Jason shares the origin story behind The Pritzker Organization (60 years of company-building expertise and over 200 transactions across industries representing ~$30B in equity value) and how those roots supported the launch of Fifty Three Stations $190M debut venture fund, details how the firm leverages its differentiated commercial ecosystem to dr…

Charlotteans Lorne Lassiter and Gary Ferraro helped found the former Mint Museum of Craft and Design in uptown. They've also donated dozens of pieces from their own collection. The exhibit "Craft Across Continents" features many of those works in glass, wood, ceramics, and textiles. On this edition of the Piedmont Arts podcast, we tour the exhibit …

Kalena Bovell, a candidate for Salisbury Symphony Music Director, will lead the orchestra in a program called "Musical Inspirations." Bovell made her professional debut as the Chicago Sinfonietta's Assistant Conductor in 2015 and has led performances at the BBC Proms and the Kennedy Center. She also recently had her opera debut at Volcano Theatre w…

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) shared news that the organization has raised more than $40 million toward a goal of $50 million for its endowment. CSO President and CEO David Fisk discusses why having a significant endowment makes the orchestra stronger, and he provides details about the vital programs the endowment campaign will enable in t…

Leo shares the origin story of why storied VC firm Susa Ventures decided to launch new fund, Humba Ventures, to invest at the intersection of deep tech and American Dynamism, details what differences are required to evaluate companies with that level of focus on deep tech, defends Humba’s thesis that deep tech is the best place to invest and build …

Charlotte's nonprofit Blumenthal Arts hosts touring Broadway shows, symphony concerts and the ballet, among other things. But it's also branching out to other kinds of events, like the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit a couple of years ago. David Boraks talks with Blumenthal Arts CEO Tom Gabbard about another big immersive exhibit coming to Charlotte and…

Paul shares the why behind a storied venture firm like General Catalyst launching a focus on Global Resilience as one of the firm’s 4 key focus areas, how the firm leverages its firm-wide global and multi-stage breadth of mandate to truly get creative in solution formation, describes a sub-segment of their thesis defined around Industrial Resilienc…

The Charlotte Shout! festival is produced by Charlotte Center City Partners and showcases Charlotte's creativity, innovation, diversity, and resilience. It includes music acts, art installations, community conversations, culinary events, and more. We talk to Rick Thurmond from Charlotte Center City Partners about the festival's importance to our cu…

Traditionally, composers have written music with a group of musicians in mind, painstakingly transcribing or notating their ideas as sheet music. But these days, many work on a computer loaded with a digital library of instruments and sounds. That’s the case for the next generation of composers in training at Davidson College. We visit with music p…

The besties get the fleet back together to discuss how the 2024 supply chain conference blitz kicked off, what's the insiders' outlook on VC funding supply chain tech despite the macro pullback in deals & dollars, where the freight market cycle sits currently (hint: still as cyclical as ever), and finally where the crystal ball outlooks are for the…

The Marriage of Figaro considered one of the greatest operas of all time, is billed as a comic opera but addresses serious themes such as tension between the social classes. Find out more about this masterpiece, and its important place in history by listening to a conversation with Dr. Scott MacLeod, associate professor of music and director of Hig…

One Voice Chorus was founded in Charlotte in 1990 to bring together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and LGBTQIA+ affirming people to celebrate their lives through song. Since that time the chorus has grown in membership from 25 to more than 90 singers. Executive Director Micah Deer fills us in on the organization's history, purpose, and progra…

Thorgy Thor, a classically trained musician who first came to national prominence on the television series RuPaul’s Drag Race , is the guest on this episode of Piedmont Arts. After a recent appearance at Davidson College, she spoke to us about how she developed the concert program Thorgy and the Thorchestra which has been performed with orchestras …

The Salisbury Symphony is auditioning candidates for music director. Michelle Di Russo, a candidate for the position, will conduct their "Enchanting Sounds" concert in Keppel Auditorium. She'll lead a program of music by Piazzola, Saint-Saens, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Di Russo is from Argentina, and currently the Associate Conductor in her second seaso…

Each year, Charlotte Master Chorale presents a "Unity Concert" with the goal of building bridges in the community through the shared experience of choral music. This year's concert is called "Unity: Earth" and is Saturday, March 9 at 4pm at First United Methodist Church in Charlotte. The ensemble will perform the North Carolina premiere of Jake Run…

Anna explains the origin story of why PepsiCo decided to launch Labs and how those efforts for a global CPG company tie into the digital industrial ecosystem, details how the Labs team programmatically both identifies and collaborates with startups to drive a win/win for Pepsi business units and the startups (hint: Labs acts a single point of conta…

One of the most extraordinary figures in American classical music is someone you may never have heard of. Mary Cardwell Dawson, born in 1894 in Madison, NC, was a musician, teacher, and founding director of the National Negro Opera Company, the longest-running, all-Black opera company which helped launch the careers of many singers. Now her story i…

Research suggests there are significant neurological and academic benefits to children who learn to play a musical instrument. However, most school systems wait until 6th grade to offer band or orchestra programs, and many kids simply do not have access to instrumental instruction until it's offered at school. Cornelius Youth Orchestras wants to ch…

Burnt Reeds is a reed quintet of local professional instrumentalists. Their concert called "Homegrown Melodies" features newly commissioned works by local composers. It's a project that brings together not only composers but also music producers, local independent mixed media artists, and of course musicians -- from a variety of backgrounds. Three …

The Charlotte Master Chorale's Chamber Singers will present concerts called "Art & Science" at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlotte and Davidson College Presbyterian Church in Davidson. The centerpiece of the concerts is a multi-media symphony, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci , by composer Jocelyn Hagen. The work uses the latest video syncing te…

Maggie shares the origin story of why she launched an industrial tech venture firm in America’s heartland, details how she builds a competitive advantage leveraging a six-state Midwest region of industrial stakeholders to drive value for her portfolio, explains why sector-focused emerging managers play a critical role behind this industrial tech th…

The inaugural Black Notes Project Music Festival makes it debut at Charlotte's Knight Theater. The two-day festival celebrates and amplifies Black music and artistry and will honor the classical orchestral tradition while situating it alongside contemporary musical innovation. Nationally known artists such as harpist Brandee Younger and opera singe…

North Carolina Baroque Orchestra will perform concerts called "Splendid Music from the Time of King George III and Queen Charlotte" in locations across the Charlotte region. The program includes works by Chevalier de Saint Georges, Handel, Mozart, Avison, and others. Frances Blaker, the ensemble's artistic director and conductor, explains how the c…

Matt outlines why Stifel (~$7B market cap + 8,000 employees) expanded its venture banking group in 2023 to further support the innovation economy, dusts off his crystal ball to describe where the venture market is headed in 2024 and how that macro outlook will play into the digital industrial sectors, shares a ‘then & now’ look on how the digital i…

The Metropolitan Opera's Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition has auditions across the country. The competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist the development of their careers. The North Carolina District holds auditions and approximately 25 singers will compete to move on to Regionals in Atlanta. The event is op…

Chris describes both the why behind Trimble standing up a corporate venture capital (CVC) strategy and what he means by Trimble Ventures being an “and” within the company’s innovation efforts, details how the CVC platform aims to accelerate growth and drive value for its portfolio companies (hint: aligns to corporate objectives to Connect & Scale),…

After a search that has lasted more than two years, the Charlotte Symphony has announced their next Music Director: Kwamé Ryan. Originally from Trinidad, Ryan has an impressive resume and has worked around the globe. He was General Music Director of the Freiburg Opera from 1999 to 2003 and Musical and Artistic Director of the National Orchestra of …

Caritas a Cappella ensemble presents a concert of Christmas and holiday music in Charlotte. The set will include settings of familiar carols as well as beautiful motets written by modern and Renaissance composers. And this time, the ensemble will be led by their new artistic director, Dr. Jeremy Mims. By day, Jeremy is Associate Professor and Direc…

Vijen details both what he defines as un-sexy industries and why he cares about driving innovation into the 81% of the US GDP underserved by VC, outlines how he activates a differentiated network of founders who’ve built in un-sexy industries to drive value for his firm, describes the founders fund ethos he instills into his VC firm by leveraging h…

The Charlotte Civic Orchestra presents its annual Christmas Extravaganza at the Halton Theater at CPCC’s Uptown Campus. The program features a sixty-piece orchestra, performances by the Charlotte Youth Ballet and Diamond Elite Dancers, the Holiday Singers, and soloists, plus the combined choirs of the Marvin Ridge and Porter Ridge High Schools. Dr.…

Composer, pianist, and social justice activist Margaret Bonds is one of the twentieth century's more remarkable American artists, and her reputation is growing in stature among twenty-first century music lovers. There's a terrific opportunity to learn more about this remarkable woman and her music when Queens University hosts the Margaret Bonds Sym…

Emily shares a macro outlook on the growth stage ecosystem aligned to sectors in industrial tech, mobility, buildings, and energy, discusses lessons learned investing in these sectors for both software and hardware-enabled software (“bits meet atoms”) business models, and outlines how The Westly Group approaches climate tech investing as its evolve…

Marianne outlines what Climate Tech means to Congruent, shares how her unique industrial innovation background has shaped her own outlook on this topic (hint: all industrial tech companies are climate tech companies), gives us an outlook on how far along we are in the digital industrial adoption curve and what she sees ahead, describes how both har…

Piedmont Opera in Winston-Salem is opening their new season with Verdi's Il Trovatore and they're welcoming home Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Tichina Vaughn. Vaughn was raised in Winston-Salem, and she is a graduate of UNC School of the Arts. After getting her start with the Metropolitan Opera, she went on to international acclaim performing many y…

In the month of October, Davidson College will present several great concerts. Renowned vocal group Stile Antico performs a program celebrating William Byrd. And the Amerigo Trio, whose members are all internationally acclaimed musicians, is in concert. And later in the month, Davidson faculty members will present a benefit tribute to Burt Bacharac…

The Charlotte Master Chorale comes to the Cain Center in Cornelius and Queens University in Charlotte respectively this fall. The theme of the concerts is freedom and oppression across communities and features the North Carolina premiere of R. Nathaniel Dett's The Ordering of Mose s as well as Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. Dr. Marques L.A. Garrett…

Ryan shares how a 120 year old manufacturing trade association remains out in front driving technology innovation forward in the industry and why AMT launched a Tech Lab in Silicon Valley to support that, discusses what “The State of US Manuf.” currently is, defines how the industry has more of an adoption hurdle than we do an innovation hurdle, ou…

Heartland Baroque is an ensemble specializing in music of the 17th and 18th centuries. They perform regularly in our region and will give a concert at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Davidson. Violinist Martie Perry is founder and artistic director of Heartland Baroque. She explains how Heartland Baroque's historically informed performances provide…

Scott shares why he decided to transition into advising and angel investing in builtworld startups after selling his company to Procore in 2021, details the value he hopes to bring from an operator-to-operator perspective (hint: 3 horizons of vision setting), advises what he thinks the state of ConTech currently is now vs. what has been maturing ov…

Charlotte Ballet is gearing up for the 2023-2024 season which will be the first one fully curated by artistic director Alejandro Cerrudo. Several world premieres by notable choreographers are highlights, and the season kicks off with a performance in Toronto, the first time since 1981 Charlotte Ballet is traveling abroad. Cerrudo describes some of …

Tom shares how a coral reef led to the genesis of At One Ventures launch, defines what “Net Positive” investing means within the current climate tech landscape, outlines At One’s physics fundamentals approach (matter, time, energy, and space) to screening deep tech innovation that in-turn has the potential to upend the unit economics of established…

The Rock Hill Symphony welcomes a new music director this season -- Christopher James Lees. Lees is already known to the area's classical audiences through his work as the Charlotte Symphony's Resident Conductor. Now he's poised to lead the region's newest orchestra in its next chapter. Lees talks about the symphony's future aspirations and their f…

In the coming year, the Salisbury Symphony will be looking for a new music director. One of their candidates, Peter Askim, will lead the first concert of the season at Catawba College. Askim is on the faculty at N.C. State University, leads the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, and is a composer and bassist as well as a conductor. He ta…

Nate defines how he thinks about “deeptech”, outlines what the current state of venture investing is in the category (tip: deeptech does not have to be capital intensive!), shares how their firm gets comfortable investing ahead of the curve in deeptech categories that may not currently have mature exit environments and/or comps to benchmark, and wr…

Brian shares the REFASHIOND thesis behind the need to refashion the global supply chain, why he believes that “supply chain innovation is the foundation on which all sustainability initiatives must rest”, details how the current venture activity level in supply chain isn’t representative of the sector’s accelerated operational need for innovation, …

Rick discusses the advantages of having a prepared mind in the 5 key sectors Equal Ventures focuses on, shares a review and look-ahead for the supply chain sector, defines what “Climate Tech” is and how it squarely aligns to the digital industrial ecosystem, and outlines what an Emerging Manager is and how critical it is for an Emerging Manager to …

Esteban shares how he defines “underserved” economic sectors, why he created the fund to back those founders who are redefining those overlooked industries, what specifically he is looking to evaluate at the earliest stages of investment, what the unique aspects of investing in underserved LATAM sectors are, and he shares his current outlook on wha…

The Winston-Salem Symphony recently announced their new music director -- Michelle Merrill. Merrill served four years with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as assistant then associate conductor under Leonard Slatkin. She will be the Winston-Salem Symphony's first female music director and the only woman to lead a professional orchestra in the Carolin…

Opera Carolina is going international this summer through a new partnership with International Lyric Academy. More than 100 opera singers and musicians from across the globe have arrived in the Queen City for three weeks of immersive mentorship, followed by two weeks in Vicenza, Italy. Part of the experience is a summer festival of free and tickete…

Alex breaks down the definition of a B2B distributor and the critical role they play in the industrial supply chain ($8T in spend flows through them!), outlines why he believes in working with distributors directly to support their digital journeys as opposed to innovating around them, discusses his playbook “The S Curve of B2B Unbundling” on how t…