UNCSA Launching American Roots Music Institute With Record $10.1M Gift

A $10.1 million gift, the largest in school history, will bring an American Roots Music Institute to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Winston-Salem locals Randy and Kamu Dishmon made this groundbreaking gift to start the program in the School of Music.

Starting fall 2028, students can earn a Bachelor of Music in American Roots. Minor and high school tracks begin two years earlier. The curriculum spans bluegrass, folk, blues, and early jazz.

"North Carolina is the cradle of American roots music, home to artists from Doc Watson to Libba Cotten to The Avett Brothers," UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole said in a news release.

School of Music Dean Saxton Rose will shape the program with top musicians. The team brings together UNCSA grad Justin Poindexter, show host Martha Bassett, fiddle master Rex McGee, and steel guitar virtuoso DaShawn Hickman.

"There are traditions that are really specific to counties in North Carolina," said Martha Bassett per WFDD. "It's a place that people have come from all over the country for decades to soak up the regional differences in our music here, and learn from old-time masters."

The donors blend unique musical backgrounds. Randy Dishmon, a former global portfolio manager, grew up steeped in bluegrass. His wife Kamu, who worked as a pharmaceutical exec, studied Indian classical music in her youth.

"It's time bluegrass and folk-oriented music receive the recognition and respect they deserve — as a true American art form," Randy Dishmon said in the release. "UNCSA happens to be located in the heart of this art form's origins and has a long history of respect for tradition with an eye to the future."

The state's musical roots stretch to the 1700s. A rich mix of Scots-Irish and African sounds birthed Appalachian old-time music. North Carolina played a vital part in making the banjo, an African instrument, into an American staple.

Dean Rose stressed the dual mission ahead. "Both of these traditions have to honor the history of teaching and the training and the pedagogy in the same way in both of these art forms, [and] have to create and generate new music and innovate," he said, according to WFDD.

Students can apply for minor and high school programs in 2026. The full Bachelor's degree welcomes its first class in fall 2028.