Violinist Juan Ramírez has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony for almost 50 years. He is also an avid gardener with a particular passion for chili peppers. When he's not tending his peppers or practicing his violin, he's composing. On today's show, we'll hear a piece he wrote in 2002: Suite Latina by Juan Ramírez.
Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game: the Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer, and we get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the Piano Puzzler on today’s show.
Two decades after he wrote his Negro Folk Symphony, composer William Dawson traveled to West Africa. Based on what he heard there, he revised his music to convey “...the missing elements that were lost when Africans came into bondage outside their homeland." On today's show, hear Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony played by The Orchestra Now with conductor Leon Botstein.
Join us for a musical New Year's celebration. We'll usher in 2024 with a gorgeous ode to love by Osvaldo Golijov, plus music inspired by time and the immortal Phoenix. Happy New Year!
After Beethoven played some concerts in his 20s, reviews wondered who this unknown pianist and composer might be ...and they even misspelled his name as "Beethover." Yeah, even Beethoven had to climb the career ladder. We'll hear music by the up-and-coming Beethoven on today's show.
English composer Ruth Gipps was born in 1921. Gipps founded two orchestras focusing on music by living composers, and she fought for the place of women among contemporary composers, conductors, and performers until her death in 1999.
Spanish composer (and virtuoso pianist) Joaquin Rodrigo was blind from age three. He wrote his music in Braille, and his wife Victoria helped translate it to traditional notation. Remarkably, Rodrigo did not play the guitar…yet he wrote one of the world’s most iconic guitar concertos. On today's show, guitarist Jason Vieaux plays Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, backed by the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra and conductor Michael Butterman.
After Beethoven played some concerts in his 20s, reviews wondered who this unknown pianist and composer might be ...and they even misspelled his name as "Beethover." Yeah, even Beethoven had to climb the career ladder. We'll hear music by the up-and-coming Beethoven on today's show.
African-American composer Jessie Montgomery was asked to write music inspired by her feelings about her identity as an American. Montgomery realized that spirituals are "...a significant part of the DNA of black folk music, and subsequently most (arguably all) American pop music forms that have developed to the present day." On today's show, we'll hear a piece grounded in spirituals: Source Code, by Jessie Montgomery.
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