Where classical music is always arriving, with host Steve Seel. Listen live at 10 p.m. central every Wednesday on 

Where classical music is always arriving, with host Steve Seel. Listen live at 10 p.m. central every Wednesday on YourClassical Radio.


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Scott Blankenship started his radio career in college when he began working as a volunteer at a local cable radio station, announcing alternative and new rock music. His love and appreciation of classical music began at public radio station KVNO in Omaha, where he spent 13 years in various on-air and management roles, five of those years as the morning drive-time host.

Indications that radio was in his blood go back to age five, when he used a corkboard and a battered phonograph as a makeshift radio studio; his father's Air Force issue flashlight served as his "on air" light. In his spare time, Blankenship is an avid cyclist and amateur playwright with several produced scripts to his credit.


Scott Blankenship

Guest host Scott Blankenship sits in for Steve Seel on the latest episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ which includes works by Jessie Montgomery, Errollyn Wallen and George Walker.  


Extra Eclectic July 12, 2023

Extra Eclectic

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Extra Eclectic for July 12, 2023

Steve Seel is the host of YourClassical’s weekly SymphonyCast and the trailblazing music show Extra Eclectic. He possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at radio stations around the country. Steve began his love affair with public radio at 24 working whatever shifts he could at his hometown station of WUSF-FM in Tampa, Florida, and from there worked his way to snowy Buffalo, New York, and its renowned classical station WNED-FM, where he hosted middays and the weekly experimental-music show Present Tense.  In 2005, Steve became one of the founding voices on Minnesota Public Radio's eclectic station, the Current. While there, he hosted afternoons and mornings, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. Steve is a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.


Steve Seel

Folk music inspires the theme for this week’s Extra Eclectic. Host Steve Seel features several works influenced by bluegrass and other folk idioms, including music by composers Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery and Philip Glass


Extra Eclectic - July 05, 2023

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Exploring folk music inspirations

This week on Extra Eclectic, it’s all about the nostalgia that summer brings. Host Steve Seel explores that feeling with pieces by Robert Honstein, Viet Cuong, Anna Clyne, Arvo Pärt and more.


Extra Eclectic - June 28, 2023

Provided

Contemplative summer nights

As the first official day of summer ends with the first summer night of the year, host Steve Seel is ready with an episode of contemporary summer-night sounds on Extra Eclectic. 


Extra Eclectic - June 21, 2023

Contemporary night sounds 

It's a different world today for those in the LGBTQIA community, and classical music is becoming refreshingly open and accepting in the 21st century. This week’s episode of Extra Eclectic, with host Steve Seel, showcases composers who paved the way in the 20th century by confronting old prejudices head-on and composers who have benefitted from their courage in the 21st century.


Extra Eclectic - June 14, 2023

Betty Freeman

Extra Eclectic: Classical Pride! 

For host Bonnie North, classical music is more than just a genre — it's a way of life. She stumbled into the world of radio after responding to a newspaper ad for Vermont Public Radio seeking a classical music DJ for its Sunday afternoon show. Despite having no previous radio experience, she was confident in her knowledge of classical music and took a chance. She created an audition tape, and the rest is history. Her favorite composer depends on her mood. Sometimes she seeks the meditative sounds of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, while other times she craves the angular compositions of Igor Stravinsky. Of course, she also loves the classics by composers who include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. But she is always looking for contemporary composers and is eager to discover new musical talents. Outside of work, she loves to attend live music events. She also enjoys traveling and having friends and family scattered throughout the United States and Europe. But her love for animals is just as strong, and she often volunteers at animal shelters. She is an avid duathlon participant, combining her love for running and biking in one exciting event.


Bonnie North

This week on Extra Eclectic, guest host Bonnie North sits in for Steve Seel with music that’s all about encapsulating the spirit of summer with a touch of nature and spirituality. 


Extra Eclectic - June 7, 2023

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Carefree spirit of summer

This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel remembers one of the most important avant-garde composers of the 20th century, György Ligeti, including his haunting ‘Atmosphères,’ which was used in the film '2001: A Space Odyssey.‘ Other featured works include those by Steve Reich, David Lang and Marc Mellits. 


A Ligeti centenary

This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel showcases the work of Syrian composer Malek Jandali, who integrates Middle Eastern and Arabic melodies into the structures of Western classical music in his pieces. Other works on this episode include those by Missy Mazzoli, Reinaldo Moya and Sarah Kirkland Snider.


Extra Eclectic - May 24

Malek Jandali bridges multiple borders

The viola is in the spotlight on this week’s episode of Extra Eclectic. Steve Seel features works for the viola by Nico Muhly, Christopher Theofanidis, Todd Reynolds and others with performances from Nadia Sirota, Jordan Bak and more. 


Modern Viola

Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel explores the haunting sound of Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov's ‘Um Dia Bom,’ performed by Brooklyn Rider, on this week’s episode — along with music by Reena Esmail, Gabriela Montero and Mary Kouyoumdjian.
