Arts This Week: Swinging Into the Future: With UVA Director of Jazz, Sharel Cassity
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. For Arts This Week, we talked with the UVA Jazz Ensemble drummer, Raghav Vasudeva.
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Dr. A.D. Carson Gains National Momentum Ahead of Being Dope Release
Dr. A.D. Carson, associate professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia and the nation’s only tenured hip-hop professor, is entering his book-release month with major national visibility. His forthcoming memoir-theory hybrid Being Dope: Hip-Hop and Theory through Mixtape Memoir (Oxford University Press, Nov. 19, 2025) is already generating significant cultural attention following new features in Genius and HipHopSince1987, along with a recent live performance that continues his signature fusion of scholarship, sound, and storytelling.
Arts on the Hill with The Virginia Belles & The Virginia Gentlemen
Arts on the Hill will be held at Carr's Hill, home of Interim President Paul Mahoney and Julia Mahoney on Tuesday, November 18th from 5:30-6:30pm (Doors will open at 5pm). All UVA faculty, staff, and students are eligible to enter the lottery. The deadline to enter the lottery is 5pm on Sunday, November 16. Winners will be notified no later than 5pm on Monday, November 17.
Dr. Jiyeon Choi Traverses Time and Space in Her Latest Concert
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, as the audience patiently waited in Old Cabell Hall for the second of the Department of Music’s Chamber Music Series. These concerts highlight faculty and guest musicians playing a wide variety of instruments. This edition starred Dr. Jiyeon Choi, the senior clarinet lecturer at the University and the principal clarinetist at the Charlottesville Symphony. Spanning five pieces and a little over an hour, and also including accompanying performances on piano and violin, Choi’s concert drew from a diverse range of genres and time periods, including both classical and contemporary works. This was intentional on Choi’s part, as she wanted to widen the audience’s perspective on music.
Virginia Players Create a “Play in a Day”
For the first time since 2019, Virginia Players performed “Play in a Day” this semester — a production written, directed, rehearsed and memorized in roughly 24 hours. This year, Maggie Polistina, Virginia Players Artistic Director and fourth-year College student, found it important for the organization to bring back “Play in a Day” after its hiatus, wanting to encourage new students to join the team for a low-commitment, fun experience.
Fralin Exhibit Explores Cultural Interactions That Shaped Ancient Egypt and Nubia
The Fralin Museum of Art is currently hosting “The World Between: Egypt and Nubia in Africa,” an exhibit which explores the juxtaposition of having sharp political boundaries, yet blurred cultural ones. The exhibit showcases this complex relationship through a variety of artifacts, such as pottery, statues and figurines, as well as 3D-printed replicas of certain statues that guests are allowed to touch. Anastasia Dakouri-Hild, curator of the exhibit and professor of art history, said she put the collection together to demonstrate the influence Nubia had on Egypt and educate visitors on how ancient people led normal lives.
Q&A: How Did a UVA Student Magazine Shape This Alumna’s Path to The New Yorker?
Every Friday by midnight, Christina Hara sends The New Yorker’s latest issue to the printer with words in place, layouts locked and pages perfected. Just four years after graduating from the University of Virginia, the Class of 2021 alumna is an editorial producer at one of journalism’s most prestigious publications. Her journey with magazine design began at V Magazine, a fashion and culture magazine produced by UVA students since 2004.
Killer Outfits: UVA Collection Spotlights Deadly Designs Through History
The term “fashion victim” might bring to mind someone who participates in a regrettable trend or has a penchant for clashing patterns and garish color pairings. But some styles from the past and present make that moniker literal. The University of Virginia’s Historic Clothing Collection, hosted by the Department of Drama, includes a multitude of garments that have poisoned, choked and burned their wearers or the workers who made them. From arsenic dyes to “father-killer” collars, these styles in some cases claimed the lives of thousands. UVA Today met with the collection’s manager, Marcy Linton, to learn more about these items and get a close-up look.
Arts This Week: Fantasy Festival at IX Art Park
You are listening to WTJU. On Friday, October 31, Halloween, Ix Art Foundation presents its Fantasy Festival, featuring live art, music, and performances from 2pm-10pm. For Arts This Week, we spoke to Ewa Harr, the Executive director of the Ix Art Foundation. Can you share a bit about the IX Art Foundation with me? What are your primary goals and what role do you play in the Charlottesville community?
UVA Professor’s Novel Longlisted for National Book Award
When Kevin Moffett woke up one morning in September, he didn’t expect to see his debut novel, “Only Son,” on the National Book Award longlist. He hadn’t even realized the book – due out Nov. 4 – was eligible for the honor. “It was an absolute surprise. It wasn’t even in my mind; I’m not someone who wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Let’s look at the award finalists today.’ So, I just got this bit of happiness from it,” said Moffett, an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Virginia.
From Farm to Rare Books: UVA Librarian Celebrates 55 Years on the Job
When Gayle Cooper was a little girl picking cotton on her family’s subsistence farm in Alabama, she had no idea she would go on to consult for a Pulitzer Prize winner, handle some of the University of Virginia Library’s rarest holdings and become one of the library’s longest-serving employees. She has worked for the University for 55 years.
Arts This Week: The Fralin Museum of Art’s 90th Anniversary Soiree
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville.The Fralin Museum of Art is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a soiree on November 7, from 6 to 11pm, featuring great food, performance, music and interactive activities. For Arts This Week, we spoke with Director of the Fralin, Karen Milbourne, to learn more about the event.