The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is announcing its new American Roots Music Institute. The program is made possible by a $10.1 million gift, the largest single gift in the school’s history.
A Bachelor of Music in American Roots will eventually be offered, as well as a minor for undergraduates and opportunities for high school students.
Nationally recognized musicians will lead the way in planning and curriculum development.
Artists like UNCSA alumnus and roots specialist Justin Poindexter, fiddle and banjo virtuoso Rex McGee and singer and multi-instrumentalist Martha Bassett. She says North Carolina’s contributions to American roots music date back to the 1700s.
“There are traditions that are really specific to counties in North Carolina,” says Bassett. “So, it’s a place that people have come from all over the country for decades to soak up the regional differences in our music here, and learn from old-time masters.”
And that’s a big part of the program: bringing in the best artists from across the globe to Winston-Salem to pass on their knowledge to young musicians. School of Music Dean Saxton Rose says it’s a lot like what UNCSA has been doing for the past 60 years — training exceptional young classical musicians.
“Both of these traditions have to honor the history of teaching and the training and the pedagogy in the same way in both of these art forms, [and] have to create and generate new music and innovate,” he says. “Otherwise, these will stay stagnant, and we won’t allow these art forms to thrive.”
The new institute will explore traditions such as bluegrass, folk, blues, and early jazz. Undergraduate enrollment for the Roots Music Institute is slated for fall 2028, with high school offerings and a minor launching in the fall of next year.
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