The curtain is rising on a new endowed fund for opera in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Thurston Family Opera Theatre Production Endowment will provide production support including resources for set design, carpentry, scene painting, lighting design, costume, and sound design for top-notch opera productions. The endowment comes from Bob Thurston, who was a faculty member in theatre at UNCG between 1974 and 1984, and his wife, Nancy.
Opera is an art form that has it all, he says. “It’s the one medium that shows all of the visual and performing arts at once: the orchestral accompaniment, the singers on stage, the costuming, the scenery, and the lighting.”
Under the direction of Professor David Holley, UNCG Opera Theatre has excelled, says Dean bruce d. mcclung. “Alumni of the UNCG Opera Theatre regularly appear with regional and national opera companies. This endowment will ensure that UNCG’s School of Music can produce opera at the highest level, continue to provide outstanding arts for Greensboro and the state, and strive to be a national program of choice for some of this country’s best opera students and faculty.”
At UNCG, the college is training students in an art form and placing people into jobs. So, they’re doing it all right.
— Bob Thurston, Former faculty member at UNCG
The commitment of retired faculty is also a point of pride, he adds. “I am grateful to CVPA emeriti faculty members such as Bob Thurston and others, who have made such lasting contributions and investments in this college.”
The feeling is mutual. As Thurston puts it, “At UNCG, the college is training students in an art form and placing people into jobs. So, they’re doing it all right.”
Photograph by Martin W. Kane