{"id":1837,"date":"2012-01-27T11:42:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T16:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/college.web.unc.edu\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2024-07-02T13:25:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T13:25:57","slug":"rhodes-singing-is-about-creating-a-bond-between-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=1837","title":{"rendered":"Singing creates ‘a bond between people\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Terry Rhodes, music is more than a way to make a living.<\/p>\n

It is a way of life. Somehow, she finds a way to make music an integral part of almost every thing she does. She really has no choice \u2013 music is in her blood.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Music department chair Terry Rhodes will become the new senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities this summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy father was one of 11 children growing up in the North Carolina mountains during the Great Depression,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cMaking music together was the family\u2019s main entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father is gone now, but when Rhodes and her daughter go to family reunions to see aunts, uncles and cousins, the family celebrates together in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend a couple of hours talking and catching up with each other, but when somebody pulls out a guitar, the talking stops and the singing starts,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cMaking music connects us to each other like nothing else can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music is also what has connected Rhodes to Carolina.<\/p>\n

She arrived in 1974 with scholarships in both piano and voice and planned to major in both. But she quickly gravitated to voice once she discovered opera.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rhodes in an opera workshop instructing students.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI found the theatrical element of opera compelling, as well as the language and poetry of art song,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cI enjoy the drama and the heightened expression demanded by opera, musical theater and recital work.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to earn her master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Rhodes then married former Carolina basketball star Tom LaGarde (they were undergrads together at UNC). During LaGarde\u2019s decade-long NBA career, Rhodes pursued her career in classical music in cities from Seattle to Dallas to New York City.<\/p>\n

And when LaGarde played professional basketball in Italy, a whole new realm of musical and cultural opportunities opened up to Rhodes.<\/p>\n

Although their marriage ended in the 1980s, the two remain friends. Rhodes credits those years of travel, with the eclectic mix of people, professions and cultures, as an invaluable period of learning and growing. She continues to spend her summers in Italy, performing and teaching.<\/p>\n

But as much as she learned by singing around the world, she never forgot a fundamental lesson from an early age: At its best, singing is about creating a bond between people. Rhodes cherishes those transformational moments in her performance career.<\/p>\n

For the past three years, she has served as chair of the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her office is the same place where, in June 1987, Tom Warburton (a former professor of hers) offered Rhodes a one-year position as a visiting assistant professor.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years later, she can think of no other place she would rather be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love living here, and I\u2019ve lived in a lot of places,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cI love the institution and being a part of such an incredible community of brilliant, talented and generous people. And I love the opportunity to interact with such people on an almost daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhodes soon will be a new voice in South Building when she replaces Bill Andrews, who will retire this summer from his position as senior associate dean for fine arts and humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

To her surprise, Rhodes has enjoyed being an administrator. One reason, she believes, is that it requires many of the same skills a musician has to master.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be a good listener, to really hear what the people around you are trying to communicate,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cListening well is what makes collaboration work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not a position she sought, Rhodes said, but it is an opportunity she is eager to take on, despite the fact that the oft-used acronym for senior associate dean is SAD.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope it doesn\u2019t take the joy out of my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That prospect is unlikely, as anyone who has met her knows.<\/p>\n

Joy is a quality that seems to characterize Rhodes, as she demonstrated earlier this month when she spoke during the Sixth Annual Campus Dialogue on Engagement.<\/p>\n

She will co-chair the steering committee for the University\u2019s newly adopted two-year theme, \u201cH2O Carolina: Water in Our World.\u201d When it was her turn to speak, Rhodes began with a song to fit the occasion, \u201cSinging in the Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m singing in the rain<\/em><\/p>\n

Just singing in the rain<\/em><\/p>\n

What a glorious feeling<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy again\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

From the opening note, Rhodes had a smile on her face that lit up the room.<\/p>\n

For more about Rhodes\u2019 singing career, see music.unc.edu\/faculty-staff\/terry-rhodes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[Story by Gary Moss, University Gazet<\/em>te]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Terry Rhodes, music is more than a way to make a living.<\/p>\n

It is a way of life. Somehow, she finds a way to make music an integral part of almost every thing she does. She really has no choice \u2013 music is in her blood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carousel","category-fine-arts-humanities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45038,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions\/45038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}