Classical Classroom
292 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 455 ratingsThere is a rumor going around that classical music is hoity toity. At Classical Classroom, we beg to differ. Come learn with classical music newbie Dacia Clay and the music experts she invites into the Classical Classroom.
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Episodes
Classical Classroom, Episode 152: Emerson String Quartet. 40.
December 12, 2016 23:27 - 26 minutes - 43.7 MBAs of 2016, the Emerson String Quartethas been around for 40 years. For comparison, here is a brief list of other awesome things that have been around for 40 years: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Muppet Show, the movie Rocky, the Blues Brothers, Big Red Gum, the game Whack-a-Mole, VHS tapes, and the Ramones’ debut album. In this episode, Emerson violinist Eugene Drucker talks about what it means to play for that long with the same musicians, about what has changed over the years, and about Emerso...
Classical Classroom, Episode 151: Band Of Outsiders – Jason Vieaux And Julien Labro
December 05, 2016 21:18 - 21 minutes - 35.9 MBJason Vieaux and Julien Labro both play instruments that have had historically complex relationships to classical music. Even today, the classical guitar and the bandoneon are a little unorthodox in that world. Maybe that’s why Jason and Julien – and their instruments – are such an obvious fit together. Without easy paths to follow, they’ve made their own and they’ve subsequently both become uniquely musically versatile. They’re also both brood-y and wear sunglasses at night (one imagines). ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 29: RERUN - The Intimate Conversation Of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, With Wesley Horner
November 28, 2016 22:35 - 23 minutes - 39.3 MBImmortality might be writing a piece of music that is so cool, so archetypal, that hundreds of years later, it’s still used in media that its creator never could have imagined existing. Case in point, Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, which was used to amazing effect in the dystopian world of the Emmy award-winning USA Network show, Mr. Robot. Or Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, recently used in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This old gold episode from the Classical Classroom vault, featuring independ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 150: Sportsing With Tchaikovsky – Jennifer Koh
November 21, 2016 21:59 - 21 minutes - 35.7 MBHoly 150th episode, Batman! Because we are so stoked to have reached this milestone, we bring you not one, but two treats: A new Classical Classroom show intro, and the comedic stylings of violinist Jennifer Koh. Jennifer was Musical America’s Instrumentalist of 2016 and recently put out an album of Tchaikovsky’s complete works for violin and orchestra. Some of Tchaikovsky’s pieces are commonly referred to as, “…the most daunting works in the violin repertoire.” Jennifer explains why a compo...
Classical Classroom, Episode 149: Beethoven In A Nutshell, With The Cypress String Quartet
November 14, 2016 21:58 - 20 minutes - 33.6 MBBefore you get all excited, no: the Cypress String Quartet has not reunited. It’s just that we at Classical Classroom have been so busy that we’re a wee bit behind the times. By like…5 months-ish. This episode was originally recorded back in June of 2016, 3 days before the quartet’s last performance after 20 years together, and just after the release of their CD Beethoven: The Early String Quartets. CST members Jennifer Kloetzel (cello) and Tom Stone (violin) talk about how Beethoven’s music...
Classical Classroom, Episode 148: The Magic Of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, With Houston Youth Symphony
November 07, 2016 23:35 - 33 minutes - 54.9 MBLearn about not one, but TWO amazing things in this episode: The Houston Youth Symphony, an organization that’s been making music an important part of young peoples’ lives for 70 years, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” the symphonic poem written by the French composer Paul Dukas that Walt Disney brought to the masses in the movie Fantasia. Michael Webster, artistic director and conductor of the Houston Youth Symphony, and HYS bassoonist Derek Marcum play examples and take us through th...
Classical Classroom, Episode 147: Happy Birthday Ned Rorem! With Daron Hagen
October 31, 2016 22:13 - 38 minutes - 63.3 MBComposer Ned Rorem turned 93 on October 23rd. In honor of Rorem and his amazing career, composer Daron Hagen, Rorem’s friend and former student, teaches a crash course in the music and life of Ned Rorem. Hear how his music has evolved over time, and about the life events that have precipitated creative growth and change. The amount of ground-breaking that Rorem has done in his life, both socially and creatively, is frankly more than one podcast can contain. But we give it our best shot anywa...
Classical Classroom, Episode 146: Get Out The Note! Politics In Music With Victoria Bond
October 24, 2016 22:47 - 38 minutes - 63.3 MBWaaaay back in episode 102, composer and conductor Victoria Bond taught us about the first woman to run for the U.S. presidency, about whom Bond wrote the opera Mrs. President. On this, the first day of early voting for the U.S.’s 2016 election, Bond is back to teach about what turns out to be a tradition in classical music: music based on true political events. Learn about the pieces throughout history that are… about history, go vote, and then learn about the upcoming performance of Bond’s...
Classical Classroom, Episode 66: RERUN - When Classical Music Strikes, With Pierre Jalbert
October 17, 2016 22:42 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBProducer Todd has been wandering around somewhere in the woods for the past week. We think he’s found his way out, but while he readjusts to civilization, please enjoy this episode from the Classical Classroom vault! ——————————————————————– “You gotta hear this one song. It’ll change your life.” – Pierre Jalbert to me*. Have you ever heard a piece of music that truly moved you? Has a piece of music actually changed the course of your life? Ravel and George Crumb wrote pieces of music t...
Classical Classroom, Episode 145: Cartoon Classical Confidential With Richard Scerbo
October 10, 2016 22:21 - 32 minutes - 53.4 MBThis is serious, people. Classical music has a long and meaningful history in cartoons that is no laughing matter. Just kidding! There is a really long history, but it is hilarious, and so is this episode. Richard Scerbo, Director of the National Orchestral Institute and Festival and founder and artistic director of the DC-based and Grammy-nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra, takes us on a tour of that history. Find out the practical, social, and financial reasons behind Looney Tunes use of ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 144: Britten’s Herring With Isaiah Bell And Chris Mayell
October 03, 2016 22:58 - 58 minutes - 95.5 MBIn an epic Classical Classroom, tenors Isaiah Bell and Chris Mayell (who, among many other things, co-host the Overthought podcast) walk through the entirety of Benjamin Britten’s opera, Albert Herring. It is an incredible journey, not for the faint of heart, nor for the anti-Canadian. Discussed: townies, queer theory vs. non-queer theory interpretations of the opera, Sid and Nancy (no – not them – the other Sid and Nancy), and Ron Swanson. Music in this episode (all from Naxos and Decca ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 143: Electro-Acoustic Chamber Music With The Living Earth Show
September 26, 2016 21:34 - 40 minutes - 66.4 MBFun fact: "Gilmore Girls" scripts are almost twice as long as other TV shows of comparable length. In this regard, this is the "Gilmore Girls" of "Classical Classroom" episodes. Andy Meyerson and Travis Andrews of the Living Earth Show teach all about electro-acoustic chamber music, sure, but they do a lot more. In addition to talking about the composers and works they commission, and about experimental classical music in general, you are guaranteed to hear boiling water used musically, and ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 142: The Art Of Song, All About Art Song With Mark Abel
September 19, 2016 23:11 - 33 minutes - 54.2 MBMark Abel’s life infuses his music, and music has been his life. He’s been a classical musician, a punk rocker, a reporter, and a classical musician and composer again. In this episode, Abel talks about “art song,” a very particular kind of classical music where song and poetry intersect. Learn about its history, its composers, and hear some of Abel’s own work. Music in this episode: “Roll Over Beethoven,” The Beatles “Mr. Tambourine Man,” The Byrds “A Love Supreme,” John Coltrane ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 141: Happy 100th Birthday, National Parks! With Adventurer-Composer, Stephen Lias
September 12, 2016 21:22 - 34 minutes - 55.7 MBComposer Stephen Lias didn’t necessarily mean to become an “adventurer-composer.” He was minding his own business as a perfectly normal composer, having his music played by soloists and ensembles, and working as a Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University. In his free time, he liked to go on adventure trips, backpacking and kayaking. Little did he know that one day soon, his two loves would merge and that he would become Stephen Lias, Adventurer-Composer! His whole l...
Classical Classroom, Episode 45: RERUN - Daniel Roumain’s Violin Vs. THE Violin (RR)
September 05, 2016 19:00 - 29 minutes - 48.7 MBThat’s not a violin – it’s a woodbox! Daniel Bernard Roumain talks about creative appropriation in classical music. The Haitian-American composer’s creative world was cracked open when he realized that everything – including the definition of “violin” – was ripe for reinterpretation. As a kid in garage bands, he took the decidedly uncool violin and made it his own. As a classically trained musician, he brings classical music together with hip hop, rock, bluegrass, and other genres to create...
Classical Classroom, Episode 82: RERUN - Branford Marsalis Gives Classical Music Jazz Hands
August 29, 2016 19:53 - 31 minutes - 51.5 MBOur summer music festival series is over, and we are frankly a little sleepy now. So this week, while we nap, we are bringing you some old gold from the vault. It’s one of our faves, featuring Branford Marsalis. If you don’t love it, too, we will be both shocked and appalled. ————————————- Branford Marsalis‘ stark 2014 solo album In My Solitude includes jazz standards like “Stardust” next to C.P.E. Bach’s Sonata in A Minor for Oboe, Wq. 132. His jazz discography is peppered with classica...
Classical Classroom, Episode 140: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! Follow The Leader With Frank Huang
August 22, 2016 22:49 - 24 minutes - 41 MBIn our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! All good things must come to an end, and...here we are. The final installment of our summer music mini-series features New York Philharmonic concertmaster (who used to be Houston Symphony concertmaster), Frank Huang. He talks about the job of a concertmaster, and about his own story of a life in two cities with two orchestras. F...
Classical Classroom, Episode 139: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! Finding Our Voices With Thomas Hampson
August 15, 2016 22:45 - 28 minutes - 47.5 MBIn our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! Library of Congress “Living Legend” and Grammy Award-winning baritone Thomas Hampson has reached a point in his life and career at which one might use the term “venerable” to describe him. “Wise” is another word that music journalists probably throw down when talking about him. And they would not be wrong. But even Thomas Hampso...
Classical Classroom, Episode 138: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! Sympathy For The Viola With Cynthia Phelps
August 08, 2016 21:58 - 36 minutes - 60.1 MBIn our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! Laugh all you want at the viola – Cynthia Phelps, the New York Philharmonic’s Principal Viola, ignores the haters. She doesn’t even bother to hold up a hand and tell them to talk to it. She just produces beautiful music on the viola and lets it speak for itself. In the fourth installment of our MAW series, learn all about the vi...
Classical Classroom, Episode 137: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! The Second Nature Of Matthew Aucoin
August 01, 2016 22:03 - 22 minutes - 37.9 MBIn our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! The third installment of our MAW series features composer, conductor, and pianist, Matthew Aucoin. Aucoin is a resident at that Music Academy of the West, and a sort of serial residentialist elsewhere (like the Peabody Essex Museum and soon, the Los Angeles Opera). He talks about what a “residency” is, and how it informs a compo...
Classical Classroom, Episode 136: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! Being Present With Bill Williams
July 25, 2016 23:05 - 37 minutes - 61.6 MBIn our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! The second installment of our MAW series features trumpet player, performance coach, and educator, Bill Williams. Williams initially spent his career as principal trumpet for orchestras like San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Barcelona. But when performances began to induce anxieties and other distractions, he started seeking ways to r...
Classical Classroom, Episode 135: Summer Music – Music Academy Of The West! Ragging On Jeremy Denk
July 18, 2016 20:38 - 30 minutes - 50.8 MBIt’s time for the second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series! This year, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California. In the first installment of our MAW series, pianist Jeremy Denk talks about teaching the enormousness of Beethoven to young artists, ragging classical music, whether or not classical music today exists outside the bounds of style, and about what makes the Music Academy of the West unique to him. Through...
Classical Classroom, Episode 134: MusicWorks - Classical Out Of The Blue, With Jherek Bischoff
July 11, 2016 19:02 - 34 minutes - 55.6 MBHow strange (and awesome) it is to be Jherek Bischoff at all. This composer, arranger, performer, and producer began his musical journey playing prog rock on bass guitar. After spending years of his youth on a boat, which his family sailed around the world playing music with locals as they went, he toured and recorded with indie rock and experimental bands. Then one day, he heard a piece of classical music that changed his life forever. Suddenly, he found himself composing for chamber groups...
Classical Classroom, Episode 133: Final Fantasy And The Evolution Of Video Game Music
July 04, 2016 17:56 - 38 minutes - 63.5 MBVideo games have come a long way since Pong, and so has their music. The electronic bleeps and blorps of ye olden days have evolved into composed musical scores that have their own fans and are performed by major symphony orchestras nationwide. Final Fantasy, one such game with a musical score that – as illustrated in this episode – draws on the classical music tradition, will soon be performed (again) by the Houston Symphony. Lesley Sabol, Director of Popular Programming at the Houston Symp...
Classical Classroom, Episode 132: Tchaikovsky’s Dilemma, With Mei-Ann Chen
June 27, 2016 23:11 - 34 minutes - 56.7 MBWhen you hear the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, pretty much the last thing that comes to mind is self-doubt (Hello?! The man wrote actual cannons into his music!). But as conductor Mei-Ann Chenexplains, the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture took him years to write because he was deeply self-critical. And his opinionated mentor, Mily Balakirev, didn’t help the situation. Learn all about Tchaikovsky’s creative process and about one of the most romantic pieces of music ever written in this episod...
Classical Classroom, Episode 131: Totally Totentanz With Tamara McCoy
June 20, 2016 23:19 - 38 minutes - 62.2 MBThe Classical Minds Festival and Competition just took place here in Houston, and though the festival is all about classical guitar, Dr. Tamara McCoy was there on piano. She stopped by the Geary Studio at Houston Public Media to record and teach about Franz Liszt’s Totentanz. As it turns out, the only thing harder than playing the piece was writing it — it took Liszt almost 20 years. Learn all about the piece, the inspiration behind it, and…Steve Holt! Download Tamara McCoy’s performance o...
Classical Classroom, Episode 130: The Eye Of The Opera, With David Hanlon
June 13, 2016 23:04 - 30 minutes - 50.5 MBIf you’ve never lived through one, David Hanlon’s chamber opera After the Storm is a good place to begin to understand what “hurricane” really means. The opera premiered with Houston Grand Opera‘s HGOco via their Song of Houston initiative this May. In this episode, composer Hanlon talks about conducting research for the opera, which included investigating Galveston’s 1900 Storm, about capturing the awesomeness of a massive hurricane in a chamber opera, and about living through a monster...
Classical Classroom, Episode 129: On Countertenors And Gender In Opera – With John Holiday
June 06, 2016 23:56 - 34 minutes - 57.1 MB“All I have is a voice.” ― W.H. Auden “I was never particularly fond of my voice.” — David Bowie Countertenor John Holiday says that he’s never wanted to emulate anyone else’s voice, and that instead, he’s tried to find and be true to his own. And the unique sound that he belts out will make you believe that he alone can produce anything like it. But as it turns out, there’s a whole history behind voices like his. Learn all about the countertenor voice, as well as it’s historical r...
Classical Classroom, Episode 30: RERUN - The Rite Of Spring With Ana María Otamendi
May 30, 2016 17:00 - 35 minutes - 57.7 MBAllegedly, as of this posting, there are still about three weeks of spring to go. But in Houston, spring has already died of heat exhaustion. That’s why we decided to bring back this episode about Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. The episode was originally recording in the fall of 2013. This all totally makes sense. We think. Then again, it’s really hot, so this could be faulty logic. In any case, this is a great episode from the Wayback Machine about an iconic piece of music. Enjoy! Igor ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 128: British-style Brass Bands Are Shiny! With Robert Walp
May 23, 2016 22:23 - 27 minutes - 45.8 MBBritish-style brass bands are of the people, for the people, and by the people. They’re made up of unpaid citizens who get together to play classical music just because they love to. They have this crazy working class history that dates back almost 200 years to British industrialization. At competitions, fans express allegiance to their local brass bands with the same passion that they do sports teams. And many of the musicians are one life choice away from being professional players. Ro...
Classical Classroom, Episode 127: Respighi <3's Rome, With Franz Anton Krager And Mark Hughes
May 16, 2016 21:22 - 37 minutes - 61.5 MBOttorino Respighi wasn’t a native of Rome, but he got there as quickly as he could. And then he set to writing lots of music about the place. Conductor Franz Anton Krager and Houston Symphony Principal Trumpet Mark Hughes teach all about Respighi, some of his Roman tone poems, and why he was a master of orchestration. Krager and Hughes will be performing Respighi together at the Texas Music Festival on June 11. It’s going to be fantastico! Music in this episode (all by Ottorino Respigh...
Classical Classroom, Episode 38: RERUN - Stringed Life, With Enso String Quartet
May 09, 2016 22:30 - 29 minutes - 47.6 MBWe’ve retrieved an episode from the Classical Classroom Wayback Machine for Chamber Music Month! Please, by all means, enjoy. ——————————————- The Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet puts the “class” in this episode of Classical Classroom. We discuss where string quartets come from, why the instruments in a quartet go together so well, what sets Enso apart from other string quartets, and what it’s like to play live (which apparently sometimes includes hitting yourself in the face and dan...
Classical Classroom, Episode 126: Choose Your Own Jungian Adventure, With Rodney Waters
May 02, 2016 23:05 - 1 hour - 126 MBWe are endorsing this Classical Classroom guest — Rodney Waters — to replace the Most Interesting Man in the World, and not just because of his amazing beard. He’s a musician, a humanitarian, a photographer, and he’s currently training to become a Jungian analyst. In this Choose Your Own Adventure episode (listen for details), Rodney first explains Jungian theory, archetypes, myths, and fairy tales, and then walks us through pieces of classical music that exemplify those things. You’ll ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 125: The Actualization Of Beethoven, With Simone Gramaglia
April 25, 2016 21:34 - 21 minutes - 35.7 MBWe could just as easily have called this episode, Growing Up Beethoven, or Build-A-Beethoven, or Beethoven: From Boy to Boss, but “actualization” is more accurate. As violist Simone Gramaglia of Quartetto di Cremona explains, like any artist we study in hindsight, Beethoven’s creative development has distinct, identifiable periods. Unlike other artists, as he evolved, Beethoven moved increasingly away from rules and conventions, and into something transcendent: a full expression o...
Classical Classroom, Episode 46: RERUN - Todd Reynolds Defines “Classical Music” – Sorta
April 19, 2016 00:36 - 31 minutes - 73.9 MBToday – that is April 18th 2016 – much of our fair city of Houston is underwater. There was a big scary flood, the power’s out, the roads are lakes, and we, the Classical Classroom team, literally can’t get to the station to access the files we need to post our new episode. We tried to cobble together an ark, but it turns out that’s a whole thing. However! Through sheer grit, determination and the power of the human spirit to use computers, we have unearthed this episode with Todd Reynolds, ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 124: Hélène Grimaud Wades Into The Deep End Of “Water”
April 11, 2016 20:28 - 20 minutes - 34.5 MBHélène Grimaud‘s recent release on Deutsche Grammophon, is a true “concept album.” Flowing with water themed music from the classical repertoire it also bathes us with new musical bridges and transitions from composer and producer, Nitin Sawhney. “What inspired the idea to record this album is really the fascination that so many composers of the 19th and 20th centuries seem to have had with the element of water,” Grimaud states. In this episode, Hélène and Dacia surf through the music sel...
Classical Classroom, Episode 85: RERUN - Mandolin Man, Avi Avital
April 04, 2016 20:45 - 20 minutes - 34 MBWhile we are cooking up new episodes for your enjoyment, please enjoy this delicious dish from our archives. Don’t miss Avi’s recent in-studio performances at WQXR, btw! According to Deutsche Grammophonrecording artist Avi Avital, while the bass is not bad, it’s more about that mandolin. Which is also what this whole episode is about! Avi tells all: Where did the mandolin come from? Who composes for it? Why does he advocate for such a strange instrument? And how much did he play that one ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 37: RERUN - George Heathco On Louis Andriessen And Alt-Classical
March 28, 2016 21:58 - 37 minutes - 61.8 MBLouis Andriessen is one of the most important contemporary composers you’ve (probably) never heard of. His work isn’t widely played because he’s written many pieces for varieties of ensembles that don’t exist. In fact, specially created ensembles have sprung up because of Andriessen’s pieces, including the famous British ensemble, Icebreaker. Guitarist, composer, and co-founder of Liminal Space Contemporary Music Ensemble, George Heathco, teaches us all about Andriessen and his contributions...
Classical Classroom, Episode 123: Rachel Barton Pine On Bach Sonatas And Partitas
March 21, 2016 20:43 - 23 minutes - 38.1 MBHappy Bach’s 331st birthday! To celebrate, we had a partita party with violinist Rachel Barton Pine. (What’s a “partita,” you ask? Listen and learn, my friends.) Rachel explains Bach’s sonatas and partitas and what makes them unique, and walks us through several examples from her new album Testament, which she released on March 21st to coincide with Bach’s bday. Also discussed: What Bach means to her personally, and whether one needs to wear a beret when playing French music (spoiler ale...
Classical Classroom, Episode 122: Meet The Sirota – Nadia Sirota On New Classical Music
March 14, 2016 19:57 - 35 minutes - 57.5 MBNadia Sirota is a busy lady. She’s a violist and recording artist, she’s a member of yMusic, Alarm Will Sound, and ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), she commissions work from new composers, she collaborates with classical and rock music makers (Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Jónsi, and Arcade Fire to name a few) and she’s the host and co-producer of Q2 Music’s contemporary classical music podcast, Meet the Composer. In this episode of Classical Classroom, Sirota talks about n...
Classical Classroom, Episode 121: MusicWorks, John From Downton Abbey
March 07, 2016 22:09 - 31 minutes - 51.1 MBMasterpiece’s Downton Abbey came to an end last night after six seasons. In this tell-all exposé, Scottish composer John Lunn talks about his years with the Crawley family, what Lord Grantham really thought of Branson, and his thoughts on Thomas Barrow’s perpetual bad attitude. Okay, okay — not exactly. But Lunn does talk about how he got into writing for TV, how it’s different than writing operas and violin concertos, and about being part of the Downton team for six seasons. Past (and f...
Classical Classroom, Episode 120: MusicWorks, A Musical Life, Indeed – With Hugh Sung
February 29, 2016 23:25 - 34 minutes - 57.1 MBClassical music renaissance man, Hugh Sung Hugh Sung is a modern classical music renaissance man: He’s a podcaster, a techie, a pianist who’s collaborated with people like Jennifer Higdon and Hillary Hahn, an author, an inventor, a former Curtis Institute Professor who now teaches online. Sung has crafted a life — and a career — that keeps him close to his passion and that constantly engages his busy mind. In this MusicWorks episode, learn how and why Hugh does it, and be inspired to...
Classical Classroom, Episode 119: Harping On The Harp With Beyond Pluck
February 22, 2016 23:00 - 32 minutes - 54 MBBeyond Pluck is a harp duo, comprised of Paula Bressman and Rachel Miller. In addition to the classical repertoire, they also like arranging pop songs for the harp, working with scientists and artists, touring clubs as well as concert halls, and long walks on the beach. In this episode, Paula and Rachel talk about the history of the harp and how it works, its repertoire, conjuring fairies, and why anyone would want to play something so ginormous. They also perform, illustrating the range of...
Classical Classroom, Episodes 19 & 20: RERUN - Nixon In China And John Adams With Michael Remson
February 15, 2016 23:25 - 46 minutes - 76.4 MBIn honor of Presidents Day, we are rerunning not one, but TWO very presidential episodes of Classical Classroom. Originally, our discussion with AFA’s executive and artistic director Michael Remson was so epic — spanning John Adams’ entire Nixon in China opera — that we divided it into two episodes. For your listening pleasure, we’ve merged the two episodes into one here. So, go get some apple pie, your whittling tools, and a glass of whiskey (this is how we imagine you listen to all Classi...
Classical Classroom, Episode 118: Alisa Weilerstein On The Romance Of Rachmaninov
February 08, 2016 22:48 - 24 minutes - 40.1 MBStart your Valentine’s Day week with cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s introduction to the music of Sergey Rachmaninov. Who was this romantic man, and what makes him different from all the other guys – I mean, composers? Weilerstein walks us through Rachmaninov’s Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano. Plus, she talks about her musical relationship with performing partner, pianist Inon Barnatan, and what it’s like to be part of a long-term creative duo. \ Music in this episode is all fr...
Classical Classroom, Episode 117: Alban Berg “motif-ates” The Dover String Quartet
February 01, 2016 22:04 - 30 minutes - 50.4 MBThis week, Dacia Clay has the Dover String Quartet; violinists, Joel Link, Bryan Lee; violist, Milena Pajaro-Van De Stadt; and cellist, Camden Shaw into the studio. They listen to a recording of their own concert from the night before when they played Alban Berg‘s String Quartet Opus 3 for the Chamber Music Houston series. They introduce Dacia to the twelve-tone system of music composition, and she lives to talk about it. They also discuss serialism, Schoenberg, over-protective fathers, mot...
Classical Classroom, Episode 116: John Luther Adams Swims Through “Become Ocean”
January 25, 2016 23:07 - 30 minutes - 50.3 MBIn December of 2015, pop singer Taylor Swift donated $50,000 to the Seattle Symphony because she loved their recording of John Luther Adams’ 42-minute work, Become Ocean. In this episode, Adams reveals his own pop culture roots, and credits Frank Zappa for getting him into classical music. He talks about his work as an environmentalist, what led him to write Ocean, and swims us through a piece so awesome that critic Alex Ross called it, “the loveliest apocalypse in musical history.” Music...
Classical Classroom, Episode 115: Awakening John Williams’ “Force” With Brett Mitchell
January 18, 2016 17:35 - 58 minutes - 54.7 MBThis episode is full of spoilers – not just spoilers about The Force Awakens, but about future Star Wars episodes. Okay – they could be future spoilers. Right now, they’re just our attempts at trying to find the Easter eggs hidden in John Williams’ new score. This may be the nerdiest and most epic episode of Classical Classroom to date. Brett Mitchell, Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, is your guide through the music...
Classical Classroom, Episode 114: MusicWorks, Mozart In The Jungle Author Blair Tindall
January 11, 2016 22:34 - 35 minutes - 33.4 MBWhen oboist, journalist, and author Blair Tindall wrote her memoir, Mozart in the Jungle, she tells us, she didn’t necessarily not think it would become a TV show. But she did stop to marvel at the fact that playing the oboe could lead to buying a dress for the Golden Globes. Last night, the Amazon series based on her book won two Golden Globes: One for Best TV Comedy or Musical, and one Best Actor in a TV Comedy or Musical for Gael García Bernal’s performance as conductor Rodrigo de Souza. ...
Classical Classroom, Episode 113: Rufus Wainwright On Composing Traditional Opera For A Modern World
January 04, 2016 23:40 - 16 minutes - 16.1 MBHappy New Year, everybody! Get ready for an astonishing onslaught of awesome, a veritable juggernaut of wow, from Classical Classroom in 2016 (John Luther Adams! The Force Awakens! Alisa Weilerstein!), starting with this episode featuring Rufus Wainwright. You may know Rufus Wainwright as a singer-songwriter, a piano man, a dude who hangs out with Elton John and Joni Mitchell. But as it turns out, he also writes classical music and opera. In this episode, he talks about his new opera, ...