WCQS

WCQS is the public radio voice of western North Carolina, broadcasting out of Asheville to a region that takes its culture seriously. Daytime runs NPR news and talk: headlines, long interviews, and the pledge drives everyone grumbles about but nobody turns off. Then the evenings open up. That's when the classical programming takes over, and it's genuinely good. Chamber works, orchestral recordings, modern composers who get almost no airtime anywhere else. You'll hear Caroline Shaw or Missy Mazzoli next to a Bach cello suite, which says plenty about the regional taste. It's not slick. That's th…