JMArts receives grant for ‘Gotta Dance’ spring theater dance workshop

SILER CITY, N.C. — JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, plans to offer an after-school dance workshop for student actors this spring thanks to a Grassroots Grant announced last month by the Chatham Arts Council.

“Gotta Dance! Dancing for Musical Theatre” will be the first formal dance class offered at Jordan-Matthews High School for at least four decades. The six-hour class scheduled over two sessions will teach dance terminology and basic steps, help students understand what to expect at a dance audition and work through choreography.

While the pandemic could still change any plans, the workshop was originally created as part of student actors’ preparation for the Broadway musical, “Oklahoma!,” in a local production scheduled for late March.

The grant will help fund a residency for Peggy Taphorn to teach classes. Taphorn has directed, choreographed and performed across the world, including numerous productions on Broadway, London’s West End, touring the United States, Canada, South America and Asia. She is in her 14th season as the Producing Artistic Director at Temple Theatre in Sanford.

“I’m excited to share knowledge of the theater and particularly dance and choreography with the Jordan-Matthews students in this upcoming collaboration,” Taphorn said. “After an introduction to dance, we hope the workshops will culminate in choreographing ‘Kansas City,’ a dynamic and classic number from ‘Oklahoma!’”

JMArts President Rose Pate said she’s still not sure how the workshop will need to be altered during the pandemic. “But we are very pleased to offer this new opportunity for arts education to Jordan-Matthews students, either this spring or soon after that,” she said. “We’re grateful to Peggy and the Chatham Arts Council for helping us offer such a wonderful experience for our students and community.”

The Grassroots Grant Program is made possible by individual contributions to the Chatham Arts Council’s general operating fund — and by the Grassroots Arts Program of the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

More information about JMArts, including a schedule of upcoming arts events and information on membership, is available online at JMArts.org.

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Peggy Taphorn, Producing Artistic Director for Temple Theatre in Sanford, plans to teach an after-school dance workshop for student actors at Jordan-Matthews High School.

“Gotta Dance! Dancing for Musical Theatre” is offered with a Grassroots Grant awarded by the Chatham Arts Council and funded through the N.C. Arts Council.

Thornton wins 2020 JMArts Holiday Card Award

SILER CITY, N.C. — Maggie Thornton, a sophomore at Jordan-Matthews High School, was named winner of the school’s second-annual holiday card art contest during an announcement made on JMArts social media.

Her painting, “Winter Solace,” will appear on holiday cards sold by JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, to raise money for JM artists. Thornton received an award certificate and $100 for the rights to reproduce her work.

Holiday cards feature the painting on the front with a blank area inside for personal messages. The back lists the name of the artist and her work, along with a very short artist statement about the painting.

JM art teacher Rahkie Mateen-Mason said “Winter Solace” was selected on the basis of artistic merit and its expression of the moment we are currently experiencing in a global pandemic. “The work expressed both the sense of isolation many of us feel right now and hope and comfort that the holidays will bring,” Mateen-Mason said in the award announcement.

Preorders for JMArts holiday cards will be accepted online at JMArtsHolidayCards.com starting November 1. Cards will be sold online in packets of 15 cards and 17 envelopes for $15, a price that also includes domestic shipping. The domain forwards to a Google form, where you can place your order and pay online with a credit card or through the mail by cash or check. Cards also will be on sale soon after that for $12 per packet, cash or check only, at the NC Arts Incubator in downtown Siler City.

More information about JMArts, including a schedule of upcoming arts events and information on membership, is available online at JMArts.org.

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Artist Maggie Thornton accepts the 2020 JMArts Holiday Card Award. Cards featuring her work will be sold in November to raise money for arts students at the school.

“Winter Solace,” the featured painting on this year’s JMArts holiday cards, captures the sense of isolation many feel during life in the pandemic as well as a sense of hope and comfort that the holidays will bring.

JM chorus director Matthew Fry receives statewide award from NC Symphony

SILER CITY, N.C. — Matthew Fry, chorus director at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City, has received the 2019-20 Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement from the North Carolina Symphony, one of three honors presented each year to outstanding music teachers in the state who inspire students and make a lasting difference in their lives.

The Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement is named for the North Carolina Symphony's former director of education to recognize his longstanding service and commitment to young people in the state and comes with a $500 prize funded through an anonymous annual gift.

“I was excited to be nominated and thrilled beyond belief when I was chosen,” Fry said.

Now in his 32nd year of teaching, Fry directs a number of vocal ensembles at JM, is music director for the annual musical and was twice named the school’s Teacher of the Year. His choirs have successfully participated in the annual North Carolina Music Performance Adjudication, regularly achieving ratings of superior and excellent; three soloists performing this year — Kayli McIntosh, Conrad Suits and Jennifer Trejo Benitez — all received the highest rating of superior.

His students have been selected to the North Carolina Honors Chorus and participated in the North Carolina All-State Choir. He is a member of several music education professional associations and a founding board member of JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, created to provide opportunity for student actors, artists and musicians.

In addition to his teaching duties, Fry is director of The Fearrington Village Singers and the Rocky River Baptist Church choir in Siler City. He sang for nine years with the Duke Chapel Choir and several seasons with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, both under the baton of Dr. Rodney Wynkoop. He is a graduate cum laude of Missouri Western State College, where he was named the Outstanding Graduate in Vocal Music.

JMArts President Rose Pate, who nominated Fry for the award, said she is constantly amazed by her colleague’s impact across the entire community. She praised him for creating a welcoming atmosphere in class that attracts a broad cross-section of the student body with a wide range of musical abilities, all working together, while still demanding rigor and exceptional musicianship.

It’s an environment he also cultivates in his work with adult ensembles that helps create a broader sense of community — with many adults joining the arts foundation and attending school concerts to support the students, and students performing shows in the community.

“Matt gets it right,” Pate says. “He never says, ‘Oh, it’s good enough.’ 'Good enough' is never enough for him; he makes sure students understand what ‘good’ sounds like. But he does it with endless patience with the students’ struggles. I’ve seen him working with actors for hours, over and over, getting them ready for a solo number in the show."

Other 2019-20 honorees were Barina Bailey of Heritage Elementary School in Wake Forest, who received the Maxine Swalin Award for Outstanding Music Educator, and Matthew Holt of Durham School of the Arts, formerly with Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, who received the North Carolina Symphony Musicians Award. All three honorees are profiled on the NC Symphony website.

More information about JMArts, including details about JMArts Scholars and upcoming events, is available at jmarts.org.

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Jordan-Matthews High School Chorus Director Matthew Fry has received the 2019-20 Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement from the North Carolina Symphony. (Photo by Chip Pate)