Beethoven Birthday Bash

We are celebrating Beethoven's 253rd birthday with a Birthday Bash this weekend! Tune in December 15-17 throughout the day to hear his masterpieces, big and small. Happy Birthday, Ludwig!

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Beethoven

Front Row Washington

The prestigious National Orchestral Institute + Festival Orchestra performs the "Morning" Symphony No. 44 by Haydn, and Still's Wood Notes, inspired by nature and the poem by K. Mitchell Pilcher.

The University of Maryland’s National Orchestral Institute + Festival brings together aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country for a month of dynamic music-making and professional exploration. Chosen through a rigorous, cross-country audition process, these young artists present passionate and awe-inspiring performances of adventuresome repertoire at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and in the College Park, MD community. In 2019, conductor David Alan Miller and the NOI+F Philharmonic received a Grammy nomination in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category for their Naxos recording “Ruggles, Stucky, Harbison.”

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NOI

Classical Breakdown

The newest episode explores Augusta Holmès' tone poem Andromède. Greek mythology for many centuries was used as inspiration for music, but by the late 19th century had fallen out of fashion. John Banther and Evan Keely discuss the origins and possible hidden ideas in the poem by Holmes, how she is able to bring dramaticism to the music, and why she chose the male pseudonym "Hermann Zenta" early on in her career.  

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Holmes

Opera Matinee

The Met’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale of love, revenge and morality, The Magic Flute, set in a mythical land between the sun and the moon.  Sung in English and running under two hours.  A live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera with Piotr Buszewski, Brindley Sherratt, and Met favorite Rolando Villazón as Papageno.

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Magic Flute

Choral Showcase

On this week's Choral Showcase, Beethoven finds kinship with Christ's personal struggle in his oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. And in her oratorio, Simon Bore the Cross, Margaret Bonds invites African-Americans to find solidarity with Christ on the lonely road to Calvary.

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Bonds

From the Top

We’re meeting some phenomenal musicians from the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts. The school is celebrating 50 years as an arts high school and sharing their talented teens with Guest Host Orli Shaham and listeners. Enjoy performances of Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Haydn, and more.

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from the top

Classical Sunrise

The best part of the morning is Classical Sunrise, our musical greeting to the rising sun. Join us each weekday morning and start your morning on the right note!

  • Monday 7:16AM C.P.E. Bach - Sinfonia, H. 662 in E Major
  • Tuesday 7:17AM Glière - The Red Poppy: Russian Sailors' Dance 
  • Wednesday 7:17AM  J.C. Bach - Sonata in D Major, B. 36: I. Allegro assai 
  • Thursday 7:18AM Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78 "Organ": IV
  • Friday 7:19AM Brahms - Horn Trio, Op. 40: IV. Finale: Allegro con brio

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winter morning

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