Classical Classroom

Orli Shaham. Photo by Christian Steiner. Courtesy of the artist's website. It's summertime, and the classical musicians have all disappeared. No, it's not a classical music-specific alien body snatching situation. It's just that they're all at music festivals! Because we miss them, we've decided to follow the musicians to a different fest each summer. This year, we head to the Aspen Music Festival! In our four-show miniseries, we'll be interviewing festival leaders and musicians. In... Read More

Alan Fletcher, President and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Image courtesy of the Aspen Music Festival website. It's summertime, and the classical musicians have all disappeared. No, it's not a classical music-specific alien body snatching situation. It's just that they're all at music festivals! Because we miss them, we've decided to follow the musicians to a different fest each summer. This year, we head to the Aspen Music Festival! For our next... Read More

Jim Kozak, Piano (Tuner) Man, in the Geary Performance Studio with his patient, the Houston Public Media Steinway. Photo by Dacia Clay. What's in a piano? Jim Kozak has tuned a few, and he can tell you. He tunes pianos for the Houston Symphony, Da Camera of Houston, and for our own Houston Public Media. What does he do, and how does he do it? How does one become a piano tuner? Kozak tells all,... Read More

Pianist Joel Fan. Courtesy of the artist's website. What came before twerking, Harlem Shake-ing, and popping and locking? The Krakowiak, the Polonaise, and the Tarantelle (which have really cool names, now that we're looking at it). Pianist Joel Fan teaches us all about classical dance music, the composers who made it, and the circumstances from which the dances emerged. Audio production by Todd "Pod God" Hulslander with moonwalking from Dacia Clay, and help from editor... Read More

Angela Mitchell. Photo by Roger Mastroianni. Courtesy of the artist's website. Since the U.S. has been celebrating its beginnings this week, we thought we'd go back to ours. We hope you enjoy this throwback. And! Because we were in the holiday spirit, we added a little present for you at the end of the show. We hope you enjoy it. And that Tchaikovsky doesn't turn over too hard in his grave when you play it.... Read More

Jonathan Biss. Photo by Benjamin Ealovega. Courtesy of the artist's website.   Every good Beethoven deserves a fanboy, and Robert Schumann was that guy. Who was Schumann, and how was his work shaped by the influence of Beethoven? Pianist, Curtis Institute professor, and writer Jonathan Biss explains all - including his own (extremely cool) fanboy-esque immersion in the works of Schumann and Beethoven.    Audio production by Todd "Teletubby" Hulslander with frolicking by Dacia Clay... Read More

Dacia Clay, Wu Man's pipa, and Wu Man in the Geary Performance Studio. Photo by Todd Hulslander. Wu Man, world-renowned pipa player, stopped by the Classroom while she was in Houston to teach all about the French horn. JK! She taught all about the pipa, of course! In this episode, she talks about the pipa's origins, its repertoire, about how she began playing it, and she plays some sweet tunes to illustrate the instrument's range.... Read More

Ingrid Hunter and Glenn Dicterow. Photos courtesy of the Cypress Symphony and Glenn Dicterow's website respectively. What is a concertmaster? We wanted to know, too, so we schlepped over to the Texas Music Festival (now happening at the UH Moores School of Music), found ourselves some concertmasters, and asked them all about what they do. Glenn Dicterow is the outgoing concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic where he's ruled for over 34 years (his role... Read More

Awadagin Pratt playing in the East Room of the White House, November 2009 (the First Lady and President Obama in the foreground). Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton. Awadagin Pratt, a man so awesome that his website URL is just his first name, talks Johannes Brahms. Pratt is a recording artist, Professor of Piano, Artist in Residence, Chairman of the Piano Department, and Artistic Director of the Art of the Piano Festival at the... Read More

Violinist Hilary Hahn. Photo © Michael Patrick O'Leary, courtesy of IMG Artists. Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, who has played a few concerts in her day - somewhere around 1,437 of them - talks about Henri Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 4, which she plays on her latest CD. Is music composed by a violinist for violinists easier or more challenging to play? How was it that Vieuxtemps was more popular than Mozart at one point and... Read More

Modigliani Quartet: (L-R) Philippe Bernhard, Laurent Marfaing, François Kieffer, and Loïc Rio. Courtesy of the artists' website. As you probably know and have been celebrating 'round the Festivus pole, May is National Chamber Music Month! In this episode we talk to real live chamber musicians, violinists Philippe Bernhard and Loïc Rio of the Modigliani Quartet. They talk all about ErnÔ Dohnányi's String Quartet No. 3. This is, hands down, our most French (Frenchest?) show to... Read More

Timothy Hester. Courtesy of the UH website. Brahms' Opus 118 - plus the first two Intermezzos played live! In this episode, Associate Professor Timothy Hester from the University of Houston Moores School of Music, teaches Dacia a bonafide lesson. Don't miss Prof. Hester waxing nostalgic about his childhood love of Steppenwolf. Audio production by Todd "the Todd" Hulslander with post-hypnotic suggestions from Dacia Clay and editing by Mark DiClaudio. Music used in this episode includes:... Read More

(L-R) Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley. Photo by Sarah Scott. Courtesy of the artists. When pianist and From the Top host Christopher O'Riley and cellist Matt Haimovitz recorded a new album of Beethoven's music, they decided to kick it old school: Chris played an original Broadwood fortepiano and Matt played a Goffriller cello with ox-gut strings. Why would these two artists - often recognized for their arrangements of Radiohead, for performing with young musicians, and for playing classical... Read More

Mandolinist Avi Avital. © Harold Hoffmann. Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon. According to Deutsche Grammophon recording artist Avi Avital, while the bass is not bad, it's more about that mandolin. Which is also what this whole episode is about! Avi tells all: Where did the mandolin come from? Who composes for it? Why does he advocate for such a strange instrument? And how much did he play that one REM song in high school? Learn all of... Read More

Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane in an episode of "Frasier". By source WP:NFCC#4. Licensed under Fair Use via Wikipedia. What's it like to be a classical music novice at a classical music performance? Host Dacia Clay goes to a rock show and a classical concert and compares the experiences. The parallels are telling. The disparities are despairing. What's the deal?? We hope you'll become part of this discussion! Email your concert experiences to dclay@houstonpublicmedia.org. PS, To... Read More