HELPING to bring in the Christmas season, the Charleston Concert Association presented Tuesday evening December 12 the Boston Brass and the Brass All-Stars Big Band in a rollicking concert “Christmas Bells Are Swingin’!” to an enthusiastic audience at Gaillard Auditorium. The Boston Brass is made up of five players from all over the map.... Read »

ACTORS’ THEATRE of South Carolina and Chamber Music Charleston will again present their delightful mix of superb music and acting to the Dock Street Theatre on December 22 and 23 with a return production of “The Gift of the Magi” based on the story by O. Henry. The famous storyteller, O. Henry, drops into... Read »

SATURDAY NIGHT WAS THREE Christmas concerts in one: a healthy dose of choral music, a little foot-stomping fiddlin’, and an Irish-music ensemble featuring a guitarist, singer, and songwriter—all under the creative hand of Robert Taylor in “Now We Sing of Christmas” at the Cathedral of St. Luke andSt. Paul. As usual with the Dr.... Read »

THE BEAUX ARTS TRIO, perhaps the most heralded trio in the world, was cofounded by pianist Menahem Pressler who will grace the Sottile stage as a soloist next Wednesday, December 14 in the third concert of this year’s International Piano Series. With Mr. Pressler as the Trio’s only pianist for nearly 55 years, the... Read »

HERE IS NOT just another recording of a Christmas music collection. Local conductor Robert Taylor is one of those gifted musicians whose imagination and musical skills has brought together a talented group of singers and instrumentalists who bring life and joy in a classical and Celtic fashion to this mix of traditional and rarely... Read »

THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON Young Artists Concert is a little bit like attending a wine tasting where there are multiple selections in small quantities, some of which you cannot make a definitive conclusion about, and some you wish you could taste more of—but, alas, no. That was my experience last Monday, November 21 at... Read »

OF ALL THE College of Charleston concerts that take place on the Simons Center Recital Hall stage (and there a lot of them), my favorite may be Charleston Music Fest. The core group of violinist Lee-Chin Siow, cellist Natalia Khoma (co-founders of Chas Music Fest), and pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky are as skilled and dynamic... Read »

A DRAMA that smoothly incorporates lots and lots of humor—the laugh-out-loud kind—is difficult to write, direct and act. The Tony-nominated “Next Fall” by Geoffrey Nauffts is just that, a deadly serious piece that maintains a tone not at all serious, except when it needs to. That is its strength and its power. PURE Theatre’s... Read »

YES, IT’s ABOUT THE MUSIC, but it is also about so much more. It’s about how the composers’ lives divine their works, how eight little notes yield endless variety, how precious listening promotes well being, and how fine music sets the tone for mingling—as it did for us in the Dock Street Theatre courtyard... Read »

THE CHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’s 76th year of Masterworks concerts opened Saturday, November 12, with two Romantic era works. Shuffling onto the stage of Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, Emanuel Ax, one of the world’s foremost keyboard giants, performed flawlessly Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73,” better known as the “Emperor,”... Read »