If it's orchestral music you crave, the N.C. Symphony is the group to hear. It has a full season of classical and pops concerts, and while it's based in Raleigh at the Meymandi Concert Hall, it travels extensively throughout the state. The orchestra has been growing in size in recent years, and has also added regular radio broadcasts (here and here) of its performances. Internationally known Welsh conductor Grant Llewellyn is the symphony's music director.
The Raleigh Symphony Orchestra and Durham Symphony Orchestra are separate organizations that are both conducted by Alan Neilson. Their seasons have six to nine adult and children's classical performances as well as holiday and outdoor pops concerts.
The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle is under the direction of conductor Lorenzo Muti, who programs choral pieces, concertos and all-string compositions. Concerts take place at the Carolina Theatre of Durham.
The Chamber Arts Society of Durham at Duke University presents six concerts a year with top international performers.
The Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, in its 66th season, hosts internationally recognized performers. The Masters Series plays in the Fletcher Opera Theater, Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. A series at the N.C. Museum of Art features North Carolina-based musicians.
The Ciompi Quartet is a professional string quartet based at Duke. The Ciompi plays its own concerts and collaborates with other groups. Repertory includes adventurous new works, often commissioned by the quartet.
The Mallarme Chamber Players is a professional ensemble featuring various groupings of three to seven musicians drawn from a roster of 25.
The Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, based at N.C. State University, features student and community musicians under the leadership of Music Director Randolph Foy.
Opera-lovers will find a growing scene here, with three companies each covering different territory. The largest and oldest is the 10-year-old Opera Company of North Carolina, which produces at least two fully staged operas every season and other events. Most of its shows are in Raleigh at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
Long Leaf Opera, based in Chapel Hill, offers a summer festival of operas that are written in English.
The new kid on stage is Capital Opera (which doesn't have a Web site; inquiries can be made at 919-760-8237), based in Raleigh, which features affordable productions starring emerging singers.
One more option for vocal performances is the N.C. Master Chorale, which has been around since 1942. Under the direction of Alfred E. Sturgis, the ensemble specializes in choral masterworks with an orchestra and can muster a 170-voice symphonic chorus as well as a 22-voice chamber choir. Sturgis was recently a guest conductor at the New York City Ballet.
More information about classical music and opera performances is available through the Classical Voice of North Carolina online journal.
To hear classical music on the radio, listen to WCPE 89.7 FM.
