Arts & Performance

It's a bittersweet day here at Blue Ridge Public Radio.  Thirty one years ago this month, music director Dick Kowal hit the airwaves.   Today, he hosted his last show.   While it's  impossible to capture all of the amazing accomplishments of his talented career, we do have some highlights, and a few good stories.  BPR's Helen Chickering reports.

(Dick Kowal on the air)

“It’s about 6 minutes after 9, good morning.”

If you live in Western North Carolina, chances are, you know this voice.

(Dick Kowal on the air)

Asheville Community Theatre and Drama UNC-A will co-produce the swashbuckling prequel to Peter Pan, Peter and the Starcatcher, opening Thursday evening at the Carol Belk Theatre on the UNC-Asheville campus.  Cast members Chloe Zeitounian and Alex Daly spoke with Dick Kowal about the 2012 Broadway show.

The Asheville Symphony performs the finale to this week's Asheville Amadeus Festival in a Sunday afternoon concert at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. The featured soloist is violinist Midori, who will perform Mendelssohn's e minor Violin Concerto. Also on the program, Mozart's Symphony No. 35,  Stravinsky's  "Dumbarton Oaks" concerto, and Faure's Pavanne featuring the Asheville Symphony Chamber Chorus.

Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center (our neighbors on Broadway in downtown Asheville,) presents the 7th annual {Re}Happening Saturday, March 25th at Lake Eden in Black Mountain (the site of Black Mountain College and Camp Rockmont.) The event will feature an immersive experience created by many area artists, as well as a guest appearance by Chicago based Third Coast Percussion, an ensemble steeped in the music and aesthetic of John Cage, BMC College artist.

The Asheville Choral Society celebrates the Asheville Amadeus Festival and its own 40th anniversary with a concert Friday night, March 17th, at Asheville's Central United Methodist Church. The program will feature excerpts from Mozart's Mass in C minor as well as works from the 18th to the 21st century by Vivaldi, Stephen Paulus, Jake Runestad and Dolly Parton.

Asheville Baroque Concerts presents the finale program of this year's season on Sunday afternoon, March 19th, and 3pm at Oakley United Methodist Church. Titled "Oltremontano, from beyond the mountains," music for recorder, viola da gamba and harpsichord. Artistic director and viola da gamba player Gail Ann Schroeder talked with Dick Kowal about the music and the musicians.

NC Stage Company presents Souvenir: A Fantasia on theLife of Florence Foster Jenkins, opening Wednesday, March 15th and running through April 2nd. Part of this week's Asheville Amadeus Festival, the play looks at the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, an eccentric socialite who lives under the delusion that she is an enchanting coloratura soprano when she is actually incapable of holding pitch.

The Asheville Amadeus Festival officially kicks off Friday evening with a beer release and open house at Highland Brewing. Beginning at 7pm, the event celebrates the release of Highland's "Wolfgang 1756 Symphony Lager," music by Matt Townsend and The Wonder of the World, food trucks, and more. Leah Wong Ashburn, president of Highland Brewing, and David Whitehill, executive director of the Asheville Symphony, joined Dick Kowal to talk about the event and give an overview of the 10 day Asheville Amadeus Festival.

This week, BPR gardening expert Alison Arnold talks about how to do composting with earthworms.

The first concert in the Asheville Amadeus Festival, the Blue Ridge Orchestra performs in UNC-A's Lipinsky Auditorium Saturday morning at 11 and that afternoon at 3 in a concert titled "A Wedding with Wolfgang." In a family-oriented program, the orchestra will play "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue." Director Dr. Milton Crotts talked with Dick Kowal about the program.

As part of the Asheville Amadeus festival, Pan Harmonia will hold "Walk With Wolfgang," a progressive chamber music concert, on Monday, March 13th at 6. Three different chamber ensembles will perform at three different spaces in downtown Asheville; Haen Gallery, Asheville Museum of Science, and Blue Dream Curry House..

Kate Steinbeck, director of Pan Harmonia, talked with Dick Kowal about the concert. 

As part of the second Asheville Amadeus Festival, the Asheville Symphony Chorus will hold a Mozart Requiem Sing-Along on Tuesday, March 14th at 7:30 at Asheville's First Presbyterian Church.  Michael Lancaster, conductor of the Asheville Symphony Chorus,  talked with Dick Kowal

This week, WCQS gardening expert Alison Arnold talks about the dramatic swings in temperature and what gardeners should do about it.

The fifteenth annual Asheville Fringe Arts Festival takes place January 26th thru 29th in and around Asheville, with multiple performance sites including theatres, galleries, clubs, and even the purple LaZoom bus.

Jim Julien is co-chair of the 2017 Festival, and he spoke with Dick Kowal about what's coming.

NC Stage Co. presents Jeeves In Bloom, from the stories of P.G. Wodehouse, adapted by Margaret Raether, opening Wednesday, January 25th. The production features favorites Charlie Flynn-McIver, Michael McCauley, and Scott Treadway. Charlie and Michael talked with Dick Kowal about the show.

The eighth annual Django Reinhardt birthday festival takes place Saturday, January 21st at Asheville's Grey Eagle. Who was Django Reinhardt, and why are people playing his music more than a hundred years after his birth? Jon Corbin, guitarist and organizer of the festival, talked with Dick Kowal about the legacy of the great jazz guitarist and the musicians gathering to celebrate his birthday.

The Swannanoa Solstice returns Sunday to the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville for the 14th year. Host Doug Orr and multi-instrumentalist Al Petteway brought poetry and music, joining Dick Kowal to talk about the nature of this holiday tradition.

Fire has been on the minds of many in western North Carolina over the past several weeks as wildfires swept across the region.  In her commentary this week, WCQS gardening expert Alison Arnold has some tips on how to protect the home against fires.  

Jeremy Loeb: Although the rain in recent days may ease the risk of wildfire potential across the western part of the state we aren’t out of the clear yet. It seems like a good time though to become more “fire aware”  - not only about prevention and protection but also the benefits of fire.

Asheville Ballet brings everyone's favorite holiday tradition to the Diana Wortham Theatre this weekend with shows Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon.  Director Ann Dunn talked with Dick Kowal about this family friendly classic.

The Blue Ridge Orchestra performs two concerts this weekend, 3pm Saturday at Lipinsky Auditorium on the UNC-A campus, and 3pm Sunday at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both concerts feature violinist/celtic fiddler Jamie Laval.  Jamie and Milton Crotts, director of the Blue Ridge Orchestra spoke with Dick Kowal about the concerts.

Asheville's NC Stage Company  will stage All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, opening Wednesday, December 7th and running through December 23rd. Director Charlie Flynn-McIver, cast member Michael MacCauley, and chorus member David Berkey spoke with Dick Kowal about the play.

The Asheville Symphony Chorus will host a "Sing-Along Messiah" Thursday, December 8th at First Presbyterian Church on Church Street in Asheville. Singers should arrive at 6:30; listeners at 7:30.

Director Michael Lancaster spoke with Dick Kowal about the event.

An event Monday at ISIS Restaurant and Music Hall in Asheville aims to bring together people with talent and people seeking that talent.  Talent Jam gives participants a chance to make 60 second pitches to either speak for their talent or for the talent they're seeking.  It's like a job fair, but not, explains Daniel Kairoff, creative director for the event.  Kairoff says it's a way to get people connected in a challenging job market.  He stopped by WCQS to talk about the event.  

Click the audio to hear the full interview with Kairoff.  

Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre presents The Nutcracker & the Mouse King, a contemporary dance theatre ballet based on the original story by E.T.A. Hoffman, this weekend at the Diana Wortham Theatre. Jiles Collard talked with Dick Kowal about this year's presentation.

Asheville Community Theatre presents the world premier of Tom Godleski's Snowbound, a "new mountain play with mountain music." The play includes Godleski's band, Buncombe Turnpike, and members of another popular bluegrass/old-time band, Sons of Ralph, onstage with the other 35 actors. 

Tom Godleski and director Mark Jones spoke with Dick Kowal about the play and its music.

The Asheville Choral Society, under the direction of Melodie Galloway, performs its second annual Yuletide Candlelight concert at Asheville's Trinity Episcopal Church December 2nd at 7:30 and December 3rd at 4:30.  The Choral Society will be joined by string and brass players, and the Celebration Singers, a chorus for young people.

Melodie joined Dick Kowal to talk about the program and other ACS activities in the months ahead.