UNC has a good music program. Not quite what I'd expect from a highly-ranked state school, but I'm from Texas.

Duke's performance department is nonexistant; there are no graduate programs in music performance. It's pretty great what the (we) students can accomplish given the lack of administrative support, but in the end the campus ensembles are pretty pedestrian especially if you're used to Oberlin. (That doesn't mean you shouldn't come hear them anyway -- my brass sections kick ass :judge:) One exception: the Duke Jazz Ensemble gets amazing guest performers. I'm set to jam with Herbie Hancock, T.S. Monk, Branford Marsalis, etc. and that's just this year.

The Duke Union and/or the Dept of Major Attractions do bring in top-notch performing groups. I know last year we got the Tokyo String Quartet, some other famous people I don't remember...check the online calendar.

The NC Symphony (Raleigh, ~25 minutes) is quite good, though I always end up going for strange reasons. The last time I visited the concert hall was as a free guest of PBS who wanted to be able to zoom in on a section of the crowd to show that "real students" were in attendance; the last time I went to an informal performance was to hear a Brass God (Arturo) while eating KFC and drinking beer with my friends.

There are a couple area opera companies, but probably not worth your time. Ditto the Durham Symphony, various community bands, etc.

WCPE is one of my favorite classical stations I've come across. I have some beefs with them, but merely adjust my listening time accordingly (they play their best stuff in the middle of the night for some reason...remind me to invent a radio-tivo...and for the love of God don't listen to the Saturday-night or last-Friday request programs...). I'm not as intimately involved with their production as with KPAC back home, but I do know a couple broadcasters well enough to know that they know their shit and aren't just hitting Google before each announcement.

If you ever branch into non-classical music, RDU is the shit. Raleigh and Chapel Hill / Carrboro both have several live music venues that book local and traveling talent virtually every night. Some big-name artists come through occasionally, usually via the Duke Union, but frankly they're swamped in every way by the indies.

The college radio scene is rockin', totalling 7 non-commercial stations whose DJs aren't afraid to play whatever shit they feel like, the only similarity being their propensity to pimp upcoming bookings at the bar they're closest to. On at least 3 of those stations, you never know whether you'll hear the latest trance EP, or some crazy funk-fusion, or death metal, or acoustic singer/songwriters, or...

They're hip to technology, too -- WXYC was the first station in the country to broadcast online. UNC's Telia, which you may know from SourceForge, has helped at least a couple more of these stations establish a wealth of streaming formats, including Ogg.

When I worked out of my car everyday, I'd actually give a couple of the "black" stations (i.e. one carried Tavis Smiley, the other was hosted at Shaw U.) their fair share of hours, since their hosts knew way way more about sports and jazz, respectively, than the average radio hacks. And I don't even like sports radio.


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