UNCA Music Department Kicks Off Fall Concert Season

Thomas Rain Crowe and the Boatrockers and famed pianist John Cobb take center stage to kick off UNC Asheville Music Department’s fall concert season. Both events are free and open to the public. Performances are co-sponsored by UNCA’s Music Department and the Cultural & Special Events Committee.

Thomas Rain Crowe and the Boatrockers will perform their innovative blend of poetry and music at noon Wednesday, Sept. 4, at UNCA’s Lipinsky Auditorium. Crowe and his band of eight musicians combine world music and the poetry of Persian poet Hafiz in their act designed to entertain as well as educate. No stranger to introducing audiences to poetry, Crowe served as editor of the "Beatitude" magazine and has had his own work published in magazines, anthologies and books around the world. The Boatrockers include Western North Carolina musicians Chris Rosser, Wayne Kirby, Safed Fareed, Greg Olson, Sal D'Angio, River Guerguerian, and Nan Watkins.

Acclaimed pianist John Cobb will perform and discuss compositions by John Cage and other 20th century avant garde composers at noon Wednesday, Sept. 18, in UNCA’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The performance is presented in conjunction with "Under the Influence," a three-day festival celebrating the spirit, legacy and ongoing influence of Black Mountain College on the 50th anniversary of artist/composer John Cage’s multimedia "Theatre Piece No. 1." Cobb is an international performer and recording artist known for his broad interpretive range and technical command. "The Chicago Daily" commented, "the vibrations that filled the hall were less those of the piano than those of an exquisite musical mind." Cobb has been presented by Artists International on their Distinguished Artists series in New York City and has made recordings of 20th Century has well as early piano music on original instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

For more information, call UNCA’s Music Department at 828/251-6432.

Media Contacts:

• UNCA Music Department, 828/251-6432
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526