Arts & Lifestyle
Of Interest ...
Applications available
for Omega Talent Hunt
Applications are now available for the Omega
Psi Phi Talent Hunt Contest, slated to take place in
March 2010. All high school music students are
^eligible. Contestants must play or
meeting.
p sing a inciiKM l/cu piece
of semi-classical or
classical music.
Prize money will be
$300 for first-place;
second-place. $200;
$100 for third-place.
The first-place winner
will also represent the
^ Psi PhivChapter at the
Sixth District Annual
Music students and teachers can contact
Emory Jones at 336-655-1019 or
emoryjonesl @hotmail.com for more information
and/or an application.
Opera will collect for Food Bank
Piedmont Opera will host a food drive to ben
efit Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest
North Carolina.
The Opera will accept donations of non-perish
:ihlf? fnrvl itpms at it< nroHnr
tions of "Hansel and Gretel"
at the Stevens Center on Oct.
2 at 7 p.m.. Oct. 4 at 2 p.m.
and Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The
Hot Shots youth group of
High Caliber Stables will
assist with food collections
during the productions.
"We are pleased to partic
ipate in this food drive that
will provide vital assistance
to people in the greater Triad
area, in difficult times like
Dickerson
these, it is critically important that community
institutions work together to provide help to the
less fortunate," said Piedmont Opera Executive
Director Frank Dickerson.
Hunger is a significant problem in Winston
Salem. Forsyth County and throughout the 18
county service area in Northwest North Carolina.
The network of nearly 400 partner agencies indi
cate that the demand for food assistance from
clients has increased 76 percent over last year.
For "Hansel and Gretel" tickets, call 333-724
3202 or go online to www.piedmontopera.org.
Nominations being accepted
for new N.C. Poet Laureate
Nominations for the state's next poet laureate,
the ambassador of North Carolina literature, will
be accepted through Oct. 9 online at the Web site
of the N.C. Arts Council, www.ncarts.org.
The post, created by the General Assembly in
1935, uses the office as a platform to promote
N.C. writers and the potentially transformative
qualities of poetry and the written word.
The poet laureate receives a $10,000 annual
stipend funded by the N.C. Arts Council, along
with support from staff. While each poet laureate
leaves his or her own personal imprint on the pro
gram. duties typically include public activities
with schools, community groups and the press,
and contact with writers and readers by mail,
email and/or through a Web site.
Though all state poet laureates have made
important contributions, the most recent laureate,
Kathyn Stripling Byer (2005-2009), launched the
position into cyberspace. She developed the
Writers & Books Web pages on the N.C. Arts
Council's Web site, highlighting N.C. writers of
poetry, fiction and non-fiction. She also started
her own blog. My Laureate's Lasso, covering the
literary scene of the state.
A selection committee will pick the next poet
laureate.
Ken DeVanney hired
to run A&T's TV studio
North Carolina A&T State University's state
of-the-art TV studio, located on the third floor of
Crosby Hall, is under new
DeVanney
tion class projects.
management.
Ken DeVanney, an
award-winning videographer
with more than 20 years of
experience in television pro
duction has been named tel
evision studio manager. He
initially worked part-time in
the studio. DeVanney will
be responsible for managing
television productions and
working closely with stu
dents on their video produc
While working in the Triad, DeVanney covered
the rise of High Point's very own Fantasia Barrino
as she became an 'American Idol' in 2004 and the
Carolina Panthers run to the Super Bowl in 2003.
DeVanney began his own production company in
2006 and has worked with a variety of clients.
He snatched the Savvy Award while working
on the city's Channel t3 show, 'City
Connections.' The St. Louis native received a
bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from
Northwest Missouri State University. He is mar
ried to Kimbcrly Graves and they have a one-year
old daughter. Zoe.
Professor
explores
changing
face of news
Baym says people like Jon
Stew art and Stephen Colbert
are helping the industry
SPEC! \l 10 I HE CHRONIC! t- '
Thirty years ago. a quarter of the
American population gathered around
their televisions nightly to hear an
anchontrom one wfthe major networks
recounrthe day's events.
Today, that single voice of authori
*?' km' kjon
I) I1U.> UVVII
diluted.
People
gather news
from many
sources -
even shows
created to
mock the
news.
D r .
Geoffrey
Baym. an
associate
professor
of media
studies,
Baym
explains that transformation in his new
book, "From Cronkite to Colbert: The
Evolution. of Broadcast News." In the
book* Baym guides readers through
the metamorphosis of broadcast new;s
from the stately Walter Cronkite to the
often sarcastic approaches of Jon
Stewart and Stephen Colbert, hosts of
the popular faux news programs "The
Daily Show" and "The Colbert
Report," respectively.
Baym argues that, as mainstream
news has changed, broadcasts have
morphed into echo chambers for polit
ical propaganda, worked to appease
corporate an<3"p<>litical forces and ful
filled the public's fancy for infotain
ment news rather than perform its fun
damental mission: to give citizens the
information they need to be free and
self governing.
"We might really like to know
about Michael Jackson's death, but
that in no way helps us be free and self
governing," Baym said. "And if we
hear about Michael Jackson's death 24
Sec Book on A9
? Submitted Photo
Awadagin Pratt has played around the world.
Pianist Pratt will join Symphony
CHRONICLI S I AFF REPORT
Acclaimed piano virtuoso Awadagin Pratt
will headline the Winston-Salem Symphony's
SHELLebration on Sunday. Oct. 10 at
Reynolds Auditorium. The event celebrates a
new orchestra shell inside of the recently-ren
ovated Reynolds Auditorium. The Friends of
R.J. Reynolds Auditorium organization raised
the $250,000 needed to design, fabricate and
install the shell.
The concert will start with Symphony
Music Director Robert Moody and the
orchestra playing Leonard Bernstein's
"Candide." Pratt will join the orchestra to
play Gershwin's jazzy piano concerto,
"Rhapsody in Blue." Performances of
Smetana's "Overture to The Bartered Bride,"
and Tchaikovsky's " Overture to 1812" are
also planned.
Along the way, the audience will be treat
ed to performances by outstanding local per
forming groups including Winston-Salem
State University's Burke Singers, conducted
by D'Walla Burke: Ron Rudkin's Jazz Trio;
the UNC School of the Arts Percussion
Ensemble, directed by John Beck; the Youth
Symphony String Quartet: and the R.J.
Reynolds High School Marching Band.
Pratt played numerous recitals throughout
the U.S., including performances at Lincoln
Center, the Kennedy Center. Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and
Chicago's Orchestra Hall. He has also toured
the world, making stops in places like Japan.
Israel, South Africa and Europe. The 1992
winner of the Naumburg International Piano
Competition, Pratt is an Angel/EMI recording
artist whose recordings include "A Long Way
From Normal," "Live From South Africa"
and "Transformations."
He is an associate professor of piano and
artist-in-residence at the College
Conservatory of Music at the University of
Cincinnati. He is also the artistic director of
the Next Generation Festival in Lancaster. Pa.
Tickets are $15 - $55 (student rush tickets
are $5), and are available by calling the
Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145 or
online at www.wssymphony.org.
Natalie
Cole
A tragic loss, a
lifesavingglft .
Her untold story ff
HEROIC
PETS
Amazing
real Me riw
BOUNCE | ? | J
HACK!
Bitter
sweet
PRNewsFoio/AARP
In the November/December
issue of AARP The Magazine,
singer Natalie Cole talks
openly about the death of sis
ter, Carol "Cookie" Cole, who
ironically passed away from
cancer a few hours after
Natalie Cole received a life
saving kidney transplant last
May.
Sunday series coming back to Trade St.
PR Image
Big Ron Hunter and his band will
play Sunday.
CHRONIC! E S I \l l REPOR1
The Arts on Sunday series will return to the
Downtown Arts District on Oct. 4.
On each Sunday, from 1-5 p.m., the side
walks along Trade Street, between 6th and 7th
streets, will feature arts and crafts exhibits,
live music, dance, artist's demonstrations and
activities for kids. The series, which is free
and open to the public, provides a showcase
for local artists to share and sell their work.
The Oct. 4 kickoff is billed as "Blues-A
Palooza." Setting the blues theme will be the
Big Ron Hunter Band, who will perform at 1
p.m. Matt Walsh (2:30 p.m.) and the Dam Fino
Band (3:30 p.m.) will also share their music
stylings.
The Oct. 1 1 theme is "Rhythm of Art" and
will feature dance and poetry forms from
around the world. "HarvestFest" is theme of
the Oct. 18 event. A streetside farmers' market
will join the arts attractions. The bluegrass
band Wyndy Trail Travellers and the Voices of
God's Children Gospel Choir will perform.
The last Sunday in series, Oct. 25, is being
billed as "60s Sunday" and will feature the
sounds of DJ Ralph and the Beatles tribute
band. Backbeat.
WSSU Photo
The Burke Singers
Acts to give free
shows at Old Salem
CHRONICLE STAF I REPORT
Historic St. Philips Church in Old Salem,
the oldest black church in the state, is playing
host to a series of musical events this fall that
will celebrate African and African-American
music.
The free concert events began on Sept. 19.
with a performance by the Joe Robinson
Quartet, whose frontman. Robinson, grew up
in Happy Hill, the equally-historic African
American community adjacent to Old Salem.
Three other Saturday concerts are planned, all
at 3 p.m. A reception will follow each show.
Next up. on Oct. 3, are The Burke Singers
- Winston-Salem State University's female a
capella ensemble. Under direction of Dr.
D'Walla Simmons Burke, they perform
African-American music and politically
inspired songs.
Burke will return on Nov. 7, with the
Winston-Salem State University Choir.
Members will engage the audience with
gospel music, Negro spirituals and South
African arrangements. The North Carolina
Jazz Repertory Orchestra Octet will perform
on Dec. 5. The Durham-based group will per
form classic jazz, big band music and holiday
music.
"The concerts are a great way for Old
Salem to celebrate the contributions of
Africans and African Americans to the coun
try's musical heritage," said Old Salem
President and CEO Lee French.
The series is supported by a grant from the
Morris and Lillian Sosnik Memorial Fund of
The Winston-Salem Foundation.