Appalachian State University
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“My Life in the Theatre:” NC Black Repertory Company Artistic Director Jackie Alexander

Featuring moderator Ray Miller, Professor of Dance Studies and Theatre Arts, Appalachian State University

Sit down for an informal and compelling chat with Winston-Salem-based North Carolina Black Repertory Company Artistic Director Jackie Alexander as the award-winning playwright-director talks about the history of the acclaimed company and the importance of sharing the black experience on the stage. A native of New Orleans, Jackie Alexander is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, director, former Artistic Director of The Billie Holiday Theatre in New York, and current Artistic Director of NC Black Rep, producers of The National Black Theatre Festival.  His debut novel, Our Daily Bread, was published by Turner Publishing in the fall of 2012.  His debut feature film Joy was awarded Best Feature Film by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and also earned Best Actor and Best Screenplay honors for Jackie on the festival circuit. The OBIE and AUDELCO Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre in New York devoted its entire 2010-2011 season to Jackie’s work; commissioning him to write three new plays and making him the only playwright in the storied history of the theatre to receive that honor.  In 2018, the Black Theatre Network (BTN) honored Jackie with the Presidential Pathfinder Award at its yearly conference in Memphis, Tennessee. The award is presented to an artist or an institution that illuminates a path to innovations and new concepts in Black Theatre.

This special preview is scheduled in conjunction with the planned performance by the NC Black Repertory Company as part of the festival’s 2021 season.

To learn more about NC Black Rep: https://ncblackrep.org/

Following its scheduled broadcast, this event will be available to view for the duration of the festival. You may access it here or on our YouTube channel.

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Kraut Creek Ramblers and Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road

Live from Rosen Concert Hall, on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, with an introduction by Mark Freed, Adjunct Instructor of Appalachian Music at App State.

Tune in for a special double-bill concert featuring local bluegrass bands Kraut Creek Ramblers and Cane Mill Road performing an energetic set live from Appalachian State University’s Rosen Concert Hall, with a special introduction by Mark Freed, a member of the Hayes School of Music and Appalachian Studies faculty.

The Kraut Creek Ramblers is the premier old-time string band of the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University. With members hailing from Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina, the Kraut Creek Ramblers play a range of traditional mountain music, from hard-driving fiddle tunes to two-step country classics from the Carter Family. Named after the waterway that runs through campus and is steeped in Boone history, the core members of the Kraut Creek Ramblers include faculty and staff at App State: Julie Shepherd-Powell (banjo) and Alex Hooker (fiddle), professors of Appalachian Studies; Trevor McKenzie (fiddle, guitar, vocals), archivist in the Special Collections at Belk Library; and Adrian Shepherd-Powell (fiddle).

Growing up just down the road from Doc Watson, Liam Purcell leads the Deep Gap, NC-based Cane Mill Road as they rock the traditional bluegrass standards they were raised on, yet boldly write original music with roots in the fertile grounds of bluegrass, old-time, Americana, jazz, and blues. Seventeen-year-old mandolinist/fiddler Purcell and CMR have been featured on PBS three times, including on David Holt’s State of Music Show. The band’s first three albums resulted in 10 weeks on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums Chart including a #2 spot right behind Billy Strings. The band recorded with Jim Lauderdale and will be featured on his next album.

To learn more about Cane Mill Road: https://canemillroad.com/home

Pre-show content begins at 6:50pm; concert begins at 7pm.
This event is an exclusive live stream only and will not be available for later viewing upon its conclusion.

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Visual Arts Exhibition: “Matrilinear” with Elizabeth M. Claffey

Featuring a narrated tour of the exhibition in Gallery A.

Matrilinear is an ongoing series that addresses embodied memory and its relationship to personal, familial, and cultural identity. Family folklore and ritual are explored through photographs revealing the physical remnants of a body long gone; including stains, tears, and loose thread from clothing that was kept close to the body for comfort and protection.

To learn more about Elizabeth M. Claffey: https://tcva.appstate.edu/exhibitions/2373

Following its scheduled broadcast, this event will be available to view for the duration of the festival. You may access it here or on our YouTube channel.

Access Event Here
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“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

Set in 18th-century France on a small island off the coast of Brittany, Portrait of a Lady on Fire brings together two women from very different backgrounds. Marianne is a working-class, portrait artist who has been brought to an isolated island to paint Héloïse, a young noblewoman who has recently left the convent. Héloïse is brought to the island by her mother, a countess who is marrying Héloïse off to an Italian nobleman. Because she is a reluctant bride-to-be, Marianne arrives under the guise of companionship, observing Héloïse by day and secretly painting her by firelight at night. As the two women orbit one another, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse’s first moments of freedom. Héloïse’s portrait soon becomes a collaborative act of and a testament to their love. 

France; Rated R; Directed by Celine Sciamma (2019); 122 minutes; in French and Italian with English subtitles

Click here to read a transcript of Dr. John Pfeifer’s accompanying lecture.
Click here for large-print version.

 

Registration is required. After you register, you will be emailed a confirmation from a service called Eventbrite. On the day of the event, a link to access the film will be emailed to you 30 minutes prior to the scheduled screening time. The viewing is time-sensitive. The link will activate on Tuesday, July 14 at 7pm and will expire on Wednesday, July 15 at 6pm.

THIS EVENT IS ‘SOLD’ OUT.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Click Here to View the Film Trailer >>

On These Walls: An Inside Look at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts

Join us for a fun and informative journey through the Turchin Center, featuring areas of the building that aren’t generally open to the public and informal chats with the staff as they engage in preparations for the exhibition, education and outreach programming that defines the center’s mission.

Following its scheduled broadcast, this event will be available to view for the duration of the festival. You may access it here or on our YouTube channel.

Access Event Here
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