News

TWU produces Wind Symphony's first CD

3/15/23

Walking on Shattered Glass is the first recording by the Texas Woman's University Wind Symphony, and the eight works on the nine-track CD are a rarity: a compilation of the works of all women composers. The CD contains eight recordings made in a studio environment in the Margo Jones Performance Hall and one live performance.

TWU play to challenge LGBTQ+ norm

2/15/23

Bull in a China Shop is the third play of the Texas Woman's University theatre's 2022-23 season. Written by Bryna Turner and premiered at the Lincoln Center in 2017, the play is the story of two women at Mount Holyoke College from 1899 to 1937. The play will run Feb. 22-26 at Redbud Theater.

TWU's Grief Choir begins its healing work

2/6/23

Assistant professor of music Lauren DiMaio is bringing to TWU grief choir, a concept in which she did pioneering work and that employs music therapy to help those mourning the loss of a loved one.

TWU to host Sy Smith concert

1/17/23

Texas Woman's University will host multiple events of the Denton Black Film Festival, featuring a concert by Sy Smith at the Margo Jones Performance Hall on Jan. 26.

TWU fashion students create clothing for homeless

12/5/22

Fashion Design and Merchandising's Remy Odukomaiya and the students in her Mass Production Techniques class designed, patterned and crafted two outfits, then produced 13 sets of those clothes for the specific needs of homeless men.

Art and design take center stage at Circle of Light

11/30/22

Holiday festivals on the Texas Woman's University campus have gone through a few incarnations and themes over the years, but this year's Circle of Light is a celebration of art and design.

Mural in Union celebrates TWU

11/28/22

If you're walking through the Student Union's first level, head east from the food court, down the hall past the game room, computer stations and meeting rooms toward the gallery around the stairs. You will find color. An assault of color. Great, vibrant swaths and shapes of pink and orange and red, blue and turquoise, yellow and purple splashed on three sides of the gallery and wrapped around the beating heart of the university. It's called Corazón Radical.

DanceMakers ready to take stage

11/16/22

The seven works that will take the stage in the Fall 2022 edition of DanceMakers combine themes of technology, relationships and emerging from difficult times to push conventional concepts of dance beginning Thursday at Margo Jones Performance Hall.

TWU Theatre takes hard look at entertainment and exploitation

11/15/22

Exploitation of children is part and parcel of human history. But imagine a world where indentured child labor did not take place behind the closed doors of sweatshops, but out in the open, on stage for public consumption. Where children could be scooped up off the street and put to work. And where the law did not turn a blind eye to such exploitation but actually sanctioned it.

This is the world of The Children of the Queen's Writ, the second play of the Texas Woman's University's theatre division's 2022-23 season. The play runs Nov. 16-20 at TWU's Redbud Theatre Complex on the north side of Hubbard Hall.

This is my personal life

11/10/22

Brenna Petersen, a junior theatre major at TWU, has been in or around theatre most of her life and is closing in on 20 shows on her resume. Coming off co-starring in TWU's season-opening play, The Effect, she's rehearsing for a Shakespearean-era play, The Children of the Queen's Writ. Petersen is also currently in Scrooge! The Musical for the North Texas Performing Arts. For that production, she's assistant director. And costume coordinator.

Doesn't leave much time for a personal life. She laughs at that.

"This is my personal life," Petersen said.

DanceMakers meets India

11/9/22

Experimentation is not unknown to DanceMakers, the Texas Woman's University division of Dance's fall concert. This year's show, however, is going cross-culture and cross-campus.

It's as complicated a recipe as it sounds. Start with the south Indian dance Bharatanatyam, sprinkle with ballet and Sanskrit drama, add a little genetic sequencing, mix with a dancer from Tacoma, Washington, and you have Shakuntala's Plea.

Holiday festival returns to TWU

11/7/22

After a three-year pandemic-related hiatus, a holiday celebration returns to the Texas Woman's University's campus on Dec. 6, 2022. The five divisions of TWU's School of Arts & Design – dance, fashion, music, theatre, and visual arts – are joining forces to create the Circle of Light, an art-themed festival in and around Pioneer Circle between the Visual Arts Building and the Music Building. The Circle of Light will begin at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.

Tickets on sale for TWU theatre world premiere

11/1/22

Tickets are on sale for The Children of the Queen's Writ, a world premiere play that is the second production of Texas Woman's University's division of theatre's 2022-23 season.

TWU alumna Tiana James a rising marketing star

10/17/22

Tiana James's road to the L.A. fashion scene is one less taken: Edmond, Oklahoma, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, through the Texas Panhandle and finally to Dallas-Fort Worth.

"You can call me a bit of a nomad," said James, a 2014 graduate of the Texas Woman's University fashion merchandising program.

According to Ad Age magazine, you can also call her a rising star in the ultra-competitive business of public relations and marketing. In September, Ad Age named James one its 2022 40 Under 40 honorees.

Dancers introduced to Margo Jones stage

10/10/22

The TWU Division of Dance’s 2022-23 class recently spent an afternoon getting introduced to the Margo Jones Performance Hall in preparation for the DanceMakers concert Nov. 17-19.

TWU Theatre opens season with The Effect

10/6/22

TWU's Division of Theatre opens the 2022-23 season with The Effect, which runs Oct. 12-16 at TWU’s Redbud Theater. The play is about two students falling in love during a clinical trial for a new anti-depressant and trying to understand if their feelings are real or a product of the drugs.

"It's not about the film, it's about the dialogue"

9/22/22

Spencer Wilkinson is not preaching to the choir.

It would be easy to dismiss Wilkinson's documentary, Alice Street, as just another socially conscious rant about gentrification, giving vent to a community's spleen. But the award-winning Alice Street is not a fist-shaking protest film, and Wilkinson has far greater ambitions than stirring up anger, regardless of how valid that anger may be.

Because Alice Street is a discussion piece.

Draft Day for DanceMakers

9/15/22

TWU student dancers and choreographers have begun assembling the Fall 2022 DanceMakers show, which will take place Nov. 17-19 at the Margo Jones Performance Hall. The process began with Draft Day, when dancers audition and choreographers select dancers to bring their vision to the stage.

Gentrification in spotlight in film screening at TWU

9/13/22

Texas Woman's University will host a screening of Alice Street, the award-winning documentary about gentrification and the efforts of a community to protect its history, voice and land. The film will be shown Sept. 26 at 2:30 p.m. in the Hubbard Hall auditorium. Admission is free, a panel discussion featuring TWU and Denton community leaders will follow, and Alice Street director Spencer Wilkinson will attend.

TWU Visual Arts to host Art Day Sept. 23

9/7/22

TWU's division of Visual Arts is hosting Art Day, a hands-on, interactive event with art workshops and visiting professional artists for high school students and art teachers. Activities will include a printmaking maker-space, four-person exhibition and panel presentation by visiting artists, and large-format printmaking – including with a steamroller, commonly used to level roads.

Art Day takes place on Sept. 23 at the TWU Fine Arts Building at the corner of Oakland and Texas Streets on the TWU campus, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

TWU's Candelario honored by Dance Studies Association

8/30/22

Rosemary Candelario, Texas Woman's University associate professor of dance and director of the PhD in Dance Studies program, has been honored by the Dance Studies Association with its 2022 Mid-Career Award. The award, in its second year, recognizes leadership of mid-career scholars in the development of dance.

TWU Music announces Fall 2022 schedule

8/1/22

The annual holiday concert, A Very Merry Concert!, will cap the Texas Woman's University Division of Music's 17-event calendar of performances for Fall 2022.

2022-23 audition information available

8/1/22

Band, orchestra, and choir audition materials for the 2022-2023 academic year are now available.

Meet TWU's first Black male doctor of dance

7/25/22

This summer, Iquail Shaheed presented and successfully defended his dissertation to become the first Black male to earn a PhD in dance at TWU.

"I am a doctor of dance," Shaheed said. "A doctor of joyous dance. I'm so excited, I can't believe it."

TWU Theatre Announces 2022-23 Season

7/18/22

Two volunteers in a clinical drug trial for a new antidepressant deal with the ramifications of their newly awakened emotions in The Effect, a play by Lucy Prebble that will open the 2022-23 season of the Texas Woman’s University’s Theatre program.

The 2022-23 season will consist of four plays.

TWU marks 65 years of dance PhDs

6/27/22

Now in its 65th year, Texas Woman's University's PhD in dance program is the longest running in the United States, and has produced 117 graduates.

TWU alumna Ritter named dean of USC Dance

6/15/22

Julia M. Ritter, who earned her PhD from Texas Woman's University in 2016, has been named dean of the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, effective July 1.

Ritter's doctoral studies at TWU focused on immersive performance, bridging theater, dance, film and digital media. “As I’ve been studying these new ways to collaborate throughout my career, I’ve seen a real hunger from both faculty and students to build institutional and creative infrastructures that support those kinds of interactions,” Ritter said.

Ritter was a professor of dance at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where she served as chair and artistic director of the department of dance from 2010 to 2021.

Professor Richard Shuster to present lecture-recital at Liszt Academy of Music

4/20/22

Professor of Piano Richard Shuster, DMA will present an analysis and performance of the work Chain of Circumstances at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music on May 16, 2022.

PBS Wisconsin Q&A with Joni Jensen, 2021 State Honors Treble Choir Conductor

11/4/21

Joni Jensen, DMA, TWU director of choral activities and professor of voice, was interviewed by PBS Wisconsin about Texas Woman’s music students’ activities over the past year and a half as well as her participation in the State Honors Treble Choir performance in Wisconsin. The 2021 Wisconsin School Music Association State Honors Concerts were held live and in-person on Oct. 28 and 29.

TWU Theatre presents ‘Every Human: Tales of the Unanswerable’

9/16/21

The Texas Woman's University Division of Theatre opens the season with “Every Human: Tales of the Unanswerable,” adapted and directed by Associate Professor Steven Young. All performances will take place in the Redbud Theater Complex, located on the north side of Hubbard Hall on TWU’s Denton campus. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors

TWU Music presents 9/11 memorial concert ‘Home of the Brave’

9/2/21

Join the Texas Woman’s University Division of Music for “Home of the Brave,” a 9/11 memorial concert featuring performances by the TWU band, choir and orchestra. The event will take place in Margo Jones Performance Hall on TWU’s Denton campus at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11.

TWU Dance presents Jordan Fuchs Company Sept. 10-11

9/1/21

The Texas Woman’s University Division of Dance presents the Jordan Fuchs Company in a concert of premieres for the stage and screen Sept. 10-11. Fuchs, a professor of dance at TWU, is joined by a cast of students and alumni for an event two years in the making.

Texas Woman’s Theatre Program announces 2021-2022 season

8/5/21

The TWU Theatre Program’s 2021-2022 season features a modern take on a classic drama, a new spin on a seasonal favorite, a resonant exploration of race and policing in America, and a farce in verse that will leave you smiling.

Music therapy faculty revamp curriculum, forge partnerships at home and abroad

5/26/21

In a year of unexpected challenges, TWU music therapy program faculty Drs. Lauren DiMaio, Della Molloy-Daugherty and Rebecca West have teamed up to create an innovative, holistic and social justice-driven curriculum with new opportunities for student-client connection and community collaboration.

TWU presents virtual dance concert 'Through the Lens'

4/20/21

The Texas Woman’s University Department of Dance will present its spring virtual dance concert, “Through the Lens,” on YouTube at 7 p.m. April 23. The livestream event will feature faculty- and student-created screen dances and original sound scores. The event also will incorporate diverse cultural perspectives, an array of performance environments and entertaining explorations of the human condition in the age of COVID-19.

TWU Theatre presents 'Hot n' Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration'

4/1/21

The Texas Woman's University Department of Music and Theatre presents "Hot n’ Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration!" April 22-25. You are invited to listen to the timeless classics of Cole Porter during an unforgettable evening under the stars. All performances will take place outdoors on the Margo Jones Performance Hall steps.

Patrick Bynane, PhD, weighs in on job market trends for recent grads

1/14/21

Patrick Bynane, Ph.D., professor and director of the TWU Theatre Program, was interviewed for a recent Zippia article on job trends in the performing arts. "Graduates in the arts are incredibly resilient and have a great passion for what they do. These are traits that will be extraordinarily useful in the our post-pandemic world," said Bynane.

"I also think that the skills that are learned in a performing or fine arts program are very transferable to other realms and that one of the things we will see as a result of the pandemic are interesting new applications of the skills learned in these programs."

Visual Arts alumna Kalee Appleton (MFA '14) named 2021 Carter Community Artist

1/7/21

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art recently announced its 2021 Carter Community Artists: Kalee Appleton, Brenda Ciardiello, Michelle Cortez Gonzales and Kasey Short. Every year, the Carter selects four local artists to assist with planning and leading programs on-site, off-site and virtually. Throughout 2021, these Carter Community Artists will bring their distinct points of view to events and projects as they make connections to the museum’s expansive collection, exhibitions and rich history with the local community.

Appleton is a Fort Worth-based artist and assistant professor of photography at Texas Christian University. She earned her BFA in Photography from Texas Tech University (2005) and MFA in Art from Texas Woman’s University (2014). Kalee is an experimental artist whose work deals with digital technologies and their effects on society, as well the theoretical aspects of contemporary landscape photography.

Music therapy graduate helps patients heal with hope and harmony

12/7/20

Kathleen Montes began her career as a music teacher, but when her father passed away from cancer, she realized music therapy was her true calling. While pursuing her Master of Music Therapy degree at TWU, Kathleen advocated for her own clinical training path in hospice care.

Vocal ensembles bring music to unexpected heights

11/30/20

In November, a limited audience of TWU community members were treated to a free TWU Chamber Singers and Concert Choir performance in an unusual location: The third floor of the Oakland Street Parking Garage. The vocal ensembles, led by professor Joni Jensen, DMA, first made use of the open-air space for rehearsals and then decided to transform the spot into a unique, socially-distanced venue for “Untraveled Worlds.”

TWU Theatre presents ‘Constellations’

11/5/20

The Texas Woman's University Theatre Program presents its second show of the season, "Constellations;" a time-bending journey between a man and a woman that explores the infinite possibilities of an infinite universe.

TWU Theatre presents live, drive-in drama with ‘CarPark Sonnets’

10/1/20

The Texas Woman’s University Theatre Program will open its fall season with an innovative and experimental take on the classics. “CarPark Sonnets: A Live, Drive-in Performance of Shakespearean Sonnets and Monologues,” invites patrons to experience live theatre from the safety and comfort of their own vehicle.

Grad student’s plays win big on national, international stage

9/24/20

Texas Woman’s University graduate student Lindsay Hayward is generating a lot of buzz in the theatre community. Already an accomplished performer with more than 80 productions under her belt, Hayward can now add “award-winning playwright” to her extensive list of talents and achievements, which includes singing, dancing and stage combat.

TWU's Meg Griffiths co-founds 'A Yellow Rose Project' to commemorate 19th Amendment

8/20/20

Assistant professor of photography Meg Griffiths co-founded 'A Yellow Rose Project' to commemorate to the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. More than 100 women across the U.S. were invited to join in the photographic collaboration, which showcases works in response, reflection or reaction to the ratification of the woman suffrage movement milestone.

Spectrum News: TWU's Interactive Theatre Troupe takes a look at awkward situations

8/20/20

“I like to describe it as presenting an impossible puzzle to the audience which they are then invited to come and try to fix,” said Talia Gritzmacher, the assistant director for the Interactive Theatre Troupe at TWU. “What they find out, though, is it’s not about fixing — it’s about trying to learn as much as possible about a very complicated subject.”

TWU alumna paints mural honoring Southlake woman who died of COVID-19

8/18/20

While scrolling through Facebook in the weeks after City of Southlake employee Darlene Rubio's death, Hill came across a painting by artist Gayle Bunch of the nation's flag covered with words related to the pandemic. Bunch said the pandemic and her college professors at Texas Woman's University inspired her to paint the flag. "I loved when my instructors would have art that recorded history because they didn't have photographs," Bunch said. "So I got to thinking about how artists record, and I thought, well, this is a good time to do that. We're becoming so together as a nation from coast to coast. [The pandemic] made us more together than anything we've had in a long time."  

The show must go on: TWU Theatre announces 2020-2021 season

8/10/20

The TWU Theatre Program’s 2020-2021 season launches with experimental formats, a quintessential Bernstein musical and a new take on a Greek classic. The season opens with CarPark Sonnets: A Live Drive-In Performance of Shakespearean Sonnets and Monologues, a new and playful take on The Bard’s classic sonnets and soliloquies.

Theatre student takes the virtual stage at Spring 2020 commencement

5/19/20

Alexander Delacruz-Nunez is dead-set becoming a professional performer. However, he recognizes that due to COVID-19, he may have to put some of his goals on hold in order to get his bearings in the industry.

Olivia Andrade selected for Texas Nonprofit Theatre summer internship

5/14/20

TWU Theatre student Olivia Andrade has been selected for a Texas Nonprofit Theatre (TNT) summer internship. Over 100 students apply for the opportunity annually, and only ten are invited to the TNT annual conference for a weekend of interviews, at which time four are selected to participate. 

Graduating senior Olivia Arratia participates in NFL's 'Women's Empowerment Draft'

5/13/20

Graduating senior and Terry Scholar Olivia Arratia was one of 32 women from 20 universities who participated in the recent nationally recorded NFL Women’s Empowerment Draft of amazing women in history. Olivia and her counterparts wore a portrait of iconic women leaders on an NFL-style jersey, and each described the life and contributions of the woman featured on her jersey. Olivia paid tribute to Houston-born Selena, the “Queen of Tejano music.”

“It was a powerful experience,” said Olivia. “I hope this inspires women of all ages to achieve their dreams and fight for what is right. And what better school to represent (in this national project) than Texas Woman’s University.”

TWU Dance presents virtual dance concert ‘1200 Seconds’ April 24

4/14/20

The Texas Woman’s University Department of Dance is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by presenting its first virtual dance concert, “1200 Seconds.” The online event will feature 20 60-second dance solos in a digital video streaming format on Facebook Watch and Instagram TV Friday, April 24 at 7 p.m. 

Science and art amid a crisis

3/30/20

TWU chair of visual arts, Vagner Whitehead, Ph.D., and chair of biology, Juliet Spencer, Ph.D., weigh in on the challenges and triumphs their students and faculty have experienced while transitioning their labs and workshops online. “I expect to see breakthroughs for people who are restrained by the notion of what art should be,” said Whitehead. While the set up is less than ideal, Spencer has been impressed by how quickly students and teachers alike have been able to make the switch to an all virtual model.

TWU Music's Sam Flippin invites string players to join Virtual Orchestra

3/18/20

Texas Woman's University has launched its "Virtual Orchestra 2020" project to help musicians collaborate and make music together, even when they can't be in the same room.

"Like many of you, we find ourselves suddenly unable to meet together and rehearse, and we do not know how long this situation will last.

We've decided to take inspiration from Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir Project, and create our own virtual orchestra, as a way to make music with one another, and we'd like to invite other musicians to join us," said Sam Flippin, project organizer and TWU Orchestra Director.

The project will start with “Adoration,” a piece written by American composer Florence Price, and arranged for string orchestra by Elaine Fine.

If you are a string player and interested in being a part of this project, visit the TWU Virtual Orchestra website for more information.

TWU’s top scholarship awarded to McKinney HS senior

3/4/20

Sometimes, surprises aren’t just big, they’re transformational, too.

And for Caroline Deitch, whose outstanding academic credentials put her near the top of her senior class at McKinney High School, the surprise was a full-ride scholarship to Texas Woman’s University.

Incandescent: 'Shining Lives' recalls women behind landmark case

2/25/20

The Denton Record-Chronicle covers the TWU Theatre production These Shining Lives, a true story about workers harmed by an unprincipled employer. Guest directors Susan Carol Davis and Sharon Barnhill lead the show. 

TWU choir to perform at music educators’ centennial convention

2/6/20

The Texas Woman’s University Concert Choir has been selected to perform at the 2020 Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Centennial Clinic/Convention Feb. 13 in San Antonio. TWU is one of only two collegiate choral ensembles invited to perform out of more than 150 entries.

TWU dance alumni and kNOwBOX co-founders launch podcast, present film festival

12/11/19

Martheya Nygaard and YeaJean Choi, former classmates in the dance program at Texas Woman’s University, founded kNOwBOX last year when they weren’t sure where their respective careers would take them and wanted to keep collaborating. Using film, video and social media, they want to help dance artists transcend geography and expand their imaginations. Lovers of dance can glimpse kNOwBOX’s dream of the future in Oak Cliff Dec. 13-15. 

TWU alumna Nitashia Johnson wins Sony Creator-in-Residence Award

6/13/19

Texas Woman’s University alumna Nitashia Johnson recently completed her residency in the 2019 Sony Alpha Female Creator-in-Residence Award Program, which included $25,000 in grant money, $5,000 in film and photography gear as well as mentorship, networking, exhibition and educational opportunities.