News

Lawrence Toppman, WDAV -- "I wonder if I can outdo Beethoven at the top of his game," said no sensible composer ever during the last 220 years. But I'd bet Felix Mendelssohn had that fleeting [..] Read More

Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Ledger -- I'll let a great composer of the mid-20th century sum up the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's 2023-24 season: "Roll over Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the [..] Read More

Perry Tannenbaum, CVNC -- You might have thought that a symphony orchestra performing in a college gymnasium would prove to be an odd coupling. Sure, there can be satisfying concerts staged at [..] Read More

Rachel Stewart, WDAV Piedmont Arts Podcast -- The Charlotte Symphony (CSO) has just announced its 2023-24 season, and it's filled with variety and diversity across all the series: Classics, Pops, [..] Read More

Lawrence Toppman, WDAV -- British auto engineer Alec Issigonis famously described a camel as "a horse designed by a committee." Yet in the absence of a music director, a committee from the [..] Read More

Adam Bell, The Charlotte Observer -- The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra unveiled its new season Tuesday, one that's heavy on guest artists but light on conductors. In fact, the only one listed so far [..] Read More

Marshall Terry, WFAE -- The Charlotte Symphony has announced performances for its 2023-24 season, which starts this fall. David Fisk, its president and CEO, says the season is arguably the most [..] Read More

Lawrence Toppman, WDAV -- Officially, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) concert last weekend paid homage to the exhibit of Picasso landscapes next door at the Mint Museum. Picasso designed [..] Read More

Perry Tannenbaum, CVNC -- For Charlotte Symphony guest conductor Paolo Bortolameolli, Satie, Stravinsky, and Beethoven all have at least one thing in common: music of modernity. Connecting the dots [..] Read More

Lawrence Toppman, WDAV -- The most recent Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) concert at Knight Theater was Old Home Week. Concertmaster Calin Ovidiu Lupanu got his annual solo outing in Bruch's [..] Read More

Perry Tannenbaum, Broadway World -- But until now, not a word about the meteor that struck the Knight Theater in the heart of Uptown Charlotte. Her name is Mei-Ann Chen, and we can only hope that [..] Read More

By Lawrence Toppman, WDAV -- You can play Edvard Grieg's piano concerto weightily, with thundering chords and noble grandeur. Or tenderly, with a romantic flame at its core. Or dreamily, with what [..] Read More

By Daija Peeler, QCity Metro -- The CSYE debuted in Feb. 2022 and is the Charlotte Symphony's youngest orchestra with children as young as age 8. Unlike the Charlotte Symphony Philharmonic and [..] Read More

By Larry Toppman, WDAV -- Like many classical concertgoers, I often raise my eyebrows when folks erupt into applause during the silence between movements of a symphony. I know that behavior can be [..] Read More

By Perry Tannenbaum, CVNC -- Between the evening's two fanfares -- for the Copland Symphony famously repackages his well-known Fanfare for the Common Man -- Korngold's Concerto made for a lyrically [..] Read More

WBTV -- Christopher James Lees, the symphony's resident conductor, stopped by the studio to talk more about the event.Watch Now > [..] Read More

WDAV -- The Charlotte Symphony will perform a concert called "Together We Rise" at the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center at Queens University. It will explore themes of freedom, strength, and justice [..] Read More

By Adam Bell, The Charlotte Observer -- For pianist and composer Malek Jandali, the Queens University of Charlotte motto holds special significance. It's "non ministrari sed ministrare," or for non- [..] Read More