Lara Downes' musical portrait of Billie Holiday
Pianist Lara Downes pays tribute to jazz singer Billie Holiday on her latest record A Billie Holiday Songbook. Read and listen to learn more about how she created this musical portrait.
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New Classical Tracks®
Explore new recordings with top performers and host Julie Amacher
Lara Downes' musical portrait of Billie Holiday
Episodes
5:16
Lara Downes: 'A Billie Holiday Songbook'
Billie Holiday's 100th birthday was this past spring, and pianist Lara Downes celebrated by recording A Billie Holiday Songbook, a musical portrait of the great singer that features 22 jazz standards Holiday made famous.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: The Radiant sound of the trumpet
Trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden's debut solo recording — entitled ‘Radiance’ — focuses on works by American composers, and features selections that are both accessible yet innovative.
4:57
New Classical Tracks: Terrifying, restless, witty
Jonathan Biss is halfway through a nine–year, nine–disc recording project of the entire Beethoven sonata cycle. The most recent is volume four. Learn more about the project — including its educational component — and enter for a chance to win the CD.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: Harp and Guitar get 'Together'
Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and guitarist Jason Vieaux have a new collaborative album that pairs two instruments that aren't often heard and seen together.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: Bryan Hymel, 'Heroique'
Tenor Bryan Hymel has found his niche in the heroic tenor roles of French opera, which require agility, stamina, lyricism and stellar high notes. For his first recital disc, Hymel soars through 11 of these demanding arias.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: Jack Gallagher ascending
JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra recently released their second recording of works by American composer Jack Gallagher. This CD features Gallagher's Symphony No. 2, Ascendant, and another work titled 'Quiet Reflection.'
4:58
New Classical Tracks: A personal approach to the music of Vivaldi
Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra put their own stamp on an iconic set of concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: The radiant music of 'Lux'
On their new album, 'Lux', the vocal ensemble Voces8 provide a musical adventure that spans four centuries of choral arrangements, from the Renaissance to 21st-century pop. Listen to samples of the recording and hear insights from the artists.
4:59
New Classical Tracks: Spirit, Strength and Sorrow
Harry Christopers and The Sixteen took a 13th-century text, the Stabat Mater, as the source material for a new album that explores themes that are simultaneously exciting and meditative, hopeful and dark.
4:57
About New Classical Tracks®
Host Julie Amacher provides an in-depth exploration of a new classical music release each week.
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Your Host
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.