NEWS

The Fine Arts Center is no longer accepting applications for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Spring newsletter now online.

Upstate Music Cares founded by Steve Watson and Paul T. Riddle are hosting a benefit concert at The Little Theatre May 10th at 8:00 PM. The proceeds from the concert go to the John Wesley Methodist Church Homeless Breakfast Kitchen, The Fine Arts Center and Christ Church School Arts Guild. Limited Seating is available at the Little Theatre Box office. For more info go to www.upstatemusiccares.com.

Amanda Porter (Dance) received the SCDEO (South Carolina Dance Education Organization) Artistic Merit, Leadership, and Academic Achievement Award at the state level. Her application will now go on to the national level for the NDEO Award.

Halie Monroe and Alison Dixon (Visual Arts) have been accepted to Kansas City Art Institute. Film/Video students Ronnie Nelson, Julia Johns and Brett Batson have been accepted into North Carolina School of the Arts’ film program.  In addition Ronnie Nelson has been accepted into Columbia College’s (Chicago) film program.

Fine Arts Center chamber music ensembles swept the Carolinas Chamber Music Competition. The Fine Arts Center Trio (Caroline Robinson, Kevin Tompkins and Seth Russell) won first prize ($1500) for their performance of the Piano Trio by Rebecca Clarke. The Kahlo Quartet (Sarah Rogers, Marjy Buschur, Evelyn Maris and Samuel Johnson) won second prize ($1000) with Ernest Bloch's String Quartet #3. The Laurel Quartet (Pratik Desai, Dianna Joiner, Anna Catherine Bowden and Anna Owensby) won third prize ($750) with a performance of Mozart's String Quartet in C Major, K. 465. Also, The Fine Arts Center Trio has been invited to participate in the final rounds of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. The competition takes place May 9-11.

The Fine Arts Center of Greenville County, the first specialized arts school in South Carolina, was established in August, 1974.

Students apply to the Center and are selected on the basis of talent, interest, motivation, and commitment to their discipline and are able to study theatre, dance, visual arts, music, creative writing, or film and video production.

The purpose of the Fine Arts Center is to provide advanced comprehensive arts instruction to students who are artistically talented and who wish to take an intensive pre-professional program of study.

Students attend the Fine Arts Center five days a week in the morning or afternoon for 110 minutes of instruction, spending the remainder of their time in other academic work at the home high school.

Each year approximately 350 students attend the Fine Arts Center, and, of that number, some ninety percent go on to higher education.

Film/Video instructor Eric Rogers, recently became the area’s only Final Cut Pro certified trainer. Final Cut Pro is an Emmy Award winning editing program that Eric’s students use to edit their digital film projects.

Fine Arts Center Film/Video students will be partnering with Clemson’s Computer Science department to produce a short film mixing live action and computer animation. Clemson’s graduate level Digital Production Arts program is one of the top computer animation programs in the country. Graduates of the program include employees of George Lucas’s special effects company Industrial, Light and Magic and John Hughes’ Rhythm and Hues Visual Effects Studio.  Film/Video students, will be responsible for shooting and editing the live footage portion of the film. The film is being produced and directed by Clemson Professors Timothy Davis and David Donar. The project is being funded by a $75,000 grant from the South Carolina Film Commission.

Mezzo-soprano Kelly Clarke recently won the Music Club of Greenville Vocal Music Scholarship. She plans to continue her vocal studies at either the State University of New York at Purchase or Roosevelt University in Chicago. Runner-up for the scholarship was Marie Loving, soprano. Both singers, students of Michael Rice, will perform at the Club's May meeting

In February, a group of thirty-five Fine Arts Center voice students, parents and staff traveled to Morrow, Georgia, to attend a recital by renowned countertenor David Daniels. The performance took place at Spivey Hall on the campus of Clayton State University south of Atlanta. After the recital, the group met with Mr. Daniels for photos and autographs. A group of forty attended Renée Fleming's concert at the Peace Center in early March.

Tenor Delvin Choice recently won first place for the third time in the Omega Psi Phi Talent Search. The local competition was held at Reedy River Baptist Church in Mauldin. Choice will advance to the district level on April 19 in Charleston, SC. In the meantime, he is appearing in the South Carolina Children's Theatre production of Seussical the Musical. He is a fourth-year voice student at the Fine Arts Center where he studies with Michael Rice.

On March 17, four Fine Arts Center voice students presented a program of songs at the adult senior dinner at Edwards Road Baptist Church. Accompanied by FAC voice instructor Michael Rice, soprano Rebecca Payne, mezzo-soprano Kelly Clarke, tenor Delvin Choice and baritone Nick Hunter performed repertoire appropriate to the evening's "Classics to Broadway" theme. A group from the school's jazz guitar program opened the show with popular standards.