The Arts Council of Moore County's ARTours program travels to the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) on May 17 to hear jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, and to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., May 28 through June 1.

Chris Botti, who has captured the imagination of so many music lovers the world over, will perform with the North Carolina Symphony for the DPAC concert. Botti has built a significant following in the Triangle, performing four times at the Carolina Theatre since 2008.

Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD, "When I Fall In Love," Botti has had four No. 1 jazz albums as well as multiple gold, platinum and Grammy Awards. Over the past three decades, he has performed with some of the best in music, including Frank Sinatra, Sting, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli and Joshua Bell.

The cost of the Chris Botti ARTour is $146 for Arts Council members and $168 for nonmembers. The price includes round-trip bus transportation, dinner at the Washington Duke Inn and a driver gratuity.

ARTours to the Spoleto Festival can always be counted on to provide an impressive lineup of events for all art lovers. This year's trip is no different as travelers will enjoy three chamber music concerts led by Geoff Nuttal of the St. Lawrence String Quartet; a performance by the Corella Ballet, one of Europe's most exhilarating dance troupes; Mozart's "The Magic Flute," featuring bass-baritone Ruben Drole as Papageno and soprano Audrey Luna as the Queen of the Night - a role in which she recently debuted at the Metropolitan Opera; a production of "The Red Shoes," a luscious retelling of an Anderson classic fairy tale; and a performance by one of jazz's pre-eminent vocalists, Dianne Reeves.

In addition, Spoleto travelers will enjoy tours of Drayton Hall, a National Trust historic site and America's oldest plantation hall open to the public, and Middleton Place, a carefully preserved plantation with some of America's oldest landscaped gardens.

The cost of the ARTour to the Spoleto Festival is $1,350 per person, double occupancy, and $1,750 for single occupancy. The price includes round-trip bus transport; four nights at the Mills House in Charleston's historic district; four breakfasts; one picnic lunch; dinners at two of Charleston's renowned Lowcountry restaurants; tickets and entry fees to the events described above; and porterage. Meals not listed above, alcoholic beverages, bus driver tip and taxis as required are not included.

For more information about the Botti and Spoleto ARTours, call Arts Council ARTour director Katherine MacRae at (910) 692-2787.