OUR PEOPLE
Violin I
Concertmaster
The Annabelle Lundy Fetterman Chair
Assistant Concertmaster
The Jessie Wyatt Ethridge Chair
The Richard and Joy Cook Chair
The Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. Chair
The Tom and Mary Mac Bradshaw Chair
The Harvey At-Large Chair
The Phyllis (“Pat”) Conrad Wells Chair
The James C. Byrd and Family Chair
The J. Felix Arnold Chair
Violin II
The Nancy Finch Wallace Chair
Assistant Principal
Viola
Principal
The Florence Spinks and Charles Jacob Cate and Alma Yondorf and Sylvan Hirschberg Chair
Assistant Principal
The J. Sidney Kirk Chair
The Samuel H. and Anne Latham Johnson Chair
Cello
Anonymously Endowed
The Nell Hirschberg Chair
The William Charles Rankin Chair
The Sara Wilson Hodgkins Chair
The Secretary of Cultural Resources Betty Ray McCain Chair
Double Bass
The Mark W. McClure Foundation Chair
The Harllee H. and Pauline G. Jobe Chair
The John C. and Margaret P. Parker Chair
Flute
The Jack and Sing Boddie Chair
Piccolo
The Jean Dunn Williams Chair
Oboe
The Clarence and Alice Aycock Poe Chair
English Horn
The Bruce and Margaret King Chair
Clarinet
Bassoon
French Horn
The James Marion Poyner Chair
The Roger Colson and Bobbi Lyon Hackett Chair
The Mary Susan Kirk Fulghum Chair
Trumpet
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Anonymously Endowed
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion
Organ
The Albert and Susan Jenkins and Family Organ Chair
Library
Principal Orchestra Librarian
The Mary Colvert and Banks C. Talley Chair
Assistant Orchestra Librarian
*Acting position
**Leave of absence
Carlos Miguel Prieto, Music Director
The Maxine and Benjamin Swalin Chair
Mexican conductor and Grammy-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto started his tenure as Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony at the beginning of the 2023/24 season.
From 2007 to 2022, Prieto was Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México. In 2023 he received the Fine Arts Medal, Mexico’s highest honor for a musician. He was Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2023, where he helped lead the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and won a Grammy in 2024. In 2008, he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM), which he has led to a Latin Grammy nomination, a Grammy award, and a residence in 2024 at Bravo! Vail.
Prieto is in demand as a guest conductor for orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto; The Cleveland Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra; and the San Francisco, Houston, and New World symphonies. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2023 and led the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 2024. Recent engagements include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Spanish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Auckland Philharmonia.
Since 2002 Prieto has conducted the Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from the entire American continent—serving as Principal Conductor until 2011, when he was appointed Music Director. He has also worked with young musicians at The Juilliard School, the Colburn School, the Curtis Institute, and elsewhere, and leads the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship at OAcademy, an online conservatory bringing together teachers and students from around the world. He has also worked with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and conducted both the National Youth Orchestra-USA and NYO2 at Carnegie Hall.
Prieto has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many commissioned by him. He places equal importance on championing works by Black and African American composers such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Courtney Bryan, among others.
Prieto has an extensive discography and was recognized by Musical America as Conductor of the Year in 2019. He is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities.
Grant Llewellyn, Music Director Laureate
Grant Llewellyn served as North Carolina Symphony’s Music Director for sixteen seasons and now holds the title of Music Director Laureate.
Grant Llewellyn is renowned for his exceptional charisma, energy, and easy authority in music of all styles and periods. He concluded his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne (ONB) in 2023 after eight years.
Llewellyn’s guest engagements have included the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, among others. He has conducted widely across North America, most notably The Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Milwaukee, Montreal, St. Louis, and Toronto. During his time as Music Director of the Handel and Haydn Society, America’s leading period orchestra, Llewellyn gained a reputation as a formidable interpreter of music of the baroque and classical periods.
Notable recordings with the North Carolina Symphony include American Spectrum, featuring 20th century works with the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and Britten’s Cello Symphony and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante with the cellist Zuill Bailey. He recently recorded a disc of Lowell Liebermann’s orchestral works with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Deeply committed and passionate about engaging young people with music, Llewellyn regularly leads education and outreach projects; in 2017 he led the first ever “relaxed” BBC Prom with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, a concert specially designed for those with autism, sensory and communication impairments, and learning disabilities.
Born in Tenby, South Wales, Llewellyn won a Conducting Fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts in 1985, where he worked with Bernstein, Ozawa, Masur, and Previn.
Sophie Sze-Ki Mok, Assistant Conductor
The Lucy Moore Ruffin Chair
In November, 2024, Sophie Sze-Ki Mok began her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the North Carolina Symphony.
Sophie Sze-Ki Mok has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Asian Youth Orchestra for 2023 and 2024, where she assisted conductors Joseph Bastian and Jader Bignamini. Her recent engagements include serving as the cover conductor for five programs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra working with conductors including Marin Alsop, Jonathon Heyward, Thomas Wilkins, and Tan Dun. Previously, she was the Conducting Fellow of the Miami Symphony Orchestra as well as an Assistant Conductor of the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Mok was selected to compete in the La Maestra Conducting Competition in 2024 and was one of several finalists to compete in Riccardo Muti’s Italian Opera Academy in 2022. In 2019, she won second prize at the International Conductor’s Competition held during the Deutsches Musikfest. For six years, she served as the conductor of the Hong Kong Youth Wind Philharmonia, mentoring young musicians from elementary school through college.
Born in Hong Kong, Mok began her musical journey as an oboist. She received her bachelor’s degree in oboe performance from Hong Kong Baptist University and later furthered her studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned a master’s degree. As a conductor, she holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and an Artist Diploma in conducting from the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the tutelage of Gerard Schwarz.
North Carolina Symphony Society, Inc.
The Society Board is the governing, policy, and operating board of the Symphony Society. It secures financial resources, approves program goals, engages in strategic planning, and oversees budgets, continuing the Society’s mission to achieve the highest level of artistic quality and performance standards, and embracing the dual legacies of statewide service and music education.
Mr. Joe Bastian, Chair, Chapel Hill
Mrs. Ashley Matlock Perkinson, Vice Chair & Chair-elect, Raleigh
Mr. Terry L. Stevens, Treasurer, Raleigh
Ms. Rosemary Gill Kenyon, Secretary, Raleigh
Mr. Don Davis, Past Chair, Raleigh
Ms. Sandi M. A. Macdonald, President & CEO, Raleigh
Ms. Deborah M. Aiken, Wake Forest
Dr. Tim Altman**, Garner
Mr. Chip Anderson*, Raleigh
Ms. Stephanie Bass, Clayton
Dr. Trude R. Bate, Cary
Ms. Denise S. Bennett, Raleigh
Mr. Jud Bowman, Durham
Ms. Patty Briguglio, Raleigh
The Honorable Roy Cooper*, Raleigh
Mr. Jeffrey A. Corbett, Raleigh
Dr. Roy Cromartie, Raleigh
Mr. Courtney Crowder, Raleigh
Mr. Jim Datin, Chapel Hill
Mr. Richard L. Daugherty, Raleigh
Mr. Keith Donahue**, Raleigh
Mr. James C. Gulick**, Raleigh
Mr. David Haines, Cary
Mrs. Elaine Bryant Hayes, Fayetteville
Ms. Kristen Hess, Raleigh
Mr. Richard E. Hinson, Chapel Hill
Mr. Kevin Howell**, Raleigh
Mr. L. Dwain Joyce*, Fayetteville
Mrs. Cecelia Eckert Kennedy, Apex
Dr. Mark Leithe, Raleigh
Rev. Dr. Christie Mabry, Raleigh
Mrs. Dawn MacLaren, Raleigh
Mr. Robert MacNeill, Jr., Raleigh
Mrs. Jane Marr, Wilmington
Mr. Branford Marsalis, Durham
Mrs. Louise A. Miller, Raleigh
Ms. Margaret Millett, Raleigh
Mr. James Morgan, Raleigh
Ms. Lori O’Keefe, Wake Forest
Ms. Rebecca Quinn-Wolf, Raleigh
Dr. Ramachandra P. Reddy, Cary
Ms. Donna Rhode, Cary
Mr. Jason Smith, Raleigh
Mr. David Sontag, Chapel Hill
Mrs. Linda J. Staunch*, New Bern
Mr. M. Gray Styers, Jr., Greensboro
Ms. Sandy Sully, Cary
Ms. Alison Trapp, Chapel Hill
The Honorable Catherine Truitt*, Cary
Mr. Dereck Whittenburg, Raleigh
Secretary D. Reid Wilson*, Raleigh
Mrs. Darliene S. Woolner, Cary
*Ex Officio Member
**Governor’s Appointee
Lifetime Trustees
The Society and Foundation Boards gratefully recognize the individuals listed below as Lifetime Trustees for extraordinary involvement and leadership of the Symphony over a significant period of time.
Dr. Assad Meymandi (deceased) – 2015 Inductee
Mr. Edward O. Woolner (deceased) – 2016 Inductee
Mrs. Florence Peacock – 2022 Inductee
Dr. Wm. Charles Helton, Raleigh – 2024 Inductee
North Carolina Symphony Foundation
The Foundation Board holds the permanent endowment of the Symphony, solicits additions to the endowment, safeguards and invests assets, and prudently expends funds for the exclusive use and benefit of the Symphony Society.
Mr. Chip Anderson, President, Raleigh
Col. Matt Segal, Treasurer, Cary
Ms. Dianne C. Sellers, Secretary, Raleigh
Mr. Larry Wilson, Past President, Raleigh
Ms. Catharine Biggs Arrowood, Raleigh
Mr. Joe Bastian*, Chapel Hill
Mr. Richard L. Daugherty, Raleigh
Dr. Wm. Charles Helton, Raleigh
Mr. Bill Hodges, Raleigh
Mr. D. S. (Steve) Hodges, Durham
Dr. Ted Kunstling, Raleigh
Mr. Robert Loweth, Wilmington
Dr. Emily Mann Peck, Raleigh
Dr. Shaler Stidham, Jr., Raleigh
*Ex Officio Member
North Carolina Symphony Chapter Boards
Craven County
Linda J. Staunch, President
Nancy Alexander
M.J. Bertsch
Susan Braaten
Dr. Jim Congleton
Tahira Copeland
Philip Evancho
Hannah B. French
Dr. Dwight Grady
Cille Griffith
John Haroldson
Drew Honeycutt
Christopher McCrudden
Champ Mitchell*
Dr. Joe Overby
Luana Palimetakis
Lauren Quinn
Pat Rowlett
Karen M. Skipper
Dawn D. Staats
Cindy Turco
*deceased
Cumberland County
Mr. L. Dwain Joyce, President
Mr. Worth Smith, Vice President
Mrs. Alisa Evans Debnam
Mr. Chima Enwere
Ms. Andretta Hales
Mrs. Elaine Bryant Hayes
Ms. Andrea Kelly
Ms. Ashley Martin
Mr. Calvin Mims
Mr. Alec Powers
Edgecombe County
Eric Greene, President
Nettie Williams, Vice President
Becky Johnson, Secretary
Ann Warren, Past President
Joy Chafin
Doneva Chavis
Kerrie Clayton
Joshua Dumbleton
Ronnie Ellis
Carol Ferri
Dr. Gregory McLeod
Johanna Owens
Nina Rountree
Angie Ruffin
Katie Schultz
Theresa Scott
Dave Sharpe
Suzanne Sharpe
Jessie Thorne
Joe White
Moore County
Ginger Minichiello, President
Deb Swanson, Secretary
Luke Arno
Judy Casey
Chris Dunn*
Lydia Gill
Audrey Kessler
Marie Riedesel
Elaine Sills*
*Honorary Member
Onslow County
Earl Taylor, President
Susan Edwards, Vice-President
Lyndsay Russell, Secretary
Michelle Baker
Meredith Best
Joli Brooks
Noell Broussard
Dr. Erin Chaney
Sally Figowy
Gloria Goodwin
Carolyn Harrod
Dr. Katy Kazel
Dr. Robert Kell
Vickie Kell
Catharine Koonce
Korene Marsh
Robin Moore
Marta Oyan
Dr. Lisa Peele
Marjorie Tredwell
TRUSTEE LISTS CURRENT AS OF OCTOBER 23, 2024
President’s Office
Sandi M.A. Macdonald – President & CEO
Stephen Thompson – Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
Artistic Operations
Donald Tippett – Vice President of Orchestra Operations
Samantha Gallup – Operations Manager
Hsing-I Ho – Director of Orchestra Personnel
Zumanah Kamal – Education Coordinator
Chris Moore – Stage Manager
José Muñiz – Artistic Coordinator
Bo Osborne – Production Manager
Mary Shannon – Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Kerry Smith – Assistant Vice President of Artistic Planning
Jason Spencer – Director of Education
Taylor Troyer – Assistant Orchestra Librarian
Stephanie Wilson – Principal Orchestra Librarian (The Mary Colvert and Banks C. Talley Chair)
Finance & Administration
Robert Schiller – Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration & CFO
Carol Brown – Accounting & Payroll Manager
Tiffany Debnam – Database & Fulfillment Manager
Tiffany Haddock – Director of Human Resources & Business Systems
Doe Lee – Information Processing and Database Coordinator
Stan Williams – Public Affairs Contractor
Jan Zimmermann – Assistant Vice President of Finance
Marketing & Audience Development
Linda Charlton – Vice President for Marketing & Audience Development
Riley Adams – Box Office Associate
Jennifer Blackman – Graphic Designer
Ashley Blankenship – Senior Director of Marketing & Sales
Rebecca Doel – Digital Sales & Engagement Manager
Maria H. Ewing – Director of Advertising & Corporate Partnerships
Andrew Gouck – Assistant Box Office Manager
Arianna Gulisano – Box Office Manager
Richard Hess – Communications Project Manager
Paola Hickok – Box Office Associate
Ellie Jensen – Marketing Assistant
Graham Jones – Box Office Associate
Emma Wall – Assistant Vice President of Marketing & Sales
Keith Wood – Box Office Associate
Philanthropy
Lisa Ransom – Vice President of Philanthropy
Riley Bennett – Institutional Giving Coordinator
Rebecca Gunn – Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy
Olivia Pedigo – Annual Giving Manager
Emily Wilbourne – Leadership Giving Manager
Auditions
Concertmaster
Preliminary/Semi-final Auditions: January 26-27, 2025
Final Auditions: January 27, 2025
The audition will take place at the North Carolina Symphony’s home, Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh. All rounds will be screened except for the designated Unscreened Final Round. Musicians taking this audition should only do so with the intention of accepting the position if it is offered.
Updated 11.20.2024. Please check back frequently as repertoire list is subject to updates.
TO APPLY
Please click here to submit your application for this audition. We will be in touch with more information around the application deadline.
Applications must be received by December 1, 2024.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The 2024/25 season is 40 weeks, plus 18 optional summer services at the position per-service rate. The base salary of the North Carolina Symphony is $1,697.50/week ($69,280 annual/40 wks, including EMG and ancillary payments, excluding overscale). Benefits include 9% employer retirement contribution – 403 (b), medical, life and instrument insurance.
Intended employment to begin in the 2025-2026 season, or at the earliest mutually agreed upon date, with satisfactory USCIS employment eligibility verification at the start and throughout the duration of employment.
Section First Violin (2 Positions)
Preliminary/Semi-final Auditions: February 23-24, 2025
Final Auditions: February 25, 2025
The audition will take place at the North Carolina Symphony’s home, Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh. All rounds will be screened. Musicians taking this audition should only do so with the intention of accepting the position if it is offered.
The repertoire list can be found here when it becomes available.
TO APPLY
Please click here to submit your application for this audition. We will be in touch with more information around the application deadline.
Applications must be received by January 10, 2025.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The 2024/25 season is 40 weeks, plus 18 optional summer services at the position per-service rate. The minimum salary for section position is $1,697.50/week ($69,280 annual/40 wks, including EMG and Ancillary payments). Benefits include 9% employer retirement contribution – 403 (b), medical, life and instrument insurance.
Intended employment to begin in September 2025, or at the earliest mutually agreed upon date, with satisfactory USCIS employment eligibility verification.
Third Flute/Piccolo
Preliminary Auditions: February 16-17, 2025
Semi-final Auditions: February 17-18, 2025
Final Auditions: February 18, 2025
The audition will take place at the North Carolina Symphony’s home, Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh. All rounds will be screened. Musicians taking this audition should only do so with the intention of accepting the position if it is offered.
The repertoire list can be found here when it becomes available.
TO APPLY
Please click here to submit your application for this audition. We will be in touch with more information around the application deadline.
Applications must be received by January 10, 2025.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The 2024/25 season is 40 weeks, plus 18 optional summer services at the position per-service rate. The minimum salary for section position is $1,697.50/week ($69,280 annual/40 wks, including EMG and Ancillary payments). Benefits include 9% employer retirement contribution – 403 (b), medical, life and instrument insurance.
Intended employment to begin in September 2025, or at the earliest mutually agreed upon date, with satisfactory USCIS employment eligibility verification.
Administrative positions
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
The position is open for applications through 11/29/24.
Primary Purpose of Position:
The North Carolina Symphony is seeking a positive and team-oriented individual to join our team! The Director of Communications serves as a vital member of the North Carolina Symphony’s Marketing & Audience Development Department with primary responsibilities including strategic storytelling, social media, press outreach video production, writing email communications, and overseeing the website. The Director of Communications reports to the Vice President of Marketing & Audience Development, responsible for planning and executing robust effective internal and external communications plans to ensure the achievement of revenue, new audience growth, and patron engagement.
Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Collaborates cross-departmentally to develop stories and to support communications needs of the institution including writing, editing, proofing, and signoff.
- Achieves annual local, regional, and national goals for brand visibility through strategic championing of the NCS story, communicating the organization’s unique brand position, and securing opportunities to share key messages with internal and external stakeholders and influencers.
- Integrates storytelling through proactive involvement of internal stakeholders in education and philanthropy, with emphasis on corporate fundraising and individual donors.
- Ensures consistent adherence to key messages and branding with internal and external constituencies.
- Develops all social media content, placement, and analytics.
- Strategizes creation and deployment of video, web design, and patron electronic communications.
- Cultivates press relationships.
Position/Physical Requirements:
- This position requires some travel in North Carolina and work outside regular office hours including concerts and special events.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities / Competencies
To receive credit for your work history and credentials, you must provide the information on the application form. Any information omitted from the application form, listed as general statements, listed under the text resume section, or on an attachment will not be considered for qualifying credit.
Qualified candidates must have or be able to:
- Demonstrated experience in communications and/or public relations.
- Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook. Word).
Management Prefers:
- Demonstrated experience managing integrated social media campaigns to achieve revenue and engagement goal
manage integrated social media campaigns to achieve revenue and engagement goal. - Demonstrated knowledge of video storyboards and production.
- Demonstrated excellent attention to detail.
- Demonstrated excellent judgement and professionalism.
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements
Some state job postings say you can qualify by an “equivalent combination of education and experience.” If that language appears below, then you may qualify through EITHER years of education OR years of directly related experience, OR a combination of both. See of oshr.nc.gov/experience-guide for details.
OR
a related field from an appropriate accredited institution
AND
four years of related work experience, including two years in a supervisory
OR
managerial role;
OR
an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Supplemental and Contact Information
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is a vital and honored component of North Carolina’s cultural life. Each year, more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reach adults and schoolchildren in all 100 North Carolina counties—in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. NCS is proud to expand access to audiences around the globe through concerts and educational offerings available through the digital space.
The Symphony performs under the artistic leadership of Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto. NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, and the Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Wilmington, New Bern, and Southern Pines, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art and has presented more than 50 U.S. or world premieres in its history.
Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads one of the most extensive education programs of any symphony orchestra in the country—serving over 150,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra in-person and online Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discovery for preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.
The North Carolina Symphony gratefully acknowledges financial support from Wake County, the City of Raleigh, and the State of North Carolina.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) takes care of the things that people love about North Carolina, literally from A to Z. The Arts to the Zoo, and so much else – parks, aquariums, historic sites, archaeology, African American Heritage Commission, science and history museums, the state Symphony, Library and Archives, historic preservation, land and water stewardship, and more. These places, and the ideas they represent, create a shared identity in North Carolina. They provide common ground. Everyone is welcome. The Department’s vision is to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational, and economic future of North Carolina. Our goal is to promote equity and inclusion among our employees and our programming to reflect and celebrate our state’s diverse population, culture, and history. We encourage you to apply to become a part of our team. Check out this amazing video about our Department.
About the North Carolina Symphony
The North Carolina Symphony is an equal opportunity employer that maintains a policy of nondiscrimination with respect to all employees and applicants for employment including hiring, promotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay, selection for training, and recruitment. All considerations are administered without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or veteran status. Employment decisions, subject to the legitimate business requirements of NCS, are based solely on the individual’s qualifications, merit, experience and performance. NCS is proud to be a partner orchestra of the National Alliance for Audition Support.
THE AREA
The Symphony’s home base of Raleigh is the state’s capital, located in the Piedmont (central) region of North Carolina. Raleigh is the largest city in a 3,500-square mile metropolitan area known as the Triangle (Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill) and is among the fastest-growing cities in the US. Raleigh is located approximately 140 miles from the Appalachian highlands and 130 miles from the Atlantic Coast, making the ease of a day trip to the mountains or the beach a unique benefit of living here. Located within the area is Research Triangle Park, home to several corporate and regional headquarters: Fidelity Investments, Duke Health, IBM, Red Hat, SAS, GlaxoSmithKline, and Cisco all have large presences, to name a few.
The home of many creative and well-educated citizens, Raleigh has been lauded as a “Best City for Business and Careers” by Fortune magazine and a “Best Place to Live in America” by Money magazine. It provides its people and businesses with a world-class combination of economic vitality, low unemployment, tremendous educational opportunity, environmental quality, and exceptional quality of life. The park system offers a vast network of recreational greenway trails that connect neighborhoods, and the housing market continues to be strong compared to national averages.
Thirteen institutions of higher education provide affordable and premium educational opportunities for adult and extension classes and a well-educated citizenry of students, graduates, and faculty. The Triangle is also an area of tremendous resources where cultural and performing arts organizations thrive. Other major institutions include the North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of History, Carolina Ballet, North Carolina Opera, American Dance Festival, Ackland Art Museum, Nasher Art Museum, Marbles Kids Museum, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Morehead Planetarium, and Carolina Performing Arts at UNC-Chapel Hill. There are film, music, dance and crafts festivals, local theater groups and touring Broadway shows. Raleigh is also the current home of the IBMA World of Bluegrass Festival.
The Triangle is also a vital sports center. It is host to the NHL’s Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes, minor league baseball’s Durham Bulls, and the sports programs of ACC members Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.