustee Chair” awards. Designed to both retain and attract exceptional faculty, the five-year Trustee Chair appointments offer an annual stipend of $50,000. In order to be...
University's Early Theatre Troupes to Stage Reunion
May 25, 2016 In the early days of UCF – when it was known as Florida Technological University with the overriding mission to provide personnel for the U.S. space program – there also was a small group of dedicated theatre students, faculty and staff on campus. In that space-dominated era, that handful of...
Almost, Maine is a welcomed respite from the Florida heat
May 25, 2016 Orlando, Fla. (May 25, 2016) – Theatre UCF opens John Cariani’s play Almost, Maine on Thursday, June 2. The play is a series of vignettes about love in a northern town and runs through June 11 in UCF’s Black Box theater. Almost, Maine tells nine stories of love in a...
UCF Names New Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities
May 20, 2016 After an extensive national search that began in October, the University of Central Florida has selected Jeffrey Moore, director of UCF’s School of Performing Arts, as its new dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. He will start his new role Aug. 8. Moore joined UCF in 1994 as...
Theatre UCF Student First to Win National Environmental Playwriting Award
May 05, 2016 University of Central Florida student Alex Hehr has been awarded the National Planet Earth Arts Award at the Kennedy Center for the American College Theatre Festival, for his original piece Biodegradable Seagulls. He is the first recipient of the national award. The award is given to a play that address...
Exposure to the Arts at Young Age Fosters Creativity in Children
April 27, 2016 I recently ignored the cardinal rule of parenthood and kept my 2-year-old, Huck, awake during his normal naptime. I knew it was risky, but then, so is suggesting he wear a shirt that isn’t his favorite color orange, so I was willing to take my chances. The reasons for my...
One-act plays take stage at UCF's Project Spotlight
April 27, 2016 Project Spotlight, the only student-run theater development organization at UCF, performed its biannual one-act festival this past weekend. Four one-act plays, which are usually between 30 and 50 minutes in length, were presented as part of the festival, which ran from April 21 to April 24 at the Theatre UCF...
UCF Celebrates the Arts Week sees students perform 'Life is a Dream'
April 13, 2016 UCF students and faculty presented a theater production titled “The Life is a Dream Project” on April 9 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando as part of the “UCF Celebrates the Arts” week. To read more, please visit Central Florida Future.
UCF Creates Entertainment Management Degree with $5 Million Donation
March 29, 2016 The Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida has received a $5 million private donation to establish a Bachelor of Science degree in Entertainment Management starting Fall 2016. The donor wishes to remain anonymous. This four-year undergraduate program will focus on the managerial aspects of entertainment...
Chiu Wins 2016 Performance Excellence Competition
March 29, 2016 Percussionist and music major Calvin Chiu won the 2016 Performance Excellence Competition. The contest is hosted annually by the UCF School of Performing Arts. You’ll be able to see him perform at the UCF Honors Convocation on Thursday, April 21.
UCF Celebrates the Arts to Experience 'The Warped Side of the Universe'
March 29, 2016 An out-of-this-world collaboration of music, science and visual effects will fuse when the story creator and artists of the science fiction film Interstellar will present a star-studded event with UCF musicians April 9 at the UCF Celebrates the Arts festival. The multimedia performance, The Warped Side of the Universe, will...
UCF Celebrates the Arts' Musical Performances to Feature Variety of Tastes
March 07, 2016 The music performances at the second UCF Celebrates the Arts will take you on a journey across the globe. The variety is sure to appeal to many, including those who might not normally attend a classical concert. The April 8-16 festival at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts...