Western Area Events

Previews are provided for those events marked with a .   Just click on the symbol.

Presenters: Event Submission Instructions. Readers: If you attend a performance after reading about it in CVNC, please tell the presenter when you buy your tickets.

We are reader-supported, so if you value our reviews and other services, please consider a gift to help sustain our operations. See "About Us" for details.

Summer Festivals:
Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy (Raleigh & Wilson) through September 5;
NC Museum of Art Summer Concerts & Films (Raleigh) through September 11; &
Montford Park Players (Asheville) through October 3;
***
Carolina Chamber Music Festival (New Bern) - September 23-26
Note: The UNC School of the Arts plans to return to Roanoke Island in the Summer of 2011

• Through Sunday September 5, & Tuesday-Sunday September 7-12 & extended Tuesday-Sunday September 14-19 – Charlotte
  Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
  Program: Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins
  Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St., Charlotte. Times as shown below.
  Tickets begin at $32.50. 704/372-1000 or http://www.BlumenthalCenter.org/
  • Friday September 3 at 8:00 p.m.
  • Saturday September 4 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday September 5 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday September 7 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday September 8 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Thursday September 9 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Friday September 10 at 8:00 p.m.
  • Saturday September 11 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday September 12 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday September 14 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday September 15 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Thursday September 16 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Friday September 17 at 8:00 p.m.
  • Saturday September 18 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday September 19 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

***

• Resumes Friday-Sunday September 3-5 - Asheville
  Montford Park Players
  Program: The Asheville Shakesperience, Scott Keel, director
  Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 100 Gay Street, Asheville. 7:30 p.m.*
  Free.. 828/254-5146 or http://www.montfordparkplayers.org/
  *The Asheville Shakesperience will be preceded at 6:30 pm by a staged reading of the newly attributed Shakespearean play, Double Falsehood, or, The Distrest Lovers. This is quite possibly one of the first stagings of this play in the United States.

• Friday-Sunday September 3-5, Thursday-Sunday September 9-12, Thursday-Sunday September 16-19 - Hendersonville
  Hendersonville Little Theatre
  Program: Gregg Opelka: Soup du Jour* - a musical
  Hendersonville Community Theatre, 1025 State Street, Hendersonville. 8p except Sundays @ 2p
  $18, < 18 $10. 828/692-1082 or http://www.hendersonvillelittletheatre.org/
  *Note: Audition Dates 7/12-13 - call or check the presenter's site for details

• Friday-Saturday September 3-4 - Hendersonville/Flat Rock
  Jacquelyn Culpepper & Dan Boye, vocalists, with Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Joiner, conductor
  Program: An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein
  Blue Ridge Conference Hall, Flat Rock. 7:30 p.m.
  $35, students w/ID $5. 828/697-5884 or http://www.hendersonvillesymphony.org/

• Sunday September 5 - Asheville
  Classical Chamber Music Series: String Quartet (Brent Yingling & Judy Vlietstra, violins, Brenda Phetteplace, viola, & Ron Lambe, cello)
  Program: Music by Haydn (Op. 20 No. 2) & Mendelssohn (Op. 44)
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643

• Thursday September 9 - Asheville
  UNC Asheville's Scholarship Program & Gray's New Umbrella Inc.: Elisabeth Gray*
  Program: Southern (dis)Comfort**
  Belk Theatre, UNCA, Asheville. 7:00 p.m. Dessert reception.
  $40 - proceeds from the event will benefit UNC Asheville's scholarship program and Gray's New Umbrella Inc., an Asheville-based multidisciplinary arts organization. 828/251-6525
  *"Gray, a New York-based equity actress, graduated from Asheville High School and went on to study drama at England's Oxford University. She premiered her first one-woman show, Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath, at Asheville's Fringe Arts Festival in 2007, which went on to win the Fringe First Award for 'Innovative and Outstanding New Writing' and a British Stage Awards nomination for 'Best Performance in a Solo Show.' She has toured extensively and is the recipient of the UK Juliet Bernard Memorial Prize for the 'Most Promising Young Actress.'"
  **"Southern (dis)Comfort is a new, dark comedy about life and death in the American South, with stops along the way ranging from Cracker Barrels and nursing homes, to beauty pageants and church gymnasiums. The performance, in the form of a series of monologues, focuses on Southern trial and tribulation. 'Southern (dis)Comfort evolved out of my desire to explore the humorous, tragic and honest vision of the South and the wonderful Southern characters who inhabit the landscape,' Gray said."

• Friday-Sunday September 10-12, Friday-Sunday September 17-19, Friday-Sunday September 24-26, & Friday-Sunday October 1-3 - Asheville
  Montford Park Players
  Program: Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, Dusty McKeelan, director
  Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 100 Gay Street, Asheville. 7:30 p.m.
  Free. 828/254-5146 or http://www.montfordparkplayers.org/

• Saturday September 11 - Broadcast/Webcast
  Opera Carolina
  Program: Gounod: Faust*
  WDAV-FM and online at wdav.org. 6:30 p.m.
  Free. 704/591-8945
  *"Opera Carolina joins the ranks of world-class opera companies with the national broadcast of its 2008 production of Faust on NPR World of Opera from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 11. Charlotte area listeners will be able to hear the broadcast on WDAV Classical Public Radio (89.9FM) or online at wdav.org.
  As the only classical performing arts organization in the southeast to be featured on the acclaimed nationally syndicated program NPR World of Opera, Opera Carolina takes its place among the most prestigious international opera houses, including La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and Covent Garden. Other U.S. opera companies, which have been featured on the program, include Washington National Opera and Houston Grand Opera.
  Opera Carolina's stellar reputation extends far beyond its Charlotte roots. The company is highly regarded among the national arts community for world-class productions, earning Opera Carolina continued attention from NPR World of Opera. The most recent broadcast was Opera Carolina's 2006 production of Margaret Garner by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and composer Richard Danielpour, which will be re-broadcast in November. NPR World of Opera is produced by WDAV Classical Public Radio.....
  ...The cast includes Metropolitan Opera soprano Maureen O'Flynn (Marguerite); Metropolitan Opera tenor James Valenti (Faust); The Paris Opera's Chester Patton (Mephistopheles); plus American artists Corey McKern (Valentin) and Diane McEwen-Martin (Siébel); and Charlotteans Jeremy Collier ( Wagner); Kim Blanchard (Marthe), the Opera Carolina Chorus and the Charlotte Symphony are under the direction of James Meena, conductor...."

• Saturday September 11 - Charlotte
  CPCC
  Program: TOSCO Music Party
  Halton Theater, CPCC, Charlotte. 7:00 p.m.
  $15-$8. 704/330-6534 or http://www.carolinatix.org/

• Sunday September 12 - Asheville
  Jazz Series: The Looking Glass Brass Quintet
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643

• Sunday September 12 - Asheville
  Hwa-Jin Kim, piano (UNCA)
  Program: Haydn: Piano Sonata in C, Hob.XVI:48; Bach: Partita No. 6 in E minor; Beethoven: Piano Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110; & Liszt: Rigoletto Paraphrase
  Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  $10, students/children $5. 828/277-4111, 828/687-9993, or 828/257-4530

• Sunday September 12 - Asheville
  UNCA Music: Judi Lampert, flute, & Elsa O’Farrell, piano
  Program: Music by Piazzolla, Piston, Jacob (“The Pied Piper”), & Ian Clarke (“Zoom Tube”)
  Lipinsky Auditorium, UNCA, Asheville. 4:00 p.m.
  $5, UNCA students w/ID free. 828/251-6432

• Thursday September 16 - Spindale
  FPac Cultural Society: Neil Berg
  Program: 100 Years of Broadway - excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Jekyll & Hyde
  Foundation Performing Arts Center, 286 ICC Loop Road, Spindale. 7:30 p.m.
  Series $105; single tickets $26/$12, youth $9/$7. 828/286-9990 or http://www.FoundationShows.org/

• Sunday September 19 - Asheville
  Guest Artists Series: Musicke Antiqua Recorder Consort
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643

• Sunday September 19 - Davidson
  Music @ St. Alban's: Kim Pineda, baroque flute, Richard Krumdieck, recorder, David Wilson & Aaron Westman, baroque violins, Joey O'Donnell, baroque viola, Barbara Blaker Krumdieck, baroque 'cello, & Henry Lebedinsky, harpsichord/director
  Program: BachFest V: Bach to the Future - Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, & Orchestral Suite No. 2; C.P.E. Bach: Trio Sonata in F; & Telemann: Concerto in E Minor for Flute and Recorder
  St. Alban's Episcopal Church, 301 Caldwell Lane, Davidson. 3:00 p.m.
  Meet-the-artists reception to follow.
  $15, students (<21)/seniors(>65) $10, children <12 free. 704/941-0650 or http://www.musicatstalbans.net

• Sunday September 19 - Charlotte
  Opera Carolina Chorus
  Program: Serenade to Autumn - selections from the upcoming season, including La Traviata and Cosi fan tutte and music from Nabucco, Carmen, and Pirates of Penzance
  Booth Playhouse, Charlotte. 7:00 p.m.
  $5. 704/332-7177

• Thursday September 23 - Spindale
  FPac Cultural Society
  Program: Susanna Hamnett: Nearly Lear, directed by Edith Tankus
  Foundation Performing Arts Center, 286 ICC Loop Road, Spindale. 7:30 p.m.
  Series $105; single tickets $12/$10, youth $7/$5. 828/286-9990 or http://www.FoundationShows.org/

• Friday September 24 - Salisbury
  Carolina Baroque: Mary Mendenhall & Teresa Radomski, sopranos, John Pruett, baroque violin, Holly Maurer, viola da gamba, Susan Bates, harpsichord/organ, & Dale Higbee, Music Director/recorders
  Program: Couperin and Paris*: Royal Concert No. 2, Leçon de ténèbre No. 1 for one voice, Royal Concert No. 4, Leçon de ténèbre No. 2 for one voice, Mass for the Convents: Elevation (organ), Leçon de ténèbre No. 3 for two voices, & Le Parnasse ou L'Apothéose de Corelli
  Chapel, St. John's Lutheran Church, 200 W. Innes Street, Salisbury. 7:30 p.m.
  Suggested donation $10. 704/633-9311 or http://www.carolinabaroque.org/
  *"François Couperin (b. Paris, 10 November 1669; d. Paris, 11 September 1733), composer, harpsichordist and organist, was the most important musical figure in France between Lully and Rameau. Our program includes both sacred and secular music."

• Friday-Saturday September 24-25
  Alisa Weilerstein, cello, & CSO, Christopher Warren-Green, conductor
  Program: Elgar: Cockaigne, Op. 40, Cello Concerto in E minor, & Enigma Variations
  Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte. 8:00 p.m. “Musically Speaking” pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.
  $83-$27, 25 & under & all students $12. 704-972-2000 or http://www.charlottesymphony.org/
  Note: Related event 9/24 - live broadcast/webcast on WDAV-FM or http://www.wdav.org/ starting at 7p

• Saturday September 25 – Charlotte
  Charlotte Children’s Choir
  Program: An information session featuring all 6 ensembles of the CCC
  Providence Baptist Church, 4921 Randolph Road, Charlotte. 10:30 a.m. Pre-concert reception @ 9a
  Free. 704/374-1892

• Sunday September 26 - Charlotte
  Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra, Ernest Pereira, conductor
  Program: Festival in the Park
  Freedom Park, Charlotte. 2:00 p.m.
  Free. 704-972-2000 or http://www.charlottesymphony.org/

• Sunday September 26 - Asheville
  Guest Artists Series: Concert production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance under the direction of Chuck Taft. (The production includes
  soloists, chorus and full orchestra.)
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643

• Sunday September 26 - Brevard
  Rachel Barton Pine, violin, & Brevard Philharmonic, Donald Portnoy, conductor
  Program: Experience the Romance - Beethoven: Fidelio: Overture; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 in D, Op. 107 (“Reformation”); & Bruch: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
  Porter Center for Performing Arts, Brevard College, Brevard. 3:00 p.m. Pre-concert performance by students t.b.a. in Scott Commons at 2p; post-concert q&a with conductor & guest artist in the concert hall.
  Season tickets $100 (5 concerts); single tickets $25, students w/ID (any age) $5. 828/884-4221 or http://www.brevardphilharmonic.org/

• Tuesday September 28 - Charlotte
  Opera Carolina artists t.b.a.
  Program: Opera al fresco - opera up close
  Village Tavern, Corner of Barclay Downs & Morrison Boulevard, Charlotte. 5:30 p.m.
  $15 - rsvp by 9/21. 704/332-7177, ext. 210

• Tuesday September 28 - Charlotte
  Alan Black, cello, Dana Protopopescu, piano. Sally Silver, soprano, & Rosemary Furniss, violin
  Program: Beethoven: "Ghost" Trio; Rachmaninoff: Trio; Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5; & Brahms: Trio in B, Op. 8.
  St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Charlotte. 7:30 p.m. Reception
  $30 - benefits Chamber Music for Teens Summer Workshop. 704/777-4842

• Friday-Saturday October 1-2 - Charlotte
  CSO Pops: Duke Ellington Orchestra & Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Albert-George Schram, conductor
  Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte. 8:00 p.m.
  $77-$33, 25 & under & all students $12. 704-972-2000 or http://www.charlottesymphony.org/

• Saturday October 2 - Charlotte
  Lollipops: Charlotte Symphony, Jacomo Rafael Bairos, conductor, with Grey Seal Puppets
  Program: Hans Christian Andersen: The Emperor's New Clothes
  Belk Theater, Charlotte. 11:00 a.m. - preceded by a pre-concert festival, which invites children to explore music in hands-on activities such as the Symphony Guild of Charlotte's "Musical Petting Zoo."
  $26-$13. 704-972-2000 or http://www.charlottesymphony.org/

• Saturday October 2 - Charlotte
  BPac: Eddie from Ohio
  McGlohon Theatre, Charlotte. 8:00 p.m.
  Prices begin at $20.00. 704/372-1000

• Sunday October 3 - Asheville
  Classical Chamber Music Series: Piano and Strings
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643

• Sunday October 3 - Charlotte
  Living Room Concert: Jennifer Topilow & Sakira Harley, violins, Vasily Gorkovoy, viola, & Jennifer Humphreys, cello
  Program: Great Americans - Gershwin: Lullaby; Beach: String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 89; Copland: [2] Pieces for String Quartet; & Still: Lyric String Quartet
  Venue t.b.a., Charlotte. 4:00 p.m.
  $75. 704/335-0009 or
  http://www.charlottechambermusic.org/

• Tuesday October 5 - Charlotte
  First Tuesday Concerts: Jennifer Topilow & Sakira Harley, violins, Vasily Gorkovoy, viola, & Jennifer Humphreys, cello
  Program: Great Americans - Gershwin: Lullaby; Beach: String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 89; Copland: [2] Pieces for String Quartet; & Still: Lyric String Quartet
  First Presbyterian Church, 200 West Trade Street, Charlotte. 12:10 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.
  Free. 704/335-0009

• */**Tuesday-Sunday October 5-10 -Charlotte
  Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
  Program: 9 to 5: The Musical
  Ovens Auditorium, 2700 East Independence Blvd., Charlotte. Times as shown below.
  Tickets begin at $20. 704/372-1000 or http://www.BlumenthalCenter.org/
  Schedule: Tuesday October 5 @ 7:30p;
  Wednesday October 6 @ 7:30p;
  Thursday October 7 @ 7:30p;
  Friday October 8 @ 8p;
  Saturday October 9 @ 2:00p & 8p; &
  Sunday October 10 @ 1:30p & 7:00p
  */** AD & SL 10/10 @ 2p

• Wednesday October 6 (preview), & Friday-Saturday October 8-9 - Asheville
  Asheville Lyric Opera, Daniel Meyer, conductor
  Program: Mozart: The Magic Flute
  Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville. 8:00 p.m. except 10/6 @ 7p. 10/8-9: Pre-performance lecture @ 7p, lower lobby
  Season $ - 828/236-0670 or http://ashevillelyric.org/; single tickets on sale 9/1 - 828/257-4530 or http://www.dwtheatre.com/

• Friday-Saturday October 8-9
  Natasha Paremski, piano, & CSO, Christopher Warren-Green, conductor
  Program: Bernstein: Candide: Overture to Candide; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2; & Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)
  Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte. 8:00 p.m. “Musically Speaking” pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.
  $83-$27, 25 & under & all students $12. 704-972-2000 or http://www.charlottesymphony.org/

• Friday-Saturday October 8-9, & Thursday-Saturday October 14-16 - Charlotte
  North Carolina Dance Theatre
  Program: Gustav Mahler: Dracula (choreographed by Mark Godden)
  Knight Theater, 430 South Tryon St, Charlotte. 7:30 p.m.
  $79-$25, students $10. 704/372-1000 or http:/ncdance.org/

• Saturday October 9 - Hendersonville/Flat Rock
  Yakov Kasman, piano, & Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Joiner, conductor
  Program: Beethoven: Egmont: Overture, & Symphony No. 8; & Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
  Blue Ridge Conference Hall, Flat Rock. 7:30 p.m. Pre-concert review at 6:30 p.m.
  $35, students w/ID $5. 828/697-5884 or http://www.hendersonvillesymphony.org/

• Saturday October 9 - Charlotte
  Friends of Music at Queens: Minneapolis Guitar Quartet
  Dana Auditorium, E.H. Little Fine Arts Building, Queens University of Charlotte. 8:00 p.m. Pre-concert lecture-demonstration at 7p in the Fine Arts Building, Room 123.
  $. 704/337-2213 or http://www.queens.edu/community/friends/fom-tickets-members.asp

• Sunday October 10 - Asheville
  Jazz Series: T.b.a.
  St. Matthias Church, South Charlotte Street, Asheville. 3:00 p.m.
  Free will offering for the restoration of the church & for the ensemble. 828/252-0643