Raleigh
Daniel Bernard Roumain
Stewart Theatre, NCSU CampusInspiration for music can come from deep personal experience or a burning musical phrase begging to be played. Or it can come from the fact that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day. For two weeks, Haitian-American violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain has taught workshops and played shows in the Triangle. Tonight’s performance of “Darwin’s Meditation for the People of Lincoln” concludes his visit. The 90-minute piece is a conversation among Darwin and Lincoln and the country Haiti, which was newly independent when the two contemporaries were born. Themes of liberation and loss sail the piece from tranquil sea to tumultuous storm. And DBR knows how to build up a storm, as evidenced by his Halloween appearance at Lincoln Theatre with Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band. The juxtaposition of funk with chamber orchestra keeps the music in motion. It’s calm and anxious, violent and hopeful. DBR plays in front of the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra with three other soloists, including Haitian singer Emeline Michel. The 8 p.m. show costs N.C. State students $5 and everyone else $24-$28. A preshow discussion with Daniel Bernard Roumain and Dr. Randolph Foy takes place at 6:45 p.m. in the Walnut Room. See www.ncsu.edu/centerstage. Andrew Ritchey
Durham
Miami String Quartet
Reynolds Industries Theater, Duke CampusJoseph Kalichstein, Jamie Laredo and Sharon Robinson are a rarity in the classical music world. The chamber music trio has kept the same lineup for more than 30 years, never varying as it bends classics and modern commissions to its style. Tonight, the group teams with frequent collaborators the Miami String Quartet for a program that features the recently premiered Piano Septet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and includes Boccherini’s String Quartet in E and Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major. The 8 p.m. concert costs $30 or $5 for Duke students. Visit dukeperformances.duke.edu. Margaret Hair
