Tagged: Music

UNC-Chapel Hill music professor Richard Luby died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday. Luby was known among his colleagues and students as a charismatic teacher and a passionate musician. He joined UNC-Chapel Hill in 1979, when he was hired as a professor of violin and chamber music.

German composer Wilhelm Richard Wagner brought to audiences such operatic treasures as “Tristan and Isolde,” “Parsifal” and the “Ring” cycle. But his influence on music extended further than his mainstream popularity. He changed the way theater-goers saw opera, and his impact reverberates to the modern day. The North Carolina Opera is doing a performance of portions of his works. Host Frank Stasio talks with Timothy Myers, conductor for the opera’s upcoming performance; and Elizabeth Bishop, the lead actress.

Laurelyn Dossett's Appalachian style is well known. Music legend Levon Helm covered her song "Anna Lee" on two grammy winning projects, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops named their recent grammy nominated release after Dossett's song "Leaving Eden." Host Frank Stasio talks to her live at the UpStage Cabaret at Triad Stage about her upcoming shows, and she performs live in the studio.

At the ceremonial inauguration of President Barack Obama on Monday, January 21, James Taylor took to the stage to strum and sing an acoustic rendition of “America the Beautiful.” His performance was greeted by cheers from the crowd and a hug  from President Obama. Other musical guests at the inauguration included Kelly Clarkson and Beyoncé.  In 2011, President Obama awarded James Taylor the National Medal of Arts in a ceremony at the White House.  Taylor grew up in Chapel Hill.