Amanda Sewell

The 2019-20 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with Mozart’s classic fairy tale The Magic Flute, an abridged English-language adaptation that carries on the Met’s tradition of presenting opera for audiences of all ages at the holidays.

Lothar Koenigs conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus in this beloved opera about the triumph of love and virtue.

Great Lakes Concerts is a co-production of Interlochen Public Radio, WRCJ and WKAR. Listen every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR for great performances from the Great Lakes Region.

This week's program

George Gershwin: "Summertime and A Woman is a Sometime Thing" from "Porgy and Bess" (arr. Jascha Heifetz)
Ilya Kaler, violin
Genadi Zagor, piano
(Recorded Nov. 16, 2017- Urban beat, Old Town as part of the Absolute Music Chamber Series)

Join Classical IPR for our third annual Christmas Day from Northern Michigan. Recent holiday performances by regional music ensembles will be featured all day.

Everyone at Classical IPR wishes you and yours a very merry holiday season.

The complete Christmas Day schedule is below. 

Every week, Great Lakes Concerts presents recent great performances from the Great Lakes region. Listen every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR.

This week's program

Giacomo Puccini: Aria, "O mio babbino caro" ("O dearest daddy") from "Gianni Schicchi"
Emily Douglass, soprano
Jackson Symphony Orchestra
Matthew Aubin, conductor
(Recorded at Potter Center, November 11, 2017)                                                                                                   

Great Lakes Concerts is a co-production of Classical IPR, WKAR and WRCJ. Listen every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR.

This week's program

Aaron Copland: Concerto for Clarinet & Strings, with Harp & Piano (1948)
Jeanmarie Riccobono, clarinet
Traverse Symphony Orchestra
Kevin Rhodes, conductor
(Recorded Oct. 14, 2018, Corson Auditorium, Interlochen)

On Saturday, December 7, IPR's music director Amanda Sewell will be meeting listeners at Manitou Winds' annual Winter Songs and Carols concert.

The concert takes place at Grace Episcopal Church in Traverse City, and it starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, but a freewill offering will be taken to support Grace’s Friday Community Lunch ministry.

Click here for more information about the concert. Sewell will be available in the lobby before and after the concert to meet with listeners.

Celebrate the season with special programming on Classical IPR. 

Click the image below for a printable version of the 2019 holiday programming schedule. 

A text version of the schedule is available below the image.

Interlochen Public Radio presents Great Lakes Concerts in partnership with WKAR and WRCJ. Listen every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR for great performances from the Great Lakes region.

This week's program

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G

Benzie County

Papa J's in the Honor Plaza on US 31
Noon - 3 PM on Thanksgiving
Donations accepted for Toys for Tots

Petals & Perks
429 Main Street, Frankfort
12-2 PM on Thanksgiving
7th annual community Thanksgiving dinner with turkeys roasted over a wood fire.
Donations and volunteers are greatly appreciated

Charlevoix County

13th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner
St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, 1003 Bridge St.
Noon - 3 PM on Thanksgiving

The castrato Farinelli was one of the most celebrated singers of the eighteenth century. In a new album on the Decca label, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli performs repertoire that was written specifically for Farinelli to sing.

Castrated when he was about 12 years old, Farinelli (born Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi in 1705) had become a star on the Italian operatic stage by the time he was 20. 

Great Lakes Concerts is a co-production of WKAR, WRCJ and Interlochen Public Radio. Listen every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR for recent great performances from the Great Lakes region.

This year's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from the Choir of King's College, Cambridge will likely be a sadder affair this year, following the death of its longtime leader Stephen Cleobury. 

This week, the nationally syndicated classical music program From the Top features an episode recorded at Interlochen Center for the Arts and featuring Interlochen Arts Academy students.

The program, recorded in March 2019, was hosted by actor and conductor Damon Gupton with pianist Michelle Cann. 

Student soloists include tubist JunMing Wen, cellist Esther Chae and bassoonist Luis Marquez Teruel. The Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble were also featured.

This Thanksgiving 2019, Classical IPR is pleased to offer a day of special programming. See the entire schedule below.

7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Classical music with Kate Botello (live)

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Performance Today

12 p.m. A Feast for the Ears

Classical IPR wants to hear from you! What is your favorite opera and why?

As the new season of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts approaches, we want to share excerpts of our listeners' favorite operas on the air. 

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru has recently been named the inaugural Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Interlochen's World Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO).