THE N. C. ESSAY
VOLUME V, NO XIV
NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
March 30, 1971
AARON COPLAND AND KURT YAGHJIAN RELAX DURING
REHEARSALS FOR “THE LINCOLN PORTRAIT,” a part of the
recent Copland Festival held at NCSA. Photo by Nicholson
Fest. Success
Copland Attends Fete
Aaron Copland, the famous
American composer and con
ductor, was in attendance at a
Festival in celebration of his 70th
birthday at the School of the Arts,
March 11 - 14. Copland was
present for three of the scheduled
four evening performances. The
profjrams covered the full range
of Copland’s music and featured
the premieres of three ballets,
choreographed especially for the
occasion.
The Festival opened with a
Chamber Music and Opera
Concert on Thursday, March 11.
The program included the Piano
Sonata performed by Nicholas
Smith, pianist; the Sextet for
String Quartet, Piano and
Clarinet with Rebecca Barrow,
pianist, Robert Listokin,
clarinetist and the Claremont
String Quartet; and excerpts
from “The Tender l^nd”, with
the NCSA chorus and soloists
under the direction of David
Partington.
Friday, March 12, Copland
gave an address and conducted
the NCSA orchestra in “Outdoor
Overture”; “The Lincoln Por
trait,” with Kurt Yaghjian,
narrating the excerpts from
Lincoln’s speeches and writings;
and the Suite from his ballet
“Rodeo.”
Five ballets, with music by
Copland, were presented by the
N.C. Dance Theatre and dancers
from the School on Saturday,
March 13 and at a Sunday, March
14, matinee and evening per
formance. The program included
three premieres: “Dance
Panels,” with new choreography
by Nelle Fisher and two ballets
choreographed by Duncan
Noble: “Nocturne” and “In-
Games.” “Cassandra,”
choreography by Pauline Koner
and “Crazy ^ilt,” choreography
by Richard Englund, completed
the program.
Other events included an in
formal session with composers
from North Carolina and com
position majors from the School
of Music, a reception in the
composer’s honor and a showing
of the six films for which Copland
composed the scores. In addition,
radio station WFDD-FM
presented Copland festivals on
Monday, Tuesday, and Wed
nesday, March 8, 9 and 10, which
featured commentary by Duncan
Noble, Robert Ward, and Marc
Gottlieb.
Copland, a major figure on the
American creative scene for
more than forty years, also spent
much time talking and listening
to students. His friendly, en
dearing manner made it easy for
many students to talk with him
about many subjects, but
especially about music.
All of the scheduled per
formances during the Festival
were sold out and large crowds
appeared every evening.
At Salem
'BeeBee" Presented
“The Days and Nights of
ReeBee Fenstermaker,” a play
by William Snyder about a
Southern girl who journeys to
New York to begin a writing
career, was presented as a
workshop under the direction of
Robert Murray, by the School of
Drama Monday, March 15,
through Thursday, March 18.
Through the courtesy of Salem
College, the production was held
at the Fine Arts Center in the
Drama Workshop Theatre.
The action of the play covers a
span of several years and takes
ReeBee Fenstermaker from
idealistic enthusiasm through
disillusionment to resignation.
When her money runs out after
her first three months in New
York, ReeBee is forced to take a
secretarial job and then finds it
increasingly difficult to work on
the novel she hoped to write. She
tries other artistic outlets, but
little by little becomes just a
secretary, looking for someone
she can bear, someone who can
bear her for at least a little while.
ReeBee’s life in New York is set
against a background of scenes
involving her mother and her two
aunts back home. These three
sisters are in many ways like a
chorus and their scenes are in
tended to give background and
perspective to BeeBee’s struggles
in New York.
Mary Reth Zablotny played the
title role with Elaine Rinehart as
her best friend. Richard Kaplan
and David Marshall were the two
men in her life and Monte
McIntyre was the interviewer
who helps her find a job. The
three sisters back home were
played by Elaine Rinehart, Enid
Eisenstein and Joyce Solkov.
Robert Murray, who directed
the earlier NCSA production of
“The Sign in Sidney Rrustein’s
Window,” has just been named
Chairman of the Acting Program
in the School of Drama.
Just when it seems we’re k
$: finally getting ourselves S
jj: together with this
•j: newspaper, something S
always happens to set us
back a few eons. This time
it was a combination of
many things: draft boards,
g productions, Mr. Copland’s |:|:
visit, vacations, etc. All S
very necessary f well, I can i:-:
•v think of one that isn’t) and i:j:
all very time-consuming.
Anyway, because all of S;
these things drove quite S
•j; crazy ( even our printer: Irf:
“We’ll have the material §;■
¥: there tomorrow.. . Wait... ¥:
No, we won’t.. . how about :o
and so on), we missed S
an issue somewhere along
the line (I’m not even sure
Iv when anymore). We’ll try :$
j:| and make it up, but we’re
not sure when and how yet.
S At any rate, we’re back
(minus some hair) and S
S we’ll try and finish out the
year un-hassled (but don’t vi
S bet on it). Most of all,
thanks for asking about us iS
and understanding. In- S
S cidentially, does anyone •:>
•j: out there wanna be an g;
•S editor any time soon?
K The N.C. Essay
v: Editor & Staff $:
Matthews
In Recital
Clifton Matthews, pianist, will
present a recital in the Main
Auditorium of the North Carolina
School of the Arts on April 2 at
8:15. The program will include
Prelude and Fugue in D major
and Prelude and Fugue in D
minor from The Well Tempered
Clavier, Volume 11 by Rach, Six
Etudes, Rook 1 by Debussy,
Piano Variations by Aaron
Copland, and Grand Sonata in F
sharp minor, Opus 11 by
Schumann.
Rach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues
entitled ‘Das wohltemperirte
Clavier,’ was published in two
parts, each containing twenty-
four preludes and twenty-four
fugues. The first part was
completed in 1722 when Bach was
in his 38th year, and to this alone
he gave the above name. Sub
sequently (1744) he finished 24
more preludes and fugues
“through all the major and minor
keys”, and so like in design to the
former series are these that they
have come to be regarded as the
second part, the entire collection
now being under one title.
Dubussy’s Six Etudes, one of
his last works,, was composed in
1915 and dedicated to the memory
and genius of Chopin.
The Piano Variations, per
formed with Pauline Koner’s
ballet “Cassandra” at the
.School’s recent Copland Festival,
consist of a ten-measure theme,
twenty variations and a coda.
The work conveys a feeling of
strength, hardness and con
centration. Like many other
twentieth-century composers,
Copland treats the piano per-
cussively. Most of the variations
are played loud and non legato,
with many sharp accents. The
Piano Variations was composed
in 1930.
Among the attempts to add
something genuine to the
literature of the pianoforte
sonata, the Grand Sonata in F
sharp minor. Opus 11 by
Schumann is the most in
teresting.
Matthews, who came to the
School in 1968, received his B.S.
and M.S. degrees from the
Julliard School of Music, where
he was a student of Irwin
Freundlich, who is also a
member of the faculty at the
School of the Arts.
Architects Named
Campus Master Plan
The North Carolina School of
the Arts has engaged the ar
chitectural firms of Hardy
Holzman Pfeiffer Associates of
New York and l^shmit. Brown
and Pollock of Winston-Salem for
a threefold development
program, according to an an
nouncement made a few weeks
ago by Robert Ward, President of
the .School. Working as a team,
the two firms will survey the
campus of the .School and other
facilities in Winston-Salem;
develop a master plan for the
campus, including recommended
new buildings; and design those
new buildings.
Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer
Associates have specialized in
performance facilities and in
campus planning. Their firm
designed the Tufts University
Performing Arts Center, the
Playhouse in the Park in Cin
cinnati, the New Lafayette
Theater in Harlem and the
Toledo Center for the Performing
Arts, which has not yet been
constructed.
The local firm, I^shmit, Brown
and Pollock, has been involved
for years with the facilities of the
.School of the Arts. It was this
firm that in 1929 designed the
original Gray High School
building, now occupied by the
School. They were also architects
for the Salem College Fine Arts
Center, the Davidson College
Fine Arts Center and the
acoustical and technical
renovation of Reynolds
Auditorium in Winston-.Salem.
The two firms will be associated
architects for the .School and will
work together on all phases of the
project.
The three young principals of
the New York firm, Hugh Hardy,
a former scenic designer,
Malcolm Holzman and Norman
Pfeiffer, who have made theater
design a major thrust of their
work, believe that the .School will
take a new direction in the future
as a result of campus planning.
“The .School has been m-
fluenced by its buildings,” said
Norman Pfeiffer in discussing
the new contract. “It has been
necessary in the past to organize
the .School physically by
departments. Eventually, the
.School can be organized by ac
tivities.” He has suggested that
perhaps the daily and routine of
classes, rehearsals and study can
take place in the existing
buildings and that a new area
could be developed for per
forming.
Pfeiffer said of the present
performance areas, the Main
Auditorium and the Drama
Theatre, that these large spaces
are well suited to many of the
.School’s activity needs such as an
experimental theater and
facilities for film and television.
A major part of the master plan
will be determining the best use
of the present buildings.
Commenting on the sense of
isolation often inherent in the
pur.suit of an artistic career,
Pfeiffer said that new spatial
arrangements would make
students more aware of each
other by providing the best en
vironment for interaction.
“Architects can’t make this
interaction happen,” he con
cluded, “but they can set the
basic environment for it.”
The highest priority in campus
development is a new library.
Funds for this project have
already been requested from the
legislature and the proposed
building has already been
designed by Colvin, Hammill and
Walter of Winston-Salem. This
building would also include a
small recital hall.
The two firms working on the
master plan expect to complete
the initial survey and submit
recommendations by the end of
April. The state has provided
funds for planning related to new
buildings and further support for
the development of a master plan
has come from the .School of the
Arts Foundation.
The following directive ap
peared in our mailboxes recently.
Perhaps you’d best read it:
“Recause of the large amount
of food eaten by students, staff
and non-students who do not pay
for it, the Cafeteria may lose as
much as $9,000.00 in its operation
during the 1970-71 school year.
Such a loss would necessitate a
raise in the cost of board during
the 1971-72 school year. After
consultation with Mr. Childress,
head of the food service, and with
the .Student Government, the
following policy has been agreed
upon in order to eliminate these
losses:
(1) The rate per meal for off-
campus students will be as
follows: Breakfast, $.50; Lunch,
$.85; and Dinner, $1.10.
(2) No student eating in the
Cafeteria will be allowed to feed
another student, visitor, faculty
or staff member,
(3) .Students, faculty, and staff
will be allowed to meet in the
Cafeteria without purchasing a
Cafeteria Changes
meal ticket, providing they
identify themselves to the person
on duty at the cash register and
let that person know that they are
in the Cafeteria for the purposes
of meeting.
(4) A. Visitors on campus will
be asked to pay the same rates as
are now charged per meal. The
rates are as follows: Breakfast,
$.75; Lunch, $1.25; and Dinner,
$1,50.
B. Each visitor in the
Cafeteria must have a visitors
pass which may be obtained from
any Houseparent,
(5) Any person who eats food in
the Cafeteria without paying will
be barred from the Cafeteria for
the period of one (1) month for the
first offense and for one (1)
semester for the second offense,
(fi) This policy will go into
effect with the breakfast meal on
Thursday, April 1, 1971,”
The directive was issued by
Martin .Sokoloff, Administrative
Director, and Robert Hyatt, Dean
of .Students,
NOTICES
We received the minutes
of the All-School Advisory
Council rather late for this
issue (and also they are
extremely long). However,
as several important topics
were discussed at the last
meeting, we feel it is im
portant that students be
aware of what happened.
Therefore, there will be a
complete copy of the
minutes available in the
Fssay office for anyone
who cares to read them.
•X