Food supply topic of panel

CHAPEL HILL — Three award-winning journalists will discuss mounting threats to the global food supply and the challenges of reporting them at UNC Chapel Hill today.

“Hungry? Frontline on the Threats to the Global Food Supply” will feature new documentary footage reporting on the global food crisis from Africa, Asia and Central America.

The event, free and open to the public, will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the FedEx Global Education Center’s Nelson Mandela Auditorium. A reception with the journalists will follow.

Peter A. Coclanis, UNC’s associate provost for international affairs will moderate. Featured journalists are:

- Fred de Sam Lazaro, director of the Project for Under-Told Stories at St. John’s University, in Collegeville, Minn.

- Samuel Loewenberg, a journalist based in Washington, D.C.

- Sharon Schmickle, a freelance journalist with 27 years of experience covering local, national and international news on a wide range of issues.

Tragicomedia to perform tonight

CHAPEL HILL — The internationally known ensemble Tragicomedia will perform a concert of baroque music at UNC Chapel Hill at 7:30 tonight.

Tragicomedia will perform in Memorial Hall as part of “Music on the Hill,” a festival of concerts that is a collaboration between Carolina Performing Arts and the department of music in the College of Arts and Sciences. Tickets are $15 general admission ($10 UNC students, faculty and staff). For information, contact the Memorial Hall box office at (919) 843-3333.

Tragicomedia will present a program of Italian music, featuring love songs by Monteverdi and his followers as well as sacred music of the era from Vatican sources. Members of the ensemble include Steven Stubbs and Paul O’Dette, lutes and guitars; Erin Headley, gamba and lirone; Alexander Weimann, harpsichord and organ; and Nell Snaidas, soprano. They will be joined by UNC faculty members Jeanne Fischer, Valentin Lanzrein, Terry Rhodes, Brent Wissick and Richard Luby.

Reception for artist scheduled

CHAPEL HILL — A free public reception for visiting Cuban printmaker Choco will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today in the Hanes Art Center at UNC.

The site will be the John and June Allcott Undergraduate Gallery in the center, where Choco’s works will be on display through October. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays; noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays; and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Choco, whose real name is Eduardo Roca Salazar, will be an artist in residence through Nov. 4 in the art department, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. His stay also is sponsored by the UNC Institute for the Study of the Americas.

The public also is invited to drop by the Hanes Art Center’s John C. Henry Print Studio from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 2 to watch Choco’s work — except for Oct. 20-26. Also while at Carolina, Choco will teach a workshop for art students.

Choco’s work has been exhibited in group and solo shows in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Public service center event set

CHAPEL HILL — The Carolina Center for Public Service will celebrate its 10th anniversary Saturday by packaging 20,000 meals to benefit Stop Hunger Now followed by a barbecue picnic and music.

Volunteers are invited to join public service students and staff members at 3 p.m. for the service project, which is being organized by the Carolina Hunger Education and Activism Project. The picnic, for which a $25 donation is requested, will begin at 5 p.m. Both activities will take place at the N.C. Botanical Garden at 100 Old Mason Farm Road.

Those interested in participating in either the service project or the picnic should contact the center at ccps@unc.edu or (919) 843-7568.

Contact Dan Way at dway@heraldsun.com or (919) 918-1035.