The 2018 Colour of Music Festival will take place at various venues throughout historic Charleston, SC. The festival highlights classical composers, musicians and vocalists of African descent. Lee Pringle, founder and artistic director of the Colour of Music Festival, speaks about the importance of this type of music series; the highlights of the current season; and the music teacher who inspired his love of classical music. Learn more about The Color of Music Festival

After years under the leadership of maestro John Gordon Ross, this season the Western Piedmont Symphony is searching for a new music director. A number of promising prospects will be visiting to lead the orchestra in performances, and the first is a conductor familiar to music lovers in North Carolina. Matthew Troy will lead the orchestra in the first Masterworks Concert of the 2018 - 2019 season in P. E. Monroe Auditorium at Lenoir-Rhyne University. He speaks with WDAV about the wide-ranging program he’ll conduct, titled “Mystery, Science and Theater,” with selections from Liszt and Weber, to Rimsky-Korsakov and Bernard Hermann. Learn more about “Mystery, Science and Theater”

UNC School of the Arts marks the Bernstein centennial with an ambitious production of the composer’s theatrical work, Mass . Music director Karin Hendrickson, and stage director Douglas Webster speak about why Mass was commissioned to dedicate the Kennedy Center in Washington; the challenges of mounting a production with 200 performers onstage; and about the work’s timely message of coming together during turbulent times. Learn more about WDAV's 40th Anniversary Reception & Bernstein's Mass in Winston-Salem Learn more about the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Photo Credit: Paul de Hueck, courtesy the Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.

Our region welcomes a new orchestra to the cultural scene — The Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra of South Carolina. Music Director David Rudge speaks about the enthusiastic response the orchestra has received even before its first program. He also shares details about their inaugural concert, and tells us how the new orchestra will contribute to Rock Hill’s sense of civic pride. Learn more about the Rock Hill Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural season Pictured: David Rudge; photo by Danielle Bock.

After 43 years as the principal clarinetist with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Gene Kavadlo is retiring. He began his career as a music educator in the Manhasset Public Schools on Long Island before taking a gamble to become a symphony musician. He talks with WDAV about his musical journey, living in Charlotte and what will come next as he turns the page on an incredible career.

Since 2010, Charlotte has hosted a unique film festival with a very important mission. The Joedance Film Festival exists to raise funds and awareness for research into rare pediatric cancers, and focuses on the work of North Carolina filmmakers. Diane Restaino tells us why her family devised a film festival as way to raise funds for this cause, and the inspiration provided by the festival’s namesake, her son Joe. Learn more about the JoeDance Festival Pictured: Joe Restaino from joedance.org

Guest Gil Morgenstern is violinist and director of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, which is featured every year in the chamber music series that launched the Appalachian Summer Festival 34 years ago. He speaks with WDAV about his cross- disciplinary approach to programming the concerts, and about the highlights of the chamber series this season. Learn more about An Appalachian Summer Festival Pictured: Gil Morgenstern; photo by Natasha Patel

Bach Akademie Charlotte aims to be the premier voice for Bach and Baroque music in the Charlotte region, specializing in the historically informed performances with a focus on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. They’re presenting their inaugural Bach Festival in June 2018. Artistic Director Scott Allen Jarrett and Artistic Administrator Margaret Carpenter Haigh visit WDAV to talk about why they’re doing a Bach Festival in their first year of existence, the value such a festival can bring to the community and the performances and performers you can expect to hear. Learn more about the Charlotte Bach Festival

The Spoleto Festival USA is one of the leading arts festivals in the country, and a highlight of the cultural scene in the Carolinas. Festival director Nigel Redden speaks with WDAV about how the festival makes the city of Charleston “come alive” for seventeen days each year with “an embarrassment of artistic riches.” He also recommends some of the events this season that are of particular interest to classical music lovers. Learn more about this year's Spoleto Festival USA

Charlotte Symphony Music Director Christopher Warren-Green has become the “go-to” conductor for British royal weddings. The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday, May 19 marks his third time on the podium leading the orchestra for royal nuptials. (Previously, he conducted at the ceremonies for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and for Prince William and Kate Middleton.) Although he’s now a royal ceremony veteran, Warren-Green shares with WDAV a few of his (minor) worries for what could go wrong. He also gives some hints about the music for the ceremony. And he gives insights on being a musical liaison to the royal family, including his 35+ year association with Prince Charles.