URTA Convening Day - Plenary Session and MoreThe first in-person URTA Convening Day will take place during the URTA Auditions & Interviews (the "URTAs") at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Saturday January 28, 2023. The primary event will be the plenary discussion "Cultivating Conservatories of Inclusion." Guest speakers will include Natalie Sowell, director of the School of Theatre at UNC Greensboro; associate professor Sara Becker of UNC School of the Arts; Brackley Frayer, professor of lighting design at UNLV and Dipankar Mukherjee, artistic director of Pangea World Theater. URTA executive director, Tony Hagopian, will lead a discussion examining successful models and tools for creating theatre training programs that are relevant, productive, and fulfilling for a diverse cohort of students and faculty. The discussion will build on last year's plenary, "Belonging," which can be viewed here: bit.ly/3C5YAgt. Other events will include a reception for recipients of the URTA Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Training, and the URTA membership meeting, which all faculty from URTA-member programs are encouraged to attend. The award reception is a ticketed event, while the plenary discussion will take place from 10:30am - 12:00pm and is free and open to the public. "After being forced online at the last minute last year, we're very much looking forward to engaging our attendees in-person this year. I'm particularly excited with the speakers we have this year. Last year's plenary was an incredible discussion and this year will build on that and really dig deeper into what can work in creating a training programs that both welcome and elevate young theatre artists from every background," says Hagopian. 
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