UNCSA welcomes new faculty

WINSTON-SALEM – The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has added 12 new full-time faculty members for the 2022-23 school year, as well as 20 adjunct and visiting faculty, in the schools of Dance, Design & Production, Drama, Filmmaking, and Music, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Patrick J. Sims has announced. Of note are several UNCSA alumni faculty in Dance, Drama and Film.

“Students enrolled at UNCSA are blooming with creativity,” said Provost Sims. “It’s no surprise that the university welcomes a top-notch, diverse group of instructors with exceptional backgrounds in their fields and an authentic passion for the arts. The university is committed to elevating the student experience through instruction from faculty who have relevant industry experience and can bring that to bear on the training.”

Sims continued, “We are particularly proud of the exciting range of expertise represented in the new faculty, including interdisciplinary approaches to performance, episodic screenwriting, dancers with both Broadway and classical experience, and much more. And we are so pleased to see our talented alumni coming back to lend their expertise as faculty. We celebrate these new members of the UNCSA family and are looking forward to seeing how they help move our students forward to meet the evolving needs of the arts and entertainment industry.”

New faculty in the School of Music include:

Full time:

Jared Miller

Jared Miller will teach composition. A Canadian native, he is a JUNO (for Canadian musical artists)-nominated composer whose music has been presented in the New York Philharmonic Biennial, the International Society for Contemporary Music World Music Days, Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival, and the Festival Internacional de Jóvenes Orquestas. He has collaborated with the American Composers Orchestra; the Nashville Symphony; the symphony orchestras of Vancouver, Toronto, Detroit and New Jersey; The Attacca Quartet; Latitude 49; the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute; and Standing Wave. He has also held residencies at the Banff Centre, the Hermitage Artists Retreat, I-Park’s International Artist-in-Residence Program and with the Victoria Symphony. Miller holds a master’s degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The Juilliard School.

Stephanie Patterson

Stephanie Patterson will be the associate professor of bassoon. Originally from California, she has performed around the world including at the Belfast Sonorities Festival, the Lucerne Academy, and Pro Musica in Juiz da Fora, Brazil. Patterson has taught at the Schwob School of Music, was principal bassoon of the Columbus Symphony in Georgia, and acting principal bassoon with the Atlanta Opera. She has commissioned new works as a member of the Enid Trio and the Off Broadway Trio. She recently wrote the book “An Introduction to Contemporary Music for Bassoon and 64 Etudes.”

Adjunct/Visiting:

Jodi Burns

Alumna Jodi Burns (M.M. Music ’10) will teach voice. In addition to appearing numerous times on the stage of the Stevens Center, she’s also performed with the Piedmont Opera, the Princeton Festival, the North Carolina Symphony, the Fletcher Opera Institute, the Opera Theatre of the Rockies and others. In addition to her Master of Music from UNCSA, she holds a B.M.E. from The Ohio State University.

Erica Fedor

Erica Fedor will teach high school music theory and musicianship, high school music literature and analysis, and undergraduate world music. She is a member of UNC’s Royster Society of Fellows. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from Wake Forest University and an M.M. from Florida State University.

Laura Stevens

Alumna Laura Stevens (M.M. Music ’05) will teach high school music theory and musicianship. She is the Lecturer of Flute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of the Carolina Wind Quintet. She served as the principal flutist of the Western Piedmont Symphony for 20 years and has been a member of the Salisbury Symphony since 2000. She holds a B.M. from Salem College and a D.M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Lucas Wong

Lucas Wong will serve as the Fletcher Opera Institute vocal coach. He has had a diversified career as performer and teacher, specializing in the art of collaborative piano. He has experience in over 30 opera productions, hundreds of songs, and numerous solo and chamber works in addition to iOS apps. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Musical Arts and a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia School of Music.

New faculty in the School of Dance include:

Adjunct/Visiting:

Ashley Lindsey

Alumnus Ashley Lindsey (College Arts Diploma, Dance, ’07) will teach contemporary dance. A Raleigh native, he is the director of the Summer Dance program at UNCSA. He has been a member of the Limón Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Helen Simoneau Dance and Jessica Gaynor Dance Company. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in contemporary dance.

Akua Noni Parker

Akua Noni Parker will teach ballet and pointe. Raised in Kinston, she was a company member with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Cincinnati Ballet and Ballet San Jose. She later joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and was certified in the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. 

Keith Thomas

Keith Thomas will teach ballet. Thomas is originally from Baltimore and has been a Broadway performer and former principal at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He expanded his career and landed roles for films including “Malcolm X,” “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Step Up” and “The Producers.” He is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts with a focus in dance.

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Media Contact: Katherine E. Johnson, 336-770-1402, johnsonka@uncsa.edu