Staff Accompanist Position: Boston University

The School of Music at Boston University has a staff accompanist opening for the upcoming academic year. About the duties and super-powers required:

Support the academic functions of the School of Music by coaching and providing musical accompaniment for School of Music performance students (mainly focusing on string students) for recitals, auditions, lessons, competitions and instrumental examinations.

Required Skills

B.A./B.S., Masters Degree preferred, versatile ability at piano, ability to sight read and improvise music when necessary, knowledge of and experience with standard repertoire for violin, viola, cello and string bass, ability to interpolate, improvise and enhance the accompaniment when necessary, ability to learn technically challenging works quickly, including avante garde music, dependability in following the musician as he/she may vary music., technical and musical dependability in lesson, performance, and audition situations, demonstrate ease and dependability in communication with students and teachers (in person and via phone, voice mail, email, and text message), ability to work effectively with a wide range of student levels and a variety of faculty teaching styles, professional, positive presence in all lesson, performance, audition, and competition settings and five to eight years of experience. This is a nine month position for the academic year (September through May) with a reasonable assurance of rehire each year based on job performance.

Full job listing here.

The 2010 Tanglewood Season Listings

For the second year in a row, here is the complete schedule for the Tanglewood Festival, released one minute after the end of the press embargo. These listings are taken directly from the press release, with only some minor formatting changes made to the original text. The Mahler Symphonyies # 2 and 3 look to be season highlights, but I always have a soft spot for programs like Audra MacDonald's New American Songbook on July 18th, the Brahms/Schumann recital by Matthis Goerne and Andreas Haflinger on July 29th, and Bernarda Fink's August 5 song recital with Anthony Spiri. Be sure to check out the full calendar of events for more detailed info on concerts and ticket availability.

The 2010 Tanglewood Season

All programs and artists are subject to change.

Saturday, June 26, 5:45 p.m. Shed

A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood with Garrison Keillor - Live broadcast

Sunday June 27, times to be announced, Theatre
Monday June 28 times to be announced, Theatre

Tanglewood Music Center Instrumental Fellows
String Quartet Marathon
Three 2-hour concerts

Sunday, June 27, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall Monday, June 28, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Mark Morris Dance Group
Tanglewood Music Center Fellows
Mark Morris, choreographer
Program to include Grand Duo, with music by Lou Harrison, and a new work choreographed to Beethoven arrangements of traditional folk songs

Friday, July 2, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Pops Concert
Keith Lockhart, conductor
A tribute to the legacies of Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart, in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Boston Pops.

Saturday, July 3, 7 p.m. Shed Sunday, July 4, 7 p.m. Shed

James Taylor and Carole King return to Tanglewood for two spectacular evenings as part of their 2010 World Tour, featuring a band of legendary musicians.

Fireworks to follow the July 4 concert.
Proceeds from the July 4 concert to benefit Tanglewood

Monday, July 5 8pm Ozawa Hall

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows

FALLA Suite from El amor brujo
ALBÉNIZ Three pieces for orchestra
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol
DEBUSSY La Mer

Tuesday, July 6, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Emerson String Quartet
David Shifrin, clarinet

J.S. BACH (arr. MOZART) Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, K.405
MOZART Quartet No. 19 in C, K.465, Dissonance
MOZART Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581

Friday, July 9, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor

Friday, July 9, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, July 9, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Opening Night at Tanglewood
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Layla Claire, soprano˚
Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano˚
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor

MAHLER Symphony No. 2, Resurrection

Fireworks to follow the concert

Saturday, July 10, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 10, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, July 10, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Gerhard Oppitz, piano

ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM

King Stephen Overture
Piano Concerto No. 3

Symphony No. 5

Sunday, July 11, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Pinchas Zukerman, violin

MOZART Serenade No. 6 in D, Serenata notturna
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5 in A
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben

Monday, July 12 8p.m. Ozawa Hall

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
Works for chamber orchestra

Wednesday, July 14, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Boston Symphony Chamber Players

MOZART Oboe Quartet in F, K.370
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasileiras No. 6, for flute and bassoon
GANDOLFI˚ Plain Song, Fantastic Dances
BRAHMS Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Thursday, July 15, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
HAYDN Piano Trio No. 44 in E, Hob. XV:28
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67
MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66

Friday, July 16, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 16, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, July 16, 8:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Soile Isokoski, soprano
Kristine Jepson, mezzo-soprano
Russell Thomas, tenor
Jordan Bisch, bass
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor

STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms
MOZART Requiem

Saturday, July 17, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 17, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Saturday program

Saturday, July 17, 8:30 p.m. Shed

The Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor
American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director

MAHLER Symphony No. 3

Sunday, July 18, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Pops Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor with special guest Arlo Guthrie

Sunday, July 18, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Audra McDonald
A New American Songbook

Singer/actress Audra McDonald blends classical training with an extraordinary dramatic sensibility, appearing with equal acclaim as opera singer, television actress, recording artist, and Broadway superstar. Her first Ozawa Hall concert offers an eclectic mix of standard favorites and songs written expressly for her by today's finest music theater composers.

Wednesday, July 21, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Benjamin Bagby, voice and harp

Beowulf: The Epic in Performance

Through song and speech, and accompanying himself on a six-stringed harp, medievalist Benjamin Bagby vividly recreates his version of the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf - the oldest extant complete poem in English, a narrative that tells the story of the chieftain Beowulf who defeats the monster Grendel in battle. Sung in old English as it may have been heard 1000 years ago, Beowulf draws us back into the world of tribal society and Nordic legend.

Performed in old English with modern English supertitles

Thursday, July 22, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Pieter Wispelwey, baroque cello and violoncello piccolo

J.S. BACH Complete Suites for solo cello

This is an extended concert with two intermissions.

Friday, July 23 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 23 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, July 23 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor

Cast to include :
Lisette Oropesa, soprano (Konstanze)
Ashley Emerson, soprano (Blonde)
Morris Robinson, bass (Osmin)
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows

MOZART The Abduction from the Seraglio
Sung in German with English supertitles

Saturday, July 24, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 24, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, July 24, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor˚
Peter Serkin, piano

ALL-BRAHMS PROGRAM

Piano Concerto No. 1
Symphony No. 2

Sunday, July 25, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Lynn Harrell, cello
Steven Ansell, viola

R. STRAUSS Don Quixote
Joh. STRAUSS II Overture to Die Fledermaus
Joh. STRAUSS II Amid Thunder and Lightning
Joh. STRAUSS II Roses from the South
Joh. STRAUSS II Free-shooter
Jos. STRAUSS Free from Cares!
Jos. STRAUSS Delirium
Joh. STRAUSS I Radetzky March

Sunday, July 25 8p.m. Ozawa Hall

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor˚
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows

Program to include RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Thursday, July 29, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Matthias Goerne, baritone
Andreas Haefliger, piano

Songs by BRAHMS and SCHUMANN

Friday, July 30, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 30, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, July 30, 8:30 p.m. Shed

The Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Memorial Concert
Boston Symphony Orchestra

Charles Dutoit, conductor˚
Kirill Gerstein, piano

GLINKA Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet

Saturday, July 31, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 31, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Saturday program

Saturday, July 31, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Soprano to be announced

BERG Three Pieces for Orchestra
STRAUSS Four Last Songs
MAHLER Symphony No. 4

Sunday, August 1, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Charles Dutoit, conductor˚
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

SIBELIUS Karelia Suite
ELGAR Cello Concerto
MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition

Sunday, August 1, 7:30 p.m. Theatre
Monday, August 2, 7:30 p.m. Theatre
Wednesday, August 4, 7:30 p.m. Theatre

Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
James Levine, conductor (August 1 and 4)
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow (August 2)

STRAUSS Ariadne auf Naxos
Sung in German with English supertitles

Tuesday, August 3, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Tanglewood on Parade
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, Keith Lockhart, and John Williams, conductors

Always a highlight of the season, Tanglewood on Parade this year salutes John Williams on the occasion of his 30th Tanglewood summer. The program will include some of Mr. Williams’ most popular concert and film scores, as well as the traditional TOP finale, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Fireworks to follow the concert

Thursday, August 5, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano
Anthony Spiri, piano

Program to include songs by SCHUMANN, GRANADOS, and RODRIGO

Friday, August 6, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 6, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, August 6, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor˚
Richard Goode, piano

MENDELSSOHN Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat, K.449
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

Saturday, August 7, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, August 7, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 7, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestr
Shi-Yeon Sung, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin

WAGNER Prelude to Lohengrin, Act III
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto
COPLAND Quiet City
STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

Sunday, August 8, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor˚
Violinist to be announced

BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Sunday, August 8, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Silk Road Ensemble
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

The celebrated Silk Road Ensemble and the incomparable Yo-Yo Ma return to Tanglewood in an extraordinary presentation marking their 10th anniversary. Featuring virtuoso musicians from around the globe, the Ensemble will perform a special program that reflects the diversity of its membership, combining styles and genres (Persian, Asian, Azerbaijani, and more) with Western and non-Western instruments to create a musical experience that defies classification and transcends cultural boundaries.

Tuesday, August 10, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
Members of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Program to include works by J.S. BACH and CARTER

Friday, August 13, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 13, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, August 13, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor˚
Elizabeth Rowe, flute˚
Alisa Weilerstein, cello

Caminos del Inka: A Musical Journey

Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads a musical journey through the ancient Inca empire with specially created videography by the renowned Peruvian photographer Gabriela Fit. The breathtaking images of Machu Picchu, floating island villages, and the expanses of the Peruvian plains are matched to stirring and evocative music, from the time of the Conquistadores to the sounds of the first new classical voices of 21st-century Latin America.

Program to include
ROBLES El cóndor pasa
FRANK Illapa, for flute and orchestra
GOLIJOV˚ Mariel, for cello and orchestra

Saturday, August 14, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, August 14, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 14, 8:30 P.m. Shed

Film Night at Tanglewood
Boston Pops Concert

One of the season's most popular traditions, the annual Film Night concert is a celebration of music from the movies. In his 30th summer at Tanglewood, John Williams presents a memorable evening that recreates some of the great musical moments in Hollywood history.

Sunday, August 15, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Thomas Martin, clarinet˚
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

GERSHWIN An American in Paris
SCHULLER Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
BERNSTEIN˚ Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs, for clarinet and jazz ensemble
GERSHWIN Piano Concerto

Sunday, August 15, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

The Fromm Concert at Tanglewood
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
Stefan Asbury, conductor˚

HARBISON˚ Full Moon in March
KNUSSEN˚ Where the Wild Things Are
Concert performances, presented as part of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music

Monday, August 16 8p.m. Ozawa Hall

Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows and Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor

Wednesday, August 18, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Australian Chamber Orchestra
Richard Tognetti, violin and leader
Steven Isserlis, cello

ELGAR Introduction and Allegro for strings
SCHUMANN Cello Concerto
VASKS Vox amoris, for violin and strings
MOZART Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Thursday, August 19, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Ébène String Quartet

MOZART Divertimento in D, K.136
BARTÓK Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 7
BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Friday, August 20, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 20, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, August 20, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Ludovic Morlot, conductor˚
Dawn Upshaw, soprano˚

MOZART Symphony No. 31, Paris
CANTELOUBE Selection from Songs of the Auvergne
GOLIJOV˚ Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
RAVEL Mother Goose (complete)

Saturday, August 21, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, August 21, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 21, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Susanna Mälkki, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
Jeremy Denk, piano

MENDELSSOHN Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
MENDELSSOHN Double Concerto in D minor for violin, piano, and strings
BEETHOVEN Romance No. 2 in F, for violin and orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4

Sunday, August 22, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
Adele Anthony, violin (Bach, Navarra)

HIGDON blue cathedral
J.S. BACH Concerto in D minor for two violins and strings
SUPPÉ Poet and Peasant Overture
SARASATE Navarra, for two violins and orchestra
SARASATE Zigeunerweisen, for violin and orchestra
BIZET Suite from Carmen

Tuesday, August 24, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

ALL-CHOPIN PROGRAM

Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp, Op. 36
Ballade No. 3 in A-flat, Op. 47
Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49
Two Nocturnes, Op. 27
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 28

Thursday, August 26, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

ALL-CHOPIN PROGRAM

Three Nocturnes, Op. 9
Scherzo No. 4 in E, Op. 54
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Variations brillantes in B-flat, Op. 12, on a rondo from Halévy's Ludovic
Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

Friday, August 27, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 27, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists

Friday, August 27, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
David Zinman, conductor˚
Soprano to be announced
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

POULENC Gloria
HOLST The Planets

Saturday, August 28, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk
Saturday, August 28, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 28, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
David Zinman, conductor˚
Emanuel Ax, piano

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9, From the New World

Sunday, August 29, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor
John Oliver, conductor (Bach)
Nicole Cabell, soprano
Marietta Simpson, mezzo-soprano
Marcus Haddock, tenor˚
John Relyea, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

J.S. BACH Jesu meine Freude, for chorus
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

˚ Indicates Former TMC Fellow, at Tanglewood to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center.

Collaborative Piano Studies at The Boston Conservatory

The Boston Conservatory is offering a new Master of Music Degree in Collaborative Piano for the 2010-11 academic year. Created by Karl Paulnack (whom many will know from his now-legendary freshman address) the program will start small, accepting only two students for each of the first two years of the program. This program and its curriculum aims to prepare pianists with concrete skills for the professional world, as the Outcome Proficiencies suggest:

Partner a vocalist or instrumentalist in recital, or in advanced study situations, such as a high-profile master class

Prepare an operatic score sufficiently to partner a conductor in staging, musical or coaching rehearsal

Play a piano rehearsal for a soloist and conductor of a symphony orchestra

Command language proficiency sufficient to permit an informed rubato and accurate ensemble, and continue to grow towards fluency or near-fluency in the major art song languages

Collaborative Piano Degree Program at The Boston Conservatory
Complete list of Degree and Diploma Programs in Collaborative Piano

The 2009 MIT Piano Drop

Piano FAIL, gravity WIN: this tradition dates back to 1972 and commemorates the last day that MIT students can drop a class without being penalized on their transcript.



(Via WTB)

The Complete Haydn Piano Trios on WGBH

Boston's WGBH will be broadcasting the entire piano trios of Joseph Haydn over the next two months on Cathy Fuller's Classics in the Morning. Each weekday show will feature one piano trio as played by the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, consisting of pianist Harald Kosik, violinist Verena Stourzh, and cellist Hannes Gradwohl.

Classics in the Morning runs from 9AM to 12PM EST on WGBH 89.7 and 4-7PM on the WGBH All-Classical stream. You can grab the full range of links, streams, playlists, and podcasts at the WGBH Classical page.

(Thanks, Edgar!)

Yo-Yo Ma + BSO Live on WGBH Tomorrow Afternoon

Those of you that have time tomorrow at 2pm EDT might want to check out the live WGBH broadcast of a concert from Tanglewood featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The concert, which on the Tanglewood site is listed as officially starting at 2:30pm (I guess there's a pre-game show) will be broadcast on both WGBH 89.7 and All-Classical WGBH. The program will feature Carlos Miguel Prieto conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Albeniz's Suite from Iberia, the Lalo Cello Concerto, and the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances.

However, if you're in Lenox, Mass. tomorrow afternoon, you'll probably want to forego the radio thing and see the concert live at the Koussevitzky Shed.

(Thanks, Edgar!)

Massachussetts Musical Life in WGBH's Classical Connections

This just arrived in a news release from WGBH, New England's fine classical radio station:

On March 28, WGBH 89.7 introduces a new feature, Classical Connections, to its broadcasts of NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Airing every Friday at 6:35am, 8:35am and 5:45pm, Classical Connections will tell stories about the vast classical music experience in Massachusetts and examine what classical music has meant, and continues to mean, to those living and working in the Commonwealth.

Directed by award-winning radio producer Michelle Sweet, Classical Connections will feature the voices of WGBH 89.7 classical hosts Cathy Fuller, Richard Knisely, and Brian McCreath, as well as the myriad of music schools, conservatories, teachers, composers, and musicians that populate the Bay State. Classical Connections premieres on Friday, March 28 with "Why Massachusetts?" in which violinist Kristopher Tong, violinist Miriam Freed, and cellist Laurence Lesser explain why they call Boston their home.

You can check out WGBH's website for a full roster of the station's offerings, as well as links to their online streams for those who live outside their broadcast area. Kudos to WGBH for expanding the range and quality of its classical offerings at a time when another prominent classical station has just begun cutting and dumbing down its classical programs.

Boston Lyric's La Bohème Live this Sunday on WGBH

This afternoon I received the following from WGBH in Boston:

The Boston Lyric Opera's performance of La bohème this Sunday may be nearly sold out, but WGBH 89.7 has reserved the best seat in the house for you. Tune in on November 4 at 2pm as WGBH 89.7 takes you inside Boston's Shubert Theatre for a LIVE broadcast of Giacomo Puccini's passionate portrayal of young love and loss. It's Christmastime in Paris as this story of ill-fated love unfolds amid the carefree and reckless lifestyle of 19th Century bohemian Paris. Puccini's lush and romantic music is performed by a cast of enthralling young singers including soprano Alyson Cambridge as Mimi, tenor Derek Taylor as Rodolfo, soprano Kimwana Doner as Musetta, and baritone Andrew Garland as Marcello; Ari Pelto conducts. Don't miss this special presentation, as Puccini's beloved classic La bohème kicks off Boston Lyric Opera's 2007-2008 Season live on WGBH 89.7.

For those of you that aren't within range of WGBH's FM signal, you can also listen online. Since this live broadcast is coming from Boston, remember that all times are for Eastern Standard Time (don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour on Saturday night if you're in Canada or the United States!).

WGBH's New Hamburg Steinway

Edgar B. Herwick, Senior Marketing Coordinator of Boston's WGBH, sent me the following anecdote about the arrival of the venerable Boston classical radio station's new Hamburg Steinway:

A radio host, a classical pianist, and a highly trained instrument technician walk into an inconspicuous New York City warehouse, which just happens to be chock-full of prized Hamburg Steinway pianos, and begin taking one apart...

This was the scene when a small but remarkable faction of Boston's robust classical music set piled into a rental van and headed south to New York City. Their mission? To find the musical equivalent of a needle in a haystack: the perfect piano for WGBH 89.7's brand new state-of-the art performance studio. It had to be versatile: one that would sound dazzling to live audiences in the studio, brilliant when broadcast, and impeccable when recorded; an instrument that over the next decade and a half will be played by some of the world's finest musicians and heard by literally millions of people from Brighton, Masachusetts to Brighton, England.

It was no small task. In tow were WGBH 89.7 Program Director Jon Solins, WGBH 89.7 Classical hosts Cathy Fuller and Richard Knisely, BSO piano guru Jon von Rohr, and two renowned local pianists: Marc-André Hamelin and Mihae Lee. From Von Rohr's a-hoc tutorial in the van to the moment when the final decision was made over a platter of kung pao chicken, it was a fascinating day.

They eventually settled on a Hamburg Steinway that the musicians described like this:

"From my first experience playing this piano, I was immediately drawn in to its robust sound and broad spectrum of color. These are the qualities that I always seek in a piano, but it is rare to find an instrument that contains such a range from raw power and brilliant clarity to exquisite delicacy and shadings as this piano has. I can't wait to play it as it is reaching its full potential in your beautiful new studio.
-- Mihae Lee, pianist

"As I played it, it acted as an extension of my heart and fingers. There were no barriers between what I imagined and what I could play. This is the highest praise I can give any piano."
-- Marc-André Hamelin, pianist

Last week the piano arrived at our new studios in Brighton, Massachusetts. You can see pictures of the warehouse, the piano, and its arrival in our new sudios on our flickr page at http://flickr.com/photos/wgbhradio/sets/72157600533780688/

Enjoy!

Thanks for the info, Edgar, and best of luck to the entire WGBH family, whose new Steinway will have a happy home in the station's new Fraser Performance Studio (pictured above).

WGBH Home Page
WGBH Radio Schedule and Webcasts