Sights and Sounds features the finest ensembles from throughout North Carolina and beyond, performing diverse programs that complement art in the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions. Concerts range from the baroque to the modern, and include the first-time appearance by the renowned Juilliard String Quartet and a silent film screening with live accompaniment by the Mallarmé Chamber Players. The series is no longer limited to Sundays, and ticket prices will vary.

Performances take place in the SECU Auditorium in the Museum’s East Building. S

Acclaimed pianist Lara Downes presents a program of Leonard Bernstein’s Anniversaries for Piano along with 20 newly commissioned Anniversaries in celebration of the centennial of the composer’s birth. Downes is accompanied by Bernstein’s son Alexander, who narrates the program.

Not included in season ticket. No docent-led tour available for this performance.

The popular Durham-based Mallarmé Chamber Players accompany a special screening the classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Included in season ticket. No docent-led tour available for this performance.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

(1920) Directed by Robert Wiene. Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover.

Dr. Caligari exhibits a ghostly sleepwalker in a carnival, just as a series of terrifying murders erupts. The stark expressionism of the twisted alleys and jagged buildings haunts this pioneering horror film, both a world cinema landmark and a menacing foreshadowing of World War II.

“The most famous and influential work of the German expressionist cinema”—Chicago Reader.

The world-renowned Juilliard String Quartet, widely known as the quintessential American string quartet, performs a concert featuring the music of Haydn, Dvorak, and Bartok. When the quartet first toured outside of New York City in the 1940s, it made Raleigh an early stop. Don’t miss the return of this iconic ensemble.

Not included in season ticket. No docent-led tour available for this performance.

UNC–Greensboro faculty members Donald Hartman, Clara O’Brien, and Jim Douglass perform Mahler’s epic song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn). A collection of songs about soldiers, spirits, and love, Wunderhorn demonstrates the master composer’s ability to interpret German folk tales with stirring musical imagery.

Hartman and O’Brien translate the piece from solo voice to dramatic duet, creating an intense theatrical and musical dialogue between two performers and piano accompanist (Douglass).

Included in season ticket.

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance

Isosceles is an exciting new string quartet commissioned by Chamber Music Raleigh and organized by Jacqueline Wolborsky, associate principal second violin of the North Carolina Symphony, and featuring all North Carolina Symphony musicians. The ensemble aims to push the boundaries of traditional chamber music performance, embracing an edgier and adventuresome aesthetic. A highlight of the program is the regional premiere of a work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. Works by Beethoven and Bartok are also featured.

Included in season ticket.

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance.

Master flutist Nicolas Duchamp and Wilmington-based pianist Barbara McKenzie present music from the founders of the Paris Conservatory French school of flute playing and demonstrate its influence on American composer Aaron Copland.

Duchamp, currently living in Durham, for many years was principal flutist for the National Opéra-Comique in Paris. He has toured extensively in his native France and throughout Europe, North America, and Japan. McKenzie is a prize-winning pianist who has toured and taught around the world. She is artistic director for Chamber Music Wilmington.

Included in season ticket.

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance.

Among the most exciting and innovative chamber music ensembles on the scene today, American Chamber Players was formed in 1985 by NPR Morning Edition correspondent Miles Hoffman from a core group of artists from the Library of Congress Summer Chamber Festival. The ensemble presents a concert featuring newly commissioned American works and works by Mahler, Brahms, and Bach.

Not included in season ticket. No docent-led tour available for this performance.

The woodwind quintet Symphony Winds performs the music of Czech composer Leoš Janáček and North Carolina composer Charles Delaney. Called “a hidden treasure” by the Independent Weekly, the ensemble comprises members of the North Carolina Symphony and has been enthralling audiences across the state with its superb musicianship.

Included in season ticket.

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance.

The viol da gamba resembles a violin, sounds like a viola, and is played like a cello. Viol consorts are traditionally early music chamber ensembles that feature the viol de gamba and other period instruments. The North Carolina Viol Consort, newly formed by renowned viol da gamba expert and UNC–Chapel Hill faculty member Brent Wissick at the request of Chamber Music Raleigh, makes its public debut with an immersive concert of baroque music.

Included in season ticket.

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance.

Tickets

Tickets for individual concerts may be purchased on the day of the concert or in advance at ncartmuseum.org or through the Box Office at (919) 715-5923.

Season tickets are available for the six North Carolina–based performances:
$54 NCMA members, youth 7–18, college students with ID
$72 All others

Please call the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, for details.

Docent-led Tours

Docent-led tours of featured works of art are offered before some concerts at 12:45 pm. Please make reservations for the tour by calling the Box Office, (919) 715-5923, at least one week in advance.