Latest in Classical Music

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 so far this week:

  On this week’s episode of GAMEPLAY, we’ll explore three different soundtracks scored by composer Jessica Curry: one of today’s great game music storytellers.

No matter the setting or story of a particular game, she is able to adapt her style while maintaining her unique, gorgeously lyrical voice.

We’ll look for the secrets held by an island in the Scottish Hebrides, go on a walk through the beautiful but mysteriously empty English countryside, and experience the life cycle of a planet.

In May 1977, the esteemed American choral conductor Gregg Smith visited Interlochen.

Smith founded the Gregg Smith Singers in the 1950s and specialized in the music of the United States at a time when not many musicians were doing so.

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 Classical IPR in Concert, we feature the Northwestern Michigan College Concert Band and Choir concert from earlier this year, prior to pandemic-related closures.

The program will feature music for band, selections for vocal ensembles, and works for the groups together.

Patricia Brumbaugh conducts the band. Jeffrey Cobb conducts choral ensembles and is the director of the Music Department at NMC. The concert also includes compositions by Jeffrey Cobb.

This weekend, the five members of Canadian Brass will perform in person together for the first time since COVID-19 halted their touring schedule this past March.

They'll be following strict safety protocols, trumpeter Caleb Hudson told Classical IPR.

For example, he joked, each member will play inside their own separate bubble on stage.

Antonio Vivaldi wrote the Concerto for Flute in D in 1729. This work, known as "the Goldfinch," includes a birdlike cadenza and is filled with twittering passages.

I've heard recordings of European goldfinches. Vivaldi did a bit of embellishing of the bird's trills and warbles. 

In my opinion, the name "goldfinch" for the European species is a stretch. The bird is sort of brown, with yellow and black wings.

Nazani Cassidy, a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy, hosts an hour of contemporary music.  Listen today during the 5 o'clock hour.

Nazani is a student from Santa Barbara, California, and she hosted the program A Big Violin on KCSB.

This program features a variety of music by American composers performed by Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp students.

There will be American hymns, dances, and folk and patriotic songs, plus music about baseball.

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!

On this program, we'll sing along to some of the most memorable soundtracks from films of the 1960s. 

  This week on GAMEPLAY, we’ll dive deep into the BAFTA-award winning soundtrack for 2018’s God of War!

Composer Bear McCreary’s epic, layered score for the visceral action title uses huge orchestral forces along with Nordic folk instruments and voices to bring vivid emotional life to the deities, giants, and beasts of Norse mythology.