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Classical New England To Broadcast From Bryant University

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:25 AM +0000

On October 6, public broadcaster WGBH and Bryant University will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and live radio broadcasts to mark their collaboration in bringing full-time classical music to Rhode Island.

In early September, the University’s radio station, WJMF 88.7FM, began re-transmitting the signal from WGBH’s Classical New England, returning round-the-clock classical broadcasts to the Providence area.

“We are delighted that we can celebrate this collaboration in bringing classical music back to Rhode Island,” said Benjamin K. Roe, Managing Director of WGBH’s Classical New England. “Having the ability to broadcast live from Bryant University and celebrate this technology and education initiative is a proud moment for us and our listeners.”

Bryant’s student-run radio station now runs on several new technology platforms, including WJMF HD-2, smartphone applications, and uses one of WGBH’s mobile DTV channels. Bryant’s WJMF is the first student-run station in the region to be available on the groundbreaking new mobile service. Additionally, Bryant students now have the opportunity to learn from the best digital and broadcast technology experts in the business working alongside WGBH technicians.

“Our students could not be more excited over this technological overhaul of the station,” said Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley. “This collaboration not only brings WGBH’s Classical New England to Rhode Island, but affirms Bryant University as a media technology leader in the region.”

“This ground-breaking collaboration gives us the unique opportunity to become pioneers in digital broadcasting by enabling a multiplatform approach,” said WJMF General Manager Ricky McLaughlin '12 of Hudson, N.H. “Although it moves WJMF’s traditional open-format student programming off of the analog FM dial, this phenomenal opportunity allows us to reach an increasingly national audience, especially as the technology continues to develop.”

On October 6, Classical New England will broadcast two live programs from the WJMF studios with classical hosts Laura Carlo (6-10am), and Cathy Fuller (2-6pm). At noon, WGBH and Bryant University leaders will gather for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on campus, followed by an evening reception in Providence marking the historic collaboration.

Cheryl Willoughby Named Music Director For Classical New England

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:32 PM +0000

After an extensive nationwide search, WGBH’s Classical New England has selected Cheryl Willoughby to serve in the new position of Music Director, overseeing all classical music programming for the Boston public radio station.

Willoughby comes to WGBH from Vermont Public Radio, where she served as Music Director and Director of Programming for VPR Classical. She arrived there at the genesis of the station’s 24-hour classical music network and helped to shepherd VPR’s broadcast stations through their split into two distinct formats.

“We were delighted to find the next leader of classical music programming for WGBH right here in New England,” said Ben Roe, Managing Director of Classical Services. “Cheryl’s passion and knowledge for classical music is unmistakable, and her past work is superlative and inspiring. We’re thrilled she has chosen to share her expertise with us in this leadership role.”

Willoughby has a long history in classical music and public radio, beginning as on-air talent and producer at KUNC-FM in Northern Colorado. From 1993-1998 she was a producer and Assistant Music Director for Colorado Public Radio where she developed local and network music databases and hosted several programs.

In 1998, she joined KUSC-FM in Los Angeles as its Music Director where she created compelling and meaningful programming for the Classical Public Radio Network. In 2004, Willoughby joined Vermont Public Radio, where she supervised the classical staff while hosting a daily program and created partnerships with local arts venues and artist management companies. She was also integral in the development and implementation of VPR’s on-air fundraising strategy and project planning.

Of her new role at WGBH, Willoughby says, “Classical music is one of humanity’s greatest gifts, and WGBH has a long history of offering the New England community an opportunity to engage with this music in meaningful ways. Classical New England has a tremendous reputation for bringing the best of this beloved art form to audiences, and I feel incredibly privileged to take music programming at Classical New England to the next level.”

Willoughby is a former horn player and holds a BA degree from the School of the Performing and Visual Arts at the University of Northern Colorado.

A Listener's Guide To Schubert's 'Die Sch�ne M�llerin'

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:58 PM +0000

August 11, 2011

What does an opera star love about singing intimate art songs from a barren stage with no sets and no other singers? Lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani adores the sheer directness of it. With no props, no costumes and no distractions, he is free to sing into the very eyes of his audience. While that can be frightening, it's clear that he finds the intimacy refreshing.

"You can sing right to someone and deliver a stab right at them," he says. No fake daggers needed for that kind of stab — just an awful lot of depth, honesty and control.

Critics give Polenzani the highest praises for the near-perfection of his technical command. There's an incredible clarity and flexibility in his voice. It rings even when it whispers. Audiences are riveted — and so was I, sitting close to him in our Fraser Performance Studio, listening to him sing these songs from Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin.

Polenzani has been singing with pianist Julius Drake for five years now. It was Polenzani's manager who suggested the match when the idea of recitals came up. Both artists are relaxed and quick to smile, and they're both happy to rethink their musical decisions. Being a part of such a team means spending time searching together for truth and meaning in the poetry. And, harder still, understanding the brilliant, often devastatingly simple ways that a composer like Schubert amplifies his chosen text.

In the song "Die Liebe Farbe" (The Beloved Color), a wandering miller faces the devastating reality that the girl he loves does not love him in return. Drake marvels at the heartbreaking, unrelenting sadness that Schubert unleashes by keeping one note tolling throughout the song.

"I don't know how he does it," Drake says of the composer. These are the kind of Schubert moments that artists analyze from every conceivable angle, and yet they still find themselves awestruck. As the miller's heart follows its sad and unstoppable march toward grief, Drake remains faithful to the music's constant tolling. He is focused and quiet at the piano. He gives Schubert's blooms of harmony a sad warmth and a deep feeling of resignation. I could see Polenzani falling instantly into the sadness of the atmosphere. You'll hear him allow a new vulnerability into his voice.

It's fascinating to consider the kind of technical awareness that a singer has to maintain, especially at emotional climaxes. How do you keep and lose control at the same time? Polenzani says that, no matter whether you're singing Verdi or Schubert, it doesn't always work. When it does, though, it's as good as it gets.

Full NPR article with playlist.

Lynn Harrell performs Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the BSO

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:05 PM +0000

Cellist Lynn Harrell joins the BSO for Dvorak's Cello Concerto on Friday evening with conductor Kurt Masur also leading Schumann's Symphony No. 1, "Spring."

Friday, July 15 at 7pm | 99.5 All Classical

Kelli O'Hara and Jason Danieley perform with the Boston Pops

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:53 PM +0000

This Sunday afternoon the Boston Pops and Conductor Ketih Lockhart take the stage with Vocalists Kelli O'Hara and Jason Danieley in a tribute to Broadway and Cole Porter.

Sunday, July 17 at 1pm| 99.5 All Classical

Boston Early Music Channel

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:51 PM +0000

Classical New England brings you all the color, excitement, and discovery of early music at the Boston Early Music Channel.

WGBH Restores Full-Time Classical Radio to Rhode Island

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:56 PM +0000

WGBH Restores Full-Time Classical Radio to Rhode Island
Partnership with Bryant University extends service on 88.7FM, offers students new tech platforms

Radio listeners in the Ocean State will once again have access to a full-time classical music station as the result of a partnership between Boston public broadcaster WGBH and Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I.

Beginning in August, the University’s station, WJMF 88.7FM, will re-transmit the signal from WGBH’s 99.5 All Classical service, returning round-the-clock classical broadcasts to the Providence area.

Bryant’s student-run station will continue uninterrupted on a variety of new technology platforms, including via WJMF HD-2, smartphone applications, and the use of one of WGBH’s mobile DTV channels. Bryant’s WJMF will be the first student-run station in the region to be available on the groundbreaking new mobile service.

“This is a major step in WGBH’s commitment to restore a full-time classical service to audiences in our region,” said WGBH Chief Operating Officer Ben Godley. “We’re delighted to be working with Bryant University and its students as they move from over-the-air broadcast to new and emerging digital audio services for their listeners.”

The reciprocal arrangement will give Bryant students the opportunity to learn from WGBH digital and broadcast technology experts during the summer in preparation for an August transition. WGBH has been a pioneer in expanding classical music onto new platforms, with live streaming, dedicated online streams, an all-classical HD channel, podcasts and mobile applications.

“Bryant has just taken a strategic step in a new direction with a terrific partner,” said Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley, “I am thrilled that this collaboration returns classical music broadcasts to Rhode Island while providing our students hands-on opportunities to master leading-edge technologies for delivery of WJMF music, sports programming, and talk shows not just in New England but throughout the country.”

The arrangement involves no capital commitment on behalf of WGBH, and Bryant University plans to maximize the 88.7 signal by increasing its power from 225 watts to 1200 watts by virtue of a recently awarded construction permit from the FCC.

“This is a wonderful arrangement for both institutions,” said Marita Rivero, WGBH Vice President for Radio and TV. “It’s a great fit with public media’s educational mission to be working with Bryant University as we begin to realize the possibilities we imagined for 99.5All Classical (WCRB) when we acquired it in late 2009.”

Adds Benjamin Roe, WGBH’s new Managing Director for Classical Services, “Rhode Island classical-music audiences were among the most loyal to both WCRB and WGBH. But when WCRB’s dial position shifted from 102.5 to 99.5, Providence became one of the largest markets in the country to be without a full-time classical station. We are absolutely delighted to be returning to an area with so much vibrant cultural activity, and look forward to sharing it with the rest of the region.”

In the coming months WGBH will be evaluating call letter options as it considers the new reach of the classical service throughout New England.

New Weekend Schedule For 99.5 All Classical

Tue, 17 May 2011 20:52 PM +0000

99.5 All Classical has changed the sounds of weekends. With more of Boston's favorite local hosts and dynamic new programs from 99.5 All Classical, NPR, and American Public Media, audiences are discovering new worlds of classical music that showcase a remarkable range, appeal, and diversity.

The weekend begins Friday nights at 10pm with the addition of Concierto, America’s first program of classical music presented in both Spanish and English. Concierto, hosted by Frank Dominguez, explores the world of classical music through the lens of Latin American and Spanish composers and musicians, from Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra (left) to the enchanting sounds of Spanish zarzuela.

James David Jacobs continues hosting duties on Saturday mornings, but now spends an extra hour behind the microphone. New to his show is Classics for Kids, an award-winning short program that brings classical music’s great composers to life through music and stories. Classics for Kids, Kids Classical Hour, and From the Top all form a new 99.5 web initiative: Classical Kids, an online destination providing education, entertainment, games, videos and resources designed to bring kids closer to classical music.

At noon on Saturdays, longtime Boston radio fixture Ray Brown returns to the host’s chair with a unique mix of music that makes him the ideal Saturday companion.

Each week, Boston’s All Classical team hits the road to share the places, personalities and great performances that make up New England Summer Festivals, including the Rockport Chamber Music Festival (left), Bay Chamber Concerts in Maine, Monadnock Music in New Hampshire, Newport Music Festival, and many more.

99.5’s signature offering of symphonic music continues on Saturday night, starting at 7pm with concerts from the Boston Pops and/or Boston Symphony Orchestra, either direct from 99.5’s studio at Symphony Hall or from the Music Shed at Tanglewood (right).

After experiencing the best in local, live classical music, listeners travel nationwide and around the globe with Performance Today Weekend. Hosted by Fred Child, Performance Today is the most-listened to classical music program in America, featuring live concerts from iconic musicians worldwide, as well as interviews, news and features.

All-new Sundays on 99.5 feature familiar voices. Laura Carlo is waking up Boston for one more day with Baroque in Boston, a new show that explores and celebrates the richness and diversity of Boston’s early music scene. The program feature music that ranges from Renaissance bransles to the sturdy New England melodies of William Billings, with plenty of Bach and his contemporaries in between.

Popular personality Cathy Fuller delivers two programs on Sunday: Live from Fraser, which now gets a weekend presentation at 11am, and Arias and Barcarolles, an exploration of song – and the art of the vocal recital – at 6pm. The Bach Hour with Brian McCreath can be heard at 6am and 5pm, as McCreath, also heard weekday afternoons, explores the mastery of composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Alan McLellan, the mastermind behind 99.5’s live classical performances, takes a turn in front of the microphone with a two-hour stint starting at noon on Sundays.

Producer Brian Bell’s BSO on Record, a weekly hour of recordings by the BSO, remains in the 2pm slot, preceding Sunday Concert, a broadcast of noted classical performances from orchestras both at home (such as the Boston Philharmonic and the Handel & Haydn Society) as well as around the world (such as the symphony orchestras of Chicago, left, and Pittsburgh).

Sunday evenings on 99.5 now belong to opera. For the first time in 25 years, a comprehensive opera program will be available to listeners in Boston. The popular NPR program World of Opera, hosted by 25-year broadcast veteran Lisa Simeone (right), features weekly performances by top American and international opera companies.

Simeone’s hour-long Spoleto Chamber Music follows, and Pipedreams, a program dedicated to “the King of Instruments” (and frequently featuring Boston-area organists and organs) closes out the evening.

Here is the complete schedule for 99.5, Boston's All Classical Station:

Classical Music For Kids

Mon, 16 May 2011 14:32 PM +0000

Listen to the Kids Classical Channel, play games, and watch videos from From the Top. All of this can be found at 99.5 All Classical's Classical Kids.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Live From Carnegie Hall

Wed, 11 May 2011 14:37 PM +0000

In 2008 Jaap van Zweden became Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, bringing years of experience as Concertmaster of the legendary Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam to Texas.

Now Jaap van Zweden and the DSO are in New York, playing a concert at Carnegie Hall as part of the inaugural Spring for Music festival, an event that draws its participants from program proposals submitted by orchestras around the country.

This evening the DSO performs Steven Stucky's August 4, 1964. Here is an excerpt of the program notes.

The Dallas Symphony commissioned this work in observance of President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s 100th birthday in August 2008. August 4, 1964 explores the epic tragedy of the larger-than-life, Texas-born politician. His legacy in civil rights is admirable. His escalation of the Vietnam War remains controversial. Taken together, those two issues encapsulate the turbulent 1960s.

For complete program notes, visit Spring for Music, and as you listen below, feel free to participate in the online chat with host Fred Child and NPR Music.

James Levine: The Man Behind The BSO's Baton

Wed, 04 May 2011 13:30 PM +0000

Hear James Levine's conversation with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air:

May 4, 2011

On June 5, 1971, James Levine lifted his baton and stepped up on the stage at The Metropolitan Opera. The occasion was a festival performance of Tosca. It was also the 27-year-old Levine's debut performance at the Met.

Since then, Levine has conducted works by Verdi, Mozart, Wagner, Rossini, Stravinsky, Debussy and countless others during his 40-year career with the Met. But, he says, he still remembers that first night on the stage.

"I was very excited, but I wasn't nervous," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I kept thinking I should be nervous, but I wasn't. And I think the reason was I had really grown up concentrating on music and on opera, and particularly on the Met. ... So when the time came that I was actually standing there conducting, I remember feeling amazingly at home."

Levine is the subject of a new PBS documentary, James Levine: America's Maestro, as well as James Levine: 40 Years at the Metropolitan Opera, a coffeetable book documenting some of the 2,500 performances he has conducted at the Met. The Met has also released James Levine: Celebrating 40 Years at the Met, two box sets of DVDs and CDs capturing 22 of his nearly 2,500 live opera performances.

Levine recently announced that he would be stepping down as the musical director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he first conducted in 1972. But he'll continue his tenure at the Met, where he's known for bringing out the best in his musicians and in the company orchestra. In 1994, The New Yorker's Frederic Dannen credited Levine with "developing the orchestra from a mediocre pit band into a world-class ensemble." Levine says that any changes he made were slow and methodical, and always with his musicians in mind.

"Year after year, as we played a more and more diverse repertoire, as we learned a lot of new things [and] as we repeated the difficult and special works more frequently, all these bits and pieces added up to what we needed to make improvements," he says. "We began to play symphonic repertoire and chamber repertoire, which is absolutely essential for orchestra members to improve, and I think ... essentially [we tried to] find every possible constructive solution to the problems that we had. And I think, for the most part, that's the way it's played out for the past 40 years."

Conducting Style

Levine tells Terry Gross that one of the most important things he does as a conductor is something he actively tries not to do — get in the way of the artistry of the musicians who are playing.

"I want to be always there for the players, so when they check for something they want to remember — or for something that they need, or for something that is a technical help in the concert — they can see it," he says. "But I want to do that in a way in which the audience is not getting a visual show instead of an aural one."

Levine's style at the podium has always been more muted than that of some of his colleagues. He does not gesticulate wildly or move his arms rapidly because, he says, he does not want to interfere with his audience's perception of the music.

"If your orientation is to watch the conductor, you get your aural sense interfered with in a way that is not completely controllable and conscious — because you see the conductor gesturing in a way that shows something about his feeling about the passage. And this, unconsciously, you measure against what you hear," he says. "And I think the most satisfying pieces that I hear live are usually conducted by conductors who have a very clear-cut idea of what their function is at a rehearsal and what their function is at a concert."

Metropolitan Opera

James Levine conducts during a rehearsal before his
debut with the Metropolitan Opera on June 5, 1971.

In rehearsals, Levine says he uses everything in his power to make the orchestra conscious of every single detail in the music. He'll gesticulate and stop the rehearsal, sometimes repeatedly, to illustrate sudden tempo or chord changes within a piece.

"But when the performance comes, the orchestra has to be empowered to function within this conception without having to check with the middle man," he says. "It's not possible to feel and play and respond to what you feel inside and keep looking to have a constant alignment with the gesture of the conductor."

James Levine was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1997. He conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the soundtrack of Fantasia 2000, and he has also conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Munich Philharmonic orchestra.

James Levine and Renee Fleming, 1993

.
On Working With Singers

"Some of the things that you work on, when you're working on interpretation and communication, they have technical aspects. And you have to include those technical aspects, or you can't get at the diagnosis of the problem or the solution. But I don't spend sessions giving people voice lessons, per se. I'm not a voice teacher. But I'm a conductor and a coach, and a lot of technical observation goes into that."

On Stuttering As A Child

"When I was a little kid, I used to reach up high and try to play the piano when I passed by. And I also, at that time, could sing a tune coherently, but I had a very strong speech impediment. And when my parents said to the doctor, 'Well, what do you think?' — when they told him about my banging on the piano, he suggested piano lessons. And I started piano lessons when I was not quite 4 years old. And the speech impediment promptly disappeared, and I got very interested in the piano."

On His Debut At Age 10 With The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

"I hear a great deal of music differently now, because the more music you know and the longer you live, the more insight you have to the complicated music. But fortunately, there are some pieces, and Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 is one of them, that have a fairly exuberant and adolescent conception, and it was a very appropriate piece for me to play at that age. And my feeling for it was strong then and has never abated. I still think it's a marvelous piece."

On His Back Pain

"My general health has always been so good, and my life has always been so fortunate, so even when this has really made my life miserable for periods of time, I still feel like a very, very lucky guy. I look around me, and I don't see anybody who doesn't have to solve some kinds of problems; everything can't be perfect. Human beings go through things. And my doctors all think that, in the course of the next year or two, I still have one area giving me pain. And if we do, in fact, solve that — we still have some things we can do to solve it — I may wake up one day and be free of back pain again."

Celebrating Bart�k

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:06 PM +0000

During this 130th anniversary year of the birth of Béla Bartók (born March 25, 1881), 99.5 All Classical celebrates the groundbreaking Hungarian composer with a series of on demand performances and features.

New England Conservatory Philharmonia
The Concerto for Orchestra, one of Béla Bartók's most enduring and popular masterpieces, was commissioned by conductor Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Performed for the first time in December 1944, it remains a regular fixture on orchestra programs around the world, and on March 9, 2011, Benjamin Zander conducted a performance at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, with the NEC Philharmonia.
Listen On Demand

Discovery Ensemble
Courtney Lewis conducts one of Boston's most exciting orchestras, Discovery Ensemble, in Bartók's kaleidoscopic Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. 99.5 All Classical host Brian McCreath talks with Lewis about the piece, with a walk-through of each of the movements, all recorded in 99.5 All Classical's Fraser Performance Studio.

Listen On Demand

Duke Bluebeard's Castle
In 1911, Bartók completed a one-act opera based on Charle Perrault's French fairy tale "Bluebeard," further revising it before its first performance in Budapest in 1918. A dark, pyschologically rich piece, Brian Bell offers a guided tour.
(image: Gustave Doré's Barbe Bleue, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Hear a guided tour at Backstage with Brian Bell

Takács Quartet, Muzsikás, and Márta Sebestyén
One of the premiere string quartets on today's concert stages joins forces with a legendary Hungarian folk ensemble and equally legendary Hungarian folk singer to explore the roots of Bartók's music.

Listen On Demand

Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen
Recorded in 2008 in 99.5 All Classical's Fraser Performance Studio, Hung-Kuan Chen performs a piece that combines Bartók's fascination with folk music and his evolving perspective of the piano as a percussion instrument, the Out of Doors Suite, in a program that also includes music by Brahms and Ravel.

Listen On Demand

Violinist Augustin Hadelich
Recorded in 2008 in 99.5 All Classical's Fraser Performance Studio, Augustin Hadelich performs Bartók's Sonata for solo violin, Sz. 117.

Listen On Demand

Violinist Lara St. John and Pianist Anton Kuerti at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival
Recorded on May 14, 2009, at St. James Church during the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Lara St. John and Anton Kuerti perform Bartók's Rhapsody No. 2, Sz. 89, BB 96, written in 1928, part of a program that also includes music by Beethoven, Franck, Hindson, Ravel, and Liszt.

Listen On Demand

BSO's Volpe Hopes There's Still A Role For Levine

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:04 PM +0000

Hear WGBH's BSO broadcast producer Brian Bell's full interview with
BSO managing director Mark Volpe.

James Levine announced Wednesday his resignation as Music Director for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (Courtesy)

Mar. 3, 2011

BOSTON — A search for a new music director at the Boston Symphony Orchestra is underway.

The process began immediately after Maestro James Levine announced his resignation from the post Wednesday, after a seven-year tenure dogged by ongoing health problems.

Mark Volpe, managing director of the The Boston Symphony Orchestra, says that conversations about Levine's future with the orchestra began last November.

Volpe said Levine, who has long been plagued by back problems and complications from a viral infection, was self-medicating, and the drugs had begun to take a toll on his facilities. "Physically it was clear he didn’t have control. Motor skills were not there. We all know how articulate Jim is so when he's not articulate, when it's not entirely coherent, something's up," said BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe in an interview with WGBH's Brian Bell.

Levine had missed number of performances in the 2010 season because of those health issues. "Both of us sort of understood if there was another big block that got impacted by cancellations that we had to quickly — in terms of credibility, frankly — announce to the public that we were moving forward with a search, which is sort of the direction we were headed but this is a little more abrupt," said Volpe.

But Levine won't be completely gone. He and Volpe are working to design an artistic role he'll continue at the orchestra. "He and I still have to sort out what his ongoing role will be — and we hope very much there is one — but he's got to figure out what is physically possible," Volpe said.

67-year-old Levine took the helm at the BSO in 2004, becoming the BSO's 14th music director. His announcement on Tuesday followed months of speculation about Levine's ability to continue as music director.

“Given the challenges regarding my health and the ensuing absences they have forced me to take from my work with the BSO, I believe it is best for everyone, but especially the orchestra and our wonderful audiences, for me to step down as music director,” said Levine in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing our conversation with Jim about defining a new role where he can focus solely on the music and defining artistically stimulating projects that would be meaningful to him and the orchestra, building upon his BSO legacy thus far," Volpe said in an interview shortly after Tuesday's announcement.

Levine will officially step down from his position on Sept. 1, ending his seven years in the job. He also serves as the music director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York — a role which he'll continue.

The BSO has been incredibly fortunate to have had one of the greatest conductors of our time at its helm," Volpe said. "It is imperative that we take this time to express our deepest gratitude to Jim for the extraordinary performances that have inspired his loyal listeners in Boston and around the world.”

For the immediate future, BSO Assistant Conductor Marcelo Lehninger will conduct concerts on March 3, 4, 5, & 8 at Symphony Hall as well as March 15 at Carnegie Hall in New York, a program that includes a BSO commission by composer Harrison Birtwhistle with violinist Christian Tetzlaff.

Conductor Roberto Abbado will step in to lead concerts on March 10-12 at Symphony Hall and on March 18-19 at the New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts and Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., respectively, with pianist Peter Serkin as soloist in Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3. For the March 16 program at Carnegie Hall, violinist Joshua Bell will be the soloist in Bruch's Violin Concerto in G minor. Serkin and Bell have been engaged in the absence of pianist Maurizio Pollini, who cancelled due to illness.

Latvian conductor Andris Nilsons will make his BSO debut Mahler's Symphony No. 9 on March 17 at Carnegie Hall.

Opera Boston's Cardillac

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:14 PM +0000

Steven Sanders and Sol Kim Bentley sing highlights of Hindemith's opera, with Opera Boston stage director Nic Muni and a studio audience.

Classical Youth of Massachusetts

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:32 AM +0000

From the Top, based at the New England Conservatory in Boston, searches for the most dynamic and accomplished young musicians across the country. For this week's program, though, the search didn't have to go far.

The Commonwealth has a rich history of stellar music education programs, from public schools to extra-curricular college-based organizations to hundreds of private instructors, and several young people who have come through those programs are featured with host Christopher O'Riley on Saturday at 11am and Sunday at 5pm, including

18-year-old mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award winner from Marshfield, who sings Charles Gounod's "Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle," from Roméo et Juliette.

16-year-old cellist Jonah Ellsworth, a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, who performs the fourth movement from Brahms’s Trio in A minor, Op. 114, with special guest clarinetist Eran Egozy, co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems, the company that created the Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games.

15-year-old pianist Mackenzie Melemed from Paxton, who is a sophomore at Bancroft School in Worcester and performs Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28.

The Walnut Hill Sextet, an ensemble from the Walnut Hill School in Natick made up of 18-year-old flutist Michal Zeleny from Fort Myers, Florida, 17-year-old oboist Samuel Waring from Belmont, Massachusetts, 17-year-old clarinet player Nicholas Davies from Nantucket, Massachusetts, 18-year-old bassoon player David Cornelius from Jacksonville, Florida, 17-year-old French horn player Natasha Ramanujam from Fremont, California, and pianist Hai-Yun Song from China, who perform Poulenc's Sextet for Piano and Winds.

For more on the program, visit From the Top, and tune in on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 11am, and Sunday, Feb. 27 at 5pm.

Ben Roe Named Managing Director of Classical Services

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:44 PM +0000

Veteran public radio producer and manager Benjamin K. Roe has been named Managing Director of WGBH’s Classical Services. In this role, Roe will guide the overall strategy for 99.5 All Classical services, including programming, live performances and special events.

Roe joins WGBH after serving as the general manager of WDAV Radio in Davidson, North Carolina, since 2008, and his extensive experience with NPR dates back to 1982 with WUMB and WBUR in Boston, where he was one of the early producers of Car Talk. From there, he moved into NPR’s Cultural Programming division, serving in a variety of roles including Director of Music and Music Initiatives from 2002 to 2007.

Marita Rivero, WGBH Vice President and General Manager for Radio and Television said, “When we acquired 99.5 more than a year ago, our mission was to preserve and develop classical music in this region. Ben will certainly be an asset to WGBH, as we strive to provide the best possible classical services and continue to enhance the listener experience.”

An accomplished producer, Roe earned a Grammy Award in 1998 for a recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem by the Washington Chorus and is also a recipient of the Chairman’s Medal from the National Endowment for the Arts, a George Foster Peabody and ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for NPR’s Performance Today and the National Medal of the Arts for NPR Cultural Programming.

Arts leaders around Boston applauded the appointment of Roe, including Marie-Hélène Bernard, Executive Director and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society, who said, “Ben Roe brings a wealth of experience in radio broadcasting, true intelligence to programming and a passion for classical music.”

Rob Hayes, Assistant Vice President for External Affairs at the Berklee College of Music, said, "Ben Roe is one of the most astute broadcasters in the United States. He has a true, 20,000-foot view of the relationships between music, radio, and the web -- probably as good as there is -- and a legacy of seminal public radio programs he's helped to create. A city of smart people, with best-of-category producers of culture, just got a new friend and champion. I am thrilled that Ben is coming to WGBH.”

Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales, co-CEOs of From the Top, said, “We have known Ben for years and are thrilled to see him come back to Boston. We worked closely with him when he was at NPR and his insight and advice have been most valuable over the years. We look forward to collaborating with him in his new capacity at 99.5, as we work together to keep the classical music scene vibrant here in Boston.”

And Mark Volpe, Boston Symphony Orchestra Managing Director, said, “WGBH is incredibly fortunate to have Ben Roe join the team at 99.5 All Classical. Many of us at the BSO have enjoyed working closely with Ben on such NPR broadcasts as the opening of Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, the Symphony Hall Centennial Celebration, and a James Levine-led performance of Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand - the maestro’s first concert as BSO music director. Ben’s creative spirit and unquestionable professionalism, along with his uncanny ability to find workable solutions to tough challenges, are just a few of his impressive qualities. We look forward to collaborating with Ben on the BSO’s broadcast presence on 99.5.”

The Essential Classics!

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:40 PM +0000

Join Ray Brown for the classical music essential to kids, with The Blue Danube, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Peter and the Wolf, and more!

The Harlem Quartet

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:52 AM +0000

The dynamic young ensemble plays Turina, Beethoven, Corea, and Marsalis.

Musical Innovation: A Grander Grand Piano

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:29 AM +0000

With an unprecedented 102 keys, the Stuart and Sons grand has a distinctive sound that one pianist describes as “clear and crisp as white wine.”

"...to the memory of a great man"

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:59 PM +0000

Jan. 16

Each Sunday in January features a pair of symphonies, one from the "standard repertoire" of 18th and 19th century German works that we return to over and over, and one from the US, mainly from the 20th century. And for this weekend, with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday on the 15th and the official observance on the 17th, Sunday the 16th seems like the perfect chance to continue this series of symphonies and celebrate the reverend's life and legacy at the same time.

The two symphonies for the morning are Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony and Copland's Symphony no. 3. Each is appropriate in its own way: after tearing away the work's original dedication to Napoleon, Beethoven replaced it with the words "...to the memory of a great man" (pictured above). Copland's Third Symphony, no less ambitious in its intentions, is the composer's grandest statement of his "populist" style. Let no one be cynical about this: Copland's embrace of tonality and accessibility did him no favors within the classical music establishment of the time. Like Beethoven, Copland was influenced by current political events. He took on a role as musical ambassador as a way of supporting FDR's policies both at home and abroad, and during WWII he sought out ways of writing music that would aid the war effort. He wrote "Fanfare for the Common Man" in 1942 and later incorporated it into the finale of this symphony, composed during the war's final months and premiered by - who else? - the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky conducting, in October 1946. The fanfare has not lost any of its musical or symbolic power: it was heard at the beginning of last Wednesday's memorial service in Tucson.

In the first two hours we're going to hear a lot of singing. Coretta Scott King was a music major in college, a trained classical singer, and there was a lot of music in the King household. King's last words before he was shot was a request to hear the song "Take my hand, Precious Lord" at a mass he was planning on attending that evening. We will hear that song, as well as other spirituals sung by such singers as Paul Robeson, Roland Hayes and Marian Anderson.

We will also hear some versions of the ancient French marching song "L'homme arme." Why play a war song in honor of a man of peace? Because of the way Renaissance composers like Josquin des Prez treated the theme - using this martial melody as the basis for religious works was their way of turning swords into plowshares, a frequent image in Dr. King's sermons. It also provided a subtle way for composers to make a statement about the militarism of the church. This kind of double meaning was also used in spirituals, which under the guise of worship also provided a vehicle of protest against slavery. To hear the Agnus Dei from Josquin's Missa L'homme arme, with voices hypnotically weaving this marching song and the words "Dona nobis pacem" into a tapestry of peace that sounds uncannily like it could have been written by Arvo Pärt or Philip Glass, is to realize that music has been used as a means for visualizing peace and protesting injustice for centuries.