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photo: David Garland

On July 8th WNYC celebrates its 85th anniversary. I’ll host a special Evening Music event broadcast live from the Greene Space that night, with a variety of performances that harken back to our starting year of 1924–including a live performance by the vivacious Marta Eggerth, who began her career when she was 11 years old in 1923!

Last weekend we had the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, and the 40th anniversaries of Woodstock and the first moon landing are coming soon. Of course, this July 4th weekend celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. We’re celebrating the spirit of independents on WNYC with a special series of my show Spinning On Air each night.

What are you celebrating, and what are you doing to celebrate?

Here’s Marta Eggerth singing “Über weite Felder/Wo die Lerche singt” in “Wo die Lerche singt” from 1936; a film based on the operetta by Franz Lehàr with Hans Söhnker.

So Bernie Madoff is sentenced to 150 years in jail for operating a Ponzi scheme which lost thousands of investors over $60 billion. 150 years. Wow. That’s a long time.

Thinking forwards - Chances are most of us won’t be around to see Bernie released from jail. That won’t be until 2159. Will there be live concerts? How will people even listen to music? Maybe humans will have chips implanted into their brains that contain 5,000 gigs of music.

Thinking backwards - 150 years ago Brahms, Wagner and Liszt were the hot ticket items. Brahms was smitten by the classicists Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, Liszt was Liszt (prompting quite a few faintings during his concerts) and Wagner was expanding musical harmony and transforming opera into high drama.

Perhaps in our lifetime, some Wagneresque figure will take it upon his or herself to write an opera about Bernie Madoff. I’d imagine there would be a mob scene, a jail scene and that a tenor would sing the role of Madoff, what do you think? Is there a character in opera or the movies that best parallels Madoff’s exploits or fate?

Stonewall Inn

Nadia Sirota, WNYC Overnight Music Host

In many ways, my generation, born a solid decade or so post-Stonewall, has had a rather easy go of it in regards to gay rights; gay and lesbian public figures are plentiful, and one risks almost nothing in coming out to colleagues or friends save hearty congratulations and an excuse for partying. Even so, now’s an odd moment in the gay rights narrative in that there are certain civil rights issues that remain bizarrely unresolved (see: marriage).

It’s my impression that the Classical Music community, and in fact the music world in general, has always played host to non-straight composers, performers, and listeners, often when society as a whole felt otherwise. When trying to assemble the rep for this week’s Stonewall commemorative show, my colleagues and I kept on coming back to the idea that it would be way more challenging to assemble a cohesive show from the works of exclusively straight composers (a straight composer friend of mine has even toyed with the idea of publicizing his “conventional” sexual orientation as a PR hook. I’ll let you know how it works out). Obviously I’m kidding. Basically.

BUT! All this is meant to convey: there’s nothing novel about gay composers. We heart gay composers, always have. Evening Music’s HOMOPHONIC festival is a celebration of some wonderful pieces, wonderful composers, and the pivotal, news-worthy moment in the history of gay civil rights we are participating in, all of it greatly indebted to the Stonewall riots of 40 years ago.

We’ve got some great stuff planned for this weekend. The composer Nico Muhly will be joining me on Thursday; on Friday, Pauline Oliveros will sit in with David Garland, and on Sunday, Gretchen Phillips and Kenny Mellman (Herb, of Kiki and Herb) will be here. If you have any thoughts about pride, Stonewall, or the post-Stonwall world, let me know!

photo: Anne Garland/Luminous Playhouse

“Summertime, and the livin’ is greasy…” (Is that how the song goes?) Sunday is the first day of summer and it’s the summer solstice. You can be sure that summer will make a big splash on Evening Music Sunday night, with a veritable estival festival of summery sounds. As we move into the hot season, where are you planning to go? What are you planning to do? How will you cope with the heat? What signs of summer have you seen?

As Father’s Day approaches, I’ll include music in this week’s program that is devoted to fatherhood. I recently came across a piece by Charles Ives called “The Things Our Fathers Loved” and it got me thinking about my father and the things he loves. I haven’t lived with my parents for over 25 years, so my childhood memories of them are the most vivid. I can remember my father with 2-4 books at the kitchen table, reading well before dawn. He’d even bring his books to my high school basketball games, along with another love of his - a brown paper bag full of unsalted peanuts that he would roast at home. My father also liked fixing things, and his tool of choice was duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape. So here’s my father’s list:

1. books, especially on theology
2. unsalted roasted peanuts
3. duct tape

Tell me three things your father loves or loved.

photo: Anne Garland/Luminous Playhouse

During Evening Music throughout this weekend let’s see what the music evokes to you. A color? An animal? An object? An aroma? A taste? As you listen, react in the Comments section below, using just a word or phrase. After the music ends I’ll read your phrases on the air, and we’ll hear how the responses combine.

I’ve just finished reading “The Little Stranger,” the latest novel by British author Sarah Waters. As usual for Waters, details accumulate to tell her story, enhancing the vividness of her characters and their relationships. Last night I saw the latest movie from Pixar animation, “Up,” which is also enriched by its details of (apparent) movement, light, and texture. What’s one telling detail about you or your environment?