Pianist, composer and innovator Duke Ellington is famous today for his jazz and swing music. However, he had a few other visions kicking around in his tool box, including some memorable suites such as ‘The Queen’s Suite.’ Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ bassoonist Frank Morelli presents his latest album From the Soul; a record that reflects the many life experiences he’s had during his exceptional career. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, we consider the planet we call home from several different vantage points. Eriks Esenvalds’ Earth, Teach Me Quiet sets the words of a Ute poem for chorus and wine glasses, and Martin Bresnick’s Ishi’s Song honors the man known as Ishi, the last known surviving member of the Yahi People, who lived in what is present day California, while Reena Esmail’s Earth Speaks depicts the thoughts of the Earth itself. In the second hour, works by Kars Aksel Bisgaard, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Eric Sawyer honor the American Transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Playlist

The Demise of the Shepard Glacier
Composer: Philip Maneval
Soloists: Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
Azica 71349

Earth Teach Me Quiet
Composer: Eriks Esenvalds
Conductor: Donald Nally
Orchestra/Ensemble: The Crossing
New Focus 281

Gratitude
Composer: Dawn Avery
Soloists: Wilhelmina Smith, cello
Azica 71377

Ishi’s Song
Composer: Martin Bresnick
Soloists: Lisa Moore, piano
Starkland 221

Earth Speaks: Curiosity
Composer: Reena Esmail
Conductor: Andrew Grams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Interlochen Center for the Arts Chorus
Soloists: Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
Azica 71392

Wepan
Composer: Tina Davidson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Jasper String Quartet
Soloists: Natalie Zhu, piano
New Focus 415

Walking (Hommage a Thoreau)
Composer: Lars Aksel Bisgaard
Soloists: Carl Petersson, piano
Grand Piano 717

Drink the Wild Ayre
Composer: Sarah Kirkland Snider
Conductor: Andrew Cyr
Orchestra/Ensemble: Metropolis Ensemble
Soloists: Noel Wan, harp
Nonesuch 89324

Towards the Forest
Composer: Bryce Dessner
Soloists: Gautier Capucon, cello
Erato 27273

The Unanswered Question
Composer: Charles Ives
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Soloists: Adolph Herseth, trumpet
Sony 42381

Fantasy Concerto: Concord Conversations
Composer: Eric Sawyer
Conductor: Gil Rose
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Modern Orchestra Project
BMOP/sound 1108

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, pianist Beatrice Rana dazzles in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, while Shostakovich’s satirical Antiformalist Rayok offers wit and energy. Closing the program, Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Weinberg’s profoundly moving Symphony No. 21, Kaddish. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Beatrice Rana, piano
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla, conductor

SHOSTAKOVICH: Antiformalist Rayok
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G
WEINBERG: Symphony No. 21 ‘Kaddish’
NIELSEN: Aladdin Suite (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond. – Sony 44934)

Conductor, composer and educator Michael Tilson Thomas, who led the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, establishing its reputation as a world-class orchestra, died on Wednesday at his home in San Francisco, according to a statement from his publicist, Constance Shuman. He was 81 years old.

In 2021, Thomas announced that he was being treated for a brain tumor. In 2022, he acknowledged that he had been battling glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer.

Thomas held the position of music director at the San Francisco Symphony [SFS] from 1995 to 2020 and was by far the orchestra's longest-serving music director. He won 12 Grammy awards, and under his direction, SFS achieved a superb degree of technical and musical polish.

In a statement, Priscilla Geeslin, the chair of the symphony's board, said:

"When Michael Tilson Thomas was named Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, I remember a feeling of pure exhilaration — as though something extraordinary had just been set in motion for all of us. What followed exceeded even that early excitement. On the podium, he brought brilliance, curiosity, and a singular voice that reshaped the orchestra. Off the podium, he revealed warmth, wit, and a generosity of spirit that made getting to know him as a friend an unexpected gift. Thomas didn't just lead the Symphony — he became part of the cultural fabric of San Francisco itself, expanding what it meant to be an orchestra in a city like ours. His impact reached far beyond the concert hall, touching the life of the city in ways both visible and deeply personal. And even after stepping down as Music Director, he never truly stepped away. He remained an integral part of the Symphony — artistically, intellectually, and as a guiding presence — continuing to shape and inspire the organization he helped define.

"We were, quite simply, so lucky to have him."

He was California-born and educated

Thomas, known throughout the classical world and beyond as MTT, was a man of vision, curiosity and enormous musical talent. He was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 1944, into a theatrical family. His father was a stage manager turned movie and TV producer, while his paternal grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, were Yiddish theater stars. Thomas, an only child, started piano studies early and took up the oboe as well. His plans for a professional career as a pianist were ended by an injury. His oboe practice led him to a junior high orchestra, where, at the age of 12, he met 11-year-old cellist Joshua Robison, who became his friend and, years later, his life partner.

At the University of Southern California, he studied with composer Ingolf Dahl and took up conducting. During his time at USC, he worked with Igor Stravinsky and other important composers. Stravinsky and Aaron Copland became friends and mentors to him, as did Leonard Bernstein, whom Thomas met in his early 20s.

His first major appointment was as an assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra [BSO] in 1969. William Steinberg was then the music director in Boston, and his poor health meant that Thomas conducted an unusually large number of concerts for an assistant conductor. He even took over for Steinberg mid-concert during a BSO visit to Lincoln Center. An October 1969 program included works by Joseph Haydn, Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Claude Debussy, composers of lifelong interest to Thomas.

His conducting career ranged from coast to coast

Thomas remained at the BSO until 1974 and appeared after that as a guest conductor. In 1971, he took the post of music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, a position he held until 1979.

In the mid-1970s, Thomas was living in New York City when Robison, his childhood friend, contacted him through his sister, the noted flutist Paula Robison. By 1976, the friends had become life partners and Joshua, an educator, had also become Thomas' business partner and manager. At a time when gay people lacked legal protections and many stayed in the closet to survive, their relationship was never much of a secret. The couple married in 2014. Robison died on February 22, 2026, after having suffered a spinal cord injury the previous August. He and Thomas were partners for nearly 50 years.

Following Thomas' departure from the Buffalo Philharmonic, there were glimpses of the opera career that could have been: He conducted the U.S. premiere of the three-act version of Alban Berg's Lulu at Santa Fe Opera, and led staged productions at New York City Opera, Cardiff, Chicago, Amsterdam and Houston.

Lacking a permanent music director position through much of the 1980s, Thomas guest-conducted at major orchestras and festivals all over the U.S. and Europe, including a stint as principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1981 to 1985.

In 1987, Thomas co-founded the New World Symphony (NWS) in Miami Beach. The NWS is a training orchestra offering fellowships to highly skilled musicians who are just starting their professional careers. Since its founding, more than a thousand musicians have participated in its programs, and a number of current and past members of the SFS were members of the NWS.

Patti Niemi, who's been a percussionist in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1992, played with the NWS for its first four years, and commented on how important the orchestra is for young professionals. "When you finish music school, you're only trained to do one thing, and it's a race against time. You have a clock going because your full-time job is to practice, and nobody pays you for that. So to earn a living as a musician means taking time away from that practicing. He gave us a place to practice. We had a place not only to practice, but to do what we loved and get paid for it."

Thomas was instrumental in the creation of the New World Center, a Frank Gehry-designed campus that opened in 2011. Thomas was artistic director of the NWS until 2022, when he announced his battle with glioblastoma.

In 1988, Thomas became principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). After his appointment as music director in San Francisco, he became the LSO's principal guest conductor and later, the London orchestra's conductor laureate.

Thomas also had a long connection with the Ojai Music Festival in California, a haven for new music. He first performed there as a pianist, in 1965, then served as music director seven times.

His 25-year tenure at the San Francisco Symphony transformed the institution

When Thomas arrived in San Francisco in 1995, he was no stranger to the orchestra: His first appearance with them had been in January 1974.

He succeeded Edo de Waart and Herbert Blomstedt, who had spent much of their tenures building SFS, and Thomas inherited an orchestra that had been well-schooled by his immediate predecessors. De Waart was committed to performing new music, and had brought composer John Adams to SFS in 1979 as the new music adviser and creator of the New and Unusual Music Series. Blomstedt was more focused on the core European repertory of the 18th through 20th centuries.

Peter Pastreich, who was CEO of SFS when Thomas was hired, noted that "We considered Michael for the job in 1985, when we chose Blomstedt, but he wasn't quite ready then, though we all knew he was a gigantic talent. By the time of our next search, he had matured, partly due to his experience as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and he was clearly ready.

"After he was announced as our next Music Director, Michael asked me about his being openly gay. I told him I thought that would be an advantage, not a disadvantage, here, since San Francisco has a big and active gay community."

Thomas' first season made an explosive impact: He performed a work by an American composer on every program, including Henry Cowell, Carl Ruggles, John Adams, Irving Berlin and John Philip Sousa. Many of these names would appear again and again over the years; far less present were works by female or Black composers, or works by less accessible male American composers like Elliott Carter, Roger Sessions and Milton Babbitt, missing an opportunity to further expand the orchestra's repertory.

Asked about how the orchestra changed under Thomas, Pastreich said, "Under Michael, the orchestra's sound became more lyrical, and more flexible — both because of the new repertory he programmed, and his focus on the quality of the orchestra's sound. MTT knew the playing of every musician in the orchestra, and he always treated musicians with respect."

Thomas launched several projects that brought the orchestra to an audience far beyond San Francisco. He founded and narrated Keeping Score, a series of television and radio documentaries about famous composers and their works. The orchestra started its own recording label, SFS Media, in 2001 and regularly toured the United States, Europe and Asia. Thomas made more than 120 recordings with orchestras including the SFS, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

In 2017, Thomas announced his decision to retire from the SFS, citing a chance to begin "a new period of creative possibilities" as one goal, which was assumed to include more time spent composing. His own compositions appeared on his San Francisco programs over the years, but his work was also heard well outside California. In 1991, for example, UNICEF commissioned his work From the Diary of Anne Frank, featuring Audrey Hepburn as narrator.

In 2023, Thomas gave a number of farewell concerts with several of the orchestras with whom he was closely associated. Three concerts with the San Francisco Symphony in Jan. 2024, with the conductor leading performances of Mahler's Fifth Symphony, were billed as his final performances with his beloved ensemble. But he conducted for the last time at a belated 80th birthday celebration on April 26, 2025, two months after announcing that his brain tumor had recurred. His survivors include his sisters-in-law, the eminent flutist Paula Robison and Deborah Robison.

Copyright 2026, NPR

When William Dawson was 12, he ran away from home to study music at the Tuskeegee Institute. In 1930, he returned to his roots as director of the Tuskeegee School of Music, a post he held for 25 years. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ French cellist Gautier Capuçon invites composers from various genres to express their concern and gratitude for mother earth and the beauty of nature. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

Host Steve Seel continues our celebration of Earth Month on Extra Eclectic with a nod to composers who are passionate about the protection of nature’s fragile ecosystems. Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring pays tribute to Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 treatise on pollution and the environment, and we also hear works including John Luther Adams’ Become River, Scott Lee’s Through the Mangrove Tunnels, and selections by all three of contemporary classical’s composing Gabrielas: Smith, Montero, and Ortiz!

Playlist

Desert Ecology: Cactus-Yucca Scrub
Composer: Gabriella Smith
Conductor: Etienne Gara
Orchestra/Ensemble: Delirium Musicum
Warner 84463

Tamar Metushelah
Composer: Olivia Belli
Soloists: Gautier Capucon, cello
Erato 27273

Silent Spring
Composer: Steven Stucky
Conductor: Manfred Honeck
Orchestra/Ensemble: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Reference 747

Lignum
Composer: Jekabs Jancevskis
Orchestra/Ensemble: Kremerata Baltica
Soloists: Alina Vizine, Zane Kalnina, Rakele Chijenaite, svilpaunieki
ECM 2745

Become River
Composer: John Luther Adams
Conductor: Ludovic Morlot
Orchestra/Ensemble: Seattle Symphony
Cantaloupe 21161

Sur le lac du Bourget
Composer: Gabriela Montero
Soloists: Gautier Capucon, cello
Erato 27273

Dzonot
Composer: Gabriela Ortiz
Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists: Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Platoon 2026

Through the Mangrove Tunnels: Floating Away
Composer: Scott Lee
Orchestra/Ensemble: JACK Quartet
Soloists: Steven Beck, piano
Panoramic 20

watersheds: threads of the community fabric
Composer: Nicholas Cline
Conductor: Donald Nally
Orchestra/Ensemble: The Crossing
Soloists: Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone
Navona 6614

Ohonte Wensera:kon (Sweetgrass)
Composer: Dawn Avery
Soloists: Wilhelmina Smith, cello

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, Chilean-born conductor Paolo Bortolameolli leads the Minnesota Orchestra in Prokofiev’s intense Symphony No. 3, and the orchestra’s own Susie Park shines in Gabriel Ortiz’s fiery Violin Concerto. The concert is kicked off by Miguel Farías’ evocative Retratos Australes. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Susie Park, violin
Minnesota Orchestra
Paolo Bortolameolli, conductor

FARÍAS: Retratos Australes
ORTIZ: Altar de Cuerda
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8; Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska, conductor; Bis 1516

A musician of multiple hats and genres, Damien Sneed is recognized today as a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer and arts educator in high demand. Find out more in the latest episode of the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ pianist Jonathan Biss delivers the final recording of his Beethoven Piano Concerti project: a recording featuring composer Caroline Shaw’s response to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

Earth Day might not be until next week, but because many now observe all of April as Earth Month, we’re getting a jump on our celebrations this week on Extra Eclectic. In the first hour, Steve Seel brings us modern works on themes of water — including Anna Clyne’s Restless Oceans, Jake Runestad’s Waves, and cellist Maya Beiser’s own idiosyncratic setting of Olivier Messiaen’s “Water” from his Fete des Belles Eaux. The second hour is taken up primarily with one large work: John Luther Adams’ epochal evocation of our natural world, An Atlas of Deep Time.

Playlist

The Waves
Composer: Ludovico Einaudi
Conductor: Angele Dubeau
Orchestra/Ensemble: La Pieta
Soloists: Angele Dubeau, violin
Analekta 8748

Itaipu: To the Sea
Composer: Philip Glass
Conductor: Robert Shaw
Orchestra/Ensemble: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Sony 46352

Bays of Huatulco
Composer: Michael Torke
Soloists: Charlie Albright, piano
Steinway & Sons 30079

Restless Oceans
Composer: Anna Clyne
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Orchestra/Ensemble: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Waves
Composer: Jake Runestad
Conductor: Craig Hella Johnson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Conspirare
Soloists: Michael Jones, tenor
Delos 3578

Water
Composer: Olivier Messiaen
Soloists: Maya Beiser, cello
Islandia 1

River Song II
Composer: Eple Trio
Orchestra/Ensemble: Eple Trio
NOR-CD 40585

On Behalf of Nature: Memory Zone
Composer: Meredith Monk
Orchestra/Ensemble: Meredith Monk Ensemble
ECM 2473

An Atlas of Deep Time
Composer: John Luther Adams
Conductor: Delta David Gier
Orchestra/Ensemble: South Dakota Symphony Orchestra|
Cantaloupe 21199

Dream
Composer: John Cage
Soloists: Bruce Brubaker, piano
Arabesque 6744

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein joins the NDR Elphilharmonie Orchestra for Britten’s haunting Cello Symphony, and in the second half of the program, the luminous Symphony No. 2 by Johannes Brahms. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Alisa Weilerstein, cello
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Alan Gilbert, conductor

BRITTEN: Cello Symphony
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter); Gunther Wand, conductor; NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra; RCA 60714

This National Poetry Month, join host Andrea Blain for Words and Music of Black America, a special featuring music with texts by Black poets. These works raise issues of civil rights, social justice, racial divides, and freedom in diverse and sometimes surprising ways. Listen now!

Playlist

• Jake Runestad: “Why the Caged Bird Sings” - Conspirare; Craig Hella Johnson, conductor

• Florence Price: “Sympathy” - Louise Toppin, soprano

• Valerie Coleman: Portraits of Langston: I. Prelude (Helen Keller) - Anthony McGill, clarinet; McHale Trio

• Langston Hughes: Portraits of Langston: Introduction No. 1 (“Helen Keller”) - Mahershala Ali, narrator

• Margaret Bonds: Three Dream Portraits: “I, Too” - Malcolm J. Merriweather, baritone

• Jessie Montgomery: Break Away - PUBLIQuartet

• Damien Geter: Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow: “The Resolve” - Washington Chorus; Eugene Rogers, conductor

• Jeff Scott: Homage to Paradise Valley: IV. Paradise Theater Jump! - Akropolis Reed Quintet

• Marsha Music: The Valley, the Bottom, and Hastings Street: Pt. 1 “Long Ago but Not Forgotten” - Marsha Music, narrator

• Rosephanye Powell: “Still I Rise” - Twin Cities Women’s Choir; Mary Bussman, conductor

• Damien Sneed: “The Gift to Sing” - Lawrence Brownlee, tenor

• Margaret Bonds: “Credo” – Janinah Burnett, soprano; Dessoff Choirs; Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor

• Bernice Johnson Reagon: “Beatitudes” - Sweet Honey in the Rock

• Richard Farina Arr. Will Liverman: “Birmingham Sunday” - Will Liverman, baritone

• Aaron Copland: Lincoln Portrait - Maya Angelou; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Louis Langrée, conductor

• Joel Thompson: “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” - Tyrese Byrd, soloist; EXIGENCE; Eugene Rogers, conductor

• John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn and Che Smith: Selma: “Glory” - LaVonte Heard, soloist; EXIGENCE; Eugene Rogers, conductor

• Regina Harris Baiocchi: Piano Poems - Sarah Cahill, piano

Composer Florence Price dealt with many systemic barriers in her pursuit of musical greatness. Find out how her hard work paid off after she won a composition competition and formed a partnership with Chicago Symphony Orchestra conductor Frederick Stock.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ composer Sarah Kirkland Snider presents an album of only orchestral works. The recording features the Metropolis Ensemble and Artistic Director/conductor Andrew Cyr. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

It’s a rhapsodic reflection on the idea of time in the first hour of the latest episode of Extra Eclectic. Host Steve Seel shares Chris Rogerson’s Thirty Thousand Days — roughly the length of time in the average human lifespan — and Paul Fowler’s Breath reminds us how yoga and meditation use breathing as a way to free the mind from the constraints of time. In the second hour, Steve explores music by some rock-adjacent composers, including Bryce Dessner, Jon Lord and Todd Reynolds. Listen now!

Playlist

365: I don’t know beforehand how I will appear to anyone
Composer: Aidan O’Rourke
Soloists: Aidan O'Rourke, fiddle
Reveal 74

Free the Mind: Innocence
Composer: Johann Johannsson
Soloists: Alice Sara Ott, piano
DG 4866742

Breath
Composer: Paul Fowler
Conductor: Donald Nally
Orchestra/Ensemble: The Crossing
Navona 5845

Thirty Thousand Days
Composer: Chris Rogerson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Dover Quartet
Soloists: David Shifrin, clarinet
Delos 3576

String Quartet No. 11 “Reykjavik”: Long Night
Composer: Elena Ruehr
Orchestra/Ensemble: Quartet ES
Avie 2798

End of Day
Composer: Todd Reynolds
Soloists: Todd Reynolds, viola
Innova 741

Nocturne
Composer: Bryce Dessner
Soloists: Katia Labeque, piano
DG 4876947

To Notice Such Things
Composer: Jon Lord
Conductor: Clark Rundell
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists: Jon Lord, piano
Avie 2190

Known By Heart
Composer: Christopher Tignor
Soloists: Christopher Tignor, violin
Western Vinyl 200

The Things Left Unsaid
Composer: Caleb Burhans
Conductor: Caleb Burhans
Orchestra/Ensemble: Tarab Cello Ensemble
Cantaloupe 21094

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, Louis Langree leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in his final appearance as music director on a magical evening in 2024. Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2, Paul Dukas’ rollicking Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Ravel’s radiant Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 make it a very special occasion. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Latonia Moore, soprano
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conductor

BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 2
DAVIS: Broken in Parts
DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Paavo Jarvi, cond. – Telarc 80585)

Join Steve Seel for an Easter celebration with the complete performance of George Frideric Handel's sacred oratorio Messiah, with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Led by conductor Dinis Sousa, an all-star roster of vocal soloists and the renowned vocal ensemble the Singers, led by Matthew Culloton, the concert was recorded live in December at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Listen to the concert now!

Credits

Dinis Sousa, conductor

Liv Redpath, soprano

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor

Hugo Hymas, tenor

Ashley Riches, bass-baritone

The Singers — Minnesota Choral Artists, chorus

Matthew Culloton, artistic director

Find out more about the performance through the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s digital program book.

Randall Goosby has been playing violin since he was 7, including studying with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, and the trajectory of his career shows no signs of slowing down. Find out more in the latest episode of the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ conductor JoAnn Falleta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra present the premiere recording of Iranian-American composer Behzad Ranjbaran’s Violin Concerto. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, we wrap up our celebration of Women’s History Month with another full program showcasing how women composers are leading classical music into the 21st century. Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz was just announced as Performance Today’s Classical Woman of the Year, and we enjoy her Six Pieces for Violeta, as well as works by flutist/composer Allison Loggins-Hull — one for solo cello and one performed by Loggins-Hull and her partner Nathalie Joachim in their guise as the flute duo Flutronix. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Playlist

BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Composer: Billie Eilish
Soloists: Peter Gregson, cello
London/Decca 5730093

Hymn for Everyone
Composer: Jessie Montgomery
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
CSO Resound 9012301

Parallel Play
Composer: Sarah Kirkland Snider
Soloists: Lina Andonovska, flute
Navona 6759

Solais
Composer: Clarice Assad
Soloists: Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp
Navona 6644

Six Pieces for Violeta
Composer: Gabriela Ortiz
Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
Orchestra/Ensemble: Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists: Joanne Pearce Martin, piano
Platoon 2026

Unity
Composer: Clarice Jensen
Soloists: Clarice Jensen, cello

Light in Darkness
Composer: Kerensa Briggs
Soloists: Anna Lapwood, organ
Signum 688

Spark
Composer: Fuse & Gabriella Smith
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fuse
Fusemusic 2024

Stolen
Composer: Allison Loggins-Hull
Soloists: Amanda Gookin, cello
Bright Shiny Things 135

Black Being: Moonpies and Stardust
Composer: Flutronix
Conductor: Mei-Ann Chen
Orchestra/Ensemble: Flutronix
Cedille 241

Honeyed Words
Composer: Anna Meredith
Orchestra/Ensemble: Ligeti Quartet
Mercury KX 4845720

To the Hands: Ever Ever Ever
Composer: Caroline Shaw
Conductor: Donald Nally
Orchestra/Ensemble: The Crossing
Innova 912

Soli Deo Gloria
Composer: Courtney Bryan
Orchestra/Ensemble: Duo Noire
New Focus 210

Insight
Composer: Dobrinka Tabakova
Orchestra/Ensemble: Black Oak Ensemble
Cedille 237

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Concert Choir, and Fabio Luisi celebrate the orchestra’s 100th anniversary with Mahler’s enormous and powerful Symphony No. 8. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Camilla Nylund, soprano
Valentina Farcas, soprano
Liv Redpath, soprano
Wiebke Lehmkuhl, mezzo-soprano
Jasmin Jorias, mezzo-soprano
David Butt Phillip, tenor
Christoph Pohl, baritone
David Steffens, bass
Copenhagen Boys’ Choir
BBC Singers
Danish National Concert Choir
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Luisi, conductor

MAHLER: Symphony No. 8
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 5; Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Fabio Luisi, conductor; DG 4863484

Performance Today has selected Grammy-winning and Latin Grammy-winning composer Gabriela Ortiz as the 2026 Classical Woman of the Year. This prestigious title is awarded to exceptional women who have made significant contributions to the world of classical music and who provide inspiration for our listeners.

"Performance Today is honored to name Gabriela Ortiz as Classical Woman of the Year,” said Valerie Kahler, host of the program. “Many composers can illustrate a scene, a painting to be admired at arm’s length. Ortiz catapults us into the music. We are floating weightless in the turquoise waters of a cenote, catching the scent of incense from an open-air chapel, or seeing the jungle through the eyes of an endangered Mexican jaguar. Her music pulses with the rhythms of Mexico: its landscapes, history, and traditions.

“Ortiz’s work as an educator in Mexico and internationally is driven by a deep sense of gratitude for her own education and her desire to give back to her country and the next generation of composers."

In 2025, Ortiz’s portrait album Revolución diamantina, which was recorded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, won three Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for the title track. This recognition solidified her as a leading voice in contemporary classical music.

Dudamel, a longtime champion of Ortiz’s music, said, “Gabriela is one of the most talented composers in the world — not only in Mexico, not only in our continent — in the world. Her ability to bring colors, to bring rhythm and harmonies that connect with you, is something beautiful, something unique.”

Under Dudamel’s direction, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has commissioned and premiered seven works by Ortiz in recent years, including her ballet Revolución diamantina, the violin concerto Altar de Cuerda, and Kauyumari for orchestra.

Ortiz is a member of the Academy of the Arts and has been inducted into El Colegio Nacional, Mexico’s most esteemed circle of intellectuals. She is currently composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, and the Curtis Institute of Music. She also teaches composition at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, and her music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.

The recognition of Ortiz as the 2026 Classical Woman of the Year highlights not only Ortiz’s individual achievements, but also the importance of supporting and celebrating women in the arts.

Ortiz will be recognized on the March 30 episode of Performance Today, including a conversation with Kahler about her career and accomplishments.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ the Neave Trio highlights the music of three women composers that were also performers: Dora Pejačević, Clara Schumann and Cécile Chaminade. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

Did you miss Bach's Birthday Bash on Saturday with Pipedreams host Michael Barone? This year's celebration included five free, hourlong concerts at venues in St. Paul. Listen to the first concert now!

Bach's birthday comes around every year on March 21. The occasion calls for a celebration of this most remarkable of musical talents, and Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Barone (host of Pipedreams) decided that Johann Sebastian Bach deserved something special. A number of years ago, he and colleagues from the Twin Cities chapter of the American Guild of Organists arranged a Bach's Birthday Bash, and the idea blossomed.

The event has become something of a local tradition, with enthusiasts from all parts of the state participating or just listening.

This year's activities featured five free, hourlong public concerts of Bach's music, presented at five venues and churches in St. Paul during the morning and afternoon of Saturday, March 21.

Co-sponsors include the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and YourClassical MPR.

9 a.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (700 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul): The first concert was aired live at 9 a.m. Central by YourClassical MPR. You can hear listen to it through the player above. Performers included organists Brenda Sevcik, Dean Billmeyer and Celina Kobetitsch; pianists Gideon Scheeler; and guitarist Lukas Murdych.

Other concerts will follow in St. Paul:

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church (1900 Stanford Ave., St. Paul): Performers included organists Joel Anderson and Bruce Jacobs; flutist Jeeyoun Kang; pianists Sujin Cho and Jeana Ogren; the Elm Ensemble; conductor Sally Messner; and saxophonist David Milne.

1 – 2 p.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish (Summit Avenue at Lexington Avenue, St. Paul): Performers included organists Samuel Libra, Emily Roth, Noah Strom and Daniel Schwandt; and violist Samantha Lee.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. at St. Clement Episcopal Church (901 Portland Avenue, St. Paul): Performers included organists Catherine Rodland, Amy Maakestad, Graeme Schields and Nicholas Kees.

4 – 5 p.m. at House of Hope Presbyterian Church (797 Summit Ave., St. Paul): Performers included organists Wolfgang Rübsam, David Jenkins and Nils Halker; and pianist Jacob Marvets.

Enjoy pictures from Bach’s Birthday Bash!

Pictures from Bach's Birthday Bash

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March is Women's History Month, and we're celebrating women who have changed the face of classical music. Learn more about women who have contributed to classical music as composers, performers, conductors and educators.

Jessie Montgomery

Violinist and composer Jessie Montgomery knows the power of music. Since 1999, she’s been involved with the Sphinx Organization, a non-profit which is dedicated to transforming lives through music. She won the organization’s competition for young Black and Latino musicians twice, and then went on to become the first composer-in-residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi. In 2020, she was awarded the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. She continues to give back to the organization that did so much for her as a young musician and is thrilled to see its impact. Montgomery grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and lives there still. Her neighborhood is a kaleidoscope of cultures and music. And while her music contains multitudes, her musical credo is simple: “Be committed to the art and committed to having it serve you and others.” — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Jessie Montgomery

Sharon Isbin

Sharon Isbin became a world-class guitarist, quite by accident. It all started when she began playing guitar after inheriting guitar lessons from her brother. These lessons were with none other than Aldo Minella, a highly respected guitarist. To this day, she continues to refine her art form. As a teacher, a cross-cultural collaborator, and an advocate for the guitar, her goal is to demonstrate the beauty of her instrument. As a woman, she feels inspired and gratified that there are more and more women who are becoming acclaimed as classical guitarists, and she feels proud to have been able to break glass ceilings on many levels, such as becoming the woman who started the first-ever guitar program at Juilliard. For Isbin, it’s all about discovery. — Julie Amacher, program director

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Sharon Isbin

Simone Dinnerstein

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a distinctive musical voice with strikingly original ideas. Her 2005 recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which she began learning during her first pregnancy, became the turning point in her career. It was extremely well received, and she’s had a busy performing career since. She’s also recorded fifteen more albums, all of which have topped the Billboard classical charts. Dinnerstein is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. Every recording, every performance, is a journey of discovery for her and her audience. — Julie Amacher, program director

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Simone Dinnerstein

Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard von Bingen was perhaps the first woman to be recognized as a composer. Born in the year 1098 as the tenth child of a noble family, she was sent to an isolated monastery when she was eight and took a vow as Benedictine nun when she was 14. When she was in her late 30s, she became the abbess of a monastery she founded and began writing music for her nuns to sing. She then proceeded to create what would become the largest existing music collection from a medieval composer. She was also prolific in many other areas, including science, poetry, and theology. Her research was so respected, that she was consulted by kings, bishops, and popes for medical advice. In 2012 — 900 years after her death — Hildagard von Bingn was appointed a saint and Doctor of the Church by the Pope — one of only four women in history to be given that special title. — Jillene Khan, classical host

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Hildegard von Bingen

Gabriela Lena Frank

Pianist and composer Gabriela Lena Frank was born in Berkeley, California, to an American father of Lithuanian Jewish descent and a Peruvian mother of Chinese descent. Frank says that all of those identities are part of who she is and part of her music. Having worked previously as composer-in-residence for both the Houston and Detroit Symphonies, she currently has a residency with the Philadelphia Orchestra and receives many commissions. A Latin Grammy winner and recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Frank has been honored “for breaking gender, disability and cultural barriers in the classical music industry, and for her work as an activist on behalf of emerging composers of all demographics and aesthetics.” — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Gabriela Lena Frank

Hazel Scott

In 1939, Time magazine said, "The darling of cafe society, Hazel Scott, commits arson while playing the classics." She amazed audiences with her unique takes on classical music, infusing boogie-woogie and jazz into her playing. A child prodigy, she started studying at Juilliard at 8. By 19, she had her own radio show, performed on Broadway and would be seen on the silver screen. She fought for racial and social justice throughout her life and was one of the first Black performers to refuse to play to segregated audiences. — Meghann Oglesby, producer for Performance Today

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Hazel Scott

Jeannette Sorrell

Harpsichordist Jeannette Sorrell founded the early-music ensemble Apollo’s Fire in 1992, thinking she’d do it for a couple years before moving on to something else. More than three decades later, it’s still going strong. Sorrell and her band bring fire and emotion to baroque music. They’re dedicated to AFFEKT — the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various passions in listeners, including joy, contemplation, rage, despair and triumph. Sorrell says, “As musicians, our job is to communicate — to take the listeners with us on an emotional journey. If at the end of two hours the audience is moved to tears, or joy, or laughter, or prayer, then we have done a good night’s work.” — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Jeannette Sorrell

Joanne Polk

Joanne Polk has been playing the piano since she could walk. After completing her studies in Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, she’s now on the faculty of the latter. Throughout her career, in both concert performances and recordings, she has championed the music of women composers. In fact, it was her 1998 recordings of the complete piano works of Amy Beach that “catapulted her into the public eye.” 25 years and more than a dozen albums later, Polk is still dedicated to elevating and advocating for women composers. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Jeanne Polk

Marin Alsop

Even though Marin Alsop knew from 9 that she wanted to conduct, she was told again and again that “girls can’t do that,” and was turned down — multiple times — when she applied to the conducting program at Juilliard. Since the establishment’s doors were closed to her, she knew she’d have to knock down some walls to get in. She was the first female principal conductor of an English orchestra and the first woman to conduct at La Scala. She has continued to conduct many orchestras since. “The old boys’ network — that’s been there for centuries,” Alsop says. “We have to create the old girls’ network, so that we can really be there for each other and support each other.” — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Marin Alsop

Valerie Coleman

As a baby, Valerie Coleman pretended to play the flute with sticks she found in her back yard. By the time she was 14, she was playing a real flute in her school band and had already written three full-length symphonies. As a student, she became the founder of the now-acclaimed ensemble Imani Winds. She is now an in-demand composer, a Grammy-winning artist and entrepreneur who continues to break down cultural and social barriers in classical music. — Jillene Khan, classical host

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Valerie Coleman

More ‘Distinguished Rebels’

Maud Powell

At the turn of the 20th century, Maud Powell picked up the violin as a young child and never really put it down. She believed her duty as an artist was to excite the novice and the expert alike. She performed music that was appealing to all and was sought out by composers to premiere their violin concertos. She also included African-American spirituals in her recitals, to uplift the legacy and music of Black Americans. A slogan from her husband encapsulates her energy as a performer and musician: "the arm of a man, the heart of a woman and the head of an artist." — Julie Amacher, program director

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Maud Powell

Florence Price

Florence Price was tireless in her pursuit of excellence, a task made even harder by the discrimination she faced as a Black woman. She wrote a massive catalog of works for a variety of ensembles and instruments, and she was the first Black woman to have a work performed by a major American orchestra. She had to fight to be taken seriously as a composer, all while raising two kids and dealing with an unsupportive husband. Her music illustrates the depth of American musical identity and the tenacity of the American spirit. — Siriana Lundgren

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Florence Price

Fanny Mendelssohn

From a young age, Fanny Mendelssohn was composing songs and piano pieces. Although not afforded the same opportunities as her younger brother, Felix, she wrote hundreds of works and was looked up to by him — so much so that she was given the nickname Minerva: the goddess of wisdom. She published works under her brother's name until 1846, when a collection of her pieces under her name was published. — Andrea Blain, former national host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Fanny Mendelssohn

Gabriela Montero

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1970, Gabriela Montero is a pianist, an improviser, a composer and an outspoken advocate for human rights. As an honorary consul for Amnesty International, she's dedicated to using her voice as an artist to call out the corruption and humanitarian crisis in her home country. Even when it's come at some cost to her career, she has never wavered from her advocacy or her personal integrity. She has consistently made choices and made music based on her deepest values. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Gabriela Montero

Chiquinha Gonzaga

Born in Rio de Janeiro on October 17, 1847, Chiquinha Gonzaga had such a profound impact on the musical culture of Brazil that her birthday is celebrated every year as the National Day of Popular Music. A descendant of nobility on one side and slavery on the other, she became a brilliant and prolific composer with over 2,000 songs to her credit. She was Brazil’s first woman conductor and a fighter for the protection of copyright for artists and composers, for women’s right to vote and for the abolitionist cause. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Chiquinha Gonzaga

Lara St. John

Canadian violinist Lara St. John started playing violin when she was only 2 and entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13. Praised for her powerful presence with fearless and fiery chops, she is a champion for music off the beaten path, including reimagined Eastern European folk tunes and an entire album of works for solo violin written by women composers. She also is an outspoken advocate for survivors of sexual abuse in the world of classical music, a role she stepped into bravely after her own horrific experiences as a music student at Curtis. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Lara St. John

Tine Thing Helseth

Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth fell in love with the instrument at 7 and promptly joined her school band. She began earning awards for her performances and won newcomer of the year in the Norwegian Grammys, the first classical musician to be nominated in that category. In 2007, she released her first album featuring the four major classical trumpet concertos, reminding the world that classical trumpet was not a boys’ club. That same year, she and some friends founded the 10-woman brass ensemble tenThing. Together with her all-female band, she is helping to build a musical future where “10-woman” is an unremarkable lineup and “all-female” an unnecessary descriptor. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Tine Thing Helseth

Lara Downes

When pianist Lara Downes was a little girl, she came across a picture of the young Clara Wieck, later known as Clara Schumann, and was thrilled to see someone finally who looked like her in classical music, someone she could relate to and be inspired by. She would go on to become that person for a new generation of musicians. After studying in Europe, she returned to the United States to teach at the University of California, Davis. There, her signature approach to music making really blossomed. She has always performed music by traditionally underrepresented composers, but the extent of her advocacy has continued to grow. She also is a producer, storyteller, arts advocate, radio host and collaborator. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Lara Downes

JoAnn Falletta

When American conductor JoAnn Falletta had her first concert with the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1999, there were no other women leading orchestras in major American cities. In the 25 years since, she’s won multiple Grammys and multiple ASCAP awards, conducted 150 world premieres and recorded well over 100 albums, focusing on underrepresented or forgotten composers and commissioning new works for the concert stage. She even founded her own label with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Beau Fleuve. — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: JoAnn Falletta

Ethel Smyth

Born in 1858, Ethel Smyth was introduced to music by her mother as a child. Despite disapproval from her father, she made music her career, studying at the Leipzig Conservatory and brushing elbows with the likes of Antonin Dvorak, Edward Grieg and Clara Schumann. Her opera, Der Wald, was the first opera written by a woman to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera, in 1903. — Andrea Blain, former national host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Ethel Smyth

Germaine Tailleferre

Germaine Tailleferre was a power player in 1920s Paris as a musician and composer. She became the only female member of Les Six, a group of six composers who exemplified the modern French sensibility at that time. She attended the Paris Conservatory without the encouragement or financial support of her family, determined to learn and compose. Her music is known for its charm, wit, elegance and grace. — Katie Condon, Class Notes manager

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Germaine Tailleferre

Caroline Shaw

Violinist, violist, vocalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw describes her work as, “the edges getting wider and the middles getting smaller." Collaboration is at the core of her music making, and violist Nadia Sirota says Shaw recognizes that what happens in a performance is actually part of the composition. Shaw exploded into public awareness when she won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for her Partita for 8 Voices, a stunningly electric work that evokes ecstatic response. When asked for her advice for younger creators, she says, “be kind to everyone around you.” — Valerie Kahler, host/producer

LISTEN — Distinguished Rebels: Caroline Shaw

If you look at the world around you, it may seem like it’s been created for men. Where is a woman’s place? For centuries, it was at home.

On Distinguished Rebels, you’ll meet women composers, conductors, and performers who have made their mark in a genre mostly dominated by men since the first note was played. Distinguished Rebels celebrates women who have changed the face of classical music, in a classy, yet rebellious way.

Meet the first woman to be recognized as a composer, hear stories of bravery from violinist Lara St. John and conductor Mei-Ann Chen, and enjoy performances by Grammy-winning performers Michelle Cann and Sharon Isbin. Listen now!

Playlist

• Hildegard of Bingen: Wisdom and Her Sisters - Anonymous 4

• Fanny Mendelssohn: Notturno - Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano

• Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop, conductor

• Florence Price: Piano Sonata - Michelle Cann, piano

• John Duarte: Joan Baez Suite - Sharon Isbin, guitar

• Valerie Coleman: Red Clay and Mississippi Delta - Imani Winds

• Jessica Meyer: Confronting the Sky - Lara St. John, violin

• Reena Esmail: Black Iris - Chicago Sinfonietta; Mei-Ann Chen, conductor

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, enjoy music of nocturnal calm and comfort — often in the form of lullabies, but sometimes, dreams and night-time journeys. Eric Whitacre’s The Seal Lullaby sets Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Seal,” while Reena Esmail's Jhula-Jhule finds its inspiration in Indian folk songs she recalls from her childhood, and Arvo Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel isn't technically a lullaby, but definitely has the gentle, tender quality of one. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Playlist

Harp Concerto: Lullaby
Composer: Jennifer Higdon
Conductor: Ward Stare
Orchestra/Ensemble: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Soloists: Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
Azica 71327

Skylark Lullaby
Composer: Jennifer Bellor
Conductor: Chien-Kwan Lin
Orchestra/Ensemble: Eastman Saxophone Project
Innova 45

The Currents
Composer: Sarah Kirkland Snider
Soloists: Orli Shaham, piano
Pacific Symphony 2026

Song for Octave
Composer: Bryce Dessner
Soloists: Mari Samuelsen, violin

Concerto Duo: Mama Dee's Song for Joel
Composer: Joel Puckett
Conductor: Allen Tinkham
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
Soloists: Anthony McGill, clarinet
Cedille 187

Before Sleep and Dreams: Lullaby
Composer: Aaron Jay Kernis
Soloists: David Tanenbaum, guitar
Naxos 574298

The Seal Lullaby
Composer: Eric Whitacre
Orchestra/Ensemble: Voces8
Soloists: Lavinia Meijer, harp

Lullaby for Lise
Composer: Meredith Monk
Soloists: Katie Geissinger, voice
ECM 2751

Prince of Clouds
Composer: Anna Clyne
Conductor: Vinay Parameswaran
Orchestra/Ensemble: Curtis 20/21 Ensemble
Soloists: Jennifer Koh, violin
Cedille 146

Whispered Lullaby
Composer: Dobrinka Tabakova
Soloists: Maxim Rysanov, viola
Avie 2111

Estonian Lullaby
Composer: Veljo Tormis
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hilliard Ensemble
ECM 1700

Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror)
Composer: Arvo Part
Soloists: Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Koch 7762

Midnight Sun Variations
Composer: Outi Tarkiainen
Conductor: Nicholas Collon
Orchestra/Ensemble: Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ondine 1432

Jhula-Jhule
Composer: Reena Esmail
Soloists: Dawn Dongeun Wohn, violin
Delos 3547

Note: On-demand audio for SymphonyCast is available for 30 days after broadcast in most cases.

On the latest episode of SymphonyCast, cellist Senja Rummukainen, backed by conductor Andrew Manze and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, shines in Edward Elgar’s anguished Cello Concerto. The concert kicks off with a radiant opener by Finnish composer Ida Moberg and concludes with the Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Program

Senja Rummukainen, cello
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Manze, conductor

MOBERG: Sunrise
ELGAR: Cello Concerto
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 7; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor; RCA 60575