Art Beat - Wucf

Voci Dance begins its 9th season this weekend with performances at the new Garden Theatre in Winter Garden. Voci's company of professional dancers will welcome guest artists from New York and Chicago.

Spirit of the Child is a special themed concert by the UCF Chorus and Chamber Singers, led by Dr. David Brunner. It's presented to raise awareness of the plight of neglected children worldwide. The concert is Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 at First United Methodist Church of Winter Park. It's free but donations will benefit the Children's Home Society of Central Florida.Related Links - Children's Home SocietySource for Ugandan Beads or Local Source

Saturday night, the Orlando Philharmonic will give the premiere of a new work by Stella Sung, a composer and professor in UCF's Digital Media department.  The concert is at 8pm at the Bob Carr PAC.

Dr. Jennifer Blackmer is a playwright and a theatre professor at Ball State University in Indiana. She was the keynote speaker at a statewide symposium sponsored by UCF's Office of Undergraduate Research. She talks about some surprising ways the performing arts can be used in research.

Jocelyn Bartkevicius talks about the activities offered by the university's English Department, including this week's reading by Honor Moore and Eamon Grennan.

The Blueman Group is the wildly popular show playing across the country, including Universaly Orlando CityWalk. One of the group's members is UCF alumnus, Richard Cravens.

UCF Conservatory Theatre brings this popular musical to the stage.  Be Boyd directs. Tickets are going fast - call the Box Office at 407-823-1500.

The UCF Film Department invites you to bring your old 8mm, 16mm and Super 8 films to Orlando's Home Movie Day; it's part of an international Home Movie Day event.

The final events of the festival include two art exhibits. At the UCF Art Gallery an exhibit with Pedro Brull and Obed Gomez runs this week only - and a reception is Tuesday at 6pm. Brull's work is also featured in the Masceras exhibit at the Maitland Art Center.

Two UCF faculty members, visual artist Carla Poindexter and electronic musician Jay Batzner, collaborated on the short animated film Carnival Daring Do.  Batzner talks about the film score.Related Sites - Carla Poindexter; Jay Batzner

A look at more events at the Latin American Cultural Festival, including a concert by the UCF Symphony and the film Por Sus Propios Ojos, a 2008 Argentian film, shown at the Enzian Theatre.

If you're new to town, United Arts of Central Florida wants to help you get plugged in to local arts and culture. In Your Backyard: Where Newcomers Meet the Arts is a new series of gatherings - the first is October 8.

Sing Live gives amateur singers a chance to perform for the pure joy of singing - and with no auditions! One local singer is Judy Holcomb, an instructor for UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. She and director John Morris talk about this Saturday's Sing Swing concert at 7 PM at the Bob Carr PAC.

UCF Conservatory Theatre is a nationally-recognized program where students have regularly won awards at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival. ArtBeat talks to Kate Ingram, an associate professor in the department.

The UCF Latin American Cultural Festival pays tribute to 91-year old Manuel Velazquez, a master guitar maker from Puerto Rico who lives - and still makes guitars - and his studio in Winter Springs with his son, Alfredo.

This weekend you can hear the finals of the Young Composer Challenge, a competition for teenage composers sponsored by local philanthropist Stephen Goldman, the Orlando Philharmonic and UCF CREATE.

A look at a unique department at the University of Central Florida - CREATE - the Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment. Director Stella Sung fosters project-based initiatives that bring together faculty, students and the business community.

After a week of competition, the field of 22 contestants have been narrowed to 3 at the Grand Bohemian Orlando International Piano Competition. Meet some of the competitors on today's ArtBeat and see the finals Saturday night at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center.

Each year, WUCF broadcasts the live Saturday broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. Now, in addition to the radio broadcasts, opera fans can also enjoy live HD simulcasts at a local movie theatre.Related Links - Orlando Opera 

During the summer, the UCF Music Department reaches out to middle and high school students with a series of workshops and clinics. In August, a pair of All-State Clinics helped students prepare for their All-State audition. The orchestra clinic was led by UCF Professor Ayako Yonetani.Related Links - Florida Music Education