Arts & Performance

Tune in today at 2 for another live performance from our studios. We'll be joined by jazz pianist Michael Jefry Stevens and guitarist Gary Moore.

That's live from the Vetust Study Club Performance Studio Friday at 2 on WCQS.

NPR is hosting a T-shirt Design Challenge this August with the popular crowdsourcing vendor Threadless, inviting listeners and the global Threadless community to submit and/or score designs based on the theme "My Sound World."

This Threadless "Causes" project engages listeners,  encourages creativity, and promotes the public radio brand in a popular space. It's also an opportunity for users and visitors to the Design Challenge page on Threadless.com to donate to their favorite public radio station.

It hasn't even been 11 full months since The Avett Brothers released The Carpenter, the North Carolina band's most recent collection of poignant and infectious, bluegrass-inflected folk-rock. And, given the lengthy touring cycle that each major album release generally spawns - the Avetts of last month's Newport Folk Festival with songs from The Carpenter - fans had no reason to expect new music this year.

This weekend marks the 35th—and final—Bele Chere festival in Asheville.

Sandra Travis, festival program supervisor for the city of Asheville, says it’s hard to picture, but downtown Asheville was essentially deserted when the city had its first Bele Chere in 1979. “It started out really small. It was a way to revitalize downtown Asheville,” she said.

WCQS partners with ASAP -- the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project -- for tailgate market updates, heard Thursdays and Fridays during Morning Edition (5am - 9am). 

With recent unseasonable temperatures reminding us that fall is officially only one month away, now is the time to savor the flavors of summer still available at area farmers tailgate markets.

WCQS partners with ASAP -- the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project -- for tailgate market updates, heard Thursdays and Fridays during Morning Edition (5am - 9am). 

What’s fresh at markets this week? What isn’t! These days, summer favorites like beans, bell peppers, cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, and tomatoes are joining an already seasonal abundance of greens, summer squash, berries, and peaches.

WCQS partners with ASAP -- the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project -- for tailgate market updates, heard Thursdays and Fridays during Morning Edition (5am - 9am). 

Summer is officially here! Although the season’s full bounty has yet to arrive to area tailgates, produce ambassadors have been dispatched from the fields to tantalize taste buds and tell of what’s to come.

The Brevard Music Festival has begun it's 2013 season  and once again WCQS is there to bring you the excitement and artistry of live concerts from this nationally known center of music performance and education.

Listen throughout the summer as WCQS and our colleagues from WDAV Davidson bring you concerts of orchestral and chamber music performed by internationally known artists such as Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Keith Lockhart, JoAnn Falletta and Matthias Bamert, as well as Brevard's own artist-faculty from across the United States.

We've had an overwhelming wonderful response when we announced our upcoming trip Rediscover Cuba - A Cultural Exploration. So much so, we added a second trip to Cuba next spring. Both trips initially sold out, but we now have a few spaces on the trip departing February 18, 2014. The spaces won't last long, so be sure to sign up now if you are interested.

It's official - Western North Carolina loves Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell. Tickets for the August 1st Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! show at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium went on sale Thursday June 6th and sold out the very next day!

WCQS is bringing Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! the oddly informative news quiz from NPR back to Asheville August 1st. Tickets went on sale at 10 am June 6th and are almost sold out as of Friday afternoon, June 7th! Get yours before they're gone!

WCQS is bringing Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! The Oddly Informative News Quiz from NPR back to Asheville this summer. Host Peter Sagal, official judge and scorekeeper Carl Kasell and a few of their [yet to be named] witty panelists will return to the 'Cesspool of Sin' for a live show at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium August 1st. The Asheville performance will be broadcast nationwide on Saturday, August 3rd.

WCQS partners with ASAP -- the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project -- for tailgate market updates, heard Thursdays and Fridays during Morning Edition (5am - 9am). 

Associate springtime with fresh peas? You're right! Shell peas, snow peas and snap peas (or sugarsnaps) can be found at area tailgate markets now. The season will continue through early summer. Also look for a small selection of green beans, and possibly even a few fava beans.