Programs that foster connection across campus and community
Long Live the Arts. For Carolina Performing Arts, this rallying cry reflects our belief that live performance is essential to connection, belonging, and a well‑lived life.
For more than 20 years, Carolina Performing Arts (CPA) has brought world‑class artists to Carolina not only to perform, but to engage—inviting artists into classrooms, conversations, and collaborations that enrich student learning and strengthen our campus and community.
Photo by Kent Corley
Arts That Shape Student Life
Students are at the heart of CPA’s work. Through $11 student tickets, paid student employment, artist residencies, and faculty partnerships, CPA makes the arts a meaningful part of everyday campus life. In classrooms across disciplines, visiting artists work alongside faculty to bring course material to life—helping students experience ideas in embodied, imaginative, and deeply human ways. As one UNC music student said…
One of the pieces we worked on was Adoration by Florence Price. And that piece is really vocally influenced. And the way he was having me phrase my line made me play bassoon differently than I normally would. Like it was much more vocal and much more passionate.
Photo by Kent Corley
Whether learning from artists through hands-on clinics and workshops, encountering a performance that sparks new ways of thinking, or working behind the scenes at Memorial Hall, students experience the arts not as something distant, but as a space for curiosity, connection, and belonging. As a staff member said…
I love this job and look forward to staying here for the rest of my time at UNC! I really appreciate the management staff’s support both in the workplace and personally.
Where Campus and Community Meet
CPA also serves as a bridge between campus and community. Our programs bring together students, faculty, artists, and neighbors in shared spaces—affirming the arts as a source of joy, health, and human connection. This work reflects CPA’s belief that the arts are not a luxury, but a public good that strengthens lives and relationships.
Photo by Kent Corley
Ticket sales cover only part of this work. Philanthropy makes the rest possible.
Long Live the Arts
This GiveUNC, invest in experiences that connect people and cultivate belonging. With your support, Carolina Performing Arts will continue to ensure the arts remain central to life at Carolina.
