On this week’s episode of SymphonyCast, we’ll hear a concert from the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.  Karina Canellakis conducts the performance, which features soloist Nicola Benedetti in Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. We’ll also hear works by Lili Boulanger, Igor Stravinsky and Alexander Scriabin. Listen now with guest host Steve Seel. 

SCRIABIN: Symphony No. 4 (“The Poem of Ecstasy”)

TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto (Decca 4764092, with Nicola Benedetti and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jakub Hrusa) 

Melissa Ousley stumbled into a career in broadcasting many years ago when she moved to Wichita, Kansas to be near her soon-to-be husband. The attraction (to radio work, that is) was immediate and the chance to be around great music without having to practice piano was irresistible. After establishing herself as a host and producer in Kansas, Melissa moved to Minnesota and continued her work at WCAL in Northfield and Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul. Her morning classical show at WCAL was twice named "Best Classical Radio Program" by the Twin Cities paper City Pages. Melissa grew up near New York City. As a teenager, she attended the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music. Her bachelor's degree in music education is from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. When she's away from the airwaves, Melissa loves to run, read, and spend time with her family.


Nate Ryan/MPR

Melissa Ousley

On this week’s episode of SymphonyCast, we’ll hear a concert from the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.  Karina Canellakis conducts the concert, which features soloist Nicola Benedetti in Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Listen now with guest host Steve Seel. 


Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Hour 1

Hour 2