Summer Shakespeare productions are a long-standing tradition in the U.S., and now the Triad has a theater company dedicated to bringing the Bard’s plays to North Carolina Audiences. Piedmont Shakespeare Company is in its second season with performances of “Much Ado About Nothing” taking place in venues from Winston-Salem to Burlington. On this Piedmont Arts episode, executive director David McGraw talks about the importance of Shakespeare in the modern day and the beauty of summer Shakespeare.

By many accounts, he was an unsavory character, but Caravaggio was also a revolutionary and influential painter of the late 16th century in Rome, Naples, and Sicily. A new exhibition of Caravaggio’s paintings and others by leading Baroque masters has opened at the Mint Museum in Uptown Charlotte. Hear more about it from exhibition curator and Mint President & CEO Todd Herman on this episode of Piedmont Arts. Plus, we have a report from the Spoleto USA Festival in Charleston, SC, and the latest edition of FanFare to help you plan more early-summer fun.

What's Bach's connection to French composers, both baroque and modern? How did Bach influence Brahms? What's Handel's other great religious oratorio besides Messiah? The 2026 Charlotte Bach Festival offers concerts and experiences that help audiences explore those questions and learn about Bach's singular place in the history of music. On this episode, we take an in depth look at the festival with Bach Charlotte executive director Garrett Murphy.

Pianist Phillip Bush grew up in Charlotte and has had a successful career across the country as a soloist, chamber musician, and university professor. He’s the next WDAV Small Batch concert at Free Range Brewing as part of the Steinway at Free Range series. On this edition of the Piedmont Arts podcast, he talks about his music education in Charlotte as well as his love of contemporary music.

Based in Davidson, North Carolina, the Orchestra of the Carolinas is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing people together through the power of music. On this Piedmont Arts podcast, you’ll hear more about what makes the orchestra tick, and details on their upcoming season finale with Grammy award-winning vocalist Carmen Bradford. Plus, a new edition of FanFare to help you fill out your arts & culture calendar.

As America’s 250th Anniversary draws near, Charlotte Ballet will celebrate with a work that pays tribute to America. Artistic director Alejandro Cerrudo’s first full-length ballet called “One Thousand Pieces” receives its Charlotte premier in May at the Knight Theatre. It’s inspired Marc Chagall’s stained-glass creation called “America Windows.” Learn more about “One Thousand Pieces” from Cerrudo on this episode of Piedmont Arts.

America turns 250 this year, and there are all sorts of celebrations, events, and activities happening across the country. One of them is a new immersive experience at the Charlotte Museum of History called American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition. You’ll hear all about it on the new episode of Piedmont Arts. Plus, hear the scoop on summer arts camps for your kids, and your weekend is covered with FanFare.

Goodyear Arts is an artist-led nonprofit located in Camp Northend that exists to support local artists and musicians in a variety of ways. They offer gallery spaces, performance areas, and studios where artists of all types can create and share their work. On this Piedmont Arts podcast we talk with Goodyear Arts Collective members Amy Bagwell, Kadey Ballard, and Nathan Matthews about the ways the organization connects artists and fosters creativity in our community.

Artist David McGee’s paintings explore the meanings we associate with images and words and the way they influence attitudes about race and history. The Bechtler Museum has added an exhibition of his work called “The Griot and The Nightingale” which brings together more than 100 of his creations. McGee and Bechtler curator Katia Zavistovski are guests on this Piedmont Arts podcast episode.

A new exhibition at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture prompts visitors to consider the way a photograph or painting decides what “correct” looks like. In Presence of Color, Charlotte-born artist Jeremy Okai Davis reimagines the Kodak Company’s mid-century “Shirley” cards which used white skin tones to establish baselines for light and color when developing film. Davis is the guest on this Piedmont Arts podcast, and he talks about the ways he deconstructs the “Shirley” cards to create portraits of Black individuals.