Quick: name a classical music composer. Chances are, the first names that come up are not women. Now there’s a new database that opens up centuries of women composers, linking their names to stories, performing scores, and recordingsRead More
When’s the last time you watched a Tiny Desk Concert? NPR’s popular in-office show became the Tiny Desk (Home) Concert when the pandemic hit. On June 24, 2021, one artist’s home studio performance came from a remote island in the south Pacific Ocean, two thousand miles west of Chile. The pianist Mahani Teave (teh-AH-veh) offered not only Handel and Chopin, but also a tour Read More
LaFarge’s Chopin journey began with an email to the creator of the video game “Frederic: The Resurrection of Music” during the 200th anniversary year of Chopin’s birth. An amateur pianist, she wanted to explore the game’s use of Chopin’s iconic “funeral march.” Of course, like all explorers, she couldn’t stop there.Read More
Do you know a girl who bounces across the lawn, no matter what dress she’s wearing? Jumping, singing, climbing trees? That’s the kind of girl this story is about.Read More
Can singing in harmony fix our broken world? If you’ve sung in a chorus, perhaps you’ve felt it can. You’re not alone. Watch this presentation by the award-winning ensemble The King’s Singers, making the case for the choral community’s duty to help heal our fractured societies. It’s from the Chorus America Virtual Conference in 2020.Read More
If you find yourself asking, “Who is Florence Price?” you’re not alone. Which is why that’s the title of a lively new book for and by young readers. Read More
There’s a recipe for just this baroque-era staple included in The Little Bach Book by the Oregon-based tenor, Bach specialist and book designer David Gordon (Lucky Valley Press, 2017). Only 160 pages, including maps, glossary, timeline, recommendations for further reading and, yes, recipes, Gordon’s little book reveals the magnificent Johann Sebastian Bach as a man of his Read More
What is it about some music that feels just right for these challenging times? In Victoria, BC, the theme of the 13th Annual Pacific Baroque Festival is “From the Ground, Up,” featuring just that kind of music: the kind that builds on repetition. Marc Destrubé, the internationally-acclaimed violinist and teacher, and the Pacific Baroque Festival’s Artistic Director, says Read More
When a student becomes an award-winner, you congratulate the teacher, right? A teacher like Dr. Chris Dickey, assistant professor of tuba at WSU. His student earned this year’s first prize in European Music at the Charleston International Music Competition. The student is WSU sophomore Tim Schrader. Read More
Who needs a concert hall when there’s a barn nearby? Or a brewery? Or an old electric power plant? The Northwest is home to some classical music venues with decidedly non-classical histories. This is the story of Trillium Woods Farm, home of Concerts in the Barn.Read More
Conducting a symphony orchestra is hard. It takes a special set of skills to bring out just the right sound from a stage full of players. Even after Bellingham Symphony’s Music Director Yaniv Attar finished his studies with legendary classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, he found that she still had a thing or two to teach him about conducting.Read More
What would Beethoven do when he was hungry? He’d have mac and cheese! The Viennese version, of course: Kaesespaetzle, or "cheese noodles;" tiny dumplings topped with crispy onions. For Ludwig’s 250th anniversary year, may we suggest he spice things up with a pepper and a sprig of rosemary? How about some Cougar Gold instead of that Parmigiano-Reggiano? Keep reading Read More
This new work, composed by Duncan Neilson, tells the story of Frankenstein's monster from the perspective of the creature himself, with text extracted from Mary Shelly's classic novel. Listen to a special presentation of "The Monster," Saturday, October 31, at 8:00 PM.Read More
Once upon a time when Seattle was smaller, orchards dotted the shores of Lake Washington. Today, many of those old apple, plum and fig trees still thrive within urban neighborhoods. […]Read More
Consider this year’s apples: Born from the seeds of an earlier generation’s trees, the fruit you hold in your hand this fall will allow you “to shake hands with a […]Read More
A long, relaxed summer evening in the company of live classical music and fine food. That’s a favorite Northwest pleasure offered around the region: Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (Concert on the Village Green), Bellingham Festival of Music (Chamber by the Bay), and Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival (Music Under the Stars), to name a few. It’s the kind of Read More
Did you know that the director of the new documentary film about Mr. Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Morgan Neville – also directed The Music of Strangers, the 2016 documentary about Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project? And that Yo-Yo Ma’s son Nicholas is one of the producers of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
In a clip of his appearance on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Nicholas Ma is Read More
Britain’s prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Awards have created a new award for 2018, called Orchestra of the Year. The shortlist includes a familiar name to Northwest listeners: the Seattle Symphony. For the first time in the history of these awards, public voting will decide an outcome. The 2018 Orchestra of the Year Award will go to the nominee receiving the most Read More
Ah, June. Wedding season for so many, when even musical instruments can declare their loving intentions. 'D’amore': Italian, meaning 'of love.' And what does 'love' mean? Sympathetic vibrations, a soft, comforting voice, a whisper into the mysterious dark of the ancient, natural world. Welcome to the instruments d’amore: viola, oboe, and…yerbomatófono?Read More
Every year, when spring begins to consider the possibility of a return, eager singers gather to prepare their concerts of Handel’s inspiring music.Read More
Makes sense that Franz Schubert’s birthday would be at the coldest time of year: January 31, 1797. The deepest chill runs through Schubert’s whisper-short lifetime. Granted, within the hundreds of […]Read More
The original Mozartkugel is a rich little layered confection: pistachio marzipan enveloped by nougat, surrounded by chocolate, and wrapped in foil decorated with a portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It […]Read More
So it’s true! All these years, you’ve carefully pronounced the “beet” in Beethoven’s surname as “bait,” you well-educated music lover. And you’re right, you’re right. But dig a little bit, […]Read More
Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Daniel Ott brings music and parks together around a Northwest Landmark: Mount Rainier. PAULA GRAY / TUMBLR A […]Read More
Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen employed Johann Sebastian Bach as his court’s music master, and even sat in himself to jam with the players on harpsichord or violin. Eccentric businesswoman Nadezhda […]Read More
Hear the music of Lili Boulanger in the Second Hour of NWPR’s Celebration of Women in Classical Music. For Women’s History Month 2016, Northwest Public Radio celebrated with a […]Read More
Violinst Augustin Hadelich SEATTLE SYMPHONY Congratulations, Seattle Symphony! Another Grammy! The 2016 Grammy award for best classical instrumental solo went to violinist Augustin Hadelich, for Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L’Arbre Des […]Read More
Antonin Dvorak’s 8th Symphony (1890) is one of several significant works which premiered on February 2. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Music history refreshes itself every time you enjoy a favorite piece, […]Read More
Classical music host, Gigi Yellen fries up her latke goodness! GIGI YELLEN / NWPR The original Hanukkah lights were wicks floating in oil. So the holiday’s ancient legend gives […]Read More
Anything but delicate, Peter Schickele will turn 80 this year. Credit Peter Schickele / http://www.schickele.com/index.htm What’s your favorite P.D.Q. Bach bit? How about two sports announcers doing a play-by-play […]Read More
SEBÁSTIAN FREIRE FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL OK, it’s not a prescription. It is cold-weather comfort: help warm your insides or the person you care about feel better and […]Read More
Conductor Alondra de la Parra at a concert in New York, 2014. FEAST OF MUSIC / FLICKR Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra is known for her energetic, animated conducting. Take a […]Read More
Beethovenian? Digging into information for the tidbits you hear next to the classical music on NWPR, we run across some interesting phenomena. Like the use of a composer’s name […]Read More
The Arlington National Cemetery showing the tradition of honoring grave stones of veterans with the American flag on Memorial Day. CREDIT WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Music for Memorial Day serves two […]Read More
Asad Ali, 63, was unemployed for four years when Pakistan clamped down on live music in 1977. He now plays the guitar for Sachal Studios Orchestra around the globe […]Read More
Composer Julia Wolfe has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for music for Anthracite Fields, an oratorio about coal miners and their families. CREDIT PETER SERLING / HTTP://WWW.NPR.ORG/ Northwest Public […]Read More
Seymour Bernstein and Ethan Hawke in Hawke’s Seymour: An Introduction. CREDIT RAMSEY FENDALL / RISK LOVE LLC When actor-director Ethan Hawke (star of Boyhood) found himself seated next to a […]Read More
A painting of Ludwig van Beethoven. One of our favorite NPR shows plus Beethoven’s famous little piano piece adds up to a must-listen moment! From Fresh Air with Terry Gross […]Read More
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O’Riley performing for Tiny Desk Concerts. CREDIT NPR / NPR.ORG The host of your Sunday noontime show “From the Top,” pianist Christopher O’Riley, and cellist […]Read More
A screenshot of the Dublin Guitar Quartet’s Tiny Desk Concert at NPR. CREDIT TINY DESK CONCERTS / NPR We know you love guitar music. From Classical Guitar Alive (Sunday […]Read More
The Dallas Street Choir dressed in one of their performing outfits. CREDIT MARK MULLANEY. What stories do you tell? What stories could you be telling? On the occasion of National […]Read More
Deborah Voigt performing “Annie Get Your Gun” in 2011. Credit CSUF Photos / Flickr You know that old saying, “The show isn’t over til the fat lady sings”? Like […]Read More
Isaac Azose, Seattle Sephardic music maestro, with NEA National Heritage Fellow Flory Jagoda, composer of “Ocho Kandelikas.” Credit Gigi Yellen Christmas carols, they’re not. But for Hanukkah, the music […]Read More
Zankel Hall, where “The Classical Style” was performed. Credit Jeff Goldberg / Esto Share a good laugh when you read this New York Times review of a cheeky little […]Read More
https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_limb_your_brain_on_improv?language=enImagine, for a moment, Bach’s brain. Long before there was jazz, musicians jammed. The pianist Keith Jarrett, whose recordings of Bach and Handel often come your way on NWPR, may […]Read More
What’s the right music for a Shakespeare play? Depends on what century you’re in. In the 400 years since the plays were new, generations of composers have set their musical […]Read More
John Luther Adams’ new album, Become Ocean, comes out Sept. 30. Credit Molly Sheridan/Courtesy of the artist Where the Pacific NW, environmental stewardship and classical music meet: the new […]Read More
A 44-year-old man known as a phenomenal pianist played a disappointing concert that would be his last public performance at the keyboard. Ludwig van Beethoven’s hearing loss had finally overtaken […]Read More
For 10 years, conductor Lawrence Golan has been quietly waging a legal campaign to overturn a statute which makes it impossibly expensive for smaller orchestras to play certain pieces […]Read More
Credit Northwest Boychoir Republished from ParentMap. Confidence, focus, a dedication to hard work, even empowerment: Participating in a singing group can helps kids grow in multiple ways. My first […]Read More
