Graduation Playlist

Listen to our playlist for music to accompany your at-home graduation ceremony or celebration.


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Graduation: Let us add 'Pomp and Circumstance' and other great music to your celebration

Scott Blankenship started his radio career in college when he began working as a volunteer at a local cable radio station, announcing alternative and new rock music. His love and appreciation of classical music began at public radio station KVNO in Omaha, where he spent 13 years in various on-air and management roles, five of those years as the morning drive-time host.

Indications that radio was in his blood go back to age five, when he used a corkboard and a battered phonograph as a makeshift radio studio; his father's Air Force issue flashlight served as his "on air" light. In his spare time, Blankenship is an avid cyclist and amateur playwright with several produced scripts to his credit.


Scott Blankenship

Minnesota's Great Lake, Superior, provides the base for the straightforward and masterfully made brews at Hoops Brewing in Duluth. Head brewer Dave Hoops joins host Scott Blankenship in this episode of Hop Notes, with music from Jean Sibelius accompanying beers made from the "best brewing water on Earth." 


MPR/APM

Hop Notes: Hoops Brewing and the music of Jean Sibelius

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Terry Blain

A star-studded lineup of Minnesota classical artists celebrated Minneapolis composer Libby Larsen's 70th birthday last week in a special online concert hosted by the Schubert Club. Watch now!


Courtesy of the artist

Watch: Virtual concert celebrates Minnesota composer Libby Larsen's 70th birthday

We have curated classical music playlists on YouTube to suit your every mood and interest, including creepy and mysterious classical music full of frights perfect for Halloween. Just click the play button.


Listen: Creepy and mysterious classical music perfect for Halloween

Listen to the Story

Catalina Maria Johnson

Ten artists from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean recorded tracks using birdsong from their country, with all profits of the vinyl and digital release going to bird conservation projects.


Album turns the sound of endangered birds into electronic music

A Beautiful World: Listening to nature's symphony

Heather McElhatton is a writer and independent producer whose work has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio. Her commentaries and stories have been heard nationally on This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America and Sound Money. McElhatton hosted the literary series Stage Sessions, a live variety show at the Fitzgerald Theater, which combines written word, live music and comedy. She has written several novels, including "Pretty Little Mistakes," "A Million Little Mistakes," "Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single," and "Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Married."


Heather McElhatton

Bernie Krause, bioacoustician and author of 'The Great Animal Orchestra,' says soundscapes can reveal environmental health.


Courtesy of Bernie Krause

Julie Amacher's Escape the Noise Playlist

Julie Amacher's desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, Wis. She went from rock 'n' roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Minnesota Public Radio in 1997 as an on-air host and also produces New Classical Tracks, a weekly podcast critiquing a new release each week. It airs locally at 7:15 a.m. Wednesdays and 5:15 p.m. Fridays.


Julie Amacher

When life is hectic or you need a break from the news, feel better and live bigger with classical music. Classical host Julie Amacher provides a playlist of music she uses to help clear her mind.


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Clear your mind with a classical music playlist from Julie Amacher

Cory Turner

Anya Kamanetz

Lasers and lava and mummies, oh my! Here are the exhibits that kids and their grown-ups love the most from 10 of the nation's best children's museums.


Larry Rippel/Courtesy of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh

Ready, Set, Play: A Top 10 'Playlist' From The Nation's Children's Museums

General Shellito shares music he loves

Alison Young

With a career spanning 37 years, Major General Shellito enlisted in the active-duty Army and went to Vietnam as a Mobile Advisory Team Senior Advisor. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star among many others. General Shellito was instrumental in establishing the state's "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" initiative, which is now the foundation of a national program to reintegrate National Guard and Reserve military service members following deployments.


General Larry Shellito

Music has long been a part of the armed services, but General Larry Shellito says he became a classical music fan while listening to a classical music radio show in Vietnam. He shares online two pieces he has always loved.


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