Homeschool Music Appreciation

This week on Kids Commute, we'll hear Scott Joplin's (almost) lost opera, "Treemonisha!"

Follow along Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m., or listen any time at the links below. We'll have a new Quizlet for you this week, too!

Our cast this week:

Gunther Schuller conducts the Houston Grand Opera and Chorus.

ZODZETRICK: Ben Harney
MONISHA: Betty Allen
NED: Willard White
TREEMONISHA: Carmen Balthrop
LUCY: Cora Johnson
REMUS: Curtis Rayam

Welcome to Carnival of the Animals Week on Kids Commute from Interlochen Public Radio!

This week, we’re listening to music by French composer Camille Saint-Saens written in order to cheer himself up after a terrible concert tour in Germany.

Kids Commute host Kate Botello narrates the performance by the Interlochen Arts Academy orchestra conducted by Leslie Dunner. We've got a new Quizlet for you this week, too!

Tune in Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m. or listen any time at the links below.

Hey Kids Commuters! We're in our last full week before holiday break, so we're listening to an opera - for kids - for the holidays!

Composer Engelbert Humperdinck teamed up with his sister to put together a version of "Hansel and Gretel" for their family. It went so well they expanded it into a whole opera! We'll listen to the opera this week - in English!

We have a fairy tale themed Quizlet for you, too.

Tune in Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m., or listen any time at the links below.

This week on Kids Commute - for years, people have told musicians to  give up on their music dreams and "get a job!"

Composing is certainly a worthy line of work, and some classical composers had patrons, people who would pay their way so they could create music without having to worry about money. Many more had to keep their "day jobs" - ways to make money when the composing dollars weren't rolling in.

We'll hear music from composers who had to keep a 9-t0-5 - it's Get a Job Week! We have a new Quizlet to flex your brain, too.

Hey Kids Commuters! The Holiday Season is upon us, and you'll likely be hearing strains of Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" anywhere you go.

This week on Kids Commute, we'll hear creative arrangements of Tchaikovsky's music - it's Novel Nutcracker Week!

We'll have a nutcracker themed Quizlet coming your way, too!

Tune in Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m. or listen any time at the links below!

This week's MAYA MIX is knee-deep in Nutcracker novelties! Enjoy!

Hi Kids Commuters! It's a short school week leading up to Thanksgiving, so we're having some fun together with REQUEST WEEK! You're in charge! We're hearing music chosen by you all week. 

Tune in Monday through Friday at 7:40 a.m., school or no - or listen any time at the links on this page if you're sleeping in.

Listen for daily doses of gratitude from your fellow Kids Commuters, too!

This week on Kids Commute - it's Dragon Week! We'll take to the skies with our fire-breathing friends with dragon music from several different genres.

We've got a dragon-sized Quizlet too! Congrats to our Quizlet aces so far this week:

Hey there Kids Commuters! This week we're listening to an encore of our award-winning BANJO WEEK with the First Gentleman of the banjo, Bela Fleck!

Bela was kind enough to step right off the tour bus and into our studio - and changed the way we think about the banjo forever.

We have a brand-new banjo Quizlet for you this week! Congrats to our Quizlet Aces:

Hi, Kids Commuters! This week on IPR's Kids Commute, we look into the life and work of a composer with a very famous sibling. The sibling? Renowned German composer Felix Mendelssohn. The other sibling? His less-renowned, but wonderfully talented sister, Fanny.

Meet Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel this week, and take your chance at our sibling-related Quizlet this week!

Congrats to our Quizlet Aces:

Happy Halloween, Kids Commuters! It's SPOOKY WEEK!

This week, we're going on a musical mystery treasure hunt for the ancient "Dies Irae" - a Latin chant meaning "Day of Wrath" that shows up in lots of music as a hint of gloom and doom.

We'll have a spooky Quizlet, too!

Congratulations to:

Hey Kids Commuters!

You might be noticing lots of campaign advertisements as we head toward the election. Using catchy songs and slogans - and throwing side-eye to your opponents - has been a common campaign tactic throughout history.

This week on Kids Commute, we'll hear catchy campaign songs composed for Presidential candidates from George Washington to Lyndon Johnson.

We'll have an American historical Quizlet for you too!

Congrats to our Quizlet Aces this week:

Hi Kids Commuters!

This week, it's Round Two of "Old American Songs" by Aaron Copland. We'll hear composer Aaron Copland at the piano along with bass-baritone William Warfield. We also have a new Quizlet for you this week!

This week on Kids Commute, it's "Old American Songs Week."

Composer Aaron Copland went digging through libraries and found a bunch of classic American folk tunes and arranged them into two sets. This week, we'll hear the first set, sung by legendary bass-baritone William Warfield with the composer at the piano.  

We'll have a U.S.A.-themed Quizlet this week, too!

Hi there Kids Commuters!

This week on IPR's Kids Commute, we'll meet the revolutionary composer Wendy Carlos. She's a pioneer of electronic music and has created many famous versions of classical works. IPR Music Director Amanda Sewell authored a biography about Carlos, and joins us to share some of her fascinating story!

This week's Quizlet will test your ears, as we give you a week of musical clues to a mystery musician.

Hi there Kids Commuters!

This week, we'll hear music written for a BBC Documentary about the Louvre Museum in France. 

We'll take a tuneful tour of the Louvre with music by Norman Dello Joio performed by the Interlochen Arts Academy Band.

Hi Kids Commuters!

This week on Kids Commute, we've put together a week for Kids Commuter Hazel, who's a big fan of clouds. With some help from our friend meteorologist Jayne Firstenberg and some wonderful composers - it's Cloud Week!

Tune in to hear Cloud Music and take your chance at our weekly Quizlet. Listen Monday through Friday mornings at 7:40 a.m., or listen any time at the links below.

Hey Kids Commuters! Welcome back to school - and Season Four of IPR's Kids Commute!

We're overjoyed to be back with you, so this week, it's Joy Week. We'll hear music all about joy - the feeling of huge happiness.

Speaking of joy - we have new prizes for our Quizlet, too!

Tune in to Classical IPR weekday mornings at 7:40 or listen any time below. 

Congrats to our Quizlet winners this week: Finn from Traverse City, Fiona from Reed City, J.A. from Farmington Hills and Hazel from Rapid City!

Welcome to another installment of the Kids Commute Story Challenge! We select music and ask young artists to create artwork or a story to go with it. We then turn the stories into a radio drama voiced by Interlochen Arts Academy Theatre Students.

We've chosen a new piece of music for our Kids Commute Story Challenge! First, we asked young artists to write a story or create visual art inspired by "The New Lobby Boy" by Alexandre Desplat. Our second music option is, "Vianne Confronts the Comte" by Rachel Portman.

Welcome to another installment of the Kids Commute Story Challenge! We choose a piece of music, and ask you to make some art or write a story to go with it!

This time, we have a story by nine-year-old Roya McAllister of Ann Arbor, Michigan! Her tale, "Mickey and Millie," is set to "The New Lobby Boy" by Alexandre Desplat.

Thanks to Bill Church and our actors from the Interlochen Arts Academy Theatre Department!

Welcome to another installment of the Kids Commute Story Challenge! We present listeners with a piece of music, and ask them to create a work of art or story to go with it.

This week, our young artist has provided both! Nina Wheeler, age 5, created both the art and story for this episode. Thanks and congrats, Nina!

Story: "Bears in the Woods"
Music: "Vianne Confronts the Comte" from "Chocolat" by Rachel Portman
Author: Nina Wheeler, age 5
Narrator: Claudia Schlomer

Welcome to another installment of the Kids Commute Story Challenge, in which we set a piece of music and invite young listeners to write us a story to go with it! Learn more about how to enter the Story Challenge by clicking here.

Today's story is "Alex and the Stranger" by Ella Fernandez, 12, of Wyoming Ohio. It's voiced by members of the Interlochen Arts Academy Theatre Department (thanks to Bill Church!). Our producer is Tony Bero.

CAST:

The Kids Commute Story Challenge continues! Recently, we asked you to come up with short stories and art inspired by "The New Lobby Boy" by composer Alexandre Desplat. Now, we have a new piece of music for you to play with. Please give a listen to "Vianne Confronts the Comte" by Rachel Portman, from the movie "Chocolat" and write a short story to go with it (the music is 1 minute and 22 seconds long).

Our Kids Commute Story Challenge continues on IPR! We've given you a piece of music and asked you to create a story or artwork to go with it - find all the details on how to participate, and hear the piece of music, by clicking here. Future entries will be voiced by Interlochen Arts Academy Theatre Students!

Hi Kids Commuters! We’re always talking about musical imagery on Kids Commute, and we’re issuing a challenge to you.

The Kids Commute team wants to hear your stories inspired by a specific piece of music. The music is "The New Lobby Boy" from "The Grand Budapest Hotel" by Alexandre Desplat. You can listen to it below.

UPDATE! Submissions are coming in! Take a look at these pictures inspired by the music, created by Aspen Clayton, 10,  from Downers Grove, Illinois!