North Carolina Symphony to Perform Stirring Civil War Program on Thursday, Oct. 30

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The North Carolina Symphony will perform "Battle Hymn of the Republic: Words and Music From the Civil War," a special concert that combines music and history Thursday, Oct. 30, at 10:30 a.m., at Meymandi Concert Hall. Associate Conductor David Glover, along with special guests Dr. Kevin Cherry of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, tenor Scott MacLeod and Civil War re-enactors, will lead the audience on a journey through the Civil War era with music, letters and historical information.

Tickets to the concert are $5 and are on sale now. Tickets are available online at www.ncsymphony.org or by calling the North Carolina Symphony Box Office at (919) 733-2750.

Musical selections include "The Battle Cry of Freedom," Copland's Lincoln Portrait, narrated by Dr. Cherry; "Oh Susannah," "Old Dan Tucker," and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," performed by MacLeod, as well as stirring renditions of "Ashokan Farewell," also known as the theme to Ken Burns' PBS series "The Civil War," and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Letters from Civil War soldiers will be read from the stage, and artifacts from the North Carolina Office of Archives and History will be available for viewing in the lobby prior to and after the concert. North Carolina's commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which is sponsored by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, continues through 2015. North Carolina has a number of key Civil War sites, including Durham's Bennett Place State Historic Site, which was the location of the largest troop surrender of the Civil War. 

Dr. Kevin Cherry is the deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Dr. Cherry has several North Carolina connections. He served as a consultant for special collections for the State Library of North Carolina. He also created one of the largest cultural heritage repositories ever undertaken in North Carolina - the N.C. Exploring Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO) project. He has worked in Rowan County, at UNC-Chapel Hill, and taught at East Carolina University.

Scott MacLeod has appeared in a variety of venues both nationally and abroad, including Opera Omaha, Central City Opera, Opera North, Utah Festival Opera, Mobile Opera, Duluth Festival Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Greensboro Opera, Long Leaf Opera, Opera on the James, the Tucson Symphony and National Symphony of Costa Rica. He made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the New York Chamber Orchestra in 2009. Recent performances include Lee Hyla's Wilson's Ivory Bill with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Messiah with the Greensboro Oratorio Society and the debut performance of "The Persistence of Smoke" with the Duke University Encounters new music series.