On UNCA’s campus, weekly performances have begun to bridge the gap between the arts and the student body. “Live at Lunch,” a weekly performance series, became an exciting and informal way for students to experience live music and connect with the creative talent emerging from the university.
“This is ‘Live at Lunch.’ It is something that happens every week. It’s a performance on the quad from one of the music ensembles from the UNCA music department each week,” said Nawal Elhajoui, performer and ensemble member of Songwriters X.
Elhajoui said “Live at Lunch” features a different band each week. The event is open to university students during the free period on most Tuesdays and Thursdays.
She said the music department hosts it, and it usually takes place on the university’s main quad just in time for the students to enjoy the spring weather.
“It’s (Songwriters X) more like a concise group of people that go around and perform in schools and in the community rather than just working together and writing from scratch,” Elhajoui said.
Elhajoui attributed the successful dynamic of the band, Songwriters X, and the positive perception of the event to the performers being all friends. She said they love writing music together and playing in communal spaces.
“I feel like having a visual on the arts is really important. Even though the music department has performances in Lipinsky, they’re not always well known throughout campus and throughout people that aren’t music majors, but ‘Live at Lunch,’ just like puts it right there in front of you,” said Susana Hudson, student attendee of “Live at Lunch.”
Hudson said the event offers a casual, welcoming environment where students can enjoy the arts without committing to attending a full, formal performance.
She said that from what she has seen, the department has done an amazing job of outreach to the student community with advertising. Not only was the event marketed well online, but it was also in a good location for accessibility.
“It’s so accessible, you know? You can just drop in, listen to some awesome music during the free period, and have some popcorn. It just makes it easy and not intimidating to have to find a way to be able to make something like a formal performance,” Hudson said.
Elhajoui loves the diversity of music the event offers. Every week, a new band usually performs different variations of music, and different musicians showcase original pieces.
“Yeah, a lot of them, a lot of (the songs) were somebody’s baby that they trusted to bring to everyone else and then see what they did with it,” Elhajoui said.
Elhajoui said most of the pieces were songs that the songwriters wrote alone and then brought to the group.
She said the song selection itself, from the music group Songwriters X, typically consists of one or two songs the group writes together, which also come from the original single pieces.
“In this context, it’s kind of like we get to make a band, like we’re a bunch of friends making a band, but we are getting credit for it. We’re getting the opportunity to go and play places and I love writing music and I’ve written my own music for a really long time, but it’s great to bring it to a group of musicians who maybe know more than I do,” said Sara Nussair, singer, songwriter and performer at “Live at Lunch.”
Nussair said the experience is more than just an opportunity to showcase her own music; it’s about the collective effort and the learning that comes from collaborating with others.
She said the sense of community and shared creativity that “Live at Lunch” fosters are inspiring not only for the artists involved but also for the audience.
“ We feed off each other a lot to make songs that feel smaller when you’re writing them yourself a whole lot bigger. So. Yeah, it’s awesome,” Nussair said.
Hudson said events like “Live at Lunch” are more than just performance opportunities; she said they are a window into the heart of UNC Asheville’s arts culture, specifically in contrast to different departments being disbanded on the campus.
“I’m a drama major. As everyone knows there has been a recent elimination of the department and I feel like a part of that was just like a lack of drama presence in the communal spaces. I feel like not a lot of people knew about the drama department itself and they didn’t know when we were having performances or even spaces to perform for yourself,” Hudson said.
Hudson said she feels like this type of event is exactly what drama, or those who have been disconnected from drama, need to have access to.
She said having people come into a space with strings attached would allow everyone to enjoy the arts. They could just come in whenever the student body wanted to sit down and enjoy the performance.
“That’s exactly the type of art that I love, something that feels a little bit more grounded and interactive and more like on the people’s level. Rather than, you got to pay for a ticket. You have to find a time to go to a specific performance and, yeah, it’s just a lovely thing and I wish it was something that was incorporated more in theater spaces, because music has been doing it so well,” Hudson said.
