Topics Related to Music

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts today announced the four North American orchestras selected to participate in the first year of the new weeklong SHIFT Festival, taking place at the Kennedy Center March 27 through April 2, 2017. Chosen from a pool of exceptional submissions from orchestras across North America, the selected orchestras include: Boulder Philharmonic (March 28), North Carolina Symphony (March 29), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (March 31), and Brooklyn-based ensemble, The Knights (April 1). Collectively, the participating orchestras will offer repertoire by nine living composers, two world premieres, and numerous D.C.-area premieres during the festival, inspired by themes of nature, Americana, creation and creativity, and choral influences.

The North Carolina Symphony, led by conductor Stuart Chafetz, will perform some of the greatest hits from the 1980s as part of its 2015 Rex Healthcare Summerfest Series at Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre on Saturday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. Joining Chafetz will be vocalists Joe Cassidy and Nicole Parker.

The North Carolina Symphony will pay tribute to two of the most beloved performers of the 20th century with Louis and Ella: All That Jazz, which will feature the music of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald performed by trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling and vocalist Marva Hicks, with drummer Robert Breithaupt.  The Symphony concerts, which will be led by Associate Conductor David Glover, will take place in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh, Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 17, at 8 p.m. each night. 

North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn will lead the orchestra, members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Choir, and an outstanding cast of actors, directed by University of North Carolina School of the Arts Dean of Drama Carl Forsman, in a theatrical / symphonic presentation of William Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The performances will take place Thursday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m., in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and again on Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, at 8 p.m., in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh.

The North Carolina Symphony launches its 2015 Rex Healthcare Summerfest Series at Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre on Saturday, May 23, at 7:30 p.m., with a concert program that features pianist Timo Andres performing Gershwin’s incomparable Rhapsody in Blue, the orchestra’s performance of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, and other works by Copland and Sousa that feature “citizen musicians” as they join the orchestra. 

Branford Marsalis and some talented friends will present an evening of unforgettable performances from across the musical spectrum on Tuesday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall. The Grammy Award-winning saxophonist joins forces with Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the bluegrass supergroup the Kruger Brothers, as they join North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and the orchestra for a one-of-a-kind concert to benefit the North Carolina Symphony’s statewide service and education programs.  Mr. Marsalis, Ms. Giddens, and the Kruger Brothers are all donating their performances for the benefit.

The North Carolina Symphony will give a free outdoor concert Thursday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. on the Town Common in Tarboro.  Symphony Associate Conductor David Glover will lead the orchestra in “Concerts in Your Community: Your Favorite Light Classics.”  In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be held in Keihin Auditorium on the Tarboro campus of Edgecombe Community College. 

The halls of the North Carolina History Center in historic downtown New Bern will echo with the sounds of jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller beginning at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 21.  

North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Sandi Macdonald, President and CEO of the North Carolina Symphony today announced programming for its 2015/16 season, the orchestra’s 83rd season and Llewellyn’s 12th season as Music Director.  

Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and the North Carolina Symphony will perform an all Tchaikovsky program on Friday, Jan. 30, at noon in Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh.  The concert will feature Tchaikovsky’s Cossack Dance from Mazeppa, his Symphony No. 4, as well as a world premiere orchestration by Curry of Tchaikovsky’s Military March.