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The Bard of Avon

Thematic programming at concert series and festivals has always been a trick of the trade, but what does it really accomplish? Does it put a friendly, marketable face on unconnected elements or allow for mutually-enriching perspectives? Commentator John Rockwell considers the skeptical and the supportive sides, as he looks to the upcoming […]

I was talking about Evening Music programming ideas with weeknight host Terrance McKnight, and one thing we thought we’d do is to experiment with adjective-inspired music. We assign ourselves a word to bounce off of, and see where it takes us.
The word this weekend is “sensuous.” Sensuality is often connected to physical touch, but that’s […]

Traditionally, many of music’s most influential composers and performers have been vocal about their social, spiritual and political views and agendas. Louis v Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Paul Robeson, Marc Blitzstein, James Brown, Aaron J. Kernis and Fred Rzewski, amongst others.
However, it seems that contemporary interviewers shy away from anything that delves into the moral leanings […]

Szot and O’Hara

After nearly 50 years without a Broadway production of this Pulitzer-prize winning, Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Lincoln Center Theater ushers in its first Broadway revival with the vocal forces of Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot. Hear what commentator John Rockwell has to say, and find out why he gets teary-eyed throughout the performance.
If […]

Yungchen Lhamo

Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo offers her unique story of fleeing her homeland, across the dangerous Himalayan mountains, and of finding redemption in the lessons of her family and in transformative power of song. Yungchen is also the director of the New York-based Yungchen Lhamo Charitable Foundation which seeks to improve the welfare and image […]

WNYC listeners are an amazing resource. I learned that years ago when I asked a question about Orson Welles on the air, and promptly got a call from one of his biographers. Another time I questioned the origin of the waltz, and got a call from a dance historian. Interesting people doing interesting things are […]