Welcome to the Observer’s Fall Arts guide, a new season of big events and big changes
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Charlotte Observer Fall Arts Guide 2022
Returning favorites and big new shows and events are on tap this season for local arts and culture organizations. Meanwhile, several major groups find themselves at a crossroads now. We have it all covered for you.
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Welcome friends, to The Charlotte Observer’s annual Fall Arts Guide for the 2022-23 season, and boy is there a lot of ground to cover.
It’s a season of change for some of our most prominent arts groups.
Charlotte Ballet welcomes a new artistic director, Alejandro Cerrudo. He followed his sister’s footsteps — literally — into the world of dance while growing up in Madrid. Cerrudo told us he wants to enhance Charlotte Ballet’s mission of diversity and access, on stage and off.
The Levine Museum of the New South is seeking a replacement for CEO Kathryn Hill, who is retiring. That’s happening after the Levine sold its uptown building and moved into smaller space nearby. The museum’s focusing on growing its digital presence to help expand its audience.
And the Charlotte Symphony is searching for a music director for the first time in a dozen years, someone to replace Christopher Warren-Green.
In its 90-year history, 11 white men have served as the orchestra’s maestro. But as the symphony continues to embrace and foster diversity, will the next maestro be different than those who previously wielded the conductor’s baton? We check in on the search, and what’s going on nationally with diversity in classical music.
Local favorites and international flair
As for the shows, performances, exhibitions and events this season, you won’t have to wait long for one of the biggest.
Blumenthal Performing Arts’ inaugural Charlotte International Arts Festival runs for 17 days all over the city, from Sept. 16 to Oct. 2.
The festival packs in more than 200 events, such as the return of “I Am Queen: Charlotte,” a show lifting up the true stories of Black women in Charlotte. And the aforementioned Charlotte Symphony will participate in the world premiere performance tied to David Bowie’s final album, “Blackstar.”
The international flair comes in a variety of forms and flavors.
There’s an inflatable sculpture with a series of tunnels designed to be a sensory experience of light, color and sound, created by Architects of Air from merry old England. Russian guitarists, an Egyptian political satirist and Dutch street theater are among the many, many, many other attractions.
Top shows and hidden gems
We also check in with some museum leaders about the shows and hidden gems that are getting them excited. You can hit the Bechtler starting this weekend if you’re in the mood for Warhol or Basquiat paintings.
Sci-fi fans should be sure to beam over to Discovery Place in November for the “Science Fiction Science Future” traveling exhibition.
At the Gantt, a new gem is the “Earth Keeper” mural by local artist Georgie Nakima. OK, this one’s not quite hidden since it sits above the museum’s grand lobby.
And we asked similar questions from performing arts groups about tips for can’t-miss shows and actors/singers/dancers to watch. So keep an eye out in January for the return of the classic “Porgy & Bess” by Opera Carolina after a 20-year absence.
Finally, Theatre Charlotte is just grateful to have a building to call home again, following a fire that gutted its theater in late 2020. The first production back in the building, appropriately, is “Misery,” in November.
Our stories are all online now. Half of them also will appear in print Friday, and the rest will be in Sunday’s paper. And now, on with the show. Err, stories. We hope you enjoy them.
More arts coverage
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This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
