What's new at WGUC?

If you regularly listen to 90.9 WGUC, you may be aware of a few new features we’ve introduced this year. Listen weekdays for New at Noon when we’ll feature something new at the top of the hour. You may hear a brand-new recording, an up-and-coming performer, or maybe something that’s been in our library for awhile that we’ve never aired. WGUC is constantly receiving new recordings and this is a great opportunity for us to bring the latest and greatest to your attention!

The second new feature is something we call Your Classical Choice. As the Music Director for 90.9, I’ve frequently received requests from listeners and love hearing your feedback! Your Classical Choice gives you an opportunity to share what you want to hear on WGUC. If selected, your request will be featured in the 3 p.m. hour on Thursday. We’ll let you know ahead of time, so you can be sure to listen! 

What else is new at WGUC? We’re excited to welcome Andy Ellis back to airwaves as our late afternoon/evening host. You will enjoy hearing Andy weekdays from 4–9 p.m. Learn more here.

What is a fugue?

The Voyager: The Golden Record

This month marks the 42^nd anniversary of the launch of Voyager 2. It also marks the 7^th anniversary of Voyager 1’s entry into interstellar space. How does this relate to classical music? NASA placed a type of time capsule aboard Voyager 1 and 2 that they hoped would communicate to any extraterrestrials the story of Earth and mankind. This time capsule is in the form of a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk that contains both sounds and images carefully selected to portray this story. Many of the sounds are those made by nature – thunder, wind, water, various animals. They also included greetings spoken by people of 55 different languages. The music it contains includes world music and tunes from various eras, including a large portion of classical music. Composers such as J.S. Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Beethoven are featured. Why do you think this music was selected? How would extraterrestrials interpret the items on this record? If you are interested in learning more about this Golden Record and what all in contains, I highly recommend checking out the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast. Their episode #65 “Voyager Golden Record” beautifully walks through the album, with interesting interviews from folks involved in the project. Check it out and leave your thoughts about their selections in the comments below!

Meet Anna Shelest!

Sorel Classics recently released a new album from pianist Anna Shelest. We frequently feature Anna and her husband Dmitri on WGUC, and we’re always excited to receive their latest recordings. Anna performs solo repertoire for this album, which includes music by women composers. I had the privilege of chatting with her not long after the album’s release and she told me how the idea for this disc first came about.


She enjoyed the process of narrowing down the repertoire to include on the album.

Anna went on to explain the significance of the album’s title, Donna Voce.

She finds inspiration from women musicians of the past.

It’s certainly easier being a woman musician in 2019 than in the nineteenth century!

I was curious how she first came to play the piano.
 

And of course, I had to ask what she enjoys doing when she’s not playing the piano (my favorite question!)
 

Tune to 90.9 WGUC to hear the latest from Anna Shelest, including her Donna Voce album.