2020-2021 Season and Annual Membership
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2020-2021 SEASON AND ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DEAR FRIENDS, At the time of writing this letter—during a time of significant change day-to-day in all our lives—it is quite apparent that the world will never be the same. When it’s time to experience the beauty and passion of the arts in person once again, we look forward to sharing it with you. In the arts, as individuals and as a collective group, we can find meaning, hope and relief. Arts at Queens offers vibrant and international-caliber programming to our Charlotte community while creating memorable, engaging experiences for undergraduate and graduate students that they can only get here at Queens. THIS IS IMPORTANT NOW MORE THAN EVER. We were able to present a single performance and one art exhibit in the new Sarah Belk Gambrell Center before we were forced to temporarily close our doors in March. Beginning this fall, we are looking forward to a stellar Spotlight Series in Sandra Levine Theatre and moving, intimate guest engagements sure to attract new and returning audiences, and we hope you’ll join us. This will be our first full season and we can’t wait to share the excellence at work by guest performers and artists, faculty and staff, and students. Your support makes it possible for us to provide the transformational arts opportunities that change the lives of our students for the better. WE ARE PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT. SARA HENLEY DIRECTOR Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement Queens University of Charlotte EXPOSING OUR SENSES. AND ENGAGING OUR STUDENTS. Arts at Queens Annual Membership: $1,500 ($1,125 tax-deductible) JULY 1 – JUNE 30 | Two Adults Annual memberships provide philanthropic support for presenting the outstanding Spotlight Series, and also extend beyond the performance hall. Our members make it possible for Queens to provide the exceptional engagement and learning opportunities for students including master classes and Q&A sessions with professionals representing the visual, literary and performing arts. Thank you for your support. MEMBERS-ONLY BENEFITS: Spotlight Series • Two tickets for all four performances in Sandra Levine Theatre with reserved seating • “Select Your Seats” option for the season before tickets go on sale to the public • Attend the members-only reception prior to each performance • Access to an exclusive reserved parking lot easily accessible to the Gambrell Center (available on a first-come, first-served basis) • Recognition in the printed program for all performances Arts at Queens Preview • Invitation to the annual party announcing Spotlight Series artists and other programs for the upcoming season Access and Connections • Exclusive occasions with guest performers and artists, faculty and students throughout the year Exhibition Openings • Invitation to two Bank of America Gallery and Loevner Gallery art exhibition openings Spotlight Series: Four evenings at the Gambrell Center with world-class guests representing all genres of the arts. QUESTIONS? Please contact Sara Henley at [email protected] or 704.337.2466. “Students have a real sense of excitement for the opportunities the new Gambrell Center brings.” - TAYLOR ROBINSON ’20, Student Government President; Art History, Art Leadership & Administration, New Media Design Triple Major “Art is fundamental, especially in difficult times. When it’s taken from you, then you know what it means.” - DR. SIU CHALLONS-LIPTON, Executive Director, Department of Art, Design and Music Interested in joining Arts at Queens and The Learning Society? Members of Arts at Queens and The Learning Society RECEIVE 15% OFF ADDITIONAL TICKETS to respective performances and events. “Unplugged, Chris Thile is the god of small sounds. He plays the mandolin, which means he coaxes music out of notes that are shy and short-lived.” - THE NEW YORK TIMES AN EVENING WITH CHRIS THILE MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 @ 7:30 PM A child prodigy, Thile first rose to jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and fame as a member of Grammy Award- acclaimed banjo player Béla Fleck. winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom In 2016, he became host of the he released four albums and sold over popular public radio program “A two million records. In 2014, along with Prairie Home Companion” (now a national tour, the trio released a new renamed “Live from Here”). His album, A Dotted Line, their first since latest studio album, “Thanks for 2005. In 2006, Thile formed Punch Listening,” is a collection of ten Brothers, the five-piece band has new studio recordings originally released multiple records including written as Songs of the Week for “A the Grammy-winning album, All Prairie Home Companion.” In this Ashore in 2018. solo performance for the Spotlight Series, Thile is certain to demonstrate Over the years, he has collaborated the musicianship, experience and with award-winning cellist Yo-Yo command of the stage for which his Ma, renowned bassist Edgar Meyer, live shows are known. “Strout is the opposite of a literary show-off: her writing has no ego and the sentences she creates are to serve the characters, rather than the author.” - THE GUARDIAN A CONVERSATION WITH ELIZABETH STROUT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 @ 8 PM American writer Elizabeth Strout won Strout is no stranger to awards or a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009 to the Charlotte community. She for what is perhaps her most famous was a founding faculty member of novel “Olive Kitteridge.” The #1 New the Master of Fine Arts graduate York Times bestselling author’s most writing program at Queens, where recent work, “Olive, Again,” follows she was teaching when she won the the sometimes heart-wrenching but prestigious Pulitzer. In this intimate irresistible life of the unforgettable event, she will be sharing thoughts on namesake character. Upon its release, her craft, reading from her work and it was named as an Oprah’s Book fielding questions from the audience. Club 2019 Pick. “Johannes Moser is one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.” - GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE The performance is presented by The Charlotte Concerts Legacy Fund, with additional support from Sam and Carolyn McMahaon. THE ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS FEATURING JOHANNES MOSER, CELLO SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021 @ 8 PM The Academy of St Martin in the winning film “Amadeus” with founder Fields is one of the world’s finest Sir Neville Marriner in 1984. chamber orchestras, celebrated for fresh, brilliant interpretations of In this special concert, the Academy the greatest orchestral music. The will be joined by German-Canadian Academy is currently led by music cellist Johannes Moser. Moser has director and virtuoso violinist Joshua performed with the world’s leading Bell. With more than 500 releases orchestras. He won top prize at in a much-praised discography and the esteemed 2002 Tchaikovsky extensive international touring, the Competition, and he was awarded Academy is well-known and loved by with the prestigious Brahms Prize audiences throughout the world. The in 2014. Moser plays on an Andrea ensemble is also famed for recording Guarneri Cello from 1694 from a the soundtrack for the multiple Oscar- private collection. “It’s that blend of unforced sweetness, honesty and melodic sensibility that still makes Aaron Neville’s music so believable after a career spanning more than five decades.” - NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO AN EVENING WITH AARON NEVILLE THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021 @ 7:30 PM Known for his unique, soulful voice “Apache”—his most recent solo and a sound influenced by Sam album—blends tender love songs Cooke and his hometown of New and funk tunes for a fresh spin that Orleans, Aaron Neville has been ignited positive feedback from both making music for more than five new and seasoned fans. An NPR decades. As a solo artist, Neville First Listen review described it as, recorded chart-topping hits such as “that blend of unforced sweetness, “Everybody Plays the Fool,” “Don’t honesty and melodic sensibility that Take Away My Heaven” and “Tell still makes his music so believable It Like It Is.” In the late-1970s and after a career spanning more than beyond, he enjoyed success with his five decades.” This performance will siblings as the funk and soul group feature the energetic R&B legend the Neville Brothers. In the early leading a full band playing hits 1990s, Neville won three Grammy spanning his extensive career. Awards for his duets with Linda Ronstadt “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life,” as well as “Healing Chant” with the Neville Brothers. CELEBRATING A GRAND OPENING. IMPACTING OUR STUDENTS. Our grand opening celebration in February 2020 featured “An Evening with Sutton Foster.” In an extraordinary manner to mark the occasion, Tony Award-winning Broadway and television star Sutton Foster performed for a sold-out crowd in the 1,000-seat Sandra Levine Theatre. The concert “I look forward was studded with the charismatic Foster singing to seeing the tunes from popular musicals and the Great significant impact American Songbook. this space will have not only on Just a few hours prior to the performance, a our campus, but question and answer session with Foster—known on the Charlotte for her singing, acting and dancing—enabled arts community.” Queens students, faculty and staff to hear - DANIEL G. LUGO firsthand from the multi-talented entertainer. President, In a casual and inclusive setting, she answered Queens University of Charlotte questions, shared tips for success and gave advice to the aspiring artists in the crowd. Experiences such as this demonstrate the wide variety of opportunities that are unique to Arts at Queens. With experiential learning, thought- provoking experts and top-notch talent, students and the entire Charlotte community can immerse themselves in the best of the literary, visual and performing arts at the Gambrell Center.