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Rooted in Black music history in the Americas and worldwide.

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Drawing from traditional music of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and more.

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Surveying traditional music of Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

Exploring traditional music cultures from around the world.

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"We all like to moan about the Last Night of the Proms: its cliches and its jingoism. We asked the experts to play artistic director and tell us how - or if - they would change it."

article, and note that one of the "experts" weighing in here is Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra partner Douglas Boyd, who opens their season this weekend.

Speaking of the Last Night of the Proms, note that one of this year's star soloists is violinist Viktoria Mullova, who will be in Minneapolis next week to open the Minnesota Orchestra season.

John Birge has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.


John Birge

The Guardian Friday September 8, 2006 “We all like to moan about the Last Night of the Proms: its cliches and its jingoism. We asked the experts to play artistic director and tell us how – or if – they would change it.” So begins this article, and note that one of the “experts” weighing […]


How to Fix the Last Night of the Proms

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