Tonu Kalam’s Final Concert with the UNC Symphony Orchestra
CHAPEL HILL, NC – UNC Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor Tonu Kalam may not be quite as longstanding an institution as the first university in the state, but has been conducting this ensemble beautifully for the last 36 years. This week he led his final...
NC Opera’s “Girl of the Golden West” Peeks into Puccini’s Darker Side
RALEIGH, NC – Operas performed in a concert format are often viewed as economy productions, where the music eclipses the visual spectacle that comes with ornate sets, lavish costumes, and ready action. There was nothing bargain-basement about North Carolina Opera's...
Our First Lady of Jazz at Duke University
DURHAM, NC – "Your attentive participation, through listening with your ears and your heart, will allow you to enjoy fully this exchange of ideas, to sense these various moods, and to reap the full therapeutic rewards that good music always brings to a tired,...
Intriguing Worldbuilding, Incomplete: Stone Soup Theatre’s “R&J” at Center Theater Company
CARRBORO, NC - Worldbuilding isn't just an esoteric activity limited to the constructs of virtual reality and speculative fiction; it's a fundamental part of the theatrical enterprise. If drama at its essence depicts the truth of a life in a change, one of its first...
Winston-Salem Symphony Celebrates the Bicentennial of “The Ninth”
WINSTON-SALEM, NC – Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral") by Ludwig van Beethoven (Germany, 1770-1827) is truly one of the turning points in music history. It is the first "symphony" (meaning instruments only) to incorporate choir and soloists, its length is...
Through 4/21: Midsummer magic – mostly: Burning Coal Theatre’s A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
The romantic conceit dates back before Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 classic, Smiles of a Summer Night, and well before Shakespeare: when humans have gotten themselves stuck in the worst partnerships possible (or, even worse, in abject celibacy), the magic of a midsummer’s night can sort everything out, bring the right pairs together in spite of themselves and restore harmonic community, dyad by dyad.
NC Dance Festival Collaboration: Dance Project, Music for a Great Space, & the Khemia Ensemble
Above: the Khemia Ensemble (photo by Angie Petty) will perform alongside works by Jiwon Ha, as well as in its own program pieces at NC Dance Festival. GREENSBORO, NC - Each year, the NC Dance Festival, a program coordinated by Greensboro-based Dance Project, brings...
Through 4/14: Spirit Gum’s “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” Delivers Mystery, Whimsy, and Profound Fun
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - It's so mundane as to be profoundly comical: an annoying cell phone rings incessantly while you are trying to enjoy your soup, and its owner can't even be bothered to answer it. That's the opening scene in Spirit Gum Theatre Company's spritely...
THROUGH 4/14: “Ada and the Engine” at NC State’s University Theatre
RALEIGH, NC - Students skipped and wandered around NC State University, buzzing with excitement, wonder, and pride last weekend. On the heels of the NCAA Final Four games and Dreamville Music Festival, Raleigh opened its arms to guests and natives alike. However, the...
Charlotte Symphony’s New Maestro, Kwamé Ryan, Thrills a Packed House
CHARLOTTE, NC – The audience at Belk Theater didn't rise and sing the National Anthem as we do at the start of every new Charlotte Symphony season, but the occasion – Tchaikovsky & Brahms – was auspicious enough for CSO president David Fisk to take the stage,...