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Travel guru Rick Steves shares with you Iceland’s majestic landscapes and hardy culture.
Rick Steves’ Iceland airs Saturday, October 26 at 3 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
In Reykjavik, a world capital with a small-town feel, Rick tours the endearing sights, browses for sweaters, tastes fermented shark, learns Icelandic insights with a local, and then finally takes a dip in a thermal swimming pool.
Explore the making of San Francisco Opera’s “Girls of the Golden West,” which tells the turbulent story of the California Gold Rush.
Great Performances “Land of Gold” airs Friday, November 1 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
With the opera’s title referencing Puccini’s 1910 romantic opera “The Girl of the Golden West,” Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams and famed director Peter Sellars’ opera tells a harsher and more complex story through the letters of writer Louise Clappe who lived in a miners’ settlement in 1850. Spotlighting the behind-the-scenes action during the opera’s rehearsal process, the documentary highlights the creative process as actors and creative team grapple with the historical significance of the material and bringing it to the stage. Two stories are told: One on stage in the present day, and one in the past through the opera. Soprano Julia Bullock stars in the opera as Louise Clappe with mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges as Josefa Segovia, two women among the many men caught up in the quest for wealth in the lawless mountains.
An international cast joins the New York Philharmonic for the American premiere of “Émigré,” a semi-staged oratorio that tells an unusual story of Jewish refugees during World War II.
Great Performances “Émigré: A Musical Drama with the NY Philharmonic” airs Friday, October 25 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
Following the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938, to escape the looming Nazi threat, two brothers are sent halfway around the world to Shanghai. Otto cherishes his heritage, while Josef seeks a new path, and falls in love with Lina, a Chinese woman recovering from the loss of her mother in the Nanjing Massacre.
A sweeping tale of love and loss, “Émigré” is set to music by film and concert composer Aaron Zigman with lyrics by Grammy-winning librettist Mark Campbell and additional lyrics by Brock Walsh. Long Yu conducts this New York Philharmonic co-commission with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Photo: Cast members • Credit: Chris Lee
A heart-wrenching story of parental love and unspeakable sacrifice.
Letters From Brno airs Monday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI app.
The powerful story of parental love and unspeakable sacrifice during the Holocaust. In an expansive 45-year search for clues to her mother’s hidden past, a daughter uncovers the tragic fate of her grandparents through their letters written during the brutal Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
See the impact of service-dog agency K9s For Warriors on the lives of American veterans.
A New Leash on Life airs Monday, November 11 at 9 p.m. WXXI-TV
The documentary features the impact of service-dog agency K9s For Warriors on the lives of three American veterans struggling with trauma. Founded by Shari Duval and her son Brett Simon, who served two tours in Iraq, K9s For Warriors matches veterans Adam, Shilo and Louis with companion dogs. Each learns to manage issues such as flashbacks, hypervigilance and invisible psychological damage.
This documentary is presented as part of WXXI and the Golisano Foundation’s Move to IncludeTM, an award-winning national initiative to promote disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media.
This new animated series for children ages 4-8 follows the everyday adventures of Carl, a warm-hearted autistic raccoon who loves collecting things.
Carl the Collector airs daily at 8:30 a.m. on WXXI-TV and on the Live Stream, daily at 11 a.m. on WXXI PBS KIDS & Live Stream and anytime on the PBS KIDS Video app
His talents – a laser-focus pursuit of his goals, attention to detail, and a distinctive way of looking at and experiencing the world around him – have helped him amass a collection for just about every occasion and come in handy for solving problems around the neighborhood with his friends. Carl has a lot of energy and is logical and precise, yet he often struggles with anxiety in new situations and has difficulty when things don’t go according to plan. Like all of his friends, he is learning that there is no right or wrong way to be himself.
Carl the Collector is presented as part of Move to IncludeTM, WXXI and The Golisano Foundation’s award-winning national initiative promoting disability inclusion, representation, and accessibility in public media. Visit movetoinclude.org to learn more.
Photo: Carl the Collector
Copyright Fuzzytown Productions, LLC
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Follow students in Boston and Chicago public schools to witness debate-based pedagogies in action.
Beyond Debate: A Revolution in Education airs Monday, October 14 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
In high schools across the country, there is a growing belief that debate-based pedagogies improve civility and academic success by encouraging students to think critically, engage in high-level academic discourse, and construct compelling arguments. We follow students in Boston and Chicago public schools to witness the methodology’s impact.
Join the Piano Man for this 1990 concert recorded at the historic stadium in the Bronx.
Billy Joel – Live at Yankee Stadium airs Saturday, October 12 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
Shot in 16 mm color film, and meticulously remixed and re-edited, the program includes interviews with Joel and behind-the-scenes footage from that iconic night. The set list includes “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “New York State of Mind” and more.
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