In 1990, we had good reasons to move from New York City to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mary Herbert wanted to be near her ailing grandmother. Charlie was exploring new business opportunities. And we both looked forward to spending more time outside—especially in the mountains.

Still, there were concerns.  In New York City, we could attend world-class performances any night of the week.  Lincoln Center was just across the street, and it was a short subway ride to Times Square or the lower East and West Sides. Would we be hopelessly bored in a small Southern city?

Fortunately, our move south resulted in no culture shock, because we landed in the backyard of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a world-class arts conservatory founded in 1963 by two visionaries—the late North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford and Southern fiction and non-fiction writer John Ehle.

Within a month, a well-connected neighbor had taken us to several performances at the school and recruited us to serve on two boards. We were hooked! The roster of performances  (music, dance, drama and opera) throughout the school year meant we didn’t feel as homesick for the Big Apple as we expected. We had never been on a campus with so many intelligent, talented and highly motivated people—both teachers and students! Indeed, it’s a place where, as school supporters and faculty say, “uncommon talent is commonplace.”

Since its founding, UNCSA has become a model for arts education nationwide—the only high school through graduate level conservatory in the world that integrates a liberal arts curriculum with professional training in all aspects of the performing arts: music (instrumental and opera), drama, dance,  filmmaking, visual arts and stage design and production (for theatres, film sets, concerts and themed entertainment venues both public and private). UNCSA’s component schools, in fact, are ranked among the very best nationally in their respective disciplines.

Students from across the U.S. and abroad need to interview and audition to be accepted. Acceptance is generally without strict requirements for age and grade level and is granted “as early as talent is manifested.”  Today, approximately 1,250 student artists study with resident master teachers who’ve had successful careers in the arts and remain active in their fields.

Over the years, the school has hosted hundreds of illustrious guest artists (many of them alumnae/i) on campus to teach and perform, including the likes of Aaron Copland (composer), Helen Hayes (actress), Agnes de Mille (choreographer, dancer), Jacques d’Amboise (principal dancer, NY City Ballet, educator, and author), Martin Scorsese (Oscar- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker), Mary Louise Parker (Tony Award-nominated actress), Gillian Murphy  (principal dancer, ABT) Paul Tazewell (Oscar Award-winning costume designer), Peter Hedges (acclaimed screenwriter and director), Jeff Nichols (screenwriter, director, and filmmaker)—and many others.

Those who tour the campus of UNCSA or attend one of the school’s performances quickly realize that, at the heart of it all, are the students. They, and the institution’s distinguished master teachers and alumnae, are proof of the value of the educational experience.

Vaclav Havel, the late playwright and president of the Czech Republic, once wrote, “Every work of art points somewhere beyond itself … it transcends itself and creates a special force field that moves the human mind and nervous system. It’s impossible to number the rays that emanate from it  …. They carry on to infinity.”

And so it is with the influence of UNCSA.

For more information, go to https://www.uncsa.edu