Christmas at Luther

Melissa Ousley stumbled into a career in broadcasting many years ago when she moved to Wichita, Kansas to be near her soon-to-be husband. The attraction (to radio work, that is) was immediate and the chance to be around great music without having to practice piano was irresistible. After establishing herself as a host and producer in Kansas, Melissa moved to Minnesota and continued her work at WCAL in Northfield and Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul. Her morning classical show at WCAL was twice named "Best Classical Radio Program" by the Twin Cities paper City Pages. Melissa grew up near New York City. As a teenager, she attended the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. Her bachelor's degree in music education is from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. When she's away from the airwaves, Melissa loves to run, read, and spend time with her family.


Melissa Ousley

Each December, the Center for Faith and Life at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, rings out with the sacred and the exuberant: the sounds of the Christmas season. Enjoy the 2022 program, ‘The Gifts They Gave Emmanuel.’


Christmas at Luther: 'The Gifts They Gave Emmanuel'

Classical Feature - Holiday - Welcome Christmas

Welcome Christmas

John Birge has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.


John Birge

‘Welcome Christmas’ is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host John Birge for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including compositions and arrangements by Mack Wilberg, Glenn Rudolph and John Rutter.


Welcome Christmas!

A Chanticleer Christmas 2022

Celebrate the season with song! Melissa Ousley hosts this one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the two-time Grammy-winning 12-man ensemble known as ‘an orchestra of voices.’


'Chanticleer Christmas'

An ecstatic exploration of classical music that’s aesthetically and uncompromisingly Black.

Rhapsody in Black - Undine Smith Moore

Undine Smith Moore knew the importance of music education from an early age. But despite her success, she still doubted her abilities and accomplishments as a composer, citing racism. Find out more in the latest episode of the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.


Detroit Public Library

Undine Smith Moore understood the art of teaching

New Classical Tracks (Extended Interview) - Kellen Gray

New Classical Tracks - Kellen Gray

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

On this week’s episode of New Classical Tracks, conductor Kellen Gray and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra explore the diversity and array of aesthetics among African American composers in their latest album, ‘African American Voices II.’ Find out more!


Provided

Kellen Gray and Royal Scottish National Orchestra present 'African American Voices II'

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Luis Trelles

Florencia gives star Ailyn Pérez a rare chance to sing in Spanish. As the bilingual daughter of Mexican immigrants, she learned early on that language had the power to shape her experience and voice.


Ken Howard/Met Opera

Finding a place at the Met, this opera sings in a language of its own

Listen to the Story

Jeff Lunden

Long before The Backstreet Boys, a vocal sextet in Weimar Germany was silenced because three memebrs were Jewish. A new Broadway musical with a score by Barry Manilow tells their story.


Julieta Cervantes/Harmony

An early boy band was world famous — until the Nazis took over

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with conductor Marin Alsop about the 30th anniversary of "Too Hot To Handel" — a modern take on Handel's baroque classic, "Messiah."


Levang, Rex

'Too Hot to Handel', Marin Alsop's modern rendition of a holiday staple turns 30

Saturday Cinema - Nov. 25, 2023

Lynne has been at this radio thing since 1984 when she fell into an historic job at KFAC AM and FM, the commercial classical station in Los Angeles.  She was the first woman staff announcer in the station's history, and it was such big news back then, it made the LA newspapers and national radio publications.  She is thrilled women in radio is no longer newsworthy.


Lynne Warfel

On Thanksgiving weekend, ‘Saturday Cinema’ host Lynne Warfel kept the holiday mood going with two hours of listeners' requests for their favorite film music, including selections by Hans Zimmer, Miklos Rozsa and Jerry Goldsmith. Listen now!


Listener requests

Friday Favorites - Project DJ Nov. 24, 2023

Steve Staruch can be heard on Classical Minnesota Public Radio from 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays, including hosting Music with Minnesotans, Regional Spotlight and Friday Favorites. Prior to joining the staff of MPR in 2004, Steve presented a variety of radio programs on WCAL in Northfield, Minn., where he created an immensely popular call-in program, and on WXXI in Rochester, N.Y. Outside radio, Steve also enjoys work as a freelance tenor and violist. Steve and his wife, Naomi, enjoy traveling, gardening and hosting dinner parties.


Steve Staruch

On the day after Thanksgiving, ‘Friday Favorites’ host Steve Staruch served up a buffet of listener requests, including an appeal from an enthusiastic 5-year-old listener for Edvard Grieg's ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King.’ Listen now.


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