Piedmont Arts

The Charlotte Symphony will celebrate the arrival of 2021 with a New Year’s Day concert featuring Baroque music. Resident Conductor Christopher James Lees explains how the lively and joyful sounds of Baroque music may be the unexpected, but perfect, way to turn a new page after the tumult of 2020. He also reflects on what performing arts organizations have learned this year and what it means for them going forward. Learn more about A Baroque Celebration: Old World / New Year

In a Christmas season like no other, Bach Akademie Charlotte will be making merry on Zoom with their “Familie Christmas Partie”. The musical centerpiece of the gathering will be J.S. Bach’s Magnificat in D recorded during the 2019 Charlotte Bach Festival. Artistic Director Scott Allen Jarrett talks about Bach Akademie Charlotte’s unusual season and shares a personal reflection on what the isolation of the pandemic has meant to him as a musician. Learn more about “Familie Christmas Partie”

Opera Carolina teams up with D9 Brewing to bring holiday cheer with an event called Tinsel Town. The festivities happen throughout the day at D9 Brewing Company in Cornelius, NC, and will feature Opera Carolina Carolers with singers from the Opera Carolina Kids Academy. Hear Megan Miller talk about this event as well as how Opera Carolina and individual singers have been adjusting to pandemic restrictions this year. Learn more about Tinsel Town Pictured: Megan Miller/photo courtesy of Megan Miller.

WDAV’s annual broadcast of Charlotte Lessons and Carols from St. John’s celebrates its tenth anniversary with a two-hour retrospective .  Hear music director David Tang, and other event partners from St. John’s and the McClatchy Foundation, speak about what the community celebration means to them, and how it will be different this year. Learn more about the Charlotte Lessons and Carols 10th Anniversary Special

Mandolin and guitar virtuoso Robin Bullock, who is based in the Asheville area, has found himself working in new ways in recent months. One big difference -- he's giving virtual concerts - like the one coming up as part of Music at St. Alban's performance series. Hear Robin talk about the challenges and surprising benefits of being a musician during the pandemic. Learn more about Music @ St. Alban's with Robin Bullock Pictured: Robin Bullock/courtesy of Robin Bullock

The pandemic forced the Western Piedmont Symphony to rethink their concert season. They decided to create concerts and events that speak directly to the moment we're living in, including a multimedia project, "2020: A Musical Response," and a roundtable discussion on race in classical music. Music Director Matthew Troy talks about these and other events, and he'll explain why music is such a powerful means of communication in times like these. Watch "2020: A Musical Response" Learn more about the Roundtable on Race in Classical Music Pictured: Matthew Troy/courtesy of the Western Piedmont Symphony

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) welcomed their new President and CEO, David Fisk, on September 1, 2020. He's joining the CSO at a critical time as they learn new ways to share their music safely in the midst of a pandemic. David Fisk talks about getting to know his new city and organization in a socially distanced way. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of the CSO's role in our community in times like these. Pictured: David Fisk; photo by Keitaro-Harada.

For the Winston-Salem Symphony and conductor Timothy Redmond, the motto "The show must go on" has taken on new meaning in the year 2020. They have reimagined their new season to deal with the realities of social distancing. And they have also learned to share their music online in new and creative ways. Timothy Redmond talks about how they've adapted and what the new reality means for musicians and audiences. Pictured: Tim Redmond; courtesy of the Winston-Salem Symphony.

Artistic Director James Allbritten talks about the search to find works that allow for social distancing, and composer Kenneth Frazelle describes his composition, From Appalachia , which is one part of the concert entitled Echoes from Carolina . Learn more about Piedmont Opera Pictured (l-r): James Allbritten and Kenneth Frazelle.

Organist Joby Bell will give the first recital in this year's Organ at Davidson series at Davidson College Presbyterian Church. Bell is in the process of recording the complete solo organ works of Charles-Marie Widor. Find out more about Bell's exploration of Widor and how he decided to pursue a career as an organist. Learn more about the Organ at Davidson Series