Connecting NC State courses with the arts: The Department of Music

The Department of Music is now the Department of Performing Arts and Technology.

Contact Amy Sawyers-Williams, arts outreach & engagement, to set up a connection (e.g. offer extra credit for your students who attend a concert). acsawyer@ncsu.edu

Stay Tuned for Spring 2023 Updates

Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra

Rituals and Renewals

Sunday April 2 at 4pm in Stewart Theatre in the Talley Student Union. 

The Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra performs the World Premiere of two new works inspired by cycles of the natural world: Nowruz by composer Adeliia Faizullina, and ao kuewa by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Leilehua Lanzilotti.

Nowruz is the holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and a new day, throughout the Persian, Arabic and Turkic speaking worlds. In the piece, a new light is born; it is young and innocent, like a child that will grow up to be big and all-embracing, to give its warmth to new life. But the light, too, is cold, carrying the shadow of winter. Can it become the Light of Renewal? Faizullina is an Uzbekistan-born Tatar composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and quray player, who happens to be blind. She explores cutting-edge vocal colors and paints delicate and vibrant atmospheres inspired by the music and poetry of Tatar folklore.

ao kuewa tells the story of renewal after destruction, and the importance of taking care of the land. Traditionally, it was thought that certain trees were homes for spirits. When people cut down all the trees and destroyed some of the natural habitats, that it caused a crisis of these spirits not having a place. Only through the dedication of restoring the land, do the spirits find renewal. The orchestra will be joined for the performance by a hula troupe, performing the dance upon which the music is based.

The program also includes two atmospheric French works, groundbreaking 19th-century composer Augusta Holmès’ La nuit et l’amour and Arthur Honegger’s evocative portrait of the countryside in summer, Pastorale d’ete. Kodály’s driving, joyous Dances of Marosszék, inspired by the folk melodies of his native land, rounds out the program.


Previous Connections:

Fall 2022

Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra

World Premiere of Concerto for Violin: Paths to Dignity by Lucas Richman, with Mitchell Newman, violin soloist.

Sunday November 13 at 4pm in Stewart Theatre in the Talley Student Union. 

https://pathstodignity.com/
Photo: a Street Symphony Concert, an organization Newman has played with in LA https://www.afm.org/

Lucas Richman will compose a new musical work, “Concerto for Violin: Paths to Dignity,” for violinist Mitchell Newman to perform with the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra, centering the theme of homelessness and of displaced persons. The music will serve as a catalyst for meaningful discussions about the connections between homelessness and mental health as well as the role the arts can play in restoring humanity and dignity to the ever-growing population of displaced citizens. Local homelessness and housing advocacy groups will have a presence in the lobby prior to the concert, and there will be a free panel directly following the concert. This is the first performance of the Paths to Dignity Project, and Richman and Newman will take this concerto and community outreach performances to several other locations in the US and internationally.

Learn more about the Paths to Dignity Project: https://pathstodignity.com/

Class Connections

  • ANT 252: Cultural Anthropology
  • ARS 259 The Arts and Politics
  • ARS 353: Arts and Cross-Cultural Contacts
  • COM 304: Audio Production
  • COM 322: Nonverbal Communication
  • ED 508 : Exploring Diversity in Classroom and Community
  • ENG 340: Literature, Art, and Society
  • GEO 220 / SOC 220: Cultural Geography
  • HI 233: The World Since 1750
  • HI 254: Modern American History
  • HON 360: Music and Resistance
  • MUS 103: Theory and Musicianship I
  • MUS 105: Introduction to Music in Western Society
  • MUS 120: Introduction to Music Theory
  • MUS 144: Jazz Ensemble I/II
  • PHI 221: Contemporary Moral Issues
  • PRT 200: Health, Wellness and the Pursuit of Happiness
  • PS 236: Issues in Global Politics
  • PSY 311: Social Psychology
  • PSY 416: Psychology of Emotion
  • SOC 203: Current Social Problems
  • SOC 206: Social Deviance
  • SOC 211: Community and Health
  • SOC 301: Human Behavior
  • SW 425: Hunger and Homelessness