UNCSA Home1962
Aug. 1
Gov. Terry Sanford appoints North Carolina Conservatory Committee to work for establishment of a state-supported conservatory of music, later broadened to include all the arts.
1963
June 21
N.C. General Assembly passes bill establishing the North Carolina School of the Arts, with a $325,000 appropriation.
1964
April 28-29
Advisory Board of Artists selects Winston-Salem, where more than 5,000 people have pledged more than $850,000 in a two-day telephone drive. Board nominates Vittorio Giannini as president.
1965
April 17-19
First auditions held for prospective students; Alexandra Danilova and Sidney Blackmer assist.
Sept. 7
First classes begin.
1966
Feb. 10
Ford Foundation awards a $1.5 million challenge grant to NCSA.
June 8
President Vittorio Giannini speaks at graduation of first class (55 high school seniors).
June 25
NCSA named North Carolina's "pacemaker" in educational improvement in a nationwide school recognition project sponsored by the National Education Association and Parade magazine.
Dec. 10, 11
School of Dance gives first performances of "The Nutcracker" ballet, at Reynolds Auditorium.
1967
June 26
First NCSA summer session opens.
July 9
International Music Program begins in Siena, Italy.
1968
May 12
Groundbreaking held for new college dormitories.
September
Department of Design and Production created, separate from Drama.
1969
July 13-Sept. 1
First summer session for dance students conducted in Asolo, Italy; beginning of International Dance Program.
1970
September
NCSA inaugurates high school visual arts program.
1972
July 1
NCSA becomes member of the 16-campus University of North Carolina when the state consolidates its institutions of higher learning.
1975
Feb. 3
Guitarist Andres Segovia receives first honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from NCSA.
Feb. 7
Agnes de Mille Theatre dedicated, featuring Miss de Mille restaging her ballet, "Three Virgins and a Devil."
1976
April 7
Paul Green, North Carolina author and playwright, awarded honorary Doctor of Fine Arts.
1980
April 25
NCSA honors seven with honorary doctorates: Agnes de Mille, Jose Ferrer, Gordon Hanes, Rosemary Harris, Nananne Porcher, William Schuman and Oliver Smith.
1981
May 7
Helen Hayes is awarded Doctor of Fine Arts. Benefit performance of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" presented for Helen Hayes Scholarship Fund.
Nov. 6
Arthur Mitchell, founder and artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem, and North Carolina author John Ehle receive honorary doctorates.
1982
March 26
First NCSA graduate program, in design and production, approved by UNC Board of Governors.
1983
April 22-24
Gala performances celebrate opening of the Stevens Center, named for Roger L. Stevens. Gregory Peck serves as master of ceremonies; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Isaac Stern, soloist.
Performances by Jean Stapleton, Zoe Caldwell, Mel A. Tomlinson and Heather Watts. Also participating in tribute are Agnes de Mille, Sir Anton Dolin, Cliff Robertson, Oliver Smith, Gov. James Hunt, President and Mrs. Gerald Ford and Mrs. Lyndon Baines Johnson. Performances of Cole Porter's "Kiss Me Kate" round out the celebration. July 12
Formation of the Board of Visitors, a board of national and international leaders in the arts, business and civic affairs which will assist in the School's development, announced.
1985
June 1
W. McNeil Lowry, whose efforts while vice president of the Ford Foundation helped launch NCSA, speaks at commencement and receives honorary doctorate.
1986
Nov. 7
Maya Angelou, Menahem Pressler and Alice Tully receive honorary doctorates from NCSA.
1987
Jan. 14
World premiere of THE BEDROOM WINDOW, a DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group motion picture, held at the Stevens Center as a benefit for NCSA.
April 11
NCSA's first Founder's Day celebration honors 55 founders of the School.
May 30
William C. Friday, president emeritus of The University of North Carolina, speaks at commencement. Friday and national arts leader R. Philip Hanes Jr. are presented with honorary doctorates.
1988
May 8
Dame Margot Fonteyn arrives at NCSA for weeklong residency as first recipient of the Lucia Chase Endowed Fellowship for Dance, which was established by Alex Ewing in memory of his mother.
Nov. 9
UNC President C.D. Spangler Jr. speaks at Performance Place dedication ceremonies. Proscenium thrust and arena theatres inaugurated with performances of "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Crucible" and "Holy Ghosts."
1989
April 9
NCSA Symphony Orchestra makes debut at Town Hall in New York under baton of Alexander Schneider.
Fall
NCSA enrolls first students in Master of Music program.
1990
April 26
Agnes de Mille, Lucia Chase Fellow, speaks at opening night of Spring Dance and the performance of her celebrated "Rodeo," by School of the Arts dancers. October
U.S. News & World Report ranks NCSA as the "best buy" of the nation's art, music and design specialty schools, and third overall in the nation among arts specialty schools.
1991
April 25
NCSA Symphony Orchestra and Cantata Singers participate in the Mozart Bicentennial Masses-In-Concert Series in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
May 4
NCSA celebrates 25th anniversary by installing Chancellor Alex Ewing. Concert by alumnus Ransom Wilson, flute, highlights activities.
June
Jean Picker Firstenberg, director of The American Film Institute, agrees to serve as chair of Board of Advisors of the proposed School of Film at NCSA.
1992
January 27
The William R. Kenan, Jr. Fund for the Arts establishes the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at NCSA.
March 19
NCSA announces it will open its new School of Filmmaking in the fall, offering a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
May 8
Composer Sherwood Shaffer becomes first NCSA faculty member to receive O. Max Gardner Award, the University of North Carolina’s highest teaching honor.
1993
Kenan Institute for the Arts launches the North Carolina A+ Schools project under the leadership of its founding director, Jeanne F. Butler.
March 11
National Endowment for the Arts awards NCSA $500,000 challenge grant for School of Filmmaking.
May 29
Peter Hedges is first NCSA alumnus to deliver commencement speech.
September
School of Filmmaking opens as fifth arts school at NCSA.
1994
Kenan Institute for the Arts and the Division of General Studies host the first conference of the Consortium for the Liberal Education of Artists.
Sept. 23
School announces a $25 million campaign for endowment.
1995
Oct. 5
School of the Arts saxophone students, faculty member James Houlik, and alumni ensemble the New Century Saxophone Quartet perform at The White House for the National Medal of Arts awards ceremony.
1996
March
Irina Baronova, one of Ballet Russe's "Three Baby Ballerinas," visits NCSA as Lucia Chase Fellow.
May 2-12
NCSA presents all-School production of Lerner and Loewe’s "Brigadoon." Friends celebrate the School’s 30th anniversary at a Highlands-inspired gala on May 4.
November
NCSA hosts Cäcilien Choir of Frankfurt, Germany, which tours North Carolina with the NCSA Symphony Orchestra and Cantata Singers. Performances of Verdi’s "Requiem" rated as "A-Plus."
1997
Jan. 6
Mr. and Mrs. R. Philip Hanes Jr. pledge $1 million to NCSA, to be used for endowment.
May 31
Frank Capra Jr., president and CEO of EUE Screen Gems Studios Ltd. in Wilmington, N.C., speaks at NCSA’s largest commencement, which includes the first graduating class of the School of Filmmaking.
Fall
Two Pulitzer Prize-winning composers visit the School of Music: former NCSA President Robert Ward and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.
1998
April 16-19
Dedication ceremonies held to celebrate School of Filmmaking’s new “Studio Village.” Filmmakers-in-residence include: Elmer Bernstein, Donn Cambern, Dino and Martha DeLaurentiis, Elliott Kastner, Ted Tally and Robert Wise. Motion Picture Association Chairman Jack Valenti speaks to legislators and corporate friends. Filmmaker Robert Wise and PBS journalist Charlie Rose also attend.
May 30
Academy Award-, Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Alfred Uhry speaks at commencement.
Summer
New performing arts series, “Summer Scenes,” inaugurated at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo. Six-week festival includes music and dance performances and will add drama the next summer. More than 150 students, faculty and alumni participate.
September
The Mendelssohn String Quartet, recognized as one of the top chamber ensembles in America, joins the School of Music Faculty as ensemble-in-residence.
December
Stunning new “Nutcracker” sets, costumes and lighting designed by NCSA alumni Campbell Baird and John McKernon. Ballet’s first new sets in 20 years and first new costumes since its Winston-Salem debut in 1966. Special recognition given to Sonja Tyven and Robert Lindgren, who staged the original 1966 production based on the original choreography by Lev Ivanov.
1999
Jan. 15
Officials at NCSA announce they have raised $25.5 million, surpassing the $25 million goal, in the School’s fund-raising campaign, “Creating Our Future,” which ended Dec. 31. Approximately 3,800 individuals, foundations, businesses and organizations participated. Funds raised for endowment, capital improvements and annual operating needs.
May
Randolph Benson, a 1998 film graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, becomes the first NCSA’er to win a Student Academy Award, for his student film MAN AND DOG.
May 29
Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates tells graduating students at commencement to “get a life.”
July 10-24
“Shakespeare Lives!” a collaborative project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, in partnership with the NCSA School of Drama and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Educators from Forsyth and Catawba counties selected to participate in inaugural program.
Dec 31
Performance by NCSA Symphony Orchestra and Cantata Singers of original work composed by NCSA faculty member David McHugh and commissioned by the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C., as last commissioned symphonic work to be heard in the Second Millenium. Earlier performance in Stevens Center on Oct. 30 celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Arts Council of Winston Salem/Forsyth County.
2000
January
School of Drama Dean Gerald Freedman is first American invited to direct at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Freedman directs rare Jacobean play, “The Antipodes” by Richard Brome, in August.
July 1
Wade Hobgood steps up to become NCSA’s sixth chancellor following the retirement of Alex Ewing.
Sept. 8
UNC President Molly Broad announces a gift of $10 million from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation of Raleigh to establish and endow the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at NCSA. It is the largest gift ever given to the School.
Nov. 7
$3.1 billion higher education bond referendum passes. NCSA to receive $42.5 million for much-needed improvements and construction projects.
Nov. 9-12
The School of Filmmaking in collaboration with the Kenan Institute for the Arts, hosts “Cinethics: A National Conference on Ethics in Filmmaking,” which draws faculty and students from 17 film schools across the country. Panelists include Armyan Bernstein, producer of AIR FORCE ONE; Sarah Pillsbury, producer of DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN; film critic Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times; and U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson.
Nov. 22
Mr. and Mrs. R. Philip Hanes Jr. pledge another $1 million to NCSA for endowment.
2001
April 4
NCSA receives a $1.625 million grant under the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a new collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation.
May 9
NCSA installs Wade Hobgood as its sixth chancellor in ceremonies at the Stevens Center.
June 2
Tony and Emmy Award-winner Mandy Patinkin captivates graduating students with a song at the School’s commencement. Patinkin, along with NCSA founders Dr. James H. Semans and Mary D.B.T. Semans of Durham, receive honorary doctorates.
Fall
N.C. General Assembly approves budget that includes major NCSA initiative to allow its in-state high school students the opportunity to study free of charge.
2002
January 30
A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute debuts with Bellini’s Beatrice DiTenda.
February
NCSA receives $100K grant from Mary Duke Biddle Foundation to endow Opera Scholarship.
May
Kenan Institute for the Arts restructured as a privately funded affiliate of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
June
Kenan Institute for the Arts hosts the first national assembly of conservatory leaders “Preparing Performing Artists for the 21st Century”.
October
School of Filmmaking Dean Dale Pollock announces the RiverRun International Film Festival will move from Brevard and Asheville to Winston Salem in April. Projection and sound equipment will be installed in the Stevens Center to restore it as a working movie theatre. Films on Fourth Series also begins in collaboration with Winston Salem Cinema Society.
November
NCSA receives Treasured Tree Stewardship Award for decision to preserve the 50-year old white oak tree in front of Performance Place.
2003
January
Unity Place, $60M development project, announced as part of downtown revitalization partnership between Krispy Kreme and NCSA to include new headquarters for Krispy Kreme, a performance center, housing, retail and parking.
September 25
Charlotte and Philip Hanes Student Commons and Daniels Plaza dedicated.
October 25
School of Music Complex including Watson Hall Chamber Music Hall dedicated.
2004
June
Center for Design Innovation is established as a collaborative digital design project between the Triad’s business, government and educational leadership.
September
Graduate program (MFA) in Performing Arts Management begins in School of Design and Production and is one of only 35 in the country.
2005
April 21
James H. Semans, early champion of NCSA, founding chairman of NCSA’s Board of Trustees, ardent supporter of education and the arts, and noted Duke medical professor and surgeon dies at the age of 94 in Durham, N.C.
May
Chancellor Wade Hobgood announces his decision to step down as of July 1.
May 20
Sneden’s Landing dedicated in honor of retired dean of Design and Production, John Sneden.
July 1
Gretchen M. Bataille, senior vice president for academic affairs at UNC’s Office of the President, is named interim chancellor
Overlook Terrace completed and is dedicated by longtime director of NCSA’s Visual Arts Program, Clyde Fowler, in honor of his parents.
October
John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, other donors give funds for Hurricane Katrina-displaced students to attend NCSA
New Costume, Wig and Makeup Building opens in School of Design and Production.
November 30
Welcome Center is dedicated.
December
In 2005, the North Carolina School of the Arts partnered with Winston-Salem State University to support the UNC Board Governors' establishment of the Center for Design Innovation (CDI). Forsyth Technical Community College is another member of the consortium and will become CDI's neighbor in the Piedmont Triad Research Park. CDI promotes interdisciplinary creativity and the development and use of digital technologies to foster collaborative research, education and commerce.
2006
April 5
Richard Hunt “Conversations” Sculpture dedicated; artwork to house cremated remains of artist and longtime NCSA supporters and art patrons, R. Philip Hanes Jr. and his wife, Charlotte.
April 22
Founders Forum held in Watson Hall to celebrate NCSA’s 40th birthday; panel composed of:
John M. Ehle Jr., R. Philip Hanes Jr., Thomas W. Lambeth, Robert Lindgren, Mary D.B.T. Semans and Robert E. Ward.
May 12
John Mauceri visits NCSA by helicopter from Chapel Hill where he is announced earlier in the day as NCSA’s Chancellor-Elect.
2007
April 3
“Festival of the Arts” celebrates the Installation of John Mauceri as 7th Chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
May 3-13
“West Side Story” Opening, Symposium and Gala celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original Broadway work. Chancellor Mauceri (a protégé of Leonard Bernstein) and Drama Dean Gerald Freedman (who was assistant director of the original production) lead the world premiere production and travel with it for one performance at the prestigious Chicago Ravinia Festival on June 8.
NCSA selects Ransom Wilson (’69) as new Orchestra Director; first alum to hold this position.
2008
January 10
The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust gives unprecedented $1 million Challenge Grant to the North Carolina School of the Arts for scholarships; the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation gives $125,000 to NCSA in response to challenge.
