Celebrate the New Year with Classical 91.5

Wednesday, December 31 at 8 p.m.

Ring in the New Year with special programming on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1 beginning Wednesday, December 31 at 8 p.m.

Watch Night airs Wednesday, December 31 at 8 p.m.
A year’s end vigil that gained deep meaning in African-American experience through its association with the Emancipation Proclamation is celebrated with the story of Watch Night.

A Night of Smiles with Mordecai Lipshutz airs Wednesday, December 31 at 11 p.m.
Retired Classical 91.5 host Mordecai Lipshutz helps to ring in the New Year with Strauss waltzes and seasonal favorites.

New Year’s Day from Vienna 2009 airs LIVE Thursday, January 1 at 11 a.m.
Direct from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, the most popular classical music concert in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day concert is performed live. Daniel Barenboim conducts this year, with Korva Coleman hosting.

*For a complete schedule of holiday programming visit, wxxi.org/holiday.

Deutsche Welle Festival Concert

Monday, January 5 at 8 p.m.

The tradition of superpower performances from the Beethoven, Moritzburg, Risǿr, and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals continues in this 26-week season of new performances. Producer and host Rick Fulker selects the best from the full range of festival concerts.

The performances include modern repertory at Cologne's spectacular Music Triennial to early music at the Bach Festival in Leipzig and the Handel Festival in Hall to Early Music Days in Regensburg. Then there's that mainstay of Deutsche Welle's listings, the Beethoven Festival in the broadcaster's home city of Bonn. The Bamberg Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Concerto Köln, Jonathan Nott, Zdenek Mácal, Andrew Manze, Paavo Järvi, Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Andrew Davis and Frank Peter Zimmermann are names that turn up here and guarantee memorable performances. Often they contribute their own thoughts to the concert broadcasts.

The recordings are consistently of "Made in Germany" high standards, and bringing it all together is host and producer Rick Fulker. Having observed German music closely for some time, he's able to select from the riches on the filled concert calendar, sometimes sad that there are "only" twenty-six programs in the series.

For more information, visit http://www.dw-world.de/dw.

Civic Orchestra of Chicago

Wednesday, January 7 at 8 p.m.

Founded in 1919, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago is the only training orchestra affiliated with a major American orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Its principal goal is to recruit a diverse group of the very best pre-professional musicians and train them at the highest level as orchestra players committed to their craft and to the community. Their talent and enthusiasm has engendered great praise among critics. Dennis Moore hosts the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m., beginning January 7 on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1.

Recruited from the best music schools in the country and around the world, these diverse young musicians are given the incredible opportunity to be mentored by musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor, Cliff Colnot. They are committed to developing their ensemble playing at the highest level.

Civic alumni have joined orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Louisville orchestras; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the San Francisco, Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, Saint Louis, and National symphonies; the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestras; and many other symphony orchestras around the world.

For more information, visit http://www.cso.org.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

Programs from the 2007-2008 season of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. beginning November 4 on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1, feature guest violinists Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Kyoko Takezawa, Karen Gomyo and Eric Wyrick, pianists Emanuel Ax, Mihaela Ursuleasa, Yefim Bronfman and many more. Neeme Järvi conducts most of the programs.

The 2007–08 season marks Neeme Järvi's third season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, a tenure highlighted by acclaimed performances that have delighted both critics and audiences alike. His engaging presence and masterful conducting have earned him the highest honors throughout the world and have won the hearts of his audiences. Järvi continues to champion new artists and has brought some of the brightest new stars in classical music to New Jersey’s concert halls, as well as presenting great artists with established reputations.

For more information, visit www.njsymphony.org.

 

 

The Metropolitan Opera

Saturdays at 1 p.m.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee broadcasts are the longest-running continuous classical program in radio history. The 78th season of broadcasts kicks off with Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, a new production by Robert Lepage starring Marcello Giordani and Susan Graham and conducted by Music Director James Levine. The Metropolitan Opera airs Saturdays at 1 p.m. beginning November 29 on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1.*Please note: Start and end times vary depending upon the length of the opera. The first broadcast on 11/29 begins at 12:30 p.m.

Margaret Juntwait returns for her 5th season as announcer for the 22 broadcasts in the 2008-2009 season, and Ira Siff returns for his second season as commentator. The broadcasts feature a range of dynamic intermission features, live backstage interviews with artists, and the ever-popular Opera Quiz.

The Met: Live in HD, the company’s highly successful series of live opera transmissions into movie theaters around the world continues this season. In Rochester, the operas are showing at Regal Eastview (585-425-0420) and Tinseltown Theater's (800-326-3264). For more information please call the individual theater.

For a complete list of broadcasts, visit www.operainfo.org.

Gilmore International Keyboard Festival

Sundays at 6 p.m.

The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, airing Sundays at 6 p.m. beginning November 30 on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1, began in 1991 and spans nine days and nearly 50 events. This 13-week series of 1-hour programs takes listeners behind the scenes to meet the artists, and features performances by such luminaries as Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher, and Marc-André Hamelin, along with up-and-coming young musicians like 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Award winner Adam Golka.

The Gilmore's biennial Festival presents more than two weeks of astonishing keyboard performances across West Michigan – a Festival that celebrates the joy and power of music in concerts, recitals, chamber music performances, lectures, master classes, and film. Names of eminent international keyboard artists, jazz greats and contemporary stars fill the program book, and The Gilmore also showcases lesser-known artists who should be better known and young pianists who merit wide exposure.

For more information, visit www.thegilmoreiscoming.com.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

Dennis Moore and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Music Director Andreas Delfs co-host this new season of concerts that promises to be an audience pleaser. Special guests this season include violinists Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn and Leila Josefowicz, pianists Markus Groh, Adam Golka and Garrick Ohlson, and conductor Andrew Litton.

Since its inception in 1959, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has consistently received critical acclaim for artistic excellence. Today, the MSO continues to reach new heights under the baton of the organization's fifth music director, Andreas Delfs. The MSO has performed on tour in Europe, Japan, and Cuba as well as Carnegie Hall and other venues around the United States.

As the largest cultural organization in Wisconsin, the MSO is considered one of the finest orchestras in the country, providing enrichment and educational activities for audiences of every age, economic status, and background. At home and on tour, the MSO performs over 120 Classics, Pops, Family, and Education concerts each season. Additionally, the MSO's 26 years of nationally-syndicated radio broadcasts rank among the nation's largest collections, and are heard on over 240 stations throughout the United States each year.

For more information, visit www.mso.org.

Backstage Pass with Michael Burritt

Friday, January 16 at 1 p.m. and repeats Sunday, January 18 at 2 p.m.

On the next Backstage Pass, host Julia Figueras welcomes the new Percussion Chair at the Eastman School of Music, Michael Burritt, who will perform with students past and present in WXXI's Studio E. Backstage Pass with Michael Burritt airs Friday, January 16 at 1 p.m. and repeats Sunday, January 18 at 2 p.m. on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1.

Having performed on four continents and nearly forty states, Michael Burritt is one of the world's leading percussion soloists. He is in frequent demand performing concert tours and master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada. Burritt has extensive chamber and orchestral experience and has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, The Chicago Symphony, The Rembrandt Players, and the The Penninsula Music Festival Orchestra. He is also active as a composer, with two concertos to his credit, numerous solo and chamber works for marimba and percussion, as well as two books of etudes.

Michael Burritt is currently Professor of Percussion and head of the department at The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Prior to his appointment at Eastman Mr. Burritt was Professor of Percussion at Northwestern University from 1995-2008 where he developed a program of international distinction. Mr. Burritt received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees, as well as the prestigious Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

For more information, visit wxxi.org/radio/fm/bsp.html.

RPO Chats Podcast

WXXI's Brenda Tremblay and RPO music director Christopher Seaman chat about RPO concerts.

Visit the podcast feed to listen or subscribe.

Read more about WXXI Podcasts.