A Listener Request Classical Breakdown and more, this week on WETA Classical

Presented by the Candlelight Concert Society in Columbia, MD, the critically acclaimed American String Quartet performs the beloved Lyric for Strings by DC native George Walker and Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F Major on this week's Front Row Washington. Internationally recognized as one of the world's finest quartets, the American String Quartet has spent decades honing the luxurious sound for which it is famous. Their MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire. 

Check out below our Classical Breakdown episode on George Walker, and enjoy the performance, Monday night at 9PM ET!

You asked and we listened! John Banther and Linda Carducci do a deep dive into three works asked for by listeners of Classical Breakdown this week. Make sure to take a listen to see which works made the list (hint: the manuscript of one of the pieces is on the header above!), and stay tuned until the end as they answer some FAQ's! 

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This Saturday afternoon at 1PM ET, we are treated to a charming work, The Village Teacher, by Hao Weiya on Opera Matinee. ​Composed in 2009, it is a tale of a young woman who dedicates her life to education in a poverty-stricken mountainous region, revealing love, sacrifice, ideals and reality. Sung in Mandarin, we hear a production by China's National Centre for the Performing Arts, featuring Zhou Ziaolin.

A very special episode on From the Top awaits this week, dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of the Sphinx Organization, the Detroit-based, nationally focused social justice organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. The episode features music performed by critically acclaimed chamber orchestra, the Sphinx Virtuosi, as well as stories told by the musicians whose lives have been changed by Sphinx. We’ll also explore the pivotal role Sphinx has played in expanding diversity in the arts and in the promotion of Black and Latinx classical musicians. Sunday at 6PM ET!

Psalms for choir, as we "give praise" this week on Choral Showcase, Sunday night at 9PM ET. Bill Bukowski features choral works based on psalms of praise throughout the centuries with settings by Lili Boulanger, Felix Mendelssohn, Emanuel Kirschner, Steve Reich, and Alexander Zemlinsky, sung by American and European choirs.