Broadcasting as a Community Service from The University of Hartford 91.3FM wwuh.org
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Winter Blues?
Feeling housebound, tired of the cold and snowy weather? Well keep your radio's tuned to WWUH radio for a great selection of music to make your days and nights more interesting and fun. Don't forget our great alternative public affairs shows that will give you information about the things the mainstream usually avoids. So hang in there and keep your radios tuned to 91.3. You can also listen and follow us at our web site - wwuh.org. We are also available now as a Mp3 stream on many smart phones so we can follow you anywhere you go. Thanks for all your support!
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WWUH Program Guide for
January and February 2012
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We're now streaming in both WM and MP3 formats!
WWUH Windows Media Stream
NEW WWUH MP3 Stream
You can find us on Facebook............where you can get up to date info on shows and other events on WWUH
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Dear WWUH Listener
We will continue to strive to bring you the best in alternative radio programming throughout the year. We are thankful for all our listeners and look forward to many more years of great programming at WWUH. We hope you continue to enjoy our varied and eclectic programming. Feedback is always welcome at
A few other links that you may want to bookmark are: WWUH History Website and Our On Line Playlist.
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WWUH CONTINUES TO BROADCAST THE UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMES
Hawks and WWUH
Prove Championship Pair
On the court and in the classroom, the University of Hartford Women's Basketball team has gained a national reputation for excellence.
The Schedule for the rest of the 2011-12 Season follows:
WWUH will broadcast the games again this season, broadcasts start 15 minutes prior to the start of the games. We hope you will enjoy hearing the Hawks live on WWUH again this year.
For a full schedule and more information about the games and team please click on the link below:
http://www.hartfordhawks.com/index.aspx?path=wbball
For ticket information contact theMalcolm & Brenda Berman Athletics Ticket Office at (860) 768-HAWK or thru the Hartford Hawks website.
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Crossing Adventures in Soul and Feeling Free
My Favorite Jazz Recordings of 2011
by Chuck Obuchowski
Friends often complain to me that they have a tough time finding new music which really wows them. They suggest that the current jazz scene needs more star power: after all, where are the Armstrongs, the Ellingtons, the Monks and the Coltranes of this generation?
While it may be true that no bona fide jazz musician - save perhaps Wynton Marsalis - has attained household-name status lately, there are still many exceptional improvising artists around, and - I would argue - a decent number of noteworthy jazz recordings continue to be issued every year. Looking back on my 2011 Tuesday Morning Jazz play lists, I identified over 50 contenders for inclusion on my "top 10 list."
I prefer to call them my "10 favorites," but everybody else insists on using the "10 best" prefix with such lists ... call 'em whatever you wish, but - if you like online samples of any of these albums - please purchase the music; musicians need to eat, too.
Here at WWUH, we still receive a plethora of new jazz discs every year, even though it seems every few months some "expert" predicts the imminent demise of the compact disc. While I applaud the resourcefulness of independent artists, a lot more mediocre music finds its way onto disc these days without anyone around to offer quality control. So it can be daunting to slog through lots of so-so recordings in search of a few gems.
Hopefully, you'll discover something gemlike in at least a few of the releases I've selected here; great music has the power to transcend time and space if we allow ourselves to fall under its spell.
Please note that I have listed these releases in alphabetical order according to the artists' surnames; they are not ranked in order of preference.
The New Gary Burton Quartet - Common Ground (Mack Avenue Records)
Vibraphonist Burton, who will be 69 years old on January 23, is still making vital music, as this album attests. His four mallets dance effortlessly across the keys of his instrument, as he and three highly skilled composer-improvisers take the listener on a sensual sonic sojourn.
Julian Lage, who first joined forces with Burton while a student at Berklee, shares the leader's gift for lyricism. He provides many of the album's most compelling solos on his distinctive archtop semi-acoustic guitar. Listen to his ebullient exchanges with Burton during "Did You Get It?," written by drummer Antonio Sanchez. Sanchez has worked extensively with Pat Metheny, who - like Lage - earned accolades as a member of the vibist's band while still a teenager.
Joseph Daley Earth Tones Ensemble - The Seven Deadly Sins (JARO)
This is certainly one of the most ambitious jazz projects to be released in 2011. Fronting a band of nearly 30 musicians, Daley conducts a suite he composed based on the seven deadly sins. The work was specifically inspired by paintings by Wade Schuman which portray each of the infamous transgressions as animals.
Astoundingly, this is the 62-year-old tuba player's first release as a leader, although Daley has worked with everyone from Lionel Hampton to Cecil Taylor during his busy career. The music here is bold and brassy - with multiple trumpets, trombones, tubas and French horns - plus five percussionists. Saxophones, piano and vibraphone also add to the tonal palette.
Daley performed with Connecticut-based trumpeter Stephen Haynes in his Paradigm Shift brass ensemble during the 1990s. The group's sole recording was culled from a performance at Real Art Ways in Hartford.
Tim Horner - The Places We Feel Free (Miles High Records)
Like Joseph Daley, Horner has made a name for himself as a first-rate sideman, working for many years with outstanding jazz composers like Maria Schneider and Rufus Reid. He credits them with encouraging him to step forward as a leader and composer at last.
The results are delightful; not only has the drummer written 10 fascinating tunes, some inspired by his world travels, but he's also assembled an excellent team to interpret them. Horner employs seven musicians in all, in various combinations on each track. It's tough to single out any one soloist, but guitarist John Hart, trumpeter Ron Horton and keyboardist Jim Ridl offer especially engaging improvisations.
Horner performed at a WWUH benefit concert 13 years ago in Wilde Auditorium as a member of the Jim Cifelli New York Nonet.
Ben Kono - Crossing (19/8 Records)
Kono's music is panoramic in scope, ranging from the lovely flute-and-reed chorale that introduces this disc's title track to the Asian-flavored fusion of "Rice" - from the fiery tenor sax and guitar solos on "Tennis" to the carefully crafted 12-tone abstractions which highlight "Celestial Birch."
The Vermont native and former U.S. Army Jazz Ambassador plays eight horns on this, his debut CD. In addition to typical jazz axes like saxophone and flute, Kono provides more unusual aural textures on oboe, English horn and shakuhachi.
His terrific ensemble includes drummer John Hollenbeck, guitarist Pete McCann and bassist John Hebert. All five accompanists seem perfectly suited to bringing Kono's distinctive compositions to life.
Peter McEachern Quintet - Shockwave (self released)
What a joy that Connecticut trombonist McEachern took it upon himself last year to finally bring this amazing music - recorded in 1994 - to the public's attention. It finds him in the company of two longtime colleagues: bassist Mario Pavone and multi-reedman Thomas Chapin, both operating at the height of their powers.
Plans to have the album released back then on Knitting Factory Works fell through when the label began having financial problems, and McEachern shelved the project after Manchester native Chapin was diagnosed with acute leukemia.
The quintet featured here only worked together a few times, but all had performed with the trombonist before, including trumpeter Jamie Finegan and drummer Steve Johns. McEachern's compositions are highlighted, yet everyone but Johns contributed at least one tune. The improvising is uniformly inspired throughout; fans of Pavone's and Chapin's edgy-but-swinging work will rejoice in hearing this lost treasure for the first time. It's also worth noting that these sessions marked Chapin's debut on baritone saxophone, but he plays with the authority and daring he brought to every one of his chosen instruments.
Brad Mehldau - Live in Marciac (Nonesuch)
The onetime West Hartford resident continues to hone his impressive ability to blur distinctions between musical genres: seamlessly shifting from classical precision to the jangly discord of Kurt Cobain's "Lithium," heard in medley with 1970s singer/songwriter Nick Drake's hypnotic "Things Behind the Sun."
It's all here - along with much more - on this two-disc document of a 2006 solo recital in France (A 10-song DVD from the concert is also included in the package.) Despite his staggering virtuosity, Mehldau never forgets the importance of conveying a range of emotions to his audience. There are solemn ballads ("Goodbye Storyteller") and carefree romps (the Lennon/McCartney trifle "Martha My Dear"), even the occasional jazz standard ("Dat Dere").
Mehldau's solo performance at the Garde Arts Center in New London last February preceded the release of this album by just two days. That event was one of the concert highlights of my year. There, he strayed even further from the usual jazz repertoire, including a 20-minute rendition of Massive Attack's "Tear" and a poignant cover of an old Neil Young song.
Marcus Shelby Orchestra - Soul of the Movement (Porto Franco)
The San Francisco bassist has subtitled his big band's latest recording "Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." The music combines striking arrangements of spirituals, "We Shall Overcome" and Shelby originals to create a vivid musical portrait of the life and times of the famed civil rights leader.
Faye Carol and Kenny Washington bolster the instrumentalists' contributions with their dramatically delivered lyrics and swinging scat vocals. Shelby also includes potent interpretations of appropriate material by Charles Mingus and Curtis Mayfield to flesh out Dr. King's story.
Jack Wilkins - The Blue & Green Project (Summit Records)
It's a safe bet that this disc features the first jazz piece to incorporate a "field recording" of two master blacksmiths at work. "Song of the Anvil" uses their clanging interplay as the basis for its mesmerizing rhythms.
But "The Blue & Green Project" is no mere novelty record. Rather it's a collection of eclectic musical stories "inspired by Appalachian Mountain culture and environment." Each weds elements of jazz with American roots music ranging from gospel to bluegrass. Saxophonist Jack Wilkins (not to be confused with the guitarist of the same name) also translates his impressions of the region's geography into pieces like "Mountain Watercolors" and "River Run."
Wilkins, Director of Jazz Studies at The University of South Florida, coaxes an astonishing array of moods and improvisations from his large ensemble. Guitarist Corey Christiansen rocks out one moment, and violinist Sara Caswell glides sweetly along the mountaintops the next. Drummer Danny Gottlieb keeps everyone in line with his surefire drumming, but the bandleader deserves the most credit for shaping these diverse elements into a coherent whole.
Dr. Michael White - Adventures in New Orleans Jazz Part 1 (Basin Street)
This one gets my vote for "fun album of the year." If you don't find yourself tapping along to some of the euphoric rhythms on this disc, it may be time to have your hearing examined.
Clarinetist White has assembled a dynamic cast of Crescent City players to present a musical adventure that takes the listener on a journey through the African Diaspora, including stops in Jamaica and Haiti - as well as visits to back porches and black churches in the Deep South.
He gives the Bob Marley classic "One Love" a trad jazz twist, and similarly imbues the music of South African songstress Miriam Makeba with a N'orleans vibe. Elsewhere there are charming vocals and a blues-drenched duet with banjo on "House of the Rising Sun." White's newest endeavor reminds us that, even in the 21st century, New Orleans remains an indispensible musical melting pot.
Various Artists (produced & arranged by Bob Belden) - Miles Español (E One)
Talk about ambitious projects! Bob Belden invited some of today's most broad-minded improvisers to explore the history and influence of Spanish and Gypsy musics as they relate to jazz. A longtime Miles Davis aficionado, Belden used elements of the renowned Davis/Gil Evans collaboration "Sketches of Spain" as a springboard for these explorations.
This album begins - as did the 1960 Davis/Evans classic - with an enticing version of Joaquim Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez." More exotic instrumentation is employed, however - with gorgeous contributions from harp, oud, bassoon and percussion.
Many of the musicians who perform on this two-CD set have opted to contribute their own compositions based on the aforementioned concepts. This results in a blend of folk forms and inspired jazz improvisations by an impressive roster of talent. Some of the names you just might recognize: Chick Corea, Ron Carter, John Scofield, Sonny Fortune and Jack DeJohnette.
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NOTES FROM CELTIC AIRS FOR NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2011
Goitse
After a holiday hiatus, the WWUH/Celtic Airs concert series will start the New Year with a concert by a new band called Goitse (pronounced Gweye'-tcha) on February 17th, 2012. Goitse is an informal Gaelic greeting from Donegal that means "come here."
Band members are students or graduates of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, founded and directed by renowned musician Michael O'Suilleabhain. The band's roots go back to 2008 when they began as a trio (Colm, Aine and Tadhg) put together to perform for a charity telethon at Dolan's pub, Limerick. Conal was added a year later and James in September 2009, just months before the recording of their debut CD in January 2010. The album has a fresh new sound, yet is still very recognizably traditional. They have developed a growing fan base through performances in Ireland, America, Finland, Denmark and Africa!
The distinctive quality of their sound lies in the arrangement of well known traditional tunes interspersed with their own compositions. Unlike many of their cosmopolitan Celtic contemporaries, their style shows a respect for and willingness to acknowledge the traditional idioms which so strongly influence their performance. John O'Regan wrote in Irish Music Magazine "Goitse possesses a strength, power and maturity that is well beyond their years. While they write many of their own tunes, they have an obvious love for their roots which is admirable and praiseworthy."
Founding member Colm Phelan, from County Laois, is fast becoming a recognized force on the bodhran, one of Ireland's leading young percussionists. Junior Davey, five times Senior All Ireland champion on bodhran, says "Colm encompasses innovation and tradition in every beat." Colm's proudest achievement in his young career was being named the first ever "World Bodhran Champion" in Miltown, County Kerry in 2006 and then later that same year winning the All Ireland Championship in Letterkenny. He was the first student to graduate from UC Limerick's music program with bodhran as his primary instrument. The University experience increased his pride in his Irish heritage and deepened his desire to establish himself firmly within the tradition.
Co-founder Aine McGeeney is a vibrant fiddle player and well known singer, performing in English and Irish. Her sweet, charismatic voice is reminiscent of Kate Rusby. Her unique singing style has been heavily influenced by her talented teachers, Padraigin Ni Uallachain (wife of vocalist Len Graham), Geraldine Bradley and the sadly departed Eithne Ni Uallachain (with husband "Fiddle Gerry" O'Connor, they were the very talented duo "La Lugh".) In addition to her studies at the UC Limerick music program, Aine has toured extensively with Michael Flately's "Lord of the Dance" troupe.
The third member of the original trio is Dublin born Tadhg O'Meachair who is receiving increasing acclaim for his unique style on piano accordion and piano. Utilizing the piano as a lead/melody instrument is unusual in the world of Irish traditional music, but perhaps not surprising when you recall that Tadhg is a student of internationally renowned pianist Michael O'Suilleabhain, director of UC Limerick's music program.. Tadhg was personally selected by Donal Lunny to be the piano player in the "Lorg Lunny" project, and eight episode television series highlighting the state of Irish traditional music today. He is currently the National Youth Officer of Comhaltas, the organization in charge of promoting Irish traditional music throughout the world. Finally, he is a prolific composer who writes many of the band's new tunes as part of his University studies.
Multi-instrumentalist Conal O'Kane joined the band a year after it's inception. He was born in Philadelphia and grew up learning fiddle and banjo during summers spent with his father's family in Buncranna, County Donegal. Back in Philadelphia, he took up the guitar, his main instrument these days. (shades of Seamus Egan of Solas whose past development reads much the same!) After graduating from high school, James took a year off from his schooling to play and learn music in Galway. He then was accepted to the UC Limerick Irish Academy of Music and Dance. Since graduation, he has been a major part of the Limerick traditional music scene.
Banjo ace James Harvey, from Mountrath, County Laois, is the youngest and newest addition to the Goitse line up, added in September 2009. He's currently in his fourth year in the UC Limerick music program. Though traditional music is his major interest, he's also enhancing his musical abilities by studying Bluegrass, Classical and Jazz music. James is a prodigy on banjo. At fourteen, he had already won four consecutive Junior All Ireland Banjo Championships and the three Junior Mandolin Championships! By the tender age of sixteen, he won the Senior World Banjo title at the World Fleadh. His primary source of inspiration and guidance has been banjo/guitar player John Carty.
Goitse is a talented young ensemble that is maturing remarkably quickly, adding their own distinctive contributions to their cultural inheritance with ease and style. They know their combined strengths and play to them. Irish Music Magazine said "Goitse have a big musical imagination and aren't afraid to tear at the edges of the trad envelope." Though the energy of their performances is youthfully kinetic, there is something that distinguishes them from the pack; they have class, taste and poise! Hot Press Magazine said " They play with an easy assurance that should cause anyone fretting about the future of Irish traditional music to sleep more easily at night."
I recommend you "goitse" (come here, remember?) to the Wilde Auditorium on Friday February 17th at 7:30PM to see the CT debut of Goitse. I think you'll enjoy what you hear and see!
Tickets for the Celtic Airs Concert Series are only available through the University of Hartford Box Office, open 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday -Friday at
1-800-274-8587 or 860-768-4228. On line purchases can be made at www.hartford.edu/hartt.
Celtic Airs is heard Tuesday mornings 6:00-9:00 am on WWUH Radio, 91.3 FM
Steve Dieterich, Producer/Host of Celtic Airs and the Celtic Airs Concert Series
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Blue Monday
9 PM to midnight
hosted by Bart Bozzi
Tune in to Blue Monday during January and February for the following features:
Featured Artist
January 2 Elmore James
January 9 Rick Holmstrom
January 16 Delbert McClinton
January 23 Little Jimmy King
January 30 Mavis Staples
February 6 Taj Mahal
February 13 Chris Beard
February 20 Mardi Gras
February 27 Susan Tedeschi
Back to the Roots
January 2 West Coast Blues
January 9 Classic Women Blues Singers
January 16 British Blues
January 23 St. Louis Blues
January 30 Memphis Blues
February 6 Rhythm & Blues
February 13 Boogie Woogie
February 20 Mardi Gras
February 27 Jump Blues
Tune in as we also go back in my blues history, featuring a cut I aired 20 and 10 years ago on my weekly blues shows previously aired on Overnight Blues and Blue Monday.
Join us as we explore the diverse and interesting world of "the blues" every Monday night at 9 PM on WWUH's long running blues show, "Blue Monday."
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WWUH Classical Programming -
January and February 2012
Sunday Afternoon at the Opera... Sundays 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Evening Classics... Weekdays 4:00 to 7:00/ 8:00 pm
Drake's Village Brass Band... Mondays 7:00-8:00 pm
January
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Sun
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1
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Tippett: A Child of Our Time. On Cold Mountain (compilation of contemporary American art song)
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Mon
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2
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Host's choice
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Tue
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3
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A sampling of CDs recently acquired by WWUH
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Wed
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4
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Nielsen: Symphony No. 1; Binchois: Mass; Cecile Chaminade: Piano Works; Carl Reinecke: Harp Concerto;
Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Alto and Harp
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Thu
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5
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Henry Lawes: Zadok the Priest; Converse: The Mystic Trumpeter; Roslavets: Preludes for Piano, Meditation for Cello & Piano; Tillis: Motherless Child; Handel: Zadok the Priest; Medtner: Piano Sonata #5 in g Op. 22, Piano Concerto #1 in c Op. 33, Two Fairy Tales Op. 20
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Fri
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6
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Host's choice
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Sun
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8
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Charpentier: Acteon; Blow: Venus and Adonis
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Mon
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9
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Time Machines - Kamen: The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms; Gottschalk: A Night in the Tropics; Rhim: Litches Spiel; Currie: Time Machines
Drake's Village Brass Band... Christian Lindberg: Songs for Sunset
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Tue
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10
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Liszt: Hungaria; Foote: Piano Quartet in C; Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto #1; des Pres: Missa Pange lingua
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Wed
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11
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Enescu: First Suite for Orchestra, Op. 9; Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1; Eduard Napravnik: Concerto Symphonique in A Minor; Obrecht: Missa de Sancto Donatiano
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Thu
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12
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Duphly: La Felix, La Forqueray; Wolf-Ferrari: Idillio Concertino, Suite Veneziana, Op. 18, Serenade for Strings in E Flat; Beethoven: Andante Favori; Martirano: Octet for Winds, Strings & Percussion; Barsanti: Concerti Grossi Op. 6 #1-3; Coleman: Summer; Feldman: The Viola in My Life 3, For Philip Guston - Part 9; Laitman: Birdsong; Telemann: Concerto for 2 Flutes in D, TVW 53:D1
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Fri
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13
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Host's choice
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Sun
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15
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Giordano: Fedora
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Mon
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16
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From the Cradle to the Grave - Herrmann: The Fantastics; Liszt: From the Cradle to the Grave; Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King; Salerni: Tony Caruso's Final Broadcast
Drake's Village Brass Band... Bennett: Biography; Maslanka: Trombone Concerto
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Tue
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17
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Turina: Sinfonía sevillana; Ries: Sonata in A; Schubert: String Quartet #15 Dvořák: Te Deum
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Wed
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18
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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 3; Tomas de Victoria: Missa O Magnum Mysterium; Jan Zelenka: Overture a 7 Concertanti; Antonio Soler: Sonata in F Major; Geminiani: Concerti Grossi
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Thu
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19
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Weldon: Sett of Ayres in D; Fiorenza: Concerto in D for 2 Violins and Cello; Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp in C K 299; Blacher: Divertimento for Wind Orchestra Op. 7; Schwartz: Vienna Dreams; Nordgren: Butterflies Op.39; Amirkhanian: Vers les Anges; Schumann: Papillons
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Fri
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20
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Host's choice
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Sun
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22
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Gluck: Ezio
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Mon
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23
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Music for Alice - Fine: Alice In Wonderland Series; Taylor: Through the Looking Glass; Elfman: Alice in Wonderland; Del Tredici: In Memory of a Summer Day
Drake's Village Brass Band... Reflections for Brass
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Tue
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24
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Röntgen: Ballad for Violin & Orchestra; Taneyev: String Quartet #4; Ives: Symphony #3; Machaut: La Messe de Nostre Dame
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Wed
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25
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Jan Vorisek: Symphony in D Major; Lehar: Paganini - Act 1; Bright Sheng:Red Silk Dance
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Thu
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26
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J. S. Bach: Cantata BWV 169, "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben"; William Hayes: Concerti in d, D; Benson: Aeolian Song; Brahms: Piano Concerto #1; Järnefelt: Suite in E flat; Ronnefeld: Die Amiese - Suite; Winkler: Fantasy for Cello Septet
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Fri
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27
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Host's choice
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Sun
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29
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Monteverdi: L'Incornazione di Poppea
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Mon
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30
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Echoes of Time - Sibelius: Night Ride and Sunrise; Ravel: Sheherazade; Lisa Batiashvili violin, Echoes of Time; Delius: Song of Sunset
Drake's Village Brass Band...United States Navy Band: Mystic Chords of Memory
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Tue
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31
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Music by Franz Schubert (born January 31, 1797)
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February
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Wed
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1
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Franz Berwald: Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Sammartini: The Tears of St. Peter; Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano
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Thu
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2
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Homilius: Three Chorale Preludes; Kreisler: Violin Works; Beethoven: Symphony #6 in F "Pastoral"; Huízar: Imágenes; Vaughan Williams: Symphony #3 "Pastoral"; Classical Happy Hour Hummel: Parthia for 2 clarinets, 2 oboes, 2 horns & 2 bassoons in E Flat "Octet-Partita"; Vivaldi: 2 Flutes Concerto in C RV 533; Glazunov: Symphony #7 in F "Pastoral"; Maxfield: Pastoral Symphony; Rawsthorne: Symphony #2, "Pastoral"
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Fri
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3
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Host's choice
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Sun
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5
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Preempted
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Mon
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6
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Albright: Symphony for Organ; Crumb: Quest; Salzedo: Scintillation; Ravel: Violin Sonata; Paulus: A Dream of Time; Hoover: Mountain and Mesa
Drake's Village Brass Band...Tichelii: Symphony #2; Bolcom: First Symphony for Band
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Tue
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7
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Two 20th-century comic operas on LP: Kodály's Háry János and Walton's The Bear
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Wed
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8
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Taneyev: Symphony No. 1; Berg: Seven Early Songs; Chabrier: Suite Pastorale; Martinu: Four Madrigals; Beethoven: Emperor Concerto in D Minor
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Thu
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9
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Reichenauer: Overture in B flat ; Beethoven: Piano Sonata #23 in f Op. 57 "Appassionata"; Rogier: Missa Philippus II; Berg: Seven Early Songs, Three Pieces for Orchestra Op. 6, Violin Concerto; Genzmer: Sonata for Trombone & Organ; Drew: Sonata Appassionata
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Fri
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10
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Host's choice
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Sun
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12
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Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodante
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Mon
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13
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Adamo: Late Victorians; Zaimont: Symphony #2 "Remember Me"; Zwillich: Millennium Fantasy; Theofanidis: Symphony #1, Rainbow Body; Higdon: Blue Cathedral
Drake's Village Brass Band...Barry Tuckewll plays Hoddinott, Searle and Banks
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Tue
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14
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David: Violin Concerto #4; Brahms: String Quintet #2; Liszt: Hamlet; Schubert: Mass #3
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Wed
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15
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Malcolm Arnold; Symphony No. 5; Biber: Missa Christi Resurgentis; Dallapiccola: 3 Episodes from Marsia; Charles-Valentin Alkan: Sonatina
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Thu
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16
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Avison: Concerti Op. 6; Rode: Violin Concerto #13 in f sharp/A; Wilder: Horn Sonata #3; Lotti, Caldara: Crucifixus; Jimenez: Tres Cartas de Mexico - Symphonic Suite; Corigliano: Midsummer Fanfare, Sonata for Violin and Piano; Gyrowetz: Piano Trio in d; Huber: Symphony #.8 in F
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Fri
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17
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Host's choice
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Sun
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19
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Preempted
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Mon
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20
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Holbrooke: Violin Sonata #2 "Grasshopper"; Vaughan Williams: Choral Music; Stanford: Symphony #3 "Irish"; Bryars: Piano Concerto (The Solway Canal)
Drake's Village Brass Band...Holbrooke: Horn Trio
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Tue
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21
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Volkmann: String Quartet #5; Tchaikovsky: Suite #4, "Mozartiana"; Beethoven: Piano Trio in B-flat, "Archduke"; Larsson: Trombone Concertino
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Wed
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22
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Spohr; Symphony No. 7; Albinoni: Sonatas; Bach: Violin Concerto No. 2; Alessandro Melani: Motets
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Thu
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23
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Blow: Ground in g; Lindberg: Pingst, Gammal Fäbodpsalm; Handel: Judas Maccabeus - See the Conquering Hero Comes, Harpsichord Suite in B Flat; Concerti Grossi Op 6 - selections; Tippett: Fantasia on a Theme of Handel; Harpsichord Suite in e; Ponce: Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Handel; Harpsichord Suite #5 in E HWV 430 "Harmonious Blacksmith"; Giuliani: Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107; Beethoven: Variations on "See the Conquering Hero Comes"; Brahms: Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op 24.
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Fri
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24
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Sun
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26
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Lassus: Cantiones Sacrae; A Worcester Ladymass; Spotless Rose
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Mon
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27
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Monday Night at the Movies...Tiomkin: The Fall of the Roman Empire; Waxman: Taras Bulba; E. Bernstein: Summer and Smoke
Drake's Village Brass Band...U. S. Marine Band, The Heritage of John Philip Sousa, Volume 7
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Tue
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28
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Music by Mozart on period-instruments, including Piano Concerto No. 9, the Mass in C minor, and the Clarinet Quintet
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Wed
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29
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Hindemith; Sinfonia Serena; Schubert: Violin Sonata; Ravel: String Quartet in F Major; Benjamin Godard: Violin Concerto No. 2; Bartok: The Wooden Prince (excerpts)
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WWUH Scholarship Fund
In 2003 WWUH alums Steve
Berian, Charles Horwitz and Clark Smidt helped create the WWUH
Scholarship Fund to provide an annual grant to a UH student who is
either on the station's volunteer Executive Committee or who is in a
similar leadership position at the station. The grant amount each year
will be one half of the revenue of the preceeding year. To
make a tax deductable donation either send a check to:
WWUH Scholarship Fund c/o John Ramsey Univ.
of Hartford 200 Bloomfield Ave. W. Hartford, CT 06117
Or call John at 860-768-4703 to arrange
for a one-time or on-going donation via charge card. If you would
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Do you like live music?
Well..we have live music!
A Listener Supported Community Service of the University of Hartford - Information call: 860-768-4703
DATE PERFORMER VENUE TIME
Feb 12, 2012 Goitse (from Ireland) Wilde 7:30 pm
March 24, 2012 Cherish the Ladies Millard 7:30 pm
May 4, 2012 Teada w/ Seamus Begley Wilde 7: 30 pm
*Cosponsored with Music for a Change
Shows are added all the time, check wwuh.org for up to date information.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to show time. UH student ticket price for most shows: $10.
All shows in Wilde are general admission; Millard & Lincoln seats are reserved.
Automated campus direction line: 860-768-7878
Tickets, if available, are placed on sale at the venue one hour before show time the night of the show.
Tickets for all shows are available from the University Box Office:
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Thursday Evening Classics
Composer Birthdays
January and February 2012
Presented by Steve Petke
January 5
1596 Henry Lawes
1640 Paolo Lorenzani
1871 Frederick Shepherd Converse
1880 Nikolay Medtner
1881 Nikolay Roslavets
1897 Theo Mackeben
1917 Reginald Smith Brindle
1930 Frederick Tillis
1957 Roger Zahab
1962 Joe Monzo
1979 Lourenco Goncalo
January 12
1711 Gaetano Latilla
1715 Jacques Duphly
1737 Brizio Petrucci
1804 Hippolyte Monpou
1821 Nikolay Yakovlevich Afanas yev
1836 Arabella Goddard
1837 Adolf Jensen
1837 Carlos Troyer
1876 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
1884 Louis Horst
1888 Claude Delvincourt
1898 Jose Forns y Cuadras
1900 Vaino Hannikainen
1921 Leo Smit
1925 Laurentiu Profeta
1926 Morton Feldman
1927 Salvatore Martirano
1955 Lori Laitman
1955 Jane Ira Bloom
1972 Dan Coleman
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Birth: January 12, 1876 in Venezia, Italy
Death: January 21, 1948 in Venezia, Italy
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an important Italian composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His comic operas may be his best-known works, but none have endured in the standard repertory. He was born to a Bavarian father and an Italian mother. He showed a talent for both music and painting at an early age. He enrolled at the Academia di Belle Arti when he was 15 and 2 years later relocated to Munich to pursue further art instruction. However, he soon began composition studies with Rheinberger at the Munich Akademie der Tonkunst. His first compositions date from 1893, his Serenade in E flat possibly being the earliest serious effort. In 1895, he added his mother's maiden name, Ferrari, to his surname. He returned to Venice that year in an attempt to begin a composing career. He also spent some time in the late 1890s in Milan, where he became a protégé of Boito and met Giulio Ricordi, who did not, however, accept his music for publication. His first serious effort at opera, Cenerentola, did reach the stage in Venice in 1900. Though it failed, the composer's 1902 revision achieved great success in Bremen. Wolf-Ferrari's next operas met with general acceptance as well. Le donne curiose, I quattro rusteghi, and Il segreto di Susanna, all comedies, were staged in Munich. The latter two became quite popular on the world's operatic stages for some time. During the first decade of the 20th century Wolf-Ferrari served as director of the Liceo Musicale in Venice. After 1909 he made his living largely from his compositions. The First World War forced Wolf-Ferrari to abandon Munich for Zurich. He composed little during the conflict or the years immediately thereafter. His output remained meager until the mid-1920s when he completed Das Himmelsklied. His next opera was Sly, perhaps his most complex and most underrated. The U.S. premiere of the work did not take place until 1999, when the Washington Opera, with Jose Carreras in the lead, introduced it. Wolf-Ferrari was appointed professor of composition at the Salzburg Mozarteum in 1939. After three decades away from the instrumental realm, Wolf-Ferrari returned to the genre with the Idillio-concertino for oboe, two horns, and strings Op. 15. By the mid-1940s his opus number had surpassed 30, largely on the strength of his renewed efforts in instrumental music. Yet, other than the Violin Concerto, most of these works were subsequently ignored, despite their generally attractive features. In 1946 he moved to Zürich once more, but returned to Venice for the last year of his life. Wolf-Ferrari has been described as a gentle man with a childlike manner, whose music was always conservative in style.
January 19
1613 Jacques Huyn
1676 John Weldon
1679 Girolamo Chiti
1760 Mechor Lopez Jimenez
1806 Wenzel Heinrich (Vaclav Jindrich) Veit
1832 Ferdinand Laub
1832 Salvador Giner y Vidal
1839 Bohumil Pazdirek
1884 Albert Wolff
1903 Boris Blacher
1917 Rudolf Maros
1920 Luciano Chailly
1924 Gerard Schurmann
1936 Elliot Schwartz
1944 Pehr Henrik Nordgren
1945 Charles Amirkhanian
1976 Ceiri Torjussen
January 26
1613 Johann Jakob Wolleb
1708 William Hayes
1742 Johann Friedrich Ludwig Sievers
1748 Emmanuel Aloys Forster
1844 Albert Lister Peace
1852 Frederick Corder
1855 Arthur Hervey
1901 Ervin Major
1910 Marijan Lipovsek
1911 Norbert Schultze
1921 Johannes Driessler
1924 Warren Frank Benson
1934 Ton Bruynel
1935 Peter Ronnefeld
1935 Zbigniew Penherski
1943 Peter Kenton Winkler
February 2
1502 Damiao de Gois
1669 Louis Marchand
1714 Gottfried August Homilius
1748 Christian Gottfried Thomas
1773 Vincenc Tomas Vaclav Tucek
1780 Ananias Davisson
1804 Leopold Eugen Mechura
1840 Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray
1844 Leander Schlegel
1856 Makar Grigori Ekmalyan
1873 Leopold Fall
1875 Fritz Kreisler
1883 Mikhail Fabianovich Gnesin
1883 Candelario Huízar
1904 Jose Enrique Pedreira
1908 Renzo Rossellini
1911 Jean-Jacques Grunenwald
1920 Heikki Suolahti
1925 Michel Paul Philippot
1927 Richard Vance Maxfield
1929 Reiner Bredemeyer
1941 Serge Tcherepnin
1951 Andrew Gelt
1960 Harold Colin Cowherd
1968 Simon Wickham-Smith
Fritz Kreisler
Birth: February 2, 1887 in Vienna, Austria
Death: January 29, 1962 in NYC, New York
Kreisler was the son of a surgeon, a good amateur musician who gave Fritz his first violin lessons at the age of 4. After studies with Jacques Auber, he gained admission to the Musikverein Konservatorium at the age of 7, despite a policy that no one younger than 14 be accepted. He gave his first performance there when he was 9. After three years of study with Joseph Hellmesberger, he was awarded a gold medal, an unprecedented distinction for a 10-year old. Kreisler was sent to Paris for further studies with Delibes and Massart. At the age of 12, he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome gold medal competing against 40 other players, all of whom were at least 20 years of age. From the age of 12 he had no further violin instruction. In 1889-90 Kreisler toured the USA as assisting artist to Moriz Rosenthal, but with only moderate success. He returned to Vienna and in 1896 he applied to join the orchestra of the Vienna Hofoper but failed, allegedly because of poor sight-reading. Discouraged, he resolved to abandon music and to pursue a career in medicine. After several years, he rejected that course and began the study of painting. But soon this, too, became tiresome. He enlisted in the army, but resigned his commission after a year. He returned to the study of violin and spent 8 weeks in country solitude readying himself for his return to the concert stage. He had a notable success with the Vienna PO, actually the same ensemble that had previously denied him a job. A year later, in December 1899, his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Nikisch marked the beginning of an international career. He reappeared in the USA during the 1900-01 season and made his London debut at a Philharmonic concert in May 1902. In 1904 he was presented with the Philharmonic Society's gold medal. Elgar composed his Violin Concerto for Kreisler who gave its première in November 1910 at Queen's Hall, with Elgar conducting. While vacationing in Switzerland in 1914, Kreisler received the news that Austria was at war. Returning to his native country, he rejoined his former division, now stationed in Galicia. He was medically discharged after being wounded, and returned to the USA (his wife's native country) in November 1914. The United States' entry into the war, however, put him in the awkward position of being an ex-Austrian officer aiding what was now an enemy nation. Negative reaction obliged him to withdraw from concertizing and retreat to Maine to pass the remaining period of hostilities. He reappeared on the concert stage in New York in October 1919. He took up residence in Berlin for ten years beginning in 1924. With the Anschluss in 1938, he moved to France, but returned to the United States before the Nazi invasion and lived his remaining years in America, where he gave his final public concert in 1947. He continued to perform on broadcasts until 1950. After that, his interest in the violin waned. He sold his collection of instruments and kept only an 1860 Vuillaume. As a performer, Kreisler was unique. Without exertion, he achieved a seemingly effortless perfection. There was never any conscious technical display. The elegance of his bowing, the grace and charm of his phrasing, the vitality and boldness of his rhythm, and above all his tone of indescribable sweetness and expressiveness were marveled at. Though not very large, his tone had unequalled carrying power because his bow applied just enough pressure without suppressing the natural vibrations of the strings. Kreisler was also a gifted composer. Among his original works are a string quartet, an operetta, and numerous short pieces. In addition, he composed dozens of pieces in the 'olden style' which he ascribed to various 18th-century composers, such as Pugnani, Francoeur, Padre Martini, etc. When Kreisler admitted in 1935 that these pieces were a hoax, many critics were indignant, while the public continued to embrace the great musician.
February 9
1771 Daniel Belknap
1834 Franz Xaver Witt
1884 Henry Lodge
1885 Alban Berg
1909 Harald Genzmer
1929 James M. Drew
1950 Jay Reise
Alban Berg
Birth: February 9, 1885 in Vienna, Austria
Death: December 24, 1935 in Vienna, Austria
Berg was one of the key figures of 20th century musical composition. As one of the triumvirate of the Second Viennese School, Berg produced a relatively small body of work that is nonetheless distinguished by a strongly Romantic aesthetic and a distinctive dramatic sense. Berg's father was an export salesman, his mother the daughter of the Austrian Imperial jeweler. Literature and music were omnipresent in Alban's young life. His musical training consisted mainly of piano lessons from his aunt. By his teenage years, however, he had composed dozens of songs without the benefit of formal compositional studies. Berg was a dreamy youth and an indifferent student. In 1903, he endured the end of a passionate love affair, failed his school final exams, and became despondent over the death of his idol, composer Hugo Wolf, all of which led to a suicide attempt. However, he survived to repeat his final year of school and went to work as an apprentice accountant. In 1904 Berg's brother, Charley, took Alban's compositions to Arnold Schoenberg, who accepted Berg as a student. His formal studies with Schoenberg came to an end in 1910, yet for the rest of his life he revered his teacher as a musical father. His 'graduation exercise' was the tightly developed and challenging String Quartet. This work shows how completely he had attained artistic maturity under Schoenberg, but equally astonishing are his Altenberglieder, a set of five songs for soprano and orchestra. Never having written for the orchestra before, and not himself a performer of any great aptitude, he produced a score rich in complex, subtle, and evocative textures that are completely original. Berg began studying with Schoenberg at an auspicious time. Not only did he find a sympathetic companion in Anton Webern, he was also able to witness Schoenberg's development towards atonality. In 1907 Berg met the singer Helene Nahowski, overcame her parents' objections over his ill health and lack of prospects, and married her in 1911. Berg was drafted into the Austrian army in 1915, served for eleven months, and was discharged for poor health. The army experience led him to revisit Georg Büchner's fragmentary drama Wozzeckabout a horribly brutalized private. In 1917, Berg began an operatic adaptation of the play, which occupied him for the next 5 years. When the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed in the wake of World War I, Berg found work as business manager of Schoenberg's Society for Private Musical Performances, an organization which allowed Vienna's musical avant-garde to enjoy professionally prepared performances before friendly, critic-free audiences. After a number of interruptions, Berg completed Wozzeck in 1922. Though initially savaged by critics, the opera eventually gained momentum, enjoying performances throughout Europe and recognition as a masterpiece. Berg's next major work, the Chamber Concerto was among his first to demonstrate the influence of Schoenberg's 12-tone method. In 1925-1926, Berg wrote the Lyric Suite for string quartet, parts of which systematically employ 12-tone principles. The last of Berg's works are among his most important. The Violin Concerto is dedicated "to the Memory of an Angel," a reference to Manon Gropius, the deceased teenage daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius. At the time of his death from blood poisoning, Berg was in the middle of work on Lulu, about the classic operatic subjects-love, death, and sexual power-, which he had begun in 1929. The opera's unfinished third act was completed by Friedrich Cerha in 1976, after 12 years of work.
February 16
1684 Bohuslav Matej Czernohorsky
1709 Charles Avison
1774 Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode
1790 Chretien (Christian) Urhan
1813 Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky
1814 Johann William Robyn
1826 Franz von Holstein
1847 Philipp Scharwenka
1854 Oscar Fetras
1856 Willem Kes
1878 Selim Palmgren
1890 Semyon Semyonovich Bogatiryov
1905 Jose Munoz Molleda
1907 Fernando Previtali
1907 Alec Wilder (Alexander Lafayette Chew)
1910 Miguel Bernal Jimenez
1938 John Corigliano
1942 Gabriel Brncic
February 23
1649 John Blow
1685 George Frideric Handel
1730 Christian Joseph (Cristiano Giuseppe) Lidarti
1779 Johann Kaspar Aiblinger
1848 Thomas P. Westendorf
1882 Ladislav Vycpalek
1887 Oskar Fredrik Lindberg
1897 Dave Apollon
1900 Elinor Remick Warren
1920 Hall Overton
1924 Lejaren Hiller
1950 Michel Meynaud
1952 Luis Diego Herra-Rodriguez
1965 Eddie Mora (Bermudez)
George Frideric Handel
Birth: February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany
Death: April 14, 1759 in London, England
Handel was the son of a barber/surgeon who opposed music as his son's career, though he permitted lessons from Friedrich Zachow, composer and organist of Liebfrauenkirche, Halle. Handel studied law at Halle University, turning to full-time music when his father died. He went to Hamburg in 1703 where he joined the opera house under the composer Reinhard Keiser, playing second violin in the orchestra. His first opera Almira was produced there in 1705, and was followed by 3 others. In 1706 Handel went to Italy in a prince's retinue, meeting Corelli, the Scarlattis, and other leading figures, and rapidly attaining mastery of the Italian style in opera, chamber music and vocal music. He was acclaimed a genius, the rival of his Italian contemporaries. His opera Rodrigo was performed in Florence in 1707 and Agrippina in Venice in 1709. The following year he was appointed court conductor in Hanover and was also invited to write an opera (Rinaldo) for London. Handel quickly realized the possibilities for his own success and, after resolving his domestic affairs, settled there permanently. For the next 35 years Handel was immersed in the operatic activity of London where Italian "opera seria" was all the rage. In 1712 he received a pension of £200 a year for life from Queen Anne. This was increased to £600 by King George I, his former ruler in Hanover, for whom he composed the famous Water Music. From 1717-1720 Handel was resident composer to the Earl of Carnarvon (later the Duke of Chandos). The 11 Chandos Anthems were the chief fruit of this appointment. In 1719 Handel, in association with Bononcini and Ariosti, was a music director of the so-called Royal Academy of Music. Handel went to Italy to hear operas by composers such as Porpora and Pergolesi and to engage the leading Italian singers. In the 8 years until the academy closed he composed 14 operas, among them Ottone, Serse, Radamisto, Rodelinda, Admeto, and Tolomeo. In 1727, for the coronation of George II, Handel wrote 4 anthems, including Zadok the Priest, which has been sung at every British coronation since then. Back in London in partnership with Heidegger at the King's Theatre, Handel wrote Lotario, Partenope, and Orlando. In 1734 he moved to the new CG Theatre, for which he wrote two of his greatest operas, Ariodante and Alcina. But he recognized that the popularity of Italian opera was declining and began, somewhat unwillingly, to develop the genre of dramatic oratorios, which is perhaps his most original contribution to music. Esther and Acis and Galatea are typical examples. He conducted several oratorios in London, playing his own organ concertos as entr'actes. Nevertheless he continued to write operas and between 1737-1740 composed Berenice, Serse, Imeneo, and Deidamia. In 1737 Handel's health failed under the strain of his work and he had a stroke. Following his recovery, he wrote a series of oratorios, including Messiah. By this work his name is known throughout the world, yet it is something of an oddity in Handel's work since he was not a religious composer in the accepted sense. But its power, lyricism, sincerity, and profundity make it one of the supreme music creations as well as an outstanding example of devotional art. It was followed by Samson and Solomon. Among the most popular of all the oratorios was Judas Maccabeus, composed in 32 days in 1746. Handel presented the oratorio 6 times during its first season and about 40 times before his death, conducting it 30 times himself. The success of these works made Handel the idol of the England, and that popularity dominated English music for nearly 150 years after his death. Superb as Handel's instrumental compositions are, such as the concerti grossi, sonatas, and suites, it is in the operas and oratorios that the nobility, expressiveness, invention, and captivation of his art are found at their highest degree of development. For the last 7 years of his life Handel was blind, but he continued to conduct oratorio performances and to revise his scores with assistance from his devoted friend John Christopher Smith.
[Biographies derived from Oxford Music Online and allmusic.com.]
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Sunday Afternoon at the Opera
Your Lyric Theater Program
With Keith Brown
Programming Selections for
January and February 2012
SUNDAY January 1st: Tippett, A Child of Our Time, On Cold Mountain compilation. Next to Benjamin Britten, Sir Michael Tippett (1905-98) is rightly regarded as the most imposing figure in British musical life in the second half of the twentieth century. I have broadcast Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time (1994) twice before in the first Sunday of the year in 1987 and in 2008. Thinking of the iconic New Year's Baby, who is certainly the Child of our time, this is the appropriate day to broadcast the young Tippett's masterpiece again. The passage of time has been a philosophical concern for this composer. As an old man contemplating his own passing Tippett surveyed the subject from the long, long perspective of geological age in another large scale choral work A Mask of Time (1984), an EMI recording of which I presented on Sunday, March 11, 1990. Between 1939 and '41 Tippett wrote both music and libretto for A Child of Our Time. He structured the oratorio in three parts along the lines of Handel's Messiah. The subject here is "man's inhumanity to man," reflecting upon the horrors of World War Two. (Tippett was an avowed pacifist who did jail time for his beliefs.) In 1992 Tippett was still alive at the advanced age of 83 when his Child was recorded yet again, this time for the UK label Chandos. The now recently deceased conductor Richard Hickox was in charge of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Tippett included in his oratorio jazzy elements and chorales in the style of African American spirituals. It seems appropriate therefore that Chandos drew together four distinguished black vocal soloists for the studio sessions at Blackheath Concert Hall in London.
Keep listening for contemporary art songs by four composers who are all very much alive. Innova's On Cold Mountain CD compilation, released this past year, showcases the work of Roy Weldon (b. 1950), with his "Cold Mountain Songs." Weldon is American, so is Robert Morris (b. 1943) and W.A. Mathieu (b. 1937). Fred Firth (b. 1949) is a Brit, an innovative electric guitarist. All the songs heard on this single disc are scored for solo voice and chamber strings. Contralto Karen Clark is joined by the Galax Quartet.
Sunday January 8th: Blow, Venus and Adonis, Charpentier, Acteon. A tragic hunting accident occurs in both of these small-scale seventeenth century operas. The classical myths about Adonis and Acteon involve interaction of animals, mortal men, and goddesses. John Blow's Venus and Adonis (1683) was one of the first entirely sung theaterpieces to be performed in England, and it was the model for the more famous Dido and Aeneas (1689) by Henry Purcell. Both Blow and Purcell took as their models the French tragedies lyriques of Lully. Lully's junior contemporary Marc Antoine Charpentier enjoyed the patronage of members of the French royal family. Charpentier's Acteon (1684?) seems to have been intended as an entertainment for the Dauphin. The English monarch Charles II commissioned Venus and Adonis. I presented historically informed recordings of Venus and Adonis and Acteon back-to-back on Sunday, April 14, 1991. This same pairing in live performance took place at the Boston Early Music Festival in Boston on November 28, 2008. Both were subsequently produced in the studios of Radio Bremen, Germany with the same musical resources. Paul O'Dette and Stephen Stubbs jointly directed the Boston Early Music Festival Vocal and Chamber Ensemble. Keep listening for an ode to Blow and a cantata by Charpentier. All this gorgeous music is set forth on two separately released cpo compact discs in 2010.
Sunday January 15Th: Gluck, Ezio. Christopf Willibald Gluck (1714-87) retains his revered place in musical history because of his "reform operas." I have broadcast all of them over the years, the most famous one Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) several times in different recordings, and one of the least familiar of them Paride ed Elena (1770) on Sunday, November 3, 1996. Gluck wrote many lyric theaterworks before his "reform operas." These were already in a progressive Italianate galant style in the manner of the Milanese innovator Giovanni Battista Sammartini. One of these earlier works La Danza (1755) I featured along with Gluck's La Corona (1765) on Orfeo CD's on Sunday, June 10, 1990. La Danza is a one act pastorale. The first full-length Italian drama per musica that I have come across is Ezio (1750), issued in 2011 on two Virgin Classics silver discs. Alan Curtis has made a name for himself in baroque opera recreations through his highly praised recordings of Handel's opere serie. He leads his own Il Complesso Barocco period instrumental ensemble. The male castrato was still in vogue in this period on the operatic stage, especially in heroic rôles. A splendid vocalist trained in baroque singing practice, contralto Sonia Prina substitutes for the castrato in the title rôle. Ezio or Aetius was the Roman general who defeated the barbarian forces of Attila the Hun in the fifth century AD.
Sunday January 22nd: Giordona's Fedora (1898) remains a staple item of the repertoire only in Italy. Unlike his Andrea Chenier (1896), this opera never fared so well abroad, perhaps because Puccini's international popularity was so enormous that foreign audiences couldn't get much interested in lesser composers of the Verismo school, like Umberto Giordano (1867-1948). Nowadays we wouldn't think of Fedora as a totally realistic story in music. Who would uncritically believe that a woman could fall in love with her husband's murderer? Princess Fedora Romanizov does just that and in so doing, touches off a tragedy of political intrigue among the other Russian émigrés in Paris. Twice before I have presented Fedora, as Decca recorded it in 1969 with soprano Magda Olivero in the title rôle and tenor Mario del Monaco as Fedora's lover Loris. (Italy's greatest-ever tenor Caruso began his career singing that part.) Lamberto Gardelli conducted the chorus and orchestra of the Monte Carlo opera house. I worked from a two stereo LP London boxed set in broadcasts on Sunday, June 4, 1989 and February 14, 2010. With voices like del Monaco's and Italy's all time greatest baritone Tito Gobbi as de Siriex, the French ambassador, you'd think nothing could match or exceed this classic recording. Superstar tenor of today Placido Domingo sang Loris for his seventieth birthday celebration at the Monnaie Theatre in Brussels, as recorded in January of 2008. Opposite him as Fedora was soprano Angela Gheorghiu. Alberto Veronesi conducted the musicals. Does the aging Domingo rival del Monaco in his prime, or even approach the legendary Caruso's glory? Judge for yourself by listening to those two Deutsche Grammophon silver discs, released in 2011. Fedora is not a long opera. It will just fit this afternoon's foreshortened opera programming timeslot. At 2:45PM broadcast begins of a UHA Hawks women's basketball game.
Sunday January 29th: Monteverdi, L'Incoronazione di Poppea. This will be the sixth time over the course of more than a quarter century of lyric theater broadcasting that I have offered my listeners a recording of what is reputed to be Claudio Monteverdi's last work for the lyric stage. The latest musicological research on L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1643) leads us to believe that Monteverdi really didn't write much of it at all, but his famous name became attached to what was actually a composite work by several younger composers. This was the understanding behind my fifth broadcast of Poppea on Sunday, October 24, 2010 featuring the Glossa CD recording with Claudio Cavina conducting the singers and players of La Venexiana. Any modern interpretation of an opera from the dawn of the baroque is necessarily a reconstruction. Early opera composers never wrote out the music in full score. Usually all one has to go on is just the vocal and basso continuo lines with no specific instrumentation. When baroque opera specialist Alan Curtis recorded Poppea back in 1980 he reconstructed Monteverdi's score into the instrumentation of the later baroque for his Il Complesso Barocco period instrument ensemble. The Curtis interpretation, recorded in the historic Teatro La Fenice in Venice, was reissued in 1994 through the Italia Fonicetra label on three compact discs. Some of the best vocalists of three decades ago who specialized in baroque singing technique took part in the recording. The libretto of "The Coronation of Poppea" is derived from the Latin author Tacitus and deals with one of the sleaziest chapters in Roman history. The emperor Nero's mistress, Poppea, was the worst sort of conniver. Only old Seneca, the playwright, comes off as a truly noble Roman character, and Poppea does away with him.
Sunday February 5th: PREEMPTED by broadcast of a University of Hartford Hawks' women's basketball game.
Sunday February 12th: Vivaldi, Ercole sul Termodonte. My Vivaldi opera series continues this Sunday with a reconstruction of Ercole sul Termodonte, first staged in Rome in 1723. Although he's known today for his hundreds of instrumental works ("The Four Seasons" concertos, etc.), Antonio Vivaldi devoted much of his time and talent as a composer to opera. He was, in fact, one of the most prolific composers of opera in musical history. He wrote at least 38 operas, the scores for which survive in whole or in part in manuscripts, plus in printed editions. For a Roman opera house Vivaldi pieced together a score for Ercole reemploying the best numbers from previous operas he had penned for theaters in his native Venice. There is no surviving autograph of Ercole. A libretto exists, but its recitatives are missing. In preparing a critical edition of Ercole Italian conductor and Vivaldi specialist Fabio Biondi tracked down fragmentary manuscript copies in libraries across Europe and recomposed the recitatives himself. A few arias he simply couldn't trace and so he had to leave them out. Listening to Biondi's reconstruction of Ercole, you'll understand why it was such a success first in Rome and then elsewhere: it's a "greatest hits" compilation of all of Vivaldi's operatic output. The world premiere recording of "Hercules on the Banks of the River Thermodon" came out on two Virgin Classics CD's in 2010. Biondi leads his period instrument ensemble Eruopa Galante. Writing in Fanfare magazine (July/August 2010 issue), reviewer Barry Brenesal praises this recording and regards it as the single best one to introduce someone to Vivaldi's operas. The orchestral accompaniment is sensitive to nuances in every bar of music. And the singers! Baroque music diva mezzo Joyce Didonato is cast in the rôle of Ippolita. Brenesal says, "the performances are almost uniformly top-notch, without variation when it comes to expertise in coloratura, agility, enunciation and... theatrical intensity."
Sunday February 19th: PREEMPTED by broadcast of a University of Hartford Hawks' women's basketball game.
Sunday February 26th: Lassus, Cantiones Sacrae, A Worcester Ladymass, Spotless Rose. Ash Wednesday fell on February 22nd, beginning the five week penitential period of Lent in the Christian calendar. In old Catholic Europe the opera houses closed down for the duration, and only performances of sacred oratorio were permitted. On all these upcoming Sundays through Easter I will be featuring vocal music of a liturgical or contemplative nature reflecting upon the general Judeo-Christian tradition. Lenten programming proceeds with a 2008 Harmonia Mundi offering of the Cantiones Sacrae of Orlandus Lassus (1532-94). Lassus had composed many such "sacred songs" in five-voice settings prior to the publication in 1594 of this six-voice motets. The printed collection of Lassus' last vocal works constituted the swan song of the ageing Flemish master of polyphony. Meditating upon his own oncoming demise, Lassus chose as his texts Latin verses from the Psalms, Proverbs, and the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. The Collegium Vocale of Ghent, under Philip Herreweghe's direction, bring out all the pathos in the music. J.F. Weber, in reviewing the HM compact disc for Fanfare magazine (January/February, 2009 issue), praises the Collegium's sound. Weber informs us none of the thirty Cantiones Sacrae have ever been recorded previously. Herrweghe selected fourteen of them for this release.
The Virgin Mary figures importantly in music for the Catholic liturgy. We turn from high Renaissance polyphony to the Ars Antiqua style of the Middle Ages for A Worcester Ladymass, based on manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries in the archives of Worcester Cathedral in the West of England. The music of a plenary Mass of Our Lady employs a series of tropes or insertions into the usual wording of the Ordinary of the Mass, for instance, a motet upon Virgo Dei genetrix ("Virgin, mother of God"). The Worcester fragments are lacking a Credo and Benedicamus. Contemporary British composer Gavin Bryars supplied those two segments back in 2008, imitating the monodic chant and three-part polyphony of the seven hundred year old anonymous compositions. The female voices of Trio Mediaeval gave us A Worcester Ladymass on an ECM New Series disc released in 2010.
Mariolatry is the term for the cult of the Virgin Mary in medieval Roman Catholicism. The divine maternal figure is an archetype who continues to appeal to us right down to the present day. In 2008 the UK label Chandos released a compilation of modern choral music Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary, as sung by the Phoenix Chorale under the direction of Charles Bruffy. This is an American choral outfit hailing from Phoenix, New Mexico. Their leader is a disciple of Robert Shaw, one of the greatest of all American chorus masters. On the program are works by Benjamin Britten, Herbert Howells and Healy Willan, who all wrote in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition. Most noteworthy are world premiere recordings of compositions by Jean Belmont Ford (b. 1939) and Javier Busto (b. 1949).
With the single exception of the Chandos release of Tippett's A Child of Our Time, all the featured recordings in this two month period of programming are to be found in our station's every growing holdings of classical music on disc. The Chandos CD's come on loan for broadcast from the private collection of Rob Meehan, former classics deejay at WWUH and a specialist in the alternative musics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Thanks to Vickie Hadge of Virtually Done by Vickie for her assistance in the preparation of these programming notes for cyber-publication.
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John Ramsey General Manager/Chief Engineer
Susan Mullis Director of Development
Joe Rush Program Director
Mary Dowst Acting Business Manager
Mike DeRosa Acting Community Affairs Director
Kevin O'Toole Acting Operations Director
Jim Christensen Member At Large
Andy Taylor Music Director
Ed McKeon Folk Music Director
Brian Grosjean World Music Director
Chuck Obuchowski Jazz Music Director
David Schoenfeld Web Master
WWUH is a non-commercial radio station operated as a community service of the University of Hartford since 1968. WWUH broadcasts on 91.3 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 1.000 watts. Transmitting facilities are located high atop Avon Mountain with studios and offices located in the Harry Jack Gray Center on the University of Hartford campus in West Hartford. All donations are tax deductible.
WWUH can be heard on the following stations at various times throughout the day.
WWEB, 89.9 MHz, Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation, Wallingford, CT. (Time varies each day)
WDJW, 89.7 MHz, Somers High School, Somers, CT. (6am - 12 M)
WAPJ, 89.9 MHz, Nutmeg Conservatory, Torrington, CT. (times vary throughout the day
Several area cable systems and cable public access stations also rebroadcast our signal during on TV programming hours, including HCT-TV channel 5 in Hartford and WPAA, channel 18 in Wallingford. If we're not on your cable system, call your local cable company to request that WWUH be added to their system. We'll be glad to supply them
VOLUNTEER STAFF
McNall Allison, Greg Banks, Keith Barrett, Larry & Faith Bilansky, Bart Bozzi, Steve Brewer, Keith Brown, David Buddington, Brian Burness, Peter Carbone, Michael Carroll, Bob Celmer, Mark Channon, Monica Chaudhary, Jim Christensen, Deborah Conklin, Dave Cyr, Mark DeLorenzo, Mike DeRosa, Scott Deshefy, Steve Dieterich, Michael Dolan, Kenneth Dowst, Mary Dowst, Bobby Gomes, Brian Grosjean, Susan Forbes Hansen, Sam Hatch, Eugene Hazanov, Gilberto Heredia, John Holder, Joan Holiday, Harvey Jassem, Wayne Jones, Brandon Kampe, Bruce Kampe, Kevin Lamkins, Chris Larson, Gregory Laxer, Pete LeBlanc, Gary Levin, Rohan Long, Will Mackey, Tony Magno, Doug Maine, Chris Marti, Mike Marti, Walter Mayo, Rob McGuire, Ed McKeon, Bill Measom, Marsha & Jim Meehan, Peter Michaelson, Phillip Mitchell , Susan Mullis, Chuck Obuchowski, Kevin O'Toole, Priscilla Parillo, Stephen Petke, Keri Prevost, John Prytko, John Ramsey, Henrique Ribeiro, Mark Rinas, Maurice Robertson, Peter Rost, Dave Rozza, Joe Rush, Mark Santini, David Schoenfeld, Dane Scozzari, Sam Scozzari, John Scott, Alan St. Laurent, Doug Sturbens, Andy Taylor, Steve Theaker, Dwight Thurston, Rob Turner, Rob Tyrka, Aldo Veronesoni, Bob Walsh, Lloyd Weir, Andy Zeldin.
HOW TO REACH US
Studio Line: (860) 768-4701
Office: (860) 768-4703
Music Department: (860) 768-4725
Listener Line: (860) 768-5913
WWUH Fax: (860) 768-5701
WWUH E-Mail Address: wwuh@ hartford.edu
WWUH available on the WWW via RealAudio &/or Windows Media
Web page and RealAudio can be found at: http://wwuh.org
WWUH, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT. 06117
Honorary Board of Directors:
Clark Smidt, Phillip Cabot, Judy Corcoran, Michael Cummings, Mel Yates, Mimi Spillane, Walter Miskin, Steve Nichols, Patty Kurlychek, Dale Maine, Jack Parmele, Rob Rosenthal.
ADVISORS:
Charlie Allen, Larry Titus, Dave Nagel.
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The WWUH Alphabetical Menu of Programs
Accent on Jazz - "The sounds of surprise," from the great African-American tradition of improvised music. Tuesday-Friday 9:00pm-midnight.
All Night Show - Alternative, progressive music. Stay up late and FIND OUT! Every night 3:00-6:00am.
Alternative Radio - Interviews and speeches from alternative sources and alternative information, produced by David Barsamian. Monday 12 noon-1:00pm.
Ambience - Music that blends electronic and acoustic styles, borrowing from many cultures, from dream rock, to deep space, quiet contemplation and ambient dance. Sunday 9:00am-1:00pm.
Blue Monday - The world of blues from country to R&B. Monday 9:00pm-midnight.
Carosello Musicale Italiano - Italian music and news. Saturday 5:00pm-7:00pm.
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Counterspin - Learn how to talk back to your radio and TV! Critical views of mainstream media, produced by Fairness and Accuracy in Media (F.A.I.R.). Tuesday 12:30pm-1:00pm.
Cultura E Vida - Portuguese programming. Saturday 7:00pm-9:00pm.
Culture Dogs - A look at contemporary media, movies, videos, etc. Sunday 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Evening Classics - Classical music by composers from Albinoini to Zelenka, styles ranging from Gregorian Chant to the modern twentieth century. Weekdays 4:00pm-7:30/8:00pm.
Explorations - Every week Dr. Michio Kaku gives us new insight into the world of science. Sunday 4:30pm-5:00pm.
FM on Toast - A wide variety of acoustic music ranging from folk to bluegrass. Sunday and weekdays 6:00am-9:00am.
Free Speech Radio: A daily (Mon - Fri) news program with alternative sources from around the world.Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 8:00-8:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm and Friday at 7:00pm.
Gay Spirit - Greater Hartford's only gay news program featuring contemporary issues, music, and special guests. Thursday 8:30pm-9:00pm.
Geetanjali -. Geetanjali plays a variety of music from the subcontinent -classical, contemporary, devotional and Bollywood music. The show'shosts provide narrative both in English and Hindi. Friday from 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Gothic Blimp Works - Alternative rock music including pop, progressive, experimental, reggae, punk, urban, blues...and more. Every night midnight-3:00am.
Greatest Show From Earth - Esoteric space rock from psychedelic to progressive, with a side of electronics. Need we
say more? Broadcast via the T.E.L./T.A.N. V27X Transfleet Repeater Probe, the last analog frontier. Sunday 9:00pm-midnight.
Making Contact - A program about activists and social change. Tuesday 8:30pm
Morning Jazz - Music from diverse aspects of the jazz tradition from the big bands to fusion to avant-garde. Weekdays 9:00am-Noon.
New Focus - Alternative news and views presented by Mike DeRosa. Friday 12N-12:30pm. And Wednesday at 8:30pm.
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New World Notes - New perspectives on American Government, foreigh policy, media and culture in a variety of genres, produced by Ken Dowst. Tuesday 12noon.
911 Wake Up Call - Exploring the issues surrounding the 911 attacks. Thursday 12:30pm
Rock 'N Roll Memory Machine - The Hartford Courant calls it the best oldies show in the area. Memories, music and trivia from the golden days of rock 'n roll. Sunday 6:00pm-8:00pm.
Saturday Morning Polka Madness - Polkas! Saturday 6:00am-9:00am, requests welcome
Soapbox - Interviews with progressive authors and activists, host Rob Tyrka. Thursday 12:00noon-12:30pm.
Street Corner Serenade - Music from the '50's "do-wop" era, and more. Saturday 1:00pm-3:00pm.
Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Selections from the Operatic repertory ranging from Baroque to twentieth century. Sunday 1:00pm-4:30pm.
Super Sabado -Salsa - from '70's classics to current faves - and greetings, in Spanish. Saturday 3:00-5:00pm.
Synthesis - Alternative rock from all genres featuring new releases, rarities, imports, and international artists. Including electronic, dance, fusion, funk, pop, reggae, experimental...... Weekdays 1:00pm-4:00pm.
Tevynes Garsai - Lithuanian programming. Sunday 5:00pm-6:00pm.
This Way Out - The international gay and lesbian news magazine. Thursday 8:00pm-8:30pm.
TUC Radio - From San Francisco: a show about the global village and the global pillage. Friday at 12:30pm.
UH Radio Bluegrass - The best of bluegrass, with occasional live performances by area bluegrass musicians. Saturday 9:00am-1:00pm.
Voices of our World - Views from the 2nd and 3rd world on life in the real world. Monday at 8:30pm.
West Indian Rhythms - Reggae, soca and more from Jamaica, T & T and beyond. Saturday 9:00pm-12midnight.
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Thanks for reading our on-line WWUH Program Guide, we look forward to sending you updates and information to make your listening more enjoyable and interesting.
Sincerely,
Susan Mullis Director of Developement, WWUH |
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