Monday, December 31, 2018

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year from your friends at 90.9 WGUC. We’d love your feedback! What about Clef Notes did you especially enjoy this year? What didn’t we do that you’d like to see changed for 2019? We welcome your comments. Thanks!

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Happy Birthday Beethoven!


Looking for more Beethoven to fill your day as we celebrate his 248th birthday? Check out this playlist on Spotify!

Monday, December 10, 2018

A Conversation with Rachel Barton Pine

One of our new favorite albums in the WGUC music library this fall has been Rachel Barton Pine’s Blues Dialogues. It offers something so fresh, so interesting, so fun. We often get caught up with the “greats” in classical music – Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms – but fail to remember that there were countless others composing around them who have essentially slipped through the cracks of time. Rachel Barton Pine has committed the last 15 years of her life to researching music by black composers. Blues Dialogues explores just a sampling of this repertoire. WGUC had the pleasure of chatting with Rachel about this CD project. She told us the scoop on how the album came to be:

 

 Many of the works on this album are old favorites, but there are a few new discoveries too.

 

The first track on Blues Dialogues in one by David Baker. Rachel remembers her first impressions of this piece when she found it in a sheet music shop as a teenager.

 

Having a background playing the real blues helped her to better interpret the art music on this album.

 

 It’s hard for her to choose just one favorite piece from this album.

 

For more from Rachel Barton Pine, tune to 90.9 WGUC, listen online at wguc.org, via our free mobile app, or your smart speaker.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Holiday Programming on 90.9 WGUC


90.9 WGUC offers the perfect soundtrack to your holiday activities this season. Tune to 90.9 throughout the month for seasonal music for Hanukkah and Christmas. You can also listen online at wguc.org, via your smart speaker, or on the go with our WGUC app. Here’s a listing of what you can expect:

Sunday, December 2, 8:00 PM
Candles Burning Brightly: Mindy Ratner hosts this 2017 encore celebration of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. “Candles Burning Brightly” explores the meaning and traditions of Hanukkah, including holiday foods and Sephardic and Ashkenazi music.

Tuesday, December 4, 6:30 PM
Music of Hanukkah: Our annual celebration with stories and music, hosted by Naomi Lewin.

Thursday, December 6, 7:00 PM
Hanukkah in Story and Song: A celebration by The Western Wind performing Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe and modern Israeli tunes.

Sunday, December 9, 8:00 PM
Itzhak Perlman’s Hanukkah Radio Party: Itzhak Perlman invites you to his Hanukkah Radio Party.  Join the superstar violinist as he tells the story of the Jewish festival of lights and shares his favorite recordings for the holiday – some serious, some silly.  This engaging one-hour special includes numbers from Itzhak Perlman’s radio-addicted childhood in Israel; evocative songs in Yiddish and Ladino; classical music that revolves around the Maccabee heroes of the story; and Hanukkah gems by American folk singers.  The master storyteller also regales you with jokes and memories, plus tales of three classic Hanukkah symbols: the menorah, the latke, and, of course, the dreidel.  A good time for the whole family, at Itzhak Perlman’s Hanukkah Radio Party!

Sunday, December 16, 8:00 PM
Welcome Christmas!: New for 2018, "Welcome Christmas!" is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups. John Birge hosts an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest.

Sunday, December 16, 9:00 PM
A Baroque Christmas in the New World: In celebration of the holiday season, "A Baroque Christmas in the New World 2018" brings listeners music from 17th- and 18th-century Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, including a cantata and three free-standing works by Sumaya — most of which comes from the only surviving manuscript in full-score in Sumaya's own hand.

Monday, December 17, 7:00 PM
Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra: The world-renowned Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics. Julie Amacher hosts this annual favorite.

Wednesday, December 19, 7:00 PM
All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas: Lynne Warfel hosts an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman, and a variety of choirs.

Thursday, December 20, 6:00 PM
St. Olaf Christmas Festival: This service in song and word has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra. Host Valerie Kahler shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.

Friday, December 21, 6:00 PM
Collegium Cincinnati: Handel’s Messiah

Saturday, December 22, 10:10 AM
A Classical Kids Christmas: Carols and poetry combine to tell the story of Christmas, just like the pageants of days gone by. Experience the traditions of Christmas around the around, meet Saint Nicholas, and follow the Wise Men.

Saturday, December 22, 11:00 AM
Hollywood Holiday: Lynne Warfel presents an hour-long musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished Christmas-themed movies.

Sunday, December 23, 8:00 PM
VAE Candlelit Christmas

Sunday, December 23, 11:00 PM
Chatham Baroque: A Jubilant Season 2018: Ring in the holiday season with Baroque music from internationally-renowned Chatham Baroque. Each year, the Pittsburgh-based ensemble presents dazzling historically-informed interpretations of 17th and 18th century music at Chatham University.

Monday, December 24, 10:00 AM
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols: Pipedreams host Michael Barone presents this live service of spoken-word and music (choral and organ) broadcast from the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.

Monday, December 24, 5:00 PM
A Chanticleer Christmas: This unique, one-hour program of holiday music is presented live in concert by Chanticleer. Hear why this superb 12-man ensemble is known as "an orchestra of voices," as they perform holiday classics and new favorites, with choral commentary by host Brian Newhouse.

Tuesday, December 25, 5:00 PM
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols: ENCORE

Tuesday, December 25, 7:00 PM
St. Olaf Christmas Festival: ENCORE