CONCLAVE: Focus Features “Without uncertainty, there is no doubt. Without doubt, there is no mystery. Without mystery, there is no faith.” Let’s face it. Without an intelligent script, talented actors […]Read More
Classical Music
NWPB's Anjuli Dodhia spoke to WSU professors, Drs. Melissa Parkhurst and Jacqueline Wilson (Yakima), about their upcoming Olsen Festival of native American Music. With Artist-in-Residence Connor Chee, the festival will be hosted on the WSU Pullman campus, November 12-23, 2024. Read More
The Apprentice: Briarcliff Entertainment When a 26-year-old Donald Trump encounters the controversial attorney Roy Cohn for the first time in director Ali Abbasi’s new film, he tells him, admiringly, “You’re […]Read More
After over 40 years, the weekly Celtic music program The Thistle & Shamrock has come to an end. Fiona Ritchie, who has been the host and producer since she created the program in 1983, wrapped up her last program on September 30. Read More
Megalopolis: Lionsgate Studios “How would you like to watch a story where nothing ever happens? In my films, everything happens.” In Federico Fellini’s utterly fascinating 1963 picture, 8½ , the […]Read More
Today, two hundred years after his birth, Anton Bruckner’s music continues to challenge and fascinate. He was a humble man. A devout Catholic. A highly trained organist. A largely self-taught composer. A singular voice in music, especially in his massive symphonies.Read More
Dina Gilbert appeared as Guest Conductor with the orchestra back in February. She currently serves as Music Director of the Kamloops Symphony, as well as Assistant Conductor of the Montreal Symphony in her native Québec. She sees Walla Walla as an “orchestra of the future,” and as a place where she can help develop new and younger audiences.Read More
Since 1993, musicians from around the country have gathered in Northwest Washington for the Bellingham Festival of Music. Co-founder and Artistic Director Michael Palmer stepped down from conducting duties in 2002, opening the door for a new leader of the orchestra. Enter Brazilian-born Marcelo Lehninger.Read More
Music inspired by Mythology and Historical events of April 6th. Read More
Inspired by Spring, the flowers, birds, wind, and growing warmth.Read More
Music for St. Patrick's Day, pulling in a rainbow variety of classical music.Read More
Classical music can have a reputation of being all too serious. But not in the hands of Sarah Hagen. Part piano recital, part comedy show, “Perk Up Pianist!” pairs anecdotes and stories with pieces by Chopin, Debussy, and Liszt. NWPB’s Steve Reeder spoke with Hagen.Read More
Music can express and inspire so many emotions. That makes it a perfect way–a “heartfelt” way–for you to show your love and appreciation to someone who plays an important role in your life. Read More
Selections of Beethoven's more boisterous and playful piano works and British folk songs he composed.Read More
Playlist of music selected for Variations on a Theme episode Winter is Coming.Read More
Turn on your radio, pour a cup of tea, cozy up to a warm fire, and enjoy uplifting music, heartwarming stories and inspiring performances to celebrate the season.
Here’s a list of special programs coming your way throughout the month of December.Read More
Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude. For food, family, friends, and for the first stewards of this land we call America: Indigenous Tribes. This Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day, join NWPB for music and stories that reflect the meaning of tradition and gratitude.Read More
The steins of beer. The plates of roast pork and chicken, sausages and dumplings. The brass bands. The throngs of people, many of them in traditional Bavarian dress. Dirndls or lederhosen, anyone? That’s how you probably identify Oktoberfest today. However, in the beginning, it had a very different feel.Read More
This week, we are saying goodbye to longtime classical music host Gigi Yellen. For more than ten years, Gigi has delighted NWPB listeners with music and commentary, and contributed to many more projects and initiatives. You can read or listen to her work on the Music and Culture page. We wish Gigi a happy retirement, and all the best on her next chapter. Gigi sat down with Read More
After more than 50 years behind the mic, and 10 years at Northwest public Broadcasting, Classical Music Host Gigi Yellen is retiring. Gigi’s last show will be September 27. Read More
Fair and carnival season is upon us! Catch music reminiscent of the fair in this edition of Variations on a Theme!Read More
El Grito de la Independencia Selections of Mexican composers, performers and conductors for the celebration of the Mexican Independence from Spain. It began September 15th 1810 with “The Shout of […]Read More
The first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882. The labor movement is long, varied, and complex. But at the heart of it is the desire for better living conditions for […]Read More
NWPB receives no funding and has no control over ads played on Spotify. All great composers were students and one time or another. Danse bohemienne by Debussy was written when […]Read More
There’s nothing better than sun-warmed ripe fruits from the garden. Gardens are also very nice to walk in and to bask in their fragrance. In the Country Gardens, a standard […]Read More
Music to commemorate the lunar landing of Apollo 11, July 20th, 1969. Music about the moon and moon related things. Read More
This Variations on a Theme excavates music from composers active in 1799, featuring a Napoleon favorite, Haydn, Beethoven, and a celebration of the discovery of the Rosetta stone! Read More
Music for that free flow of summer, when adventure - or a nap - can happen at any moment. There's music written by composers on Summer retreats, and music that evokes the sun-faded feeling.Read More
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
You’ve heard so much about the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, but there were daughters, too. Bach was 23, and his wife Maria Barbara was 24, when the first of their children was born. They named her Catherina Dorothea. CD grew into a singer, and helped out in her father’s music work. Fifteen years passed, her mother died, her father remarried, and finally, CD Bach 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
James DePreist was a gifted communicator whether speaking, writing, or conducting. He is the subject of this “Music Moment” from NWPB Classical.Read More
From our very first broadcasts, in December 1922, music has been an important, and popular, part of this station’s programming. Listeners were thrilled to hear music on the new medium of radio, so a partnership quickly developed between the station (then known as KWSC) and the Washington State College School of Music. 100 years on, the collaboration continues. Read More
Dr. Jacqueline Wilson of Yakama Can an instrument suit your personality? Dr. Jacqueline Wilson of Yakama would say so. She believes her personality fits best with a large, low sounding, […]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
You'll hear an interview of Dr. Jaqueline Wilson about her upcoming album featuring new music by Native American Composers, and how her high school band teacher guided her to her music goals. Read More
Today marks the 150th birthday of one of England's most revered composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, who is also widely beloved beyond Britain. A folksong expert who logged long trips collecting traditional tunes all over the British Isles, Vaughan Williams famously produced gently modal folksong fantasies evoking England's "green and pleasant land."Read More
From the first festival held in Munich over 200 years ago, Oktoberfest has spread around the world, even to Northwest Public Broadcasting! If the drinking songs and autumn music you hear on NWPB Classical has you in the mood to attend an Oktoberfest in your area, here are a few festivals happening in October. Read More
NWPB Classical is proud to present a special re-broadcast of the west coast premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem. The program airs Monday, June 20 at 8:00 pm. Read More
Twenty-five years ago, Angèle Dubeau had a thriving career as a concert violinist, having studied with the legendary Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. She had become a popular broadcaster at home in Québec, where she hosted a weekly French-language program on CBC. She already had her Arthur (as she calls her prized Stradivarius violin), but she envisioned Read More
Read On Thursday March 10th, public radio stations around the world, including NWPB, will air Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” in support of Ukraine’s public broadcasting system. The project is […]Read More
Claudio José Brindis de Salas y Garrido. A renowned violinist, born in Cuba in 1852. A contemporary journalist described his playing, and the effect it had on his listeners. “His eyes sparkled. His fingers multiplied…reaching into the deep nerves of the melody…leading a rapt audience to drunken emotion.”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
The holiday season has always been popular for introducing new works, including many perennial favorites. In Italy, the day after Christmas became especially meaningful to composers and impresarios.Read More
The holiday season inspires all kinds of thoughts, often having to do with reflection, celebration and renewal. For musicians and concert presenters, this time of year has long served as a period for introducing new works, whether specifically related to the season or not. Classical music offers a wealth of examples.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
