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Keep the Music Playing! Support WWUH - Your Live, Local, Listener-Supported Station
Thank you so much for your support during our recent fundraiser!
In a world of digital music services, large corporate station ownership, and out-of-area rebroadcasts, WWUH increasingly stands out as something unique. Our programming is locally produced, our on-air staff are all volunteers, and our air studio is staffed 24/7.
The beauty of a live, local station featuring such a diversity of genres is that of discovery: by listening to WWUH, you are exposed to viewpoints and sounds that you might never hear elsewhere. Downloadable apps give you music that's computer-selected to suit your previous listening preferences; WWUH gives you music that's host-selected to expand your knowledge and appreciation of new, different, local and global artists that you might never have known existed otherwise.
Although we are sponsored by the University of Hartford, we truly are your station, because it is through generous support from you, our listeners, that we are able to remain on the air as your public alternative station.
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WWUH Scholarship Fund
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In 2003, the WWUH Scholarship Fund was created 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 future of radio is in your hands!
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 like more information please contact us at [email protected].
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How To Listen To WWUH
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Come as You Are... Tune in However Works Best for You
In Central CT and Western MA, WWUH can be heard at 91.3 on the FM dial. Our programs are also carried at various times through out the day on these stations:
WAPJ, 89.9 & 105.1, Torrington, CT
WDJW, 89.7, Somers, CT
WWEB, 89.9, Wallingford, CT
You can also listen on line using your PC, tablet or smart device. We offer both Windows Media and MP3 streams here.
We also recommend that you download the free app "tunein"
here to your mobile device.
Hi tech or low tech, near or far, we've got you covered!
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Never Miss Your Favorite WWUH Programs Again!
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Introducing... the WWUH Archive!
We are very excited to announce that all WWUH programs are now available on-demand using
the "Program Archive" link
This means that if you missed one of your favorite shows, or if you want to listen to parts of it again, you can do so easily using the Archive link. Programs are available for listening for
two weeks after their air date.
Enjoy the music, even when you can't listen "live"!
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Wilde Roots
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Dear Listener,
As we finally witness the transformation from brown to green, from winter to spring, from birds that fly to birds that sing; I think this might be a good opportunity for us to celebrate the first anniversary of a new radio program here at WWUH.
Wilde Roots began as an idea that includes my love for the Blues, Folk, Bluegrass and American Roots music but not limited to those genres. On May 12th of last year we began a musical journey that has so far taken us from the emerald hills of Ireland to the west coast of Africa and across the deep blue sea. We've journeyed to the muddy Mississippi, the great plains of Oklahoma and on over to West Texas. We have followed that old river from the delta and The Big Easy up to Memphis and onward to Chicago. We've traveled the great Shenandoah River Valley, up the Blue Ridge Mountains and we followed the Appalachians all the way to New England. We've explored the culture and the heritage of the people that brought their music here; the Africans, the French, the English, the Scots-Irish and so many more. We have understood that dirt-poor sharecroppers both black and white have more in common with each other than just working the land.
I want to thank you for listening, for your kind phone calls and for your support of this fine radio station. Thank you as well for your support of the vibrant local music scene that we are all so fortunate to live in the midst of.
You can listen to Wilde Roots every Monday Morning from 6 until 9 right here at 91.3 FM WWUH, West Hartford or WWUH.ORG. (If you have a tablet or cell phone, TuneIn Radio http://tunein.com works great too.) WWUH broadcasts as a community service from The University of Hartford.
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WWUH Classical Programming - May / June 2015
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Sunday Afternoon at the Opera... Sundays 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Evening Classics... Weekdays 4:00 to 7:00/ 7:30/ 8:00 pm
Drake's Village Brass Band... Mondays 7:00-8:00 pm
May
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Fri
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1
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Host's choice
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Sun
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3
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Puccini: Madama Butterfly
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Mon
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4
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Thomson: Concerto for Cello; Harbison: Concerto for Viola; Nielsen: Little Suite; Sibelius: Rakastava; Wiren: Serenade
Drake's Village Brass Band...Mark Hetzler, Trombone - American Voices Vol II: Sonatas
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Tue
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5
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Couperin: Concerts Royaux, No. 11; Vissarion Shebalin: Violin Concerto (1940); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Louise Farrenc: Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 36; Jean-Baptiste Lully: Suite from "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" LWV 43 (1670); Anton Arensky: Piano Trio No. 2 in F minor, Op. 73 (1905); C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Connoisseurs and Amateurs, Zweite Sammlung Wq56 (1780), Rondo No. 3 in A and Sonata No. 3 in A
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Wed
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6
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Norbert Burgmuller: Symphony No. 2 in D; Marcial del Adalid: Canciones; Paderewski: Piano Sonata in E Flat Minor; Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Major; Jean-Baptiste Arban: Carnival of Venice Variations
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Thu
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7
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Carl Heinrich Graun: Montezuma - Sinfonia, Concerto for Recorder and Violin; Linley: The Tempest - Arise! Ye spirits of the storm; Brahms: Violin Sonata #3 in d Op. 108, Variations on a theme of Haydn, Piano Pieces Op 76; Tchaikovsky: Dumka in c Op 59, Symphony #6 in b, Queen of Spades Op 68: Midnight is nearing, Swan Lake Suite; Poot: L�gende for Horn and Piano
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Fri
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8
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Pulitzer Prize winner - 70 years ago, but still fresh
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Sun
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10
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Wallace: Maritana
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Mon
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11
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Harrison: La Koro Sutra; Sibelius: Karalia Music; American Music Festival Series 2 - Music for String Orchestra;
Drake's Village Brass Band...Hollywood Epic Brass - Vince DeRosa Tribute Album
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Tue
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12
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Field: Piano Concerto #5 in C; Schobert: Piano Quartet in f, Op. 7, #2; Rimsky-Korsakov: Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, Symphonic Suite; Machaut: Messe de Notre-Dame
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Wed
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13
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Franz Ignaz Beck: Symphony in B Flat Major; Philippe Verdelot: Madrigals; Anton Fils: Symphonies; Philippe Gaubert: Trois Aquarelles; Manuel Blasco de Nebra: Keyboard Sonatas; Johann Graun: Concerto for Viola da Gamba
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Thu
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14
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Fortsch: Gelobet Seist Du Jesu Christ; J.P.E. Hartmann: Hakon Jarl - incidental music Op 40; Emilie Mayer: String Quartet in g Op. 14; Stojowski: Piano Concerto #1 in f sharp Op. 3, Solo Piano Music; Lourie: Formes en l'air; Leo Smit: Songs of Wonder; Lou Harrison: Ariadne, Serenade for Guitar; Braga-Santos: Symphonic Overture #3 Op. 20; Le�n: Bailar�n; Borodin: Symphony #2 in b
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Fri
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15
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There were many "First Performances" on this date
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Sun
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17
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Fall: Madame Pompadour; Boismortier: Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse
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Mon
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18
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Sibelius: Press Celebrations Music; Cadman: Dark Dancers of the Mardi Gras; American Music Festival Series 3, Music of Gould and Barber; Gordon: Dystopia Symphony
Drake's Village Brass Band...Bernstein - Transcriptions for Wind Band
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Tue
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19
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Weinberg: Violin Concerto in g, Op. 67; Scriabin: Sonata in e♭; Bruckner: Symphony #6 in A; Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
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Wed
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20
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Georg Wagenseil: Symphony in B Flat Major; Christoph Gluck: Symphony; Sigismondo d'India: Madrigals; Thea Musgrave: Music for Horn and Piano;
Anton Arensky: Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 15; Renaissance Lute Music
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Thu
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21
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New Releases. A Sampling of New Acquisitions from the WWUH Library
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Fri
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22
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In Memoriam - Henri Dutilleux
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Sun
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24
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Ricky Ian Gordon: Rappahannock County
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Mon
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25
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Memorial Day Special: Songs of Henry Clay Work; American Music Festival Series 3 - Thomson: Testament of Freedom, Hanson: Drum Taps; Fuchs: An American Place; Tower: Made in America; Gershwin: An American in Paris;
Drake's Village Brass Band...U. S. Coast Guard Band - Gardens of Stone; Gould Symphony #4 "West Point"
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Tue
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26
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F. Couperin: Concerts Royaux, No. 12; Nikolai Rakov: Violin Concerto (1944); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Donald Francis Tovey: Clarinet Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 16; Marin Marais: Suite from Alcyone (1706); David Diamond: Symphony No. 1; C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Connoisseurs and Amateurs (selections)
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Wed
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27
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David Diamond: Symphony No. 2; Alexander Agricola: Missa Le Serviteur; Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerti; Rimsky-Korsakov: Fairy Tale, op. 29; L. Bernstein: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano
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Thu
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28
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Gow: Lament for the Death of his Brother; Moore: Tis the Last Rose of Summer; Sgambati: Nocturnes; Jewell: Battle Royal; Dyson: At the Tabard Inn Overture, Concerto da Chiesa; Zandonai: Giulietta Son Io; Ligeti: Bagatelles for Wind Quintet; Lewkovitch: De Profundis; Ishii: Thirteen Drums; Ali-Zadeh: Impulse; Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Concerto Italiano
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Fri
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29
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Classical Conversations - a quarterly feature
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Sun
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31
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Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan
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June
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Mon
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1
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Sibelius: Lemmink�inen Legends; American Music Festival Series 4 - Americana for Solo Winds and Orchestra;
Drake's Village Brass Band...U. S. Coast Guard Band - American Journey
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Tue
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2
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Couperin: Concerts Royaux, No. 13; Erno Dohnanyi: Violin Concerto No. 2 (1950); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Donald Francis Tovey: String Quartet in G major, Op. 23; Jean-Fery Rebel: Les Elements (1738)
David Diamond: Symphony No. 2; C.P.E. Bach: Sonatas for Connoisseurs and Amateurs (selections)
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Wed
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3
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Ignaz Pleyel: Symphony in B Flat; Tomas Luis de Victoria: Sacred Music; Giovanni Bononcini: Baroque Trumpet Music; Friedrich Ernst Fesca: String Quartet No. 7; Francesco Barsanti: Concerti Grossi; Georg Friedrich Handel: Flute Sonatas
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Thu
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4
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New Releases. A Sampling of New Acquisitions from the WWUH Library
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Fri
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5
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Guitars - Guitars - Guitars
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Sun
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7
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Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
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Mon
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8
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Built for Buffalo - Concertos by Hagen, Ewazen and Aguila, American Music Festival Series 5 - Symphonies of Harris and Hanson; Paine: Poseidon and Amphitrite - An Ocean Fantasy
Drake's Village Brass Band...U. S. Air Force Ceremonial Brass - Tower Music
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Tue
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9
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Handel: Il Pastor Fido HWV 8c
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Wed
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10
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Dvorak: Symphony No. 4; Berlioz: Nuits d'Ete; Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2; Persichetti: Concerto for Piano, Four Hands; Giovanni Bottesini: Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra; Stanislas Verroust: Soli de Concert
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Thu
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11
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Bonporti: Violin Concerto in F Op. 11 #5; R. Strauss: Brentano Lieder, String Quartet in A, Death and Transfiguration Op. 24; Ghedini: Mazurka, La ballerina, Minuetto, Gavotta; McKay: Americanistic Etude, Symphony for Seattle; Floyd: 3 Early Songs; Bizet: Patrie Overture Op. 19
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Fri
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12
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Bangs, Bongs and other percussive sounds
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Sun
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14
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Milhaud: L'Orestie d'Eschyle
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Mon
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15
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Paine: Symphony #2; American Music Festival 6 -Riegger, Hovhaness and Hanson; Satie: Piano Music
Drake's Village Brass Band...Schwarz and the U. S. Marine Band - Above and Beyond
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Tue
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16
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B�hme: Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra, Op. 18; Brahms: String Quintet #2 in G, Op. 111; Sibelius: Sc�nes historiques II, Op. 66; Verdi: Requiem
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Wed
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17
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George Enescu: Symphony No. 1; Faure: Messe Basse; Jacob van Eyck: Flute Pieces; Ernst Toch: Jeptha; Johann Quantz: Trio Sonata in C; Copland: Piano Trio "Vitbesk"
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Thu
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18
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Holler: Improvisation on "Schonster Herr Jesu" Op. 55; Pleyel: Flute Concerto in C, Symphony in G Op. 68, Wind Sextet in E Flat; Popper: Elfentanz Op. 39, Hungarian Rhapsody Op. 68; Heuberger: Serenade for Strings Op. 7; Tubin: Sinfonietta on Estonian Motifs; McCartney: Eleanor Rigby; Lansky: Arches; Radzynski: Duet for 2 Cellos; Ferko: Caritas Abundat; Steiger: Woven Serenade; K�hnel: Sonatina no 5 in c "Serenata"
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Fri
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19
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Music of Sergey Taneyev
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Sun
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21
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Ching: A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Mon
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22
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Fine: Orchestral Music; American Music Festival 7 - American Concert Band Masterpieces;
Westwood Wind Quintet play Etler and Welcher
Drake's Village Brass Band...Illinois State University Wind Symphony - Symphonies of Stamp and Maslanka
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Tue
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23
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MacDowell: Piano Concerto #2 in d, Op 23; Haydn: String Quartet in G, Op. 33, #5: Halvorsen: Suite ancienne, Op. 31; La Rue: Magnificat Tone IV
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Wed
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24
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Thomas Ades: Chamber Symphony; Hermann Goetz: Piano Concerto No. 1; Bernhard Crusell: Clarinet Concerto in E Flat Major; Jacob Obrecht: Missa Sicut Spina Rosam; Stamitz: Sinfonia Concertante for Viola and Violin
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Thu
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25
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New Releases. A Sampling of New Acquisitions from the WWUH Library
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Fri
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26
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Camille Saint-Saens receives his Doctorate - 108 Years ago today
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Sun
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28
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Ricky Ian Gordon: "47"
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Mon
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29
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Monday Night at the Movies. - Cheng - Montage, Great Film Composers and the Piano; Gerhardt Conducts Holdridge; Safan: The Last Starfighter
Drake's Village Brass Band...U. S. Coast Guard Band - John Wiliams for Winds
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Tue
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30
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Martinu: String Quartet #4; Berwald: Symphony #1 in g "Sinfonie s�rieuse"; Boccherini: Cello Concerto in G, G. 480; Rubbra: Missa Cantuariensis, Op. 59
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Thursday Evening Classics -
Composer Birthdays for May and June
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Composer Birthdays
May 7
1704 Carl Heinrich Graun
1756 Thomas Linley
1769 Giuseppe Farinelli
1833 Johannes Brahms
1840 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1861 Rabindranath Tagore
1901 Marcel Poot
1907 Jef van Durme
1908 Wouter Paap
1912 Ma Sicong
1918 Argeliers Leon
1936 Cornelius Cardew
1939 Jos� Antonio Abreu
1947 Milan Slavick�
1954 Frank Halferty
1963 Mike Christianson
1975 Salim Dada
May 14
1652 Johann Philipp Fortsch
1707 Antonio Teixeira
1805 Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann
1816 Gualtiero Sanelli
1821 Emilie Mayer
1842 Alphons Czibulka
1864 Eleanor Everest Freer
1869 Zygmunt Stojowski
1872 John Stepan Zamecnik
1885 Otto Klemperer
1891 Egon Kornauth
1892 Arthur Vincent Lourie
1892 Felix Petyrek
1895 Renato Lunelli
1898 Bonifacio Gil Garcia
1900 Leo Smit
1911 Hans Vogt
1917 Lou Harrison
1924 Joly Braga-Santos
1925 Tristram Ogilvie Cary
1926 Cestmir Gregor
1931 Alvin Lucier
1937 Peter Frederic Williams
1942 Gerald Shapiro
1943 Tania Le�n
1947 Peter Skellern
May 21
1633 Joseph de La Barre
1671 Azzolino Bernardino Della Ciaia
1680 Frederich Karl Erbach
1722 Wilhelm Gottfried Enderle
1841 Joseph Parry
1867 Desire Paque
1879 Pablo Luna
1888 May Aufderheide
1890 Albert van Raalte
1890 Harry Tierney
1898 Karel Haba
1905 Edward Lockspeiser
1922 Uros Krek
1924 Robert Parris
1926 Joseph Horovitz
1932 Robert Sherlaw Johnson
1937 Vladislav Igorevich Kazenin
1939 Heinz Holliger
1957 Linda Bouchard
May 28
1737 Josiah Flagg
1763 Nathaniel Gow
1765 Jean Baptiste Cartier
1777 Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees
1778 Friedrich Westenholz
1779 Thomas Moore
1780 Joseph Frohlich
1798 Josef Dessauer
1830 Karoly Filtsch
1841 Giovanni Sgambati
1844 Leon Felix Augustin Joseph Vasseur
1875 Fred Jewell
1883 George Dyson
1883 Riccardo Zandonai
1883 Luigi Perrachio
1889 Jose Padilla
1896 Marius Monnikendam
1904 Shalva Mikhaylovich Mshvelidze
1923 Gyorgy Ligeti
1923 Jir� V�lek
1927 Bernhard Lewkovitch
1930 Julian Penkivil Slade
1931 Peter Talbot Westergaard
1931 Erwin Junger
1932 Henning Christiansen
1934 Rob du Bois
1935 Derek Strahan
1936 Maki Ishii
1943 Dennis Riley
1947 Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
1955 Laurel Zucker
June 4
1736 Ignaz (Franz Joseph) Fr�nzl
1759 Maria Rosa Coccia
1882 Erwin Lendvai
1899 Leo Spies
1907 Marjan Kozina
1909 Paul Nordoff
1913 Bruno Bettinelli
1915 Alan Shulman
1918 Marcelo Koc
1922 Irwin Allen Bazelon
1930 Pentti Raitio
1931 Cesar Bolanos
1940 Dorothy Rudd Moore
1945 Anthony Braxton
June 11
1672 Francesco Antonio Bonporti
1697 Francesco Vallotti
1704 Jose Antonio Carlos de Seixas
1740 Luigi Gatti
1829 Horace Poussard
1864 Richard Strauss
1874 Richard Stoehr
1892 Giorgio Federico Ghedini
1899 George Frederick McKay
1904 Emil Frantisek Burian
1910 Carmine Coppola
1912 Uzbek Mukhtar Ashrafi
1926 Carlisle Floyd
1927 Josef Anton Riedl
June 18
1673 Antonio de Literes y Carri�n
1677 Marc Antonio Bononcini
1723 Giuseppe Scarlatti
1744 Augustin Holler
1757 Ignaz Joseph Pleyel
1780 Michael Henkel
1820 Martin Andreas Udbye
1822 Henry David Leslie
1843 David Popper
1850 Richard Heuberger
1894 Sabin Dragoi
1896 Sir George Thalben-Ball
1904 Manuel Rosenthal
1905 Eduard Tubin
1915 Victor Legley
1915 Joan Trimble
1917 Akhmet Jevdet Ismail Hajiyev
1923 Elisabeth Waldo
1927 Simeon Pironkov
1933 Colin Brumby
1942 Sir Paul McCartney
1944 Paul Lansky
1947 Douglas Young
1950 Jan Radzynski
1950 Frank Ferko
1957 Rand Steiger
1993 Benjamin Kovacs
June 25
1623 Giuseppe Tricarico
1709 Francesco Araja
1735 Benvenuto Robbio San Rafaele
1796 Ferdinando Giorgetti
1860 Gustave Charpentier
1862 Vasily Georgiyevich Wrangell
1878 Jean Gallon
1880 Felix Swinstead
1889 Ethel Glenn Hier
1897 Hans Barth
1901 Adolf Brunner
1921 Peter Charles Arthur Wishart
1928 William Russo
1935 Kurt Schwertsik
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Sunday Afternoon at the Opera
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Your "lyric theater" program with Keith Brown programming selections for the months of May and June, 2015 Sunday 1-4:30pm Trial by Jury SUNDAY MAY 3RD Puccini, Madama Butterfly Delayed by a Winter that wouldn't quit, it's finally cherry blossom time: time to listen once again to that alltime popular favorite of operas, Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1904), with its lovely "flower duet" for Cio-Cio San and Suzuki. There have been many wonderful Cio-Cio Sans in the history of recorded sound. The Irish soprano Margaret Burke Sheridan was cast in the role for the first electric recording of the entire opera in 1929. One of the most beloved of Butterflys was the Italian soprano Renata Scotto in the mid twentieth century. The stereo recording of Butterfly she made in 1966,the one with Barbirolli conducting, was the first of two she made for EMI.It was originally issued stateside on Angel 33 1/3 rpm LP discs. There's a copy in our station's classical record library that I have drawn upon twice for broadcast, first way back on Sunday, December 7,1984 and then more lately on Sunday, March 30, 2008. Another admirable soprano of recent times, the Ukrainian Svetlana Katchour recorded Butterfly in its full 1904 La Scala version for the Naxos label, capturing the sound of a production in the German city of Bremen. I aired the Naxos CD's on Sunday, September 8, 2002. Today I dig back into our now-historic WWUH classical LP collection to present you with the American soprano Anna Moffo's take on Cio-Cio San in a 1963 recording for RCA Victor. This recording gives us Puccini's complete score of the work. Essentially a studio recording, it was made in the Rome Opera House. Erich Leinstorf was conducting. The Met's Rosalind Elias, an American mezzo, sang the role of Suzuki. Pinkerton was the distinguished Italian tenor Cesare Valetti. I employ those vintage RCA platters. SUNDAY MAY 10TH Walllace, Maritana Beyond Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, little is remembered today about English opera in general in the Victorian era. First, you need to know there was a wealth of it. One good example of it is Wallace's Maritana (1845), enormously popular in its time, now completely forgotten. Even the tunes from Maritana were popular on their own, like "There Is A Flower That Bloometh" or "Let Me Like A Soldier Fall." William Vincent Wallace (1812-65) was Irish by birth, spent a lot of time in London creating a series of English operas and ultimately became an American citizen. After Maritana Wallace went on to write Lurline (1860), his third opera, conceived in the spirit of Weber's Der Freischutz, about a Lorelei-like figure. The Naxos studio recording of Lurline, with legendary opera conductor Richard Bonynge in charge, went over the air on Sunday, June 12, 2011. The plot of Maritana is ridiculous. It concerns an alluring Spanish Gypsy street singer and her dalliances with the nobility of Spain. In 2011 Naxos reissued on two CD's the original 1996 Marco Polo release of Maritana recorded from a 1995 concert production by RTE Radio Ireland. Proinnsias O'Duinn directed the RTE Concert Orchestra and RTE Philharmonic Choir, with a cast of Irish singers. SUNDAY MAY 17TH Fall, Madame Pompadour; Boismortier, Don Quichotte The theme for this Sunday's two-part program might whimsically be titled "The French Are Funny." Part one of today's presentation isn't French at all, really. It's a Viennese operetta by Leo Fall (1873-1925), the subject of which is the illustrious mistress of king Louis XV of France. She was involved in the intrigues of the court of Versailles. Fall's Madame Pompadour, his last operetta, premiered not in Vienna, but in Berlin in 1922. Its light heart and lyrical soul remains in Vienna; the Vienna Volksoper has staged it in 1955, 1986 and again in 2012, that third production being recorded for release through the German cpo label in 2014 on one generously timed compact disc. Andreas Schuller directs the chorus and orchestra of the Volksoper. Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755) wrote a lot of instrumental music in the ornate Rococo style, but he also wrote four lyric stageworks, one of which is Don Quichotte (1743). It is styled a "comic ballet" in three acts, and while there's plenty of dancing and good dance tunes in it,it is essentially a satirical theaterwork- a French baroque sendup of the Spanish author Cervantes' novel, which was satirical to begin with. The cultural resources of the Lorraine region of France made possible a studio recording of Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse. Herve Niquet directed his period instrument ensemble Le Concert Spirituel, with eleven vocal soloists. That recording was issued under the Naxos label on a single compact disc in 1996. SUNDAY MAY 24TH Gordon, Rappahannock County Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956) made a name for himself first as a composer of songs, then more recently of lyric theater works in the mode of the song cycle. He has essayed one of the most traditional subjects in all of operatic literature, the ancient Greek Orphic myth. I broadcast the world premiere recording of his Orpheus and Euridice (2006) on Sunday, July 6, 2008. He has also tackled historical subjects. His dramatized song cycle Rappahannock County (2009/10) practically demands to be heard on the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day, formerly called Decoration Day, began as a special day to honor those who fought and died in the American Civil War. The songs of Rappahannock County are grouped as if they were the five acts of an opera, one act for each year of the conflict, from 1861 in succession to 1865. The location of the Rappahannock river in Virginia serves as a boundary between North and South. The lyrics of Mark Campbell are derived ultimately from letters, diaries and personal accounts of the 1860's. A cast of five singers portray more than thirty different characters. They bring the period to life and express the devastating impact the war had on all who endured it. Ricky Ian Gordon's Rappahannock County premiered at the Virginia Arts Festival, with performers drawn from the Virginia Opera company. Rob Fisher directed the Virginia Arts Festival Orchestra. The recording was made in the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, VA. Naxos Records issued Rappahannock County on two CD's in 2013 in its "American Opera Classics' line. SUNDAY MAY 31ST Rimsky-Korsakov, The Tale of Tsar Saltan I always enjoy broadcasting the fairy tale operas of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, with their beautiful melodies inspired by Russian folk music and their lush orchestration. This one was commissioned to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great national poet Alexander Pushkin in 1899. The premiere staging of the opera was not ready, however, until the following year. The story presented in the opera is derived almost without alteration from one of Pushkin's fantastical tales. Rimsky's score for Tsar Saltan contains the famous "Flight of the Bumble Bee'- the fantastical, fluttery tune in the orchestra intended in the opera to accompany the scene in which the hero Prince Gvidon is magically transformed into a bumble bee so he can travel farther and faster than a human being. The performance resources employed in the Melodiya CD reissue of Tsar Saltan are Russian through and through. The recording was originally made in Moscow in 1958, so it qualifies as a historical audio document of this work. Vassily Niebolsin was conducting the Choir and Orchestra of the USSR State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, with an all native cast of Russian vocal soloists. SUNDAY JUNE 7TH Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor This gem of a bel canto opera takes its story from a novel by Sir Walter Scott. When I broadcast it on Sunday, June 8, 2008 you heard this well known work by Gaetano Donizetti in its French language version, titled Lucie de Lammermoor. Originally produced in Naples in 1835, the opera reached Paris in 1837. French soprano Natalie Dessay starred in the title role in a 2002 Virgin Classics CD release of the staged revival of the French version by Opera of Lyon. Madame Dessay sang Lucia again in Italian language in the concert hall of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010, with Valery Gergiev conducting. The Mariinsky CD's I broadcast on Sunday, May 13, 2012. Now you get to hear another notable soprano of our time, the German Diana Damrau as Lucia, again in a concert production of the work recorded live in performance in 2013. Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducted the orchestra and chorus of the Munich Opera. You listeners may remember Damrau's interpretations of the songs of Richard Strauss for Virgin Classics broadcast on Sunday, June 10, 2012. She recorded Lucia for Erato/Warner Classics with the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja cast opposite her in the role of the Scottish nobleman Sir Edgardo Ravenswood. This recording restores the long cadenza with flute obbligato to Lucia's famous mad scene. (Ironically, this most famous passage from the opera was not composed by Donizetti!) Also restored to the mad scene is the part Donizetti did write for the spooky-sounding tones of the glass harmonica.Lucia di Lammermoor was the one specimen opera of the Italian bel canto era to remain within the international repertoire right through the succeeding half-century period of the verismo style. SUNDAY JUNE 14TH Milhaud, L'Orestie d'Eschyle Although I certainly would like to air them, I confess I have never broadcast any of the fifteen operas of Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). I simply have never run across any recordings of them. There has, however, come into my hands recently a recording of Milhaud's trilogy of oratorios, all three of them intensely dramatic in their treatment of the ancient Greek myths dealing with the murderous Orestes and the cursed House of Atreus. The old stories have been handed down to us as staged tragedies by the playwright Aeschylus. Milhaud worked on his Oresteia trilogy over the period 1913-23, employing a French translation of the Greek text by Catholic poet Paul Claudel. Milhaud's personal style of composition changed over the decade he labored on it. It begins where Schonberg's Gurrelieder leaves off in the late Romantic style, then transitions into a neoclassical mode more like his fellow Frenchman Poulenc or maybe Stravinsky in his Parisian days, then moves on to incorporate unsettling polytonality, lots of special percussion effects and even a Gallic form of Sprechstimme vocalization. (This latter part of the trilogy was actually staged years later as an opera directed by the composer's wife.) The world premiere recording of the complete trilogy was issued courtesy of the Naxos label in 2014 on three compact discs.L'Orestie d'Eschyle requires a small army of singers and players: a symphony orchestra of Mahlerian size with enlarged percussion section, and four choruses, plus vocal soloists. Naxos gives us an American concert production of Milhaud's masterwork, originating at the University of Michigan and employing professional and semi-pro performers. The vocal soloists are all professionals. They are backed by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Choir and University Choir of the Ann Arbor campus School of Music, the Orpheus Singers and UMS Choral Union. Kenneth Kieser marshals all these musical resources. Two reviewers for Fanfare magazine were impressed with the Naxos release. That tough cookie of a reviewer, Lynn Rene Bayley (amazingly) wrote, "This will surely be one of the outstanding operatic recordings of our time" (Fanfare, Mar/Apr, 2015 issue). SUNDAY JUNE 21ST Ching, A Midsummer Night's Dream Often around the time of the Summer solstice I will feature some lyric theatrical treatment of William Shakespeare's immortal romantic comedy. Twice I have broadcast Shakespeare's complete spoken word play on Decca/Argo LP's, part of Decca's recording project of all of the Bard's plays in early stereo sound circa 1960. Then there's Benjamin Britten's opera (also from 1960), which I've also broadcast twice, plus Mendelssohn's well known Incidental music on a couple of occasions. Now, get ready for Michael Ching's opera a cappella innovation. Yes, folks: an opera for voices only, ie. a cast of solo singers and a specially prepared 'Voicestra" in place of the expected instrumental accompaniment of an orchestra. Even the percussion effects are vocalized. The Voicestra consists of the twelve male voices of the contemporary music group DeltaCappella, joined by the eight female singers of Riva. Curtis Tucker directs them all. The composer of this lyric theatrical novelty, Michael Ching, has long been the director of Opera Memphis. He oversaw the original production of his opera a cappella. It was staged at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tennessee in January, 2011. The original cast recording of A Midsummer Night's Dream was released through Albany Records in 2014 on two compact discs. SUNDAY JUNE 28TH Gordon, "27" Ricky Ian Gordon strikes again with yet another lyric theater piece on a historical subject, to be specific: gay history. The title of this opera refers to the address in Paris: 27 Rue de Fleurus, where life partners Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas dwelled, and where they hosted those salons that attracted the artistic greats of the 1920's. Let's not forget literary innovator Gertrude Stein's connection to opera. She wrote the librettos for two operas with music by Virgil Thomson: Four Saints in Three Acts (1928) and The Mother of Us All (1946). It's perfectly fitting that a gay American composer of the twenty first century should be inspired to write an opera about a famous lesbian couple. Royce Vavrek worked up a libretto for an operatic fantasy based upon Stein's life, with Toklas playing a critical part in the proceedings. For the larger-than-life role of Gertrude Stein Gordon already had in mind the voice of contralto Stephanie Blythe, the perfect match for whom he found in soprano Elizabeth Futral as Alice B. Toklas. "27" was commissioned and premiered by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Michael Christie conducted members of the St. Louis Symphony. The recording of "27" was made live in performance in June, 2014 and was issued that same year on two compact discs by Albany Records. I present "27" this Sunday as special gay pride programming, keeping in mind the historic Stonewall uprising that took place in New York City's Greenwich Village gay ghetto during the last weekend of June, 1969. I obtained for broadcast that Albany CD release of "27" from Rob Meehan, former classics deejay here at WWUH and a specialist in the alternative musics of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. For many years he's been loaning me recordings from his own extensive collection of "alternative" operas. From him I also borrowed for broadcast the Naxos CD releases of the two operas by Ricky Ian Gordon, plus the opera a cappella of Michael Ching. From my own collection of opera on silver disc I have contributed to this two month period of programming the recordings of Leo Fall's Madame Pompadour, Boismortier's Don Quichote, Wallace's Maritana and The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Koraskov. The rest of the featured recordings come out of our station's ever growing audio library of classical music. As always, I thank our station's operations director Kevin O'Toole for mentoring me in the preparation of these notes for cyber-publication. Thanks also must go to Kari Mackey for her further preparation of my notes for inclusion in our WWUH Program Guide.
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West Hartford Symphony Orchestra
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WHSO Concert Season 2014 Concert Season
In Collaboration with the WWUH Classical Programming we are pleased to partner with the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra to present their announcements and schedule to enhance our commitment to being part of the Greater Hartford Community.
West Hartford Symphony Orchestra
WHSO Pops Concert
Saturday, May 16, 2015
8:00 PM
West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium
50 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT
For over ten years, the West Hartford Symphony has been providing a musical outlet for residents of West Hartford and the Greater Hartford Area. Musicians from the ages of 14 to 86 come together once a week to play a variety of pieces and perform four concerts each year.
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Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra | |
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The Musical Club of Hartford
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The Musical Club of Hartford, Inc., is a non-profit Connecticut organization celebrating its 123rd anniversary this year. Each year, from October to May, ten or more concerts are presented by performing members, featuring soloists and vocal or instrumental ensembles. These concerts take place on Thursday mornings at 10 am at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford, unless otherwise noted.
For more information, visit:
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Hartford Symphony Orchestra
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The Hartford Symphony Orchestra is Connecticut's premier musical organization. The Hartford Symphony is the second largest orchestra in New England and is widely recognized as one of America's leading regional orchestras.
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Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts
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Opened in December of 1955, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is the largest college-based presenting program in New England. Each season, Jorgensen events attract more than 70,000 students, faculty and staff from the University of Connecticut, as well as residents from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Jorgensen presents 25-30 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles annually, ranging from classical music to world music and dance, classical and contemporary dance, comedy, family programming and contemporary entertainment.
Box Office: 860.486.4226 or
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