Portrait of Marie Laveau
Austin Courrege
Senior
N.O. Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans, LA

NOCCA is proud to share the news: Senior NOCCA & Jesuit student Austin Courrege’ is a finalist in the George Rodrigue Foundation Art (GRFA) Contest. Austin will be celebrated on February 4, 2012, GRFA will award over $50,000 in college scholarships and art supplies to thirteen high school seniors and seven* juniors at an awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans. http://www.georgerodriguefoundation.org/site401.php

NOCCA is proud to share the news: Senior NOCCA & John McDonogh student Justin Custard is a finalist in the George Rodrigue Foundation Art (GRFA) Contest. Justin will be celebrated on February 4, 2012, GRFA will award over $50,000 in college scholarships and art supplies to thirteen high school seniors and seven* juniors at an awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans. http://www.georgerodriguefoundation.org/site401.php

Justin Custard
Senior
N.O. Center for Creative Arts
New Orleans, LA

The 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell poster is an explosively colored clarion call to Crescent City music lovers and art lovers alike. Titled “Porch Song: A Portrait of Trombone Shorty,” the poster depicts a fiery sunset serenade by Treme native and New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts graduate Troy Andrews by former Treme resident and NOCCA graduate Terrance Osborne.’

Click to read more.

The 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell poster is an explosively colored clarion call to Crescent City music lovers and art lovers alike. Titled “Porch Song: A Portrait of Trombone Shorty,” the poster depicts a fiery sunset serenade by Treme native and New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts graduate Troy Andrews by former Treme resident and NOCCA graduate Terrance Osborne.’

Click to read more.

The Craft Brothers - Friday February 3 at 8pm

Prog rock lives in the unlikely locale of New Orleans. Prog-rock band Glasgow, the nucleus of which is brothers Sam and Jack Craft, released its CD debut, On Earth, last February. That record inspired praise from New Orleans music writers and now Glasgow is preparing its forthcoming release, 1986, a rock opera set in the era of Reagan-nomics and the Cold War. 

After growing up in an NPR household, the Craft brothers belatedly discovered ’90s rock. Graduates of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and Loyola University, violinist Sam, 23, and cellist Jack, 24, aspired to the classical concert hall but the lure of rock proved irresistible.

youngARTS, a program created by National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, recently notified NOCCA Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production and Benjamin Franklin High School student Sarah Devlin (New Orleans-70122) that she has been nominated for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts program. This extraordinary achievement places Sarah in the top percentage of all high school students in the country.

Sarah now moves into the application process in the hopes of becoming a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. The White House Commission will select 20 Scholars who have outstanding records of leadership, artistic and academic achievement and contribution to school and community. All applicants will be notified of their status later this spring.

Through youngARTS, the nation’s most talented young visual, performing, and literary artists have the opportunity to receive financial support, scholarship assistance, and artistic guidance from some of the most renowned artists in the world. youngARTS also supports young artists through its programs for alumni, including internships, grants, awards and career development opportunities.

NOCCA, Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students, offers students from across the state tuition-free arts instruction not only in Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production, but also in Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre Arts and Visual Arts. Visit http://www.nocca.com for more information as the agency has begun its audition and application season. For more information on NOCCA’s Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production contact Department Chair Paul Werner at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 504.940.2834.

NOCCA Media Arts student John (Jack) Armstrong created a new music video, Carefree Feeling, in which he wrote and recorded an original song then filmed and edited the video. This piece has been entered in four festivals and received an Honorable Mention in the Los Angeles Movie Awards and has been put on the shortlist for his Soundtrack in the WaterSprite Festival in Cambridge, England. Shortlists are the top 8 films as judged by a panel of over 70 judges from around the world.

Carefree Feeling from Jack Armstrong on Vimeo.

Link to Watersprite festival
http://www.watersprite.org.uk/watersprite-awards/2012-shortlists/
(listed under Technical/Creative Achievement, then Soundtrack)

NOCCA Drama Production
The Playboy of the Western World
Nims Black Box Theatre
January 25-28 at 7 PM
January 28 at 2 PM
$10 Tickets Available 30 Minutes Before Curtain or in Advance at http://www.NOCCA.com


New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) proudly invites the public to enjoy the student production of John Millington Synge’s Irish comic masterpiece, The Playboy of the Western World at NOCCA’s Nims Black Box Theatre, (2800 Chartres Street, New Orleans-70117). Performances run January 25-28 at 7 PM, with an additional 2 PM matinee on Saturday, January 28.

Students from across the region will be featured in the production, including:
Daisa Bell, senior, McDonogh #35, Orleans Parish-70122
Madeline Daste, junior, Benjamin Franklin Charter, Orleans Parish-70124
Luke Diamond, junior, homeschool, St. Tammany Parish-70435
Rexton Laird, freshman, NOCCA Academic Studio, Orleans Parish-70114
Asia Nelson, senior, Warren Easton, Orleans Parish-70125
Jelani Pitcher, senior, McKinley Magnet, East Baton Rouge Parish-70815
Daisy Rosato, senior, Benjamin Franklin Charter, Orleans Parish-70118
Holly Settoon, senior, Ponchatoula High, Tangipahoa Parish-70454
Darnell Thomas, senior, McDonogh #35, Orleans Parish-70117
Austin Thompson, senior, Mandeville High, St. Tammany Parish-70471
Ricky Watson Jr., junior, East St. John High, St. John the Baptist Parish-70068
Devin Williams, senior, Northshore High, St. Tammany Parish-70458
Dean Wray, senior, Destrehan High, St. Charles Parish-70047


About The Playboy of the Western World
Directed by NOCCA Theatre Arts Assistant Department Chair: Drama Janet Shea, this sensual Irish comic classic, drunk with poetry and ironic laughter, takes a hilarious look at murder, mayhem, deceit, and first love. Riots greeted the show’s Dublin premiere in 1907, but the play still strikes a chord today, in our society of instant fame and notorious celebrity, because of Synge’s indictment of humankind for the folly and fickleness of the love of hero.

About NOCCA
The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students. NOCCA offers students from across the state tuition-free arts instruction in Culinary Arts, Creative Writing, Dance, Media Arts (Filmmaking and Audio Production), Music, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, and Academics. For more information, please visit http://www.NOCCA.com.

This is the re-play of last night’s YoungArts showcase. NOCCA Media Arts student Sarah Devlin’s work starts at 1:16.

Click to watch.

Please join us at NOCCA on Thursday, January 12 for the opening reception of the 2012 Visiting Artists Exhibit. The show features two- and three-dimensional work by Willie Birch, Sesthasak Boonchai, Sally Brogden, and Rajko Radovanovic. The opening reception runs from 6pm to 8pm in the Ken Kirschman Artspace, and the exhibit continues through February 24, 2012.

NOCCA is located at 2800 Chartres Street, in New Orleans’ historic Faubourg Marigny neighborhood. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 1pm, and Saturday from 12pm to 4 pm. Admission is free.

Click to read more.

APPLICATION PERIOD for DACA and SCIENCE TEACHER EXTENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY 11TH. All other positions close on January 27th.Thank you for your interest in NOCCA!

The DIRECTOR OF ACADEMICS, CURRICULUM, AND ASSESSMENTS will have direct responsibilities for the day-to-day oversight and management of the Academic Studio while partnering with NOCCA’s Arts Departments to ensure the cohesive and collaborative success of all NOCCA students.
 
The Academic Studio is the full day diploma granting academic program at NOCCA. The Academic Studio was launched in 2011-2012 with a 9th grade class and will add a grade each of the next three years. The work of the Academic Studio has been a decade long development process that has brought international minds together to help design and vision the program and curriculum now being delivered.
 
Full Job Description

ACADEMIC STUDIO FACULTY in SCIENCE
 
The ACADEMIC STUDIO FACULTY CANDIDATE will be able to show a demonstrated commitment to developing highly personalized rigorous learning experiences for a diverse group of students in a team teaching environment with an integrated curriculum. Successful Applicants will have imagination, vision, and deep-rooted passion for spanning traditional boundaries among arts and academic disciplines. As mentors to individual students, teachers must model integrity, fairness, flexibility, and high ethical standards. As leaders and colleagues, teachers must be able to demonstrate positive interactions and relationships with parents, faculty, administration, and staff. An enthusiasm for working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment that is characterized by continuous growth is critical.
 
Full Job Description

The 10 superstar chefs on these pages have a dream: to make the world a better place by using their clout to support farmers, fight hunger, help at-risk kids and more. Here, F&W introduces the Chefs Make Change coalition, shares recipes from its members and tells how you can help.

Some of America’s most famous chefs have decided to add to their job descriptions: They’ve become philanthropic visionaries, helping everyone from kids who don’t get enough to eat to struggling farmers. And I believe that commitment is going to help save the world. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. As Rick Bayless says, “Most chefs I know who are really passionate about what they do are also really passionate about working in hospitality. Hospitality is all about giving and taking care of people. And clearly, the outgrowth of that can be charities.”

Click to read more.

The 10 superstar chefs on these pages have a dream: to make the world a better place by using their clout to support farmers, fight hunger, help at-risk kids and more. Here, F&W introduces the Chefs Make Change coalition, shares recipes from its members and tells how you can help.

Some of America’s most famous chefs have decided to add to their job descriptions: They’ve become philanthropic visionaries, helping everyone from kids who don’t get enough to eat to struggling farmers. And I believe that commitment is going to help save the world. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. As Rick Bayless says, “Most chefs I know who are really passionate about what they do are also really passionate about working in hospitality. Hospitality is all about giving and taking care of people. And clearly, the outgrowth of that can be charities.”

Click to read more.

His cause Through the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Lagasse has created an extraordinary number of ways to help at-risk children in the areas where his restaurants operate: educational programs, life-skills development, culinary training and cultural enrichment. Recent success: the culinary arts program for high school kids at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA).

His philosophy “If you think big, then it’s going to be big.”

On launching his foundation “I was on the board of Andre Agassi’s education foundation, and seeing how it operates blew my mind. In 2002 I told my wife, I want to start a foundation to give back, I want it to be for kids in hard circumstances, and I want it to be culinary-driven because that’s who and what I am.”

Inspiring story “Twenty-eight years ago, a boy came to see me when I was chef at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. He had dropped out of school and was probably an eighth of an inch from going over the cliff because of all the drugs and crime in his neighborhood. I made a deal with him: I said, if you get your high school diploma, I’ll teach you how to cook. Today he’s one of my culinary directors. ”

The NOCCA recipe contest “This is for kids in the NOCCA program. We tested all the recipes, then brought in a panel to judge the final three. They were all so good we had three winners, and all three went on restaurant menus throughout New Orleans. For every order, a dollar went to the foundation. We raised $60,000 for the school’s kitchen and culinary arts studio.”

What’s next “More than 20-acres in New Orleans to set up an urban farm for kids. We want to make this a world-class educational center for the community that is open to the public and visitors in one of America’s greatest cities.”

His radish recipe for F&W “Radishes are the one crop that can just about grow anywhere. People think, ‘Oh it’s just a radish.’ But radishes are really delicious, and people don’t think of cooking them.”

The Big Easy Foundation has announced 2012 special awards and the nominees for outstanding performances of classical music, opera, ballet, and ethnic and contemporary dance in 2011. Winners will be announced at the 18th annual Tribute to the Classical Arts luncheon Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Hotel Monteleone.

Musician and educator Milton Bush will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. A lifelong New Orleanian, he’s a graduate of Warren Easton High School, Southeastern Louisiana University and LSU and has played trombone professionally in traditional jazz groups, symphony orchestras and orchestras for operas and musicals. Bush founded the University of New Orleans band program and served as its director for two decades, and he served as president and conductor of the New Orleans Pops Orchestra. He’s still an active member of the Crescent City Jazz Band, Delgado College Jazz Band and the New Orleans Trombone Choir.

Click now to read more.

Recently, Edison prize-winner and Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter Christian Scott visited his alma matter for a clinic, a concert, and an interview with Berklee’s new site Berkleejazz.org, an outgrowth of the Berklee High School Jazz Festival.

Christian accomplished an impressive feat of academics at Berklee, completing two degrees in just two years, largely due to his intensive high school education at New Orleans Center of Creative Arts (NOCCA). In Berklee’s interview, many of the questions revolved around music education, which led Scott to share about the cultural approach to teaching at NOCCA.

Click to read more.

“We play all kinds of music,” says Jonathan Batiste, seated at the piano of Moldy Fig, a smartly renovated Lower East Side jazz club. The place is named for so-called jazz purists who decried the 1920s swing that supplanted traditional New Orleans jazz—and for those who defended swing against a nascent bebop movement. Batiste knows this history of squabbles over style, and he pokes fun at its contemporary variants. “We’re gonna play jazz tunes in the jazz style,” he says. “We’re gonna play tunes that aren’t jazz and jazz ‘em up. We’re gonna play tunes that are kind of jazz and make ‘em even more jazzy.”

Click to read more.

Drama faculty Silas Cooper performs as Cassius in upcoming performance of Julius Caesar at the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane http://neworleansshakespeare.tulane.edu/blog/”> http://neworleansshakespeare.tulane.edu/blog/  Events include a public performance on January 13, 7:30 PM at Dixon Hall. NOCCA Drama student Dean Wray also completes the cast.

“I’m a dreamer, mostly. I love to dream about my future and how I can create new ways of getting the word out about the injustices that are happening in this world,” says Brenna Gourgeot, a junior scheduled to graduate in May 2013.

In dual enrollment at both New Orleans Charter Math and Science High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Gourgeot still finds time to volunteer with the organization Invisible Children. Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization based out of San Diego, Calif., dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of Congolese, Sudanese and Central Africa Republican children who have been devastated by Joseph Kony and his vicious Lord’s Resistance Army.

“I cannot possibly imagine living a life that isn’t dedicated to helping other people. I want my future and my career to be focused on using my talents to help other people. I would like to one day be able to use my art to enlighten people on the issues that are a part of their global or national society,” says Gourgeot.

Click to read more.

Students from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts provided the whole musical enchilada for patrons at Santa Fe Restaurant on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans one night this week, performing a benefit concert for their school.
Students, along with some faculty members and parents, played selections of classical, holiday, tango, jazz and contemporary music.

Click here to read more.

Wynton Marsalis, the New Orleans-born, New York-based trumpeter, is one of those individuals who seems to have more energy and time than most humans. He is a prolific, Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter fluent in both the jazz and classical genres. He is the artistic director of the sprawling Jazz at Lincoln Center program. He writes, he tours, he collaborates with the likes of Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson.

And, starting in January, he will be a cultural correspondent for CBS News. He will contribute segments on cultural and educational issues to “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Sunday Morning,” which already features an opening trumpet fanfare by Marsalis.

Click to read more.

Twelve-year-old Bryton Norwood closed his eyes and steadied his violin’s bow.

When the maestro gave the signal, the seventh-grader began playing the holiday songs he’s heard for years.

But even with familiar tunes, the stakes were higher than normal Wednesday night and will be higher still tonight when Norwood and other Acadiana children perform alongside two of Louisiana’s most famous living musicians, jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis and singer Germaine Bazzle, in front of a packed crowd at the Heymann Performing Arts Center.

Click to read more. .

Though the renowned pianist has a sweeping career, complete with stops in Southern California and Breaux Bridge, he's most known for being the man atop one of the regions most talented families.

You might have heard of his sons — Branford, Wynton, Ellis II, Delfeayo, Mboya and Jason.

However, Marsalis is more than just a jazz pianist and patriarch. He's a staple of New Orleans, especially because of his long resume of teaching gigs at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), the University of New Orleans (UNO) and the Virginia Commonwealth University.

Click to read more

Honorable Mention Winner In Visual Arts

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news, NOCCA Visual Arts student Marjorie Rawle (12th grade student also attending Ursuline Academy) is a YoungArts Honorable Mention Award Winner in Visual Arts. Chosen from more than 5,000 applicants in the nine disciplines in the visual, literary and performing arts, she will receive a monetary award. YoungArts is the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). Marjorie is one of this year’s YoungArts 174 Honorable Mention Award Winners, selected in a blind adjudication process from a pool representing all 50 states.

YoungArts is the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). The organization’s mission is to identify emerging artists, provide educational enrichment and assistance in their pursuit of the arts, and to raise the appreciation for and support of the arts in American society. For more information about YoungArts, www.youngarts.org

Click here to listen to Finding Emilie.

Student Performs & Sings at The Republic, January 7, 7 PM



After several months of work and composing, 3rd year NOCCA Drama student Austin Alleman (12th grade/homeschool) will be releasing his professional music CD at the Republic New Orleans on Saturday-January 7, 7 PM. This CD is made up of 6 songs, including “Ode to the Gulf Coast,” written recently by Austin in response to the BP oil spill. His CD was recorded at Fudge Studios in New Orleans with his brother Ben Alleman acting as his musical director/producer. Ben is a NOCCA alum who will graduate from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, December 2012.

Austin’s concert and release party will feature all of the tracks on the CD with the musicians who worked on the original studio recordings. The musicians include Ben Alleman on keys, Ben Marino, drums and Jemila Dunham, bass (all students of Berklee College of Music). Also featured in the music is Austin’s uncle, Robert Earl Longley, guitarist and Reed Alleman, his father. The concert will include original music from these musicians as well.

The concert is free and open to the public, CDs and t-shirts will be available. For concert information please visit: http://www.republicnola.com/2012/01/07/austin-reed-alleman-cd-release/ . For more information on the event or Austin’s endeavors visit, www.austinreedalleman.com.

Honor Includes Invitation to Participate In the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts Week In Miami

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news, NOCCA Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production student Sarah Devlin (12th grade student also attending Benjamin Franklin Charter High) is a national finalist in the YoungArts Contest. Only 152 young artists from across the nation have been selected for this prestigious honor. Sarah has currently received a monetary award of at least $1,000 with the hopes of receiving additional awards during YoungArts Week in Miami where she plans to showcase her talents in the Cinematic Arts.

“Sarah is an excellent cinematic artist who explores both the medium and her own visions of the world and her inner self,” stated Media Arts Department Chair Paul Werner. “She goes beyond what we teach in class to explore issues normally addressed by a more mature artist.”

NOCCA President|CEO Kyle Wedberg added, “NOCCA has a long tradition of having students recognized as Presidential Scholars in the Arts. This recognition is the first step towards that distinction. Sarah is an outstanding artist and a well deserving recipient of this award and we all wish her the best in this selection process and beyond.”

This year’s Finalists, who represent the top 3% of applicants, were selected through a blind adjudication process from a pool of more than 5,000 applications. YoungArts is also the exclusive nominating agency for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the highest honor that can be awarded to any artistically talented graduating high school senior.

A young musician (Loyola student) from 504 who makes his own original music and does DJ sets on the side has been nominated among 5 locals for Best DJ in the local OFFBEAT magazine’s Best of the Beat for 2011. His name is Christoph Andersson and his music can be accessed (free) at

      http://soundcloud.com/christoph-andersson

The winner is selected by online vote. You are encouraged to consider voting for this upstart at

      http://offbeat.com/best-of-the-beat-awards-january-27-2012/

Years ago (about 6/7 years now), native New Orleanians Andrew Larimer and Alex Pomes came together with an idea to create a theater company that brought witty and intelligent theater to New Orleans. At the time Larimer was a theater student at NYU and Pomes was actively pursuing his acting career in New Orleans and true to NOLA form, the duo met in high school while studying at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts).

The idea was simple, bring fresh and undiscovered New York talent to New Orleans where the actors would find themselves participating in real theater in a community that not only appreciated it, but that they could afford to live in. Pomes had the New Orleans connections and Larimer knew the fresh New York talent and in the summer of 2005 the idea was born in their first production, The Cripple of Inishmaan. The production was sharp, witty and dark a perfect satire for the New Orleanian sense of humor. Despite the shows interruption by Katrina, the NOLA project moved forward, offering satirical and intelligent productions every summer.

Click to read more.

This post comes from NOLA intern Leigh Durham

Greetings from NOLA! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday with their friends and family. One thing that we’re grateful for here is our recent partnership event with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA.  NOCCA is an arts training center for secondary-school age students. The program is tuition-free to Louisiana students.

On Monday, November 21, Naomi and I went to NOCCA’s beautiful campus in the Bywater neighborhood to introduce the mission of One Million Bones to over 600 students during two afternoon sessions. Since its inception in 1973, our OMB event was the first time NOCCA had gathered the entire school together under one cause. Following a presentation and a video of the Albuquerque 50,000 Bones Preview Installation, students spread out across the campus to make bones! The arts department at NOCCA graciously provided all of the materials and clay and even offered to store the bones made from the event as part of a campus display until our New Orleans preview installation in March 2012.

Click to read more

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation Presents Award In New York

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news: NOCCA Jazz student Glenn Hall III (12th grade student also attending McDonogh #35 College Preparatory High School) will be presented The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award at its 16th Annual Awards Ceremony at the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 7, 2011 (the 100st anniversary of Louis Prima’s birthday.) Glenn is the first recipient of this award.

Glenn was selected by Mrs. Gia Prima, Louis’ widow together with NOCCA Music Faculty and The ASCAP Foundation and staff. It is presented to a senior vocalist or musician attending NOCCA to assist with their college career.

“NOCCA is working every day to train the next generation of leaders in the creative and cultural economy,” stated President|CEO Kyle Wedberg. “In this same regard, Gia Prima has done more than just fund a scholarship in her husband’s memory. Louis Prima will now continue to play a direct role in the development of the next generation of New Orleans and Louisiana artists by supporting one artist from the next generation as they work to reach their potential. And Glenn Hall III is an outstanding choice to be the first recipient of this scholarship.”

Native New Orleanian, Louis Prima remains one of the greatest contributors to popular music and a powerful entertainment influence. His chart-topping hits are part of the American musical lexicon and have been performed by numerous artists over the decades.

Glenn Hall III started to play the trumpet at the age of six following in the footsteps of several cousins, including NOCCA alum Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, James “Satchmo” Andrews, and Glen David Andrews. He is the leader of the New Orleans-based Baby Boyz Brass Band. You can catch him playing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, in traditional jazz funerals (performing with his band), or teaching music for Roots of Music. Glenn also writes and arranges music for schools around the city.

Ma Louisiane: What Makes Louisiana French
The Photo Contest of the Alliance Française de La Nouvelle-Orléans

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news: NOCCA Visual Arts students, under the direction of Visual Arts Faculty-Photography Michel Varisco, have received first and second place in the Photo Contest of the Alliance Française de La Nouvelle-Orléans: Ma Louisianae: What Makes Louisiana French.



Students include:
Andrew Kay, 1st Place Winner, Benjamin Franklin Charter-New Orleans, 70124
Mya Ebanks, 2nd Place Winner, Lake Area New Tech Academy-New Orleans, 70126
Trey Denis, participant, Archbishop Shaw-Marrero, 70072

Student work is currently being exhibited at the Historic New Orleans Collection (410 Chartres Street, New Orleans-70130).

Local New Orleans artist, Terrance Osborne, and Ron Emonet of French Market Coffee appeared on New Orleans’ WDSU NBC-6 Morning News on Sunday 11/27/11 to discuss the partnership between Terrance Osborne and French Market Coffee to sell limited edition prints of Obsorne’s original painting, “The Flavor of New Orleans,” to benefit The NOCCA Institute, the nonprofit support arm of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. The painting was commissioned by French Market Coffee to capture how Osborne feels when drinking their rich, bold coffee. All proceeds from the poster sales will be donated by French Market Coffee to NOCCA, to help young art students follow their passions.

To purchase a poster, visit French Market Coffee’s Facebok page: http://www.facebook.com/frenchmarketcoffee

Life in the Arts exemplifies the spirit of the Arts Schools Network. Each 30-minute, student-produced episode presents a compelling feature, ranging from master classes and interviews with successful alumni to tours of facilities and professional arts venues. The videos also exercise and display student skills in theater, filmmaking, script writing as well as showcase the member school.

Click now to watch the video

Community Invited To Celebrate Holiday Season With NOCCA Jazz

Wednesday, December 14, 7 PM

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) invites the community to enjoy a free holiday music concert featuring student performers in the jazz instrumental music program, Wednesday, December 14 in Reily Recital Hall on NOCCA’s campus, 2800 Chartres Street, New Orleans-70117. This concert is free and open to the public.

Students will perform classical jazz pieces with some holiday favorites, for more information, please contact 504.940.2854.

Lonnie Davis is as talented as she is beautiful.

Born in Lansthul, Germany, Davis moved to New Orleans with her mother and older sister when she was 2.

"My father was in the military. He was killed in an accident on the German autobahn (highway), so we returned to the states," said Davis.

She grew up in the multicultural city known as the "birthplace of jazz." Davis' love for music came naturally. Her uncle is the great jazz trumpet player, Kid Sheik Cola, and her birth father was a guitarist. (Davis' mother remarried, and Davis also has a younger sister.)

"I began playing the violin at 8," Davis said, "but it wasn't long before I went to the flute.

"I have always had a passion and love for music."

Davis attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where she focused her studies on jazz. Well known graduates of NOCCA include brothers Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr. and Terence Blanchard. "The center had great teachers, and the other students were as focused on their love of the arts as I was," Davis said.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/27/2797473/her-passion-for-music-brings-new.html#ixzz1f1OV29Ix

You can download copies of the publications at the following links:

DANSE MACABRE Issue 51

Symmetry Pebbles Issue 2

Thursday, December 1, 7 PM

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) invites the community to enjoy a free holiday music concert featuring student performers in the vocal music program and NOCCA choirs on Thursday, December 1 in Lupin Hall on NOCCA’s campus, 2800 Chartres Street, New Orleans-70117. For more information, please contact 504.940.2854.

NOCCA offers tuition-free intensive arts training in Creative Writing, Culinary Arts, Dance, Media Arts, Classical Instrumental Music, Jazz, Vocal, Drama, Musical Theatre, Theatre Design and Visual Arts to Louisiana upper-middle and high school students during ½ day, afterschool and Summer Conservatory attendance options.
Students and parents are encouraged to visit http://www.nocca.com to download an application and for more information. NOCCA will also offer an Open Studio Day (Open House) on Saturday, January 21 to give potential students the chance to visit NOCCA before applying by January 30.

French Market Coffee has teamed up with Alum Terrance Osborne in supporting the young creative students right here @ NOCCA! Sales of the above print to benefit The NOCCA Institute Financial Aid Program.

Click now to order: http://www.luzianne.com/french-market-coffee-limited-edition-print.html

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) Vocal Music students received the highest awards in their divisions at the annual National Association of Teachers of Singing Southern Regional Competition recently held at Mississippi College, Clinton, MS. NOCCA students placed first, second and fourth in high school women and first place in high school men. The two-day event (November 10-12) and competition was open to high school and college students from Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Each year the Vocal Music Division coordinates a field trip to the competition in order to provide NOCCA students a high level performance opportunity where they are being judged on talent and training.

The National Association of Teachers of Singing encourages the highest standards of the vocal art and ethical principles in the teaching of singing; and promotes vocal education and research at all levels, both for the enrichment of the general public and for the professional advancement of the talented.

Winning NOCCA students include:

Vivian Buchanan, Destrehan High, St. Rose, 70087, Second Place High School Women
Kathleen Millet, St. Charles Catholic, LaPlace, 70068, First Place High School Women
Langston Theard, Warren Easton, New Orleans, 70128, First Place High School Men
Haley Whitney, Mandeville High, Mandeville, 70471, Fourth Place High School Women

NOCCA has begun its audition season for its Summer Conservatory and 2012-13 Fall sessions. Middle and high school students who are interested in learning more about the application and audition process to NOCCA are encouraged to visit http://www.nocca.com.

You are cordially invited to attend a “sneak preview” of Irvin Mayfield’s Homecoming Concert at the Main Library, Thursday, November 17, from 4-5 pm.

The event is free and open to the public. It is called a Preview concert because he is hosting a similar concert over the weekend for New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) donors and friends. If you can make it, we’d love to see you there.

NOCCA invites you to register your student for Audition Workshops in preparation for our 2012-2013 Audition Season. Audition Workshops are not required but encouraged as they provide the opportunity for students to learn audition expectations and requirements directly from faculty.

* Students may only reserve a ticket for one arts workshop per each workshop day.
* Parents may attend the event but do not need to RSVP, as they will be invited to attend an admission orientation session while their student is in their workshop.
* The audition workshop is not the formal student audition, but a resource for students considering applying and auditioning for NOCCA's programs.

Click here to register for the Audition Workshops:

Saturday, December 10

Saturday, January 28


Please note: You may only register one student at a time. Those who register for more than one ticket will have all of their tickets canceled

For the past few years,  we’ve spent part of each summer in Mexico, to escape the dual waves of crime and heat that swamp our hometown of New Orleans in those unbearable months. Like New Orleans, with its jazz funerals and Mardi Gras mortality traditions, Mexico is known for its cultural braiding of life and death, not just with the famous Día de los Muertos, but in daily activity. Every morning, walking our kids to camp in the town of San Miguel de Allende, we’d pass a man building coffins, shop doors wide open, his finished wares on display, as precise and ornate as the cakes in the window of the panadería across the street. During the local film festival, the cemeteries hosted midnight horror movies, which we could not persuade any of our kids to attend with us. On the city bus, a portrait of a bloody, anguished Christ affixed behind the driver’s seat might accompany you on your trip.

No danger in any of that—it enriches your errands, makes you feel more alive. What’s always concerned me about our frequent trips to Mexico is actual danger, not from drug traffickers as my parents feared, but from the seeming lack of universal safety standards, the eschewing of seat belts in taxis, the happy crowding of the disturbingly dilapidated playgrounds, the guardrails that, when they do exist, seem to be always 4 to 6 inches too short. But Mexico is also the most family- and child-centered place I’ve ever visited, and my preoccupations seem to be a by-product of my 21st-century American momhood.

To continue, click here.

Classical Instrumental Music Winter Chamber Music Concert
Monday, November 14, 7 PM
Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Avenue, New Orleans


The NOCCA Classical Instrumental Department and NOCCA faculty members Dr. Jee Yeoun Ko, Joe Meyer, Matthew Ernst, John Rankin, Chia-Hsing Lin, Heather Zinninger and Stephanie Thompson present an exciting Chamber Music Concert on Monday-November 14, 7 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Audience members will enjoy works by Telemann, Gabrieli, Bach, Diabelli, Beethoven, Schubert, Faure, and Villa-Lobos. The concert will feature violin quartet, cello duet, brass ensemble, Flute trio, cello and piano duet. The public is invited to enjoy this free event, no RSVP necessary.

Students who are interested in the Classical Instrumental instructional program at NOCCA are also encouraged to attend.
NOCCA, Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students, offers students from across the state tuition-free arts instruction in Creative Writing, Culinary Arts, Dance, Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production, Music, Theatre Arts and Visual Arts. For more information visit http://www.nocca.com.

http://www.nocca.com/images/signage/us-and-them-poster.jpg

NOCCA Chamber Music Concert
featuring (chamber) music works by Telemann, Gabrieli, Bach, Diabelli, Beethoven, Schubert, Faure, and Villa-Lobos…etc.
Monday, November 14th, 2011, 7pm
Trinity Episcopal Church on Jackson Ave.

NOCCA Media Arts student Jack Armstrong (New Orleans-70125) was recently invited by Princeton University to be their guest at their Creative Arts and Humanities Symposium on their campus in Princeton, New Jersey. He was selected as one of 80 high school seniors in the country to attend, where he will take part in workshops and seminars that explore the practical challenges and responsibilities of being an artist. He also recently was named National Merit Semifinalist.

The UrbanArt Commission is working with the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association to use art to fight property deterioration and falling property values.

The effort, led by UrbanArt project manager Siphne Sylve, focuses on the boards of boarded-up buildings, turning regular plywood into something more like a Picasso.

MIFA’s Mary Claire Borys and Patrick Howie approached UrbanArt executive director John Weeden with the idea of painting these boards to look like doors and windows.

To continue click here.

A free benefit concert featuring the Faubourg Quartet, Michael Pellera and members of the Marsalis Family

Thursday, November 17, 7 PM
St. Louis Cathedral

For their annual benefit concert for COATS FOR KIDS, the Faubourg Quartet presents a collection of its members’ most beloved favorites, a fun and eclectic mix of varied genres, including tango, blues, jazz, as well as some of the most beautiful works of Piazzolla, Beethoven, Ravel, Schostakovich and Colombier. And as a special treat, you will not want to miss members of New Orleans famous Marsalis Family and the Chair of the NOCCA Music Department Michael Pellera performing. This year, Delfeayo Marsalis joins the Faubourg Quartet in their traditional finale, Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.”

Starting at 6:15 PM, audience members will be welcomed outside the St. Louis Cathedral by performing students from the Classical Instrumental Department of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). Show support for New Orleans youth by coming early to hear this talented group perform!

Admission is free. But please consider bringing one clean coat (any size accepted) to benefit COATS FOR KIDS. Monetary donations are also welcome and much appreciated.

The Faubourg Quartet would like to thank St. Louis Cathedral for their generous support in hosting this event as well as event sponsors Lafargue Piano and Santa Fe Restaurant.

NOCCA, Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students, offers students from across the state tuition-free arts instruction in Creative Writing, Culinary Arts, Dance, Media Arts: Filmmaking & Audio Production, Music, Theatre Arts and Visual Arts. For more information visit http://www.nocca.com.

Louisiana’s arts conservatory New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news that current Classical Instrumental student Georgia Bourderionnet (10th Grade-Benjamin Franklin Charter, New Orleans-70119) recently was chosen as one of the winners in the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Young Artists’ Concerto Competition. As a winner, Georgia will be invited to perform with the LPO as part of the symphony’s Young People’s Concerts in the spring.

Georgia plans to continue her studies in Classical Instrumental Department at NOCCA and her challenging academic environment at Franklin Charter in the hopes of being accepted into a prestigious conservatory of music following her high school career.

About NOCCA
The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students. NOCCA offers students from across the state tuition-free arts instruction in Culinary Arts, Creative Writing, Dance, Media Arts (Filmmaking and Audio Production), Music, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, and academics. For more information, please visit http://www.NOCCA.com.


NOCCA is an agency of the state of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, Governor.

Celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez, one of the judges on the Food Network’s “Chopped” and co-star of the show “Heat Seekers,” shares his knowledge about food with culinary students at New Orleans Center of Creative Arts in New Orleans.

Click here to see the images

Harlem Stage presents Double Take: THE CHRISTIAN SCOTT QUINTET on Fri & Sat, Oct 28 & 29 at 7:30 pm.

Edison Award winning trumPeter Christian Scott comes to the Gatehouse for two nights of new music.

The first evening features new compositions that seek to build upon the "harmolodic" musical philosophy of the 60's Jazz innovators. The evening will also include signature works from Scott's 2007 and 2008 releases Anthem and Live from Newport.

On the second evening, Scott will premiere compositions showcasing his new harmonic form, Forecasting cells and Rhythms of the Afro-Native American Tradition of New Orleans, and works from his 2010 release Yesterday You Said Tomorrow.

The FEATURED ARTISTS are Christian Scott (trumpet), Matthew Stevens (guitar), Lawrence Fields (piano), Kristopher Keith Funn (bass), and Jamire Williams (drums).

Christian Scott, critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated flugel horn player and trumpeter, is a musical force to be reckoned with in the world of jazz. Since Scott was 13-years-old, this jazz lion has toured regularly with his uncle, notable saxophonist Donald "Duck" Harrison, Jr. He completed his music education at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

To continue, click here.

When Ralph Lauren sat down for a little chat Monday night with Oprah Winfrey, they picked up a discussion they started on TV back in the spring, when the fashion designer helped close out Winfrey’s long-running talk show with an exclusive peek inside his Colorado estate.

But this time, their talk about Lauren’s life, career and commitment to cancer causes was at Lincoln Center in front of a sold-out crowd of arts patrons and a celebrity guest list that included Michael J. Fox, NBC News anchorman Brian Williams, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Wintour, Martha Stewart and Naomi Watts.

To continue, click here.

Chef Aaron (AH-rhone) Sanchez, one of the judges on the Food Network's "Chopped" and co-star of the show "Heat Seekers," shares his knowledge about food with the next generation of culinary students at New Orleans Center of Creative Arts.

To continue, click here.

Anne Gisleson is a native Louisianan writer, editor, poet, and teacher. Receiving her BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her MFA from Louisiana State University, Gisleson has been published in such places as The Believer, The New Orleans Review, and Oxford American in addition to having her work included in such anthologies as Best American Non-Required Reading. She has also participated in residencies at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and the New York Institute for Writers, and been the recipient of Louisiana Division of the Arts grants and a Surdna Arts Teacher’s Fellowship. She currently serves as chair of the creative writing program at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), where she teaches.

To continue, click here.

The Chefs Collaborative National Summit is being held here in New Orleans beginning this Sunday, October 23 and ends on Tuesday, October 25th. I am so looking forward to attending this conference.

What is Chefs Collaborative?

Chefs Collaborative is a nonprofit organization of chefs and culinary professionals working toward a more sustainable food supply.

To continue, click here.

The recently renamed Mercedes-Benz Superdome will be seen in a dramatically different light Thursday night.

That’s when Dome officials will, in essence, flip the switch on a new LED lighting system, illuminating the outside of the 36-year iconic stadium in a spectrum of animated colors and images.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, Superdome commission Chairman Ron Forman and SMG Senior Vice President Doug Thornton will host a free-to-the-public lighting ceremony to showcase the capabilities of the $1.6 million permanent system that will be set to a musical soundtrack. The ceremony is at 7:15 p.m. Thursday night at Champions Square; the square opens at 6 p.m.

To continue, click here.

NOCCA Media Arts students Sydney Fortune and Qing Yu competed in the New Orleans Film Festival Pitch contest last Saturday. They were the only high school students pitching against college film students. Although they did not win the judges were very impressed with their stories and pitches.






ABOUT PITCH PERFECT
Saturday, October 15
La Humanities Center // 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. // Documentary Pitch Session
La Humanities Center // 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. // Narrative Pitch Session
Ready-¦Set-Pitch! That’s right pitching your film idea has now become a spectator sport at the New Orleans Film Festival. This year, NOFF launches a new pitch competition for Southern students as part of the event line-up. Pitch Perfect will convene a group of stellar film students (both narrative and documentary) from across the region to present their projects to an esteemed panel of broadcasters, filmmakers, industry insiders, and critics. This event offers an ideal opportunity for Southern film students to gain invaluable experience in conveying their artistic vision and ideas, a critical step in the filmmaking process that often gets left out of the textbooks.

At the end of the pitches, the panel of judges will decide on one winner for each session. The winners will be awarded a $500 cash prize (sponsored by Studio WTA) to go towards production of the film they pitched and an Academic version of the Movie Magic Budgeting & Scheduling software. The following schools will send delegates to Pitch Perfect: Florida State University, Loyola University, NOCCA,Tulane University, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, University of New Orleans, University of Texas at Austin, and Wake Forest University – Documentary Film Program.

The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts is one of our city's most important educational institutions.

The original NOCCA campus, long outgrown by the school, currently sits vacant on the corner of Webster and Perrier, right near Audubon Park.

The 31,000 square foot building is one of the largest developable parcels Uptown. In April, it was purchased at auction by Jim MacPhaille, who previously developed the commercial stretch of Prytania that is home to Creole Creamery.

To continue, click here.

NOCCA’s “On the Edge” Gallery Series Continues the 2011-2012 Season with Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women, and Art
October 22 through December 16, 2011 * Opening reception: October 22, 5pm – 8pm

The Ken Kirschman Artspace and The NOCCA Institute are proud to announce Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women, and Art. The opening reception for this show will be Saturday, October 22, 2011, 5 to 8 pm, and the exhibit continues through December 16, 2011. The touring group exhibit, produced and curated by Art Works for Change, will be on view as part of the Prospet.2 city-wide art biennial. Featured artists include Laylah Ali, Icelandic Love Corporation, Yoko Inoue, Miri Nishri, Yoko Ono, Fatou Kande Senghor, and Elisabeth Sunday. The Ken Kirschman Artspace is located on NOCCA’s campus at 2800 Chartres St., New Orleans, LA. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 1 pm, and Saturday, 12 to 4 pm. Admission is free.

-Bios-

Laylah Ali
Laylah Ali was born in Buffalo, New York in 1968, and lives and works in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She received a BA from Williams College and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Laylah Ali has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; ICA, Boston; MCA Chicago; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; and MASS MoCA, among others. Her work was exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2003) and the Whitney Biennial (2004).

Icelandic Love Corporation
The Icelandic Love Corporation is a group of three artists: Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir (1973), Jóní Jónsdóttir (1972) and Eirún Sigurdardóttir (1971). They graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1996. Since then, they have lived and studied in New York, Berlin and Copenhagen and are currently based in Reykjavik.

Yoko Inoue
Yoko Inoue is a multi-disciplinary artist who uses the mediums of sculpture, installation, collaboration, and public intervention performance to explore the commoditization of cultural values, assimilation and identity issues. Her work has been shown nationally at Brooklyn Museum, Sculpture Center, Rubin Museum, The Bronx Museum, LMCC, Momenta Art and Art in General in New York, Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, Yerba Buena and UCLA in California. She has received many awards including NYFA Fellowship in Sculpture (2003) and in Cross-disciplinary/Performative work (2007), Lambent Fellowship (2004-06) from The Tides Foundation, Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art (2005), The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2005), Guggenheim Fellowship (2006), GAPS (Grant for Art in Public Spaces) from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council/9-11 Fund (2007), Jerome Foundation Travel and Research Grant (2007), and the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship (2008). Residencies include Skowhegan, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Art Omi, LMCC Workspace, Smack Mellon, The Center for Book Arts, .ekwc in The Netherlands, and Civitella Ranieri Residency in Italy.

Miri Nishri
Miri Nishri, an interdisciplinary artist, was born in Colombia in 1950 and immigrated to Israel with her family when she was seven years old. She studied construction engineering at Ort Technicum, and art at Hamidrasha College for Arts (today a part of Beit Berl), and teaches art at the Tel Aviv Museum. Nishri is the winner of the 1988 Oscar Handler Prize for artists and the 1996 Award of the Israeli Minister of Education & Culture. Her works range between painting, photography, video art and installations, and were shown in exhibitions in galleries, museums and festivals around the world, including: Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel Museum, Haifa Museum of Art, Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, "Luleå Summer Biennale" (Sweden), "Olympolis Project" (Greece), "Human Emotions Festival" (Rome, Italy), "Stuttgarter Filmwinter" (Germany) and Stenersen Museum (Oslo, Norway).

Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono, born February 18, 1933, is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist. She is known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to famous musician John Lennon. Ono brought feminism to the forefront in her music, which prefigured New Wave music, and is known for her philanthropic contributions to the arts, peace and AIDS outreach programs. In 2001, YES YOKO ONO, a forty-year retrospective of Ono's work, received the prestigious International Association of Art Critics USA Award for Best Museum Show Originating in New York City, considered one of the highest accolades in the museum profession. In 2002, Ono was awarded the Skowhegan Medal for work in assorted media. In 2005, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Japan Society of New York. Ono received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Liverpool University in 2001, and in 2002, she was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Bard College. In 2008, she showed a large retrospective exhibition, Between the Sky and My Head, at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, UK. She also received a Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement from the Venice Biennale in 2009. Wish Tree, her installation in the Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (since July 2010), has become very popular, with contributions from all over the world.

Fatou Kande Senghor
Fatou Kande Senghor was born in 1971 in Senegal and currently lives in Dakar. She is a multifaceted visual artist, working as a film director, photographer, cameraman, producer, lecturer and costume designer. As a co-founder of the Waru Studio (Dakar), a platform of dialogue for filmmakers of her generation, she works on exploring new technologies as an alternative to the dying film industry and a voice to the peoples of the rich and misunderstood continent— Africa. Fatou worked as a cameraman with Wim Wenders on the short movie "The Invisible," a film about women that were raped by the May May warriors during the war in Congo. She has also written in numerous publications about the African experience in film and about gender issues in the African context.
Her video/performance/ installation, On quest for modern Africa, was presented on Dak'Art 2004: The Biennial of Contemporary African Art, Dakar (2004). In 2006, she followed an invitation by Okwui Enwezor, curator of Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, at the International Center of Photography in New York, presenting photos of an abandoned and derelict Court of Law in Dakar.

Elisabeth Sunday
Elisabeth Sunday came from three generations of visual artists; her father, Douglas Phillips, was a Cleveland-based, stained glass window designer and her mother, Jane Spangler, was an Oakland, California-based 3-dimensional and ceramic artist. But it wasn't until her grandfather, painter Paul B. Travis of Cleveland, gave her a camera at age 15 that she began photographing and discovering her niche in a cluster of accomplished artists. Sunday had her first exhibition while still in high school in Oakland, and continued to photograph in college at Humboldt State University. After college, in 1980, Elisabeth Sunday moved to Paris for 4 years where she had a studio and studied the figure and portraiture. Sunday’s interest in indigenous people extends back as far as she can remember; as a teen, she photographed Native Americans and was interested in isolated cultures like the Amish within the United States. Once she got to Paris in 1980, Sunday met people from all over and became fascinated by their faces. When she returned home in 1984, Elisabeth Sunday began photographing the Southwest and then in 1986 turned her attention to Africa where she continues to photograph today. Other places that have captivated her eye include Southeast Asia, Australia, and Micronesia.

About Art Works for Change
Art Works for Change (AWFC) is a non-profit organization that produces traveling contemporary art exhibitions addressing some of the most pressing social issues facing the global community, such as social justice, human rights, gender equity and environmental sustainability. Through its partnerships with museums, advocacy and educational organizations, AWFC utilizes the transformative power of art to foster social change by promoting awareness and provoking dialogue and action in communities.

After a lively game of phone tag with Warner Bros. Records, I was lucky enough to catch up with Darren King, drummer for Grammy-nominated act Mutemath. Once we had exchanged greetings and discussed the nuances of touring in the South, Darren and I got down to business, discussing Mutemath’s new album, Odd Soul, out October 4th, as well as their “reintroduction” tour, lineup changes, and new additions to the family…

To continue, click here.

The ASCAP Foundation is pleased to announce that Gia Prima and her friends and long-time Counsel at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP have established The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award to be presented to a talented vocalist or musician attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. The inaugural award will be presented at The ASCAP Foundation Awards ceremony in New York on December 7, 2011.

Louis Prima, born in the birthplace of Jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana on December 7, 1910, remains one of the greatest contributors to popular music and a powerful entertainment influence. The early Swing Era was marked by Prima's incredible output of compositions and recordings between 1933-39. 1936 was the landmark year in which Louis composed the words and music to "Sing, Sing, Sing," initially for his friend Bing Crosby. The song would become an immortal standard and signature song for Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. It has been covered by a vast array of popular artists and featured in films and shows continuously from 1936 through today. The song holds the distinction of being the most reproduced on sheet music.

To continue, click here.

In collaboration with NOCCA, Legacy Donor Foundation produced a short educational video about organ, eye and tissue donation. The Legacy Donor Foundation strives to save and heal lives by educating about the importance of and critical need for organ, eye and tissue donation, and encourage registering as a donor. The end result of this successful collaboration was an informative and inspiring video bringing the message of donation from young adults to young adults. This video will prepare new drivers to make an informed decision about registering as a donor when getting their drivers license.

Click here to watch the behind the scenes video

The sound of Japanese Taiko drums filled the State Capitol’s Senate Chamber as Sunday’s Louisiana World Peace Day festivities began.

One percussionist began drumming, followed by another, then another. Soon, all of the drummers were in sync as the sound of the Taiko drums became louder and louder.

Then, after a few minutes of drumming, the musicians stopped, clicked their sticks together three times and shouted, “Victory!” before beginning again.

The percussion performance kicked off two hours of music, dance, poetry and prayer Sunday for the second day of the 14th annual Louisiana World Peace Day celebration.

To continue, click here.

ERSY SCHWARTZ, a sculptor, and Josephine Sacabo, a photographer, are old friends, neighbors and artistic collaborators who live in the crumbling village known as the French Quarter, in houses that are exemplars of a certain local aesthetic composed of equal parts grandeur and mystery, funk and rot. They are also fomenters of the sort of time-traveling artwork that comes with a distinctly New Orleans point of view.

In Ms. Schwartz’s meticulous, mischievous pieces — which might be peopled with tiny winged figures that have bird skulls in place of heads or real mice cast in bronze — and in Ms. Sacabo’s ghostly, smoky female figures, you can see the collision of magic realism, allegory and surrealism. It’s a territory of fallen angels, omnivorous ancestors and all manner of fantastic creatures.

The two artists are the subject of side-by-side retrospectives, “Ersy: Architect of Dreams” and “Óyeme con los Ojos (Hear Me With Your Eyes),” opening here Saturday at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

To continue click here.

New Orleans has long been a piano town. And it’s long been a parade town. Therein lies the problem: If you’re a pianist, you can’t join the parade. No one’s yet found a way to strap a Steinway around his or her neck and march down St. Charles Avenue.

This dilemma has often perplexed Jonathan Batiste, the gifted New Orleans pianist now living in New York. The 24-year-old Kenner native is very tall and very thin—almost a living stick man—and he has long, lean fingers to match. Those fingers were made for the piano, for they can reach across an octave and a half with such ease and agility that Batiste can form voicings that other pianists can only imagine.

When he played Jazz Fest this past May, he wore white slacks, a white shirt and a bright red blazer as he sat down at the Steinway grand on the Congo Square stage. When he played “New Orleans Blues,” his composite of several Jelly Roll Morton tunes, he got two different rhythms going at once—a push-and-pull Caribbean rhythm in his left hand and a rippling European rhythm in his right. At times he lifted his hands off the keys and started slapping the second-line groove on the dark wood of the piano itself.

To continue reading click here.

NEW ORLEANS — Chayil Johnson stood over the pot of collard greens he was cooking with apple-smoked bacon, looking cool even though he still has 18 Cornish hens to roast and a cranberry reduction to whip up.

"I've made this for my family several times," said the 14-year-old student at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. "I'm pretty confident about everything."

NOCCA, as the school is called, draws students from all over the city to its music, dance, fine arts, and cooking classes. It offers them several hours a day of instruction in one of those fields, in addition to their academic work.

Continue reading here.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chayil Johnson stood over the pot of collard greens he was cooking with apple-smoked bacon, looking cool even though he still has 18 Cornish hens to roast and a cranberry reduction to whip up.

"I've made this for my family several times," said the 14-year-old student at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. "I'm pretty confident about everything."

NOCCA, as the school is called, draws students from all over the city to its music, dance, fine arts, and cooking classes. It offers them several hours a day of instruction in one of those fields, in addition to their academic work.

Johnson is a member of the school's new culinary arts program, and one of three budding chefs hoping his dish is chosen to be served for a week next month in some of the city's best restaurants.

Continue reading here

Enterprising musicians in all genres could take a cue from string virtuoso Jee Yeoun Ko. The Korean cellist landed in the Crescent City a few years ago, revitalizing the classical music program at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, producing a string of notable concerts, and crossing over genre lines with artists as different as Wynton Marsalis, Jeremy Davenport and Joel Harrison. Ko knows how to grab an audience, too. She filled St. Louis Cathedral for a children’s benefit concert, and won over the skeptical, roots music audience at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
Continue reading nola.com article here…

Program provides instruments to schools in need
By Jeff Tamarkin

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and New Orleans’ Mayor Mitch Landrieu visited KIPP McDonogh 15 Middle School this week, where they heard a performance by the school’s brass band and spoke to students about the importance of an arts curriculum. Mayor Landrieu also joined Trombone Shorty and Big D and Dan Oestreicher of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on bass drum and baritone sax, respectively.

Continue reading here…

In order to prepare students for a rich and turbulent future, we need to empower them with the tools of design. That’s why Collective Invention cofounder Arnold Wasserman has been working with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) to create an event which provides high school students with hands-on experience using design principles.

The day’s learning experience will kick-off a series of phased projects in which students will take an active role in the design and expansion of their teaching and learning spaces over the course of the next few years.

In addition, the students will continue to hone their design skills and understandings to then contribute to the planning and design of the future Homer Plessy Museum.

View full article and video here…

Recent Graduate’s Film Part Of Exhibition In Washington DC

Class of 2011 Media Arts student Kayla Elorza’s original film Stories from the Sleeping Mind is featured in a national exhibit coordinated by Art.Write.Now DC.

ART.WRITE.NOW DC is an annual partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities to bring stunning teen-produced work to our nation's capitol. This year’s event features two concurrent exhibitions at the Department of Education and at the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities featuring only 54 pieces from the 2011 Scholastic Award-wining works.

In Kayla's film, Stories from the Sleeping Mind, she “interviewed various people about their dreams,” stated Paul Werner Chair of NOCCA Media Arts Department, “and then intercut animation of those dreams, flowing from one person’s dream to the next, like a group stream-of-consciousness."

As the only student from Louisiana, Kayla’s film is featured at the Department of Education facility. Kayla’s film is an experimental documentary illustrating a story of a dream. Kayla, her family and her NOCCA teachers have been invited to the opening reception on September 14 in Washington DC.

“Kayla has a bright future and is very deserving of this recognition,” stated NOCCA President|CEO Kyle Wedberg. “It is always wonderful to have a NOCCA student recognized at a national level for their work. It is good for the student and it is good for Louisiana.”

NOCCA Alumni, Gustave Blache, III, Native artisan to show at NOMA with a collection celebrating the 90th birthday of Chef Leah Chase

The relationship between native artist Gustave Blache III and the legendary queen of Creole cuisine Leah Chase is that of two old friends; despite their (50-plus) year age difference. Perhaps it’s their artistic connection; a perfect mixture of visual and culinary art.

While sitting for the artist, she asks, “Are you making me look like Halle Berry?,” as her trademark smile spreads across her face.

Last Thursday afternoon, Blache stopped by the landmark restaurant to put the finishing touches on a series that shows all that goes into Dooky Chase’s fine cuisine; but in ways not often seen. Through his oil on wood paintings, he captures the essence of Leah Chase — from the best view: The view from her kitchen.

The McMain & NOCCA grad who now resides in New York, studied visual journalism in college; usually working on paintings that document process. So in Chase’s case, he studied and captured her cooking.

Continue to read the full article here...

The NOLA Project

A.J. Allegra, artistic director of The NOLA Project, a theater company, knows the ups and downs of succeeding in the art world. “Most theater companies, like garage bands, don’t make it past a year or two,” he muses. But six years after its inception, the NOLA Project has become prevalent on the scene.

After performing sold-out renditions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the New Orleans Museum of Art’s Besthoff’s Sculpture Garden, the troupe promised the audience: There will be more Shakespeare. In December they will perform the Bard’s Romeo and Juliet; this month they perform Mark Twain’s Is He Dead?. But the group doesn’t just stick to traditional theater – they are also known for edgy dramas and dark comedies.

Presently, the group’s biggest obstacle is finding space in which to perform. “The closures of Le Petit [Théâtre du Vieux Carré] and Le Chat Noir put a damper on some local theater,” says Allegra. “Losing two iconic stages is very tough. But we’re overcoming the space challenge by finding places such as the Besthoff Sculpture Garden or the Stern Auditorium inside the museum.”

Allegra says that a major component to their sustainability is how well they get along. “We are like a large family that understands each others’ personalities and quirks, and that translates onto the stage. We have all grown to love living and working in New Orleans – we love the audiences and their honest and vocal reactions to our work.”

Full MyNewOrleans.com Article Linked Here

RARE indeed is the artist with the virtuosity to draw the unqualified respect of some of the most iconic legends in jazz and the ability to deliver a high-energy funk rock show capable of mesmerizing international rock stars. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is one such artist - and there is no one else like him.

Andrews hails from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans' 6th Ward, getting his nickname at four years old when he was observed by his older brother James marching in a street parade wielding a trombone twice as long as the kid was high. Troy started early, learning how to play drums and what he remembers as "the world's smallest trumpet" at the age of three.

By the time he reached six, this prodigy was playing trumpet and trombone in a jazz band led by his older brother James, himself a trumpet player of local renown who has been called "Satchmo of the Ghetto."

During a visit to a small New Orleans club, Bono and the Edge saw the 12-year-old trombone player."We walked in and the place was jumping. There was this little funk band, but they were all playing brass instruments, which is something I'd never heard of or seen before," The Edge recalled "We were just mesmerized by him. I ended up with Bono, after a few tequilas, dancing with a bunch of girls on the top of the bar. It was one of those sort of nights."

Andrews follows his Grammy nominated Backatown‚ CD with For True to be released Sept 13 on Verve Forecast. For True‚ features Andrews' band, Orleans Avenue, as well as a string of legendary performers with whom he recently shared the stage, including Jeff Beck, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Ledisi, Warren Haynes, Ivan and Cyril Neville, The Rebirth Brass Band and more. Troy wrote or co-wrote all 14 tracks on the new album including co-writes with Ledisi, Kid Rock, the legendary Lamont Dozier and more. The CD was produced and engineered by Ben Ellman (except "The Craziest Thing" produced by George Drakoulias).
Continue reading here...

Columbia College of Chicago Offers Information Session "The Money Part,” Wednesday, September 21, 6:30 PM.

Financing your education is an on-going process that requires significant planning and follow-up. The Money Part is a workshop designed to help students and their families understand and begin that process.

To RSVP http://noca.achieve-technology.us/Inquiry2/Inquiry2.aspx

Read the article here…

NOCCA Drama Student Jelani Pitcher (Baton Rouge-70815) impressed them all as Macbeth at the University of Arts Pre-College Summer Institute end of session performance.

http://www.wix.com/jtoddsmith/actor

Co-chairs Betsy and Gary Laborde, Caroline and Andre Robert and the rest of the gala committee put on an extravagant affair for more than 650 people on May 22 at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts’ annual “Art & Soul Gala.” With The Lupin Foundation as the title sponsor, guests enjoyed an evening of enchanting music, delicious food and plenty of mingling.

The night began with an exclusive patron party sponsored by The Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation.

Continue reading here…

New Orleans platinum rock stars, Better Than Ezra, announce their 10th Annual Ezra Open charity event celebrating 10 years of giving back to New Orleans & South Louisiana that will take place September 23, 2011 at Harrah’s Casino Theater. The 10th Annual Ezra Open, sponsored by Ochsner Health System and Harrah’s Casino, will feature a celebrity-filled bowling tournament topped off by a patron party with a live and silent auction along with a Better Than Ezra concert with special guests.

Wanting to find a way to leave a lasting impression on the city that first embraced them, the band created the BTEFoundation to give back to their beloved home of New Orleans. The foundation’s annual fundraising event, the Ezra Open was established 10 years ago and the foundation is committed to funding renewal efforts to support the structural and cultural heritage of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. The Better Than Ezra Foundation has raised over $700,000 for various causes in and around New Orleans.
Continue reading here...

NOCCA Design Day: Learn-Think-Do

Friday, 9/16:    3:30-6:30 pm
Location:        New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
Capacity:        40 Designers

What impact can three short hours of your time make on the designers of tomorrow?

Here’s your opportunity to take part in the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) Design Day: Learn-Think-Do Community Event.
Continue reading here…

http://www.ogdenmuseum.org/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions.html

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2011/07/louis_satchmo_armstrong_summer.html

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/the-printabulous-publishing-machine/Content?oid=1256304

http://www.fox8live.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=25868@wvue.web.entriq.net&navCatId=3

http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2011/07/nocca_students_shine_in_donate.html

http://www.wwltv.com/eyewitness-morning-news/NOCCA-Legacy-Donor-Foundation-team-up-for-short-film-125345013.html

National Dance Day in New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

July 5, 2011 – To celebrate the 2nd Annual National Dance Day (July 30), Chard Gonzalez Dance Theatre is offering a free Zumba class at NOCCA. Launched by Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer and judge of “So You Think You Can Dance”, National Dance Day is “a grassroots initiative that encourages the nation, young and old, to move! Individuals, families, organizations and communities from across the nation come together through their creative expression in dance.” (http://dance.blogs.fox.com)

Zumba “is an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party™ that’s moving millions of people toward joy and health.” (http://www.zumba.com) The 1 ½ hour Zumba class will be taught by certified Zumba instructor, Jennifer Plauche. Following the class Jennifer and other members of Chard Gonzalez Dance Theatre will teach the National Dance Day routines created by “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographers. Anyone can join the class. All ages and levels are welcome. There is no need for membership, fancy sneakers or expensive dancewear. Just wear something comfortable and come dance with us!

Where: New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
2800 Chartres St.
New Orleans, LA 70117

When: Saturday, July 30 @ 1pm-3pm

Cost: FREE


For more information please contact Chard at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by calling (504) 939-2404.

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0096135ad1e1c8bcf3e5e1091&id=1597cca9b1&e=e36ff50591

http://www.lobservateur.com/articles/2011/07/02/news/doc4e0101c6808b8963797583.txt

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/07/04/137607222/wendell-pierce-everyones-favorite-fake-trombone-player

http://www.randyjacksonnext.com/post/meet-your-next-youtube-star

STORER BOONE AWARDS RESULTS 2011

Michael P. Cahill

June 27, 2011

The 19th annual Storer Boone Theater Awards ceremony honoring theatrical achievement in the calendar year of 2010 in Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes, Louisiana, were held on the evening of Monday June 27, 2011, at le chat noir, 715 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans. The co-hosts were Barbara Motley and Michael Cahill. Entertainment included Leslie Castay accompanied by Jonne Dendinger and the cast of the Harry Mayronne-Ricky Graham musical Waiting Around - The Restaurant Musical - Chris Wecklein, Tracey Collins, Jason Kirkpatrick, and Darcy Malone - accompanied by Harry Mayronne, Jr., as well as the comedy stylings of Peter Gabb. The award wranglers from NOCCA were Daisy Rosato and Darnell Thomas. Linda Songy of ATNO received the Arthur Tong UnSung Hero Award. Peter Gabb was inducted into the list of Greats of New Orleans Theater when presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by last year’s recipient Dennis Assaf. The Jefferson Performing Arts Society was named the Theater Of The Year. In the production sweepstakes, Theatre 13 was the leader with 5 awards for The 39 Steps. Next, with 4 each, were Southern Rep & Le Petit’s Grey Gardens and the NOCCA Stage Company’s To Kill A Mockingbird; Le Petit Theatre’s Hairspray took 3 honors; and JPAS’ The Producers and Cripple Creek’s The Threepenny Opera each received 2 awards.

For full list of the awards, follow the link below:
http://stageclick.com/topic/4457.aspx

http://www.positivevibrationsfoundation.org/musicians/detail/21/Cliff-Hines-Quintet

The Legacy Donor Foundation in collaboration with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) created "Donate Life," a short educational video on the truths about organ, eye and tissue donation. The video was created by young adults for young adults on a subject as important as saving a life.
"On your ID, put the sign of a heart, you can Donate Life, that's how it starts!"

To register: donatelifela.org/​signup/​ or donatelife.net/​register-now/​

Donate Life video in HD can be viewed here:
http://vimeo.com/25566631

-----------------------------------

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/student-video-at-the-heart-of-educating-teens-about-registering-as-donors-124357314.html

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/tasting_finale_for_noaac_culin.html

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2011/06/local_musician_reggie_v_a_fina.html

http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=9082

http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2011/06/leslie_and_hal_stokes_open_the.html

• General News
• Alumni
• Classical Instrumental
• Creative Writing
• Culinary
• Dance
• Drama
• Jazz
• Job Opportunities
• Media Arts
• Musical Theatre
• Theatre Design
• Visual Arts
• Vocal