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Yadkin County opens new Willingham Theatre

Yadkin Arts Council
Willingham Theatre in Yadkin County

Yadkin County is the proud home of a new 10,000 square foot arts center which opened in 2010. In December of 2012 the center added the Willingham Theatre.

The center and the theatre were dreams of Arts Council President John Willingham, and now that he's built it the artists will come. On February 9 at 7:30 it's Carolina Music Way's Old Timey Radio Show a high-energy musical revue featuring music of the north Piedmont: Appalachian, Moravian String Band, Afro American and more. Then on the 23rd it's the uptown jazz stylings of Miss Cle Thompson. The amazing Kruger Brothers make their Arts Center debut on March 8 and the season rolls on through July with film, theatre, bluegrass and more. Putting together the Willingham Theatre's inaugural season is writer, producer, director extraordinaire and UNC School of the Arts Screenwriting Discipline Chair Ron Stacker Thompson. Susan Lyons and her husband Stephen have been co-directors of the Yadkin Cultural Arts Center since 2009. Ron and Susan spoke with David Ford about their season of music, dance, drama and film.

Before his arrival in the Triad, David had already established himself as a fixture in the Austin, Texas arts scene as a radio host for Classical 89.5 KMFA. During his tenure there, he produced and hosted hundreds of programs including Mind Your Music, The Basics and T.G.I.F. Thank Goodness, It's Familiar, which each won international awards in the Fine Arts Radio Competition. As a radio journalist with 88.5 WFDD, his features have been recognized by the Associated Press, Public Radio News Directors Inc., Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, and Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas. David has written and produced national stories for NPR, KUSC and CPRN in Los Angeles and conducted interviews for Minnesota Public Radio's Weekend America.

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