Kids Commute

This week on Kids Commute, we'll meet kids from a house full of music - the Kanneh-Mason family! 

All seven of the British Kanneh-Mason children are terrific musicians. The family made a big splash on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent."

They're also featured in the BBC documentary "This House is Full of Music."

The Kanneh-Masons just released an album of recordings they made together. 

Hiya Kids Commuters! This week is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ARTS and Math) Week on Kids Commute.

Our extra-super-special guest is Interlochen Arts Academy Chemistry Teacher, Katie Wibby! Ms. Wibby is an awesome chemistry teacher AND fashion plate - check out her cool chemistry tights in the picture above!

She'll fill us in on some nifty facts about the periodic table of elements, and we'll hear music to go along with it.

We'll also have a tough scientific Quizlet, with Ms. Wibby providing our clues.

Hey Kids Commuters! The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison) were one of the most popular rock bands ever.

When they first appeared on the scene, teenage music-lovers went so bananas over them that their fandom became a sensation known as "Beatlemania!"

One of the reasons The Beatles were so popular is that they were incredible musicians and songwriters. This week, we'll hear classical musicians apply their styles to Beatles tunes!

We'll have a "beetle" themed Quizlet to bug you with, too.

Friday, February 12 is Chinese New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year!

This week on Kids Commute, we'll hear terrific music from China and learn all about Chinese New Year traditions. 

We'll have a Chinese Zodiac Quizlet for you, too!

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

This week's MAYA MIX (our free Spotify playlist) features all the music featured in this week's episodes, plus some bonus material for the Year of the Ox!

This week on Kids Commute, the teenagers take over!

We'll be hearing music composed by young people between 12 and 16 years old.

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

This week's free Spotify MAYA MIX contains all of Mozart's "Bastien un Bastienne," Clara Wieck Schumann's Piano Concerto, and the Erich Wolfgang Korngold Piano Trio!

This week on IPR's Kids Commute, a special edition by request for Kids Commuter Finn - it's Harry Potter Week!

We'll hear music for each of the Hogwarts houses and find out how to get into their common rooms.

Which Hogwarts house suits you best? Let us know! We'll let you know how many of your fellow Kids Commuters are  in your chosen house at the end of the week!

The House with the most Kids Commuters in it wins The House Cup (bragging rights!).

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.