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Classical Music

LISTEN: The Pacifica Quartet On Performing Complete Quartet Cycles And Touring The Northwest

By Anjuli Dodhia January 30, 2020

The Grammy-winning Pacifica Quartet is known for their advocacy of contemporary music and for their acclaimed performances of complete quartet cycles by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Carter, and Shostakovich. From their home at Indiana University, Bloomington, they visited Moscow, Idaho in January 2020 for a week of concerts, outreach events and master classes.Read More

Remembering Classical Music Host Bob Christiansen Of ‘Bob And Bill’

By Sueann Ramella December 3, 2019

Bill Morelock, left, and Bob Christiansen

They were a classical music hosts who helped make the genre approachable. Bob and Bill started at Northwest Public Radio delighting audiences with their humor and knowledge. Recently, Bob Christenson passed away. Bill Morelock remembers him. Read More

A Conversation With Imani Winds: ‘It Matters To Have Art That Reflects The World That We Live In.’

By Anjuli Dodhia October 3, 2019

For more than twenty years, Imani Winds has inspired audiences and young musicians of all backgrounds with their energetic performances, outreach endeavors and adventurous programming. Anjuli Dodhia caught up with horn player/composer Jeff Scott and bassoonist Monica Ellis at an Imani Winds rehearsal. Read More

Grammy-Winning Opera Singer Jessye Norman Dies At 74

By NPR News September 30, 2019

Jessye Norman performs at a ceremony on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the U.S. Capitol in 2013. CREDIT: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Norman was one of the leading African American opera figures in a time when there were fewer than now. The soprano won four Grammys and the National Medal of Arts.Read More

A Musical Brain May Help Us Understand Language And Appreciate Tchaikovsky

By NPR News June 10, 2019

An MRI scan of a person listening to music shows brain areas that respond. (This scan wasn't part of the research comparing humans and monkeys.) KUL BHATIA/Kul Bhatia/Science Source

Compared with monkeys, humans have a brain that is extremely sensitive to a sound's pitch. And that may reflect our exposure to speech and music.Read More

Review: Documentary Film On Luciano Pavarotti Misses All The Right Notes

By NPR News June 7, 2019

Ron Howard's new Pavarotti film fails to make us feel much for its subject, and does little to bolster the magical, complicated art called opera. Read More

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Suddenly Cancels Summer Season

By NPR News June 1, 2019

Marin Alsop directs the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore, in North Bethesda, Md. Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post/Getty Images

The financially embattled organization surprised its musicians, and its audience, by shortening its season and cutting the players pay and vacation, it announced Thursday.Read More

‘They Know That I’m The Real Deal’: Transgender Baritone Lucia Lucas Makes Opera History

By NPR News May 30, 2019

Lucia Lucas, with cast mate Hidenori Inoue, in a dress rehearsal for the Tulsa Opera's 2019 Don Giovanni production. Shane Bevel Photography/Tulsa Opera

In her U.S. debut as Don Giovanni, Lucia Lucas became the first known trans person to sing a principal role on an American opera stage.Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘How Shostakovich Changed My Mind’ Touches On The Music-Body Connection

By NPR News May 18, 2019

Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer-member of the Soviet delegation to the Cultural and Scientific conference for World Peace, plays the second movement of his Fifth Symphony at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27, 1949. Marty Lederhandler/AP

BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson's remarkably diverse aesthetic and personal sensitivity are on full display in his new book on the Russian composer's music — and his own personal struggles.Read More

Top Dutch Orchestra And Ousted Conductor Daniele Gatti Settle Dispute Over Dismissal

By NPR News April 24, 2019

Daniele Gatti had a short tenure as the chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Remko De Waal/AFP/Getty Images

The acclaimed Concertgebouw Orchestra issued a warmly worded statement Tuesday saying its disagreements with the conductor have been resolved by both parties.Read More

After The Flames, Notre Dame’s Centuries-Old Organ May Never Be The Same Again

By NPR News April 21, 2019

The pipe organ of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, one of the most famous in the world, was spared from the cathedral fire on April 15, but major restoration needs to be done on the instrument. CREDIT: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

Chief organist Olivier Latry looks ahead at the church's extensive renovation process after the Notre Dame cathedral fire on April 15.Read More

Readjusting Your Opera Reality: Ellen Reid Wins Music Pulitzer For ‘P r i s m’

By NWPB Music April 16, 2019

Ellen Reid's opera p r i s m has won this year's Pulitzer Prize for music. James Matthew Daniel

The young composer's opera, which debuted at the Los Angeles Opera, was inspired by her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault.Read More

Fresh Air: For Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Making Music Is ‘Like A Religious Call’

By NWPB Music April 9, 2019

Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012. Jan Regan/The Philadelphia Orchestra

Nézet-Séguin uses every part of his body when he conducts — including his eyes, eyebrows, shoulders and feet. He's the music director at New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra.Read More

Photos Gallery: Suzanne Bona Plays The Palouse

By Sandi Billings April 4, 2019

Suzanne Bona in the Sunday Baroque studio

Suzanne Bona, producer and host of Sunday Baroque on NWPB and syndicated across the U.S., visted the Palouse March 18 – 21. Her activities included a fund raising lunch for […]Read More

A Musical Odyssey Through 7 Centuries Of Music With Jeremy Denk

By NPR News March 31, 2019

Jeremy Denk's new album c.1300-c.2000 traces seven centuries of classical music. Michael Wilson/Courtesy of the artist

On his new album titled c.1300-c.2000, the pianist begins with a medieval song by Machaut and ends with an étude by Philip Glass. Read More

Critics Worry U.S. Music College Will Be Closed After Proposed Sale To Chinese For-Profit Company

By NPR News March 26, 2019

The Westminster Choir, performing with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Colin Davis in New York City in 2003. Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images

The newly disclosed sale agreement of Westminster Choir College to a conglomerate partly owned by the Chinese government appears to state that the prospective owners can close the school at any time.Read More

National radio host teams up with Moscow guitarist to make sublime music

By Sandi Billings March 13, 2019

Buy Concert Ticket Suzanne Bona swaps her Sunday Baroque mic for a FLUTE next month, when she comes to Moscow perform with guitarist James Reid. The program has baroque music, […]Read More

A Salmon Run And Rock Music: Inspiration For A New Northwest Fanfare

By Anjuli Dodhia March 12, 2019

Composer Austin Schlichting was raised in Bellingham and currently works as a music educator in Lacey. Last year, he partnered with the Olympia Symphony to write and premier a new piece celebrating the Orchestra's 65th Anniversary. His new work for the Olympia Symphony is Nisqually River Run: A Fanfare to the Pacific Northwest. Read More

At 92, The Man Who Wrote The Book On French Composer Hector Berlioz Resumes His Case

By NPR News March 9, 2019

French composer Hector Berlioz died 150 years ago. He has been a lifelong favorite of the British author David Cairns, who wrote Berlioz's biography and edited and translated his memoirs. CREDIT: Émile Signol/Académie française/Villa Médicis, Rome

To mark the sesquicentennial of the composer's death — and a new box set of recordings — Berlioz biographer David Cairns celebrates the one-time musical misfit from France. Read More

André Previn, Musical Polymath, Conductor And Accomplished Jazz Pianist, Dies At 89

By NPR News March 2, 2019

André Previn died Thursday morning in Manhattan. He was a composer of Oscar-winning film music, conductor, pianist and music director of major orchestras.Read More

How A Swede Named After Beethoven Helped Orchestrate America’s Race Conversation

By NWPB Music February 25, 2019

Ludwig Göransson composed Black Panther's original score. CREDIT: Austin Hargrave/Courtesy of the artist

The Swedish composer is the link between Childish Gambino's "This is America," the Grammys' song and record of the year, and Black Panther, now an Oscar winner for best original score.Read More

An Italian Town Fell Silent So The Sounds Of A Stradivarius Could Be Preserved

By NPR News February 17, 2019

The mayor of Cremona, Italy, blocked traffic during five weeks of recording and asked residents to please keep quiet so master musicians could play four instruments — note by note — for posterity.Read More

American Anthem: The Curious Journey Of The ‘Adagio For Strings,’ From Funerals To Festivals

By NPR News February 14, 2019

Dutch superstar DJ Tiesto (seen here performing in Miami in February 2019) released a massively popular electronic reworking of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings in 2005. CREDIT: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for E11EVEN Miami

How did Samuel Barber's stirring, lush work for strings — music that has become America's semi-official music of mourning — morph into a beloved and endlessly remixed dance floor anthem?Read More

Sunday Baroque On The Palouse: Two Events In March

By Sandi Billings February 14, 2019

Buy Concert Ticket Suzanne Bona, host and executive producer of public radio’s Sunday Baroque, will be the headliner at events in Moscow March 18 – 20: a fundraising lunch and […]Read More

Yo-Yo Ma Surprises Bystanders In Mumbai With A Mini-Concert

By NPR News January 23, 2019

Yo-Yo Ma (shown here performing in Washington, D.C., last year) surprised unsuspecting Indians in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday with an impromptu roadside performance. Larry French/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Yo-Yo Ma, the world's most famous living cellist, performed formally and informally in Mumbai this week, part of a long-term project to play Bach's six suites for cello in 36 places around the world.Read More

For Opera Singers, Life After Retirement — At Least At One Very Special Rest Home

By NPR News January 17, 2019

Founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi and funded by royalties from his popular operas, Casa Verdi in Milan opened a century ago as a home for opera musicians in their golden years.Read More

Finding God, Love And The Meaning Of Life In Messiaen’s ‘Turangalîla-Symphonie’

By NPR News January 12, 2019

Composer Olivier Messiaen in 1983, at the organ at the Trinité church in Paris where he held the post of organist for over 60 years. Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop traces her discovery of the rollicking 75-minute symphony and the man behind the music.Read More

Here’s What NWPB Music Hosts Are Excited About In 2019

By Anjuli Dodhia January 9, 2019

The new year has just begun, and NWPB music hosts are eagerly anticipating a few events, concerts and interviews in 2019.Read More

Don And Marianna Matteson Provide For Musical Future At NWPB

By Sandi Billings January 9, 2019

With their donation of $100,000, Pullman-based listeners Donald Matteson and Marianna Merritt Matteson have created a permanent public radio music fund. The endowment will provide ongoing support for classical music […]Read More

For One Violist, Elevating Music By Black Composers Is A 20-Year Mission

By NPR News January 7, 2019

Rachel Barton Pine's Blues Dialogues album and Music by Black Composers educational project are part of a mission that stretches back more than 20 years. Courtesy of the artist

Composers of color have long had to compete with dead white men for space on the concert stage. A new project, spearheaded by Rachel Barton Pine, seeks to correct that for the next generation.Read More

‘Tis The Season Of Firsts: December Classical Music Premieres Through The Years

By Steve Reeder December 14, 2018

‘Tis the season for all manner of festivities, from celebrations of the holidays at home to premieres of new works for the theatre. In fact, many productions enjoyed their first performances at this special time of year. Read More

Why Is The Chinese Government Trying To Buy A Selective Music School In New Jersey?

By NPR News December 8, 2018

Students of the Westminster Choir College perform with the Vienna Philharmonic at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2015. Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images

An elite music college in Princeton, N.J., is up for sale. Its prospective buyer is a for-profit Chinese company — which is partially owned by the Beijing municipal government.Read More

Keep Your Candles Burning Brightly: 2018 Holiday Radio Programs On NWPB

By Anjuli Dodhia November 30, 2018

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

No Humdrum Affair: Dreaming Of Rachmaninov On A Train With Pianist Daniil Trifonov

By NPR News November 29, 2018

Rachmaninov in the Rockies: Pianist Daniil Trifonov dreams of playing the composer's Fourth Piano Concerto on a train.

The celebrated young pianist Daniil Trifonov steals aboard a steam locomotive, chugging through the Rockies to the strains of Rachmaninov's Fourth Concerto.Read More

How Dvorak’s ‘New World’ Symphony Introduced American Music To Itself

By NWPB Music November 25, 2018

U.S. Navy CPO Graham Jackson, with tears of grief, plays "Goin' Home," from Dvorak's 'New World' Symphony, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's body is carried from Warm Springs, Ga., where he died. CREDIT: Ed Clark/Life Picture Collection/Getty

Sometimes it takes an outsider to see a culture clearly. Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's Ninth Symphony was an ode to what American music could become.Read More

‘Ballad Of The Fat Turkeys’: Talking Fowl But Festive Music In The Classical Tradition

By NWPB Music November 24, 2018

From bourgeois turkeys to Mother Goose, music commentator Miles Hoffman introduces us to classical music about fowls.Read More

November: Special Occasions, Special Programs

By Gillian Coldsnow November 9, 2018

Armistice Day: Music from the Trenches This program commemorates the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the end of World War I. You’ll hear music from both sides of the […]Read More

Finding Inspiration Amidst Chaos: Classical Music Of The First World War

By Steve Reeder November 7, 2018

November 11 marks the centennial of the end of World War I, otherwise known as the “Great War” and the “War to End All Wars.” Simply put, it was a cataclysm, a conflict that marked a threshold in modern history. In the world of classical music, composers responded in many different ways.Read More

The Tale Of The Stolen Totenberg Stradivarius Violin Ends With A New Legacy

By NPR News October 17, 2018

From left to right, the Totenberg-Ames Stradivarius at the start of its restoration; in a mold being prepared to have the edge reinforced; and after the restoration. Courtesy of Bruno Price

When the FBI recovered virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg's stolen Stradivarius after his death, his daughters wanted the instrument to be played everywhere. Ensuring that was not so simple.Read More

The Rise Of The LA Philharmonic To ‘America’s Most Important Orchestra’

By NPR News October 11, 2018

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which begins to mark its centennial this fall, is credited with helping to bring high culture and great composers to L.A. Read More

One Mesmerizing Moment With Soprano Montserrat Caballé

By NWPB Music October 10, 2018

Soprano Montserrat Caballé, in concert in Marbella, Spain, in 2012.

The revered Spanish soprano, who died Saturday, spins out silvery threads of tone in her recordings, the likes of which no one has ever matched.Read More

Making Opera Accessible Again: Anthony Roth Costanzo Is A Countertenor For The 21st Century

By NWPB Music October 7, 2018

The resourceful singer is unafraid to bring opera — and his high-flying top notes — to unlikely places, from sixth-grade classrooms to the offices of NPR.Read More

Bach On Tap Shoes: Tiptoeing Through The ‘Goldberg Variations’

By NPR News October 3, 2018

(The video comes courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.)

Although Johann Sebastian Bach was probably no tap-dancer, he did know something about dancing. The gigues, menuets and courantes that populate his various suites are, essentially, stylized dance movements that can leap off the page in a good performance.Read More