RECENT INTERVIEWS
Musical theatre history brims with renowned collaborators – Rodgers & Hart, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Lerner & Lowe, George & Ira Gershwin, and more recently Webber & Rice. The precursor to the musical theatre genre is operetta – and two of the most renowned collaborators in operetta are Gilbert & Sullivan. WNED Classical’s Marty Wimmer sat down with Lisa Berglund, President of Opera-Lytes, and singer/actor Ted Smeltz to talk about Gilbert & Sullivan, Opera-Lytes, and Opera-Lytes’ upcoming production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. Ted even demonstrates patter song – a comical musical device featured in many Gilbert & Sullivan works.
Marty Wimmer, Program Host of WNED Classical, sits down with operatic soprano Mary Fetterman for an engaging conversation about the evolution of her career, including recent work with Buffalo Opera Unlimited. Mary plays Susanna, portrayed as a strong, intelligent, and willful woman in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, on stage at Buffalo State University in late September 2024.
There's new leadership at two of Buffalo's classical music organizations, and Marty Wimmer interviews them both about honoring rich legacies and developing a vision for the future.
Enjoy the conversation with the new Artistic Director of Buffalo Choral Arts Society, David Curtis, and Matthew Marco, the new Artistic Director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited.
WNED Classical host Peter Hall speaks with Boston-based conductor Gil Rose about bringing opera to Artpark!
Artpark in Lewiston, New York presents the North American premiere of Barcelona's La Fura Dels Baus production of Carl Orff's beloved classic CARMINA BURANA in a whole new way. One night only, Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 8:00 pm in the Mainstage Theater, Grammy Award-winning Gil Rose will conduct the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists, costumes, staging, and special effects.
WNED Classical Host Peter Hall and Dr. Adam Luebke, the Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
WNED Classical Host Peter Hall spoke with Dr. Adam Luebke, the Music Director of the Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, about an upcoming concert on Sunday afternoon, March 19, in partnership with the Buffalo Chamber Players and the Alzheimer’s Association of Western New York.
They will present a concert of J.S. Bach’s "Magnificat" and Robert Cohen’s 2009 moving "Alzheimer’s Stories," which shares the words, history, and experience of Alzheimer’s disease.
The Sunday, March 19, 3:00 pm concert will be at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church located at 1080 Main Street in Buffalo.
General admission tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased online at the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus website or by phone at 716-980-5701.
This program and channel are made possible by viewers like you. You can support Buffalo Toronto Public Media by making a donation. Thank you!
Buffalo Philharmonic Music Director JoAnn Falletta recently took the BPO to Carnegie Hall, then sat down with WNED Classical's Peter Hall to talk about what it meant to the musicians and her early mentor, Lukas Foss, whose music she conducted.
This program and channel are made possible by viewers like you. You can support Buffalo Toronto Public Media by making a donation. Thank you!
Visit https://www.wnedmembers.org/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=WEBYT1&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=d7c8elR8b49PNdBk7doSeRiCxtaFReuS
Marty Wimmer gets to know the talented and charming Fernanda Lastra in this WNED-Classical Interview.
As part of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the organization has named Fernanda Lastra, its new Conductor Diversity Fellow. This two-year position will provide professional work experience with the BPO and internationally acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta. Fernanda talks with Marty about her past in Argentina, her hopes for the future in Buffalo, and the warm “City of Good Neighbors” welcome she has received.
This program and channel are made possible by viewers like you. You can support Buffalo Toronto Public Media by making a donation. Thank you!
Visit https://www.wnedmembers.org/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=WEBYT1&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=d7c8elR8b49PNdBk7doSeRiCxtaFReuS
Joseph Bologne, known as the "Chevalier de Saint-Georges" is considered the first classical composer of color. WNED Classical's Peter Hall sat down with Buffalo Philharmonic Music Director JoAnn Falletta to find out more.
Check out more WNED Classical interviews at wned.org/classical
This program and channel are made possible by viewers like you. You can support Buffalo Toronto Public Media by making a donation. Thank you! To donate, visit https://www.wnedmembers.org/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=WEBYT1&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=d7c8elR8b49PNdBk7doSeRiCxtaFReuS
Mark Michaud speaks with BPO Concertmaster Nikki Chooi about his performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto and about the return of audiences to Kleinhans.
WNED Classical's Mark Michaud speaks with pianist Sara Davis Buechner about November’s performance of the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto #2 with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in Buffalo, NY.
The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus is celebrating its 20th anniversary in May with a concert called, One Voice. The program includes something for everyone - a little Classical, a little Broadway, a little Pop, and even a little music written just for the BGMC. There will be three performances of One Voice - in Batavia on May 14th, Orchard Park on May 15th, and Buffalo on May 21st. Go to www.buffalogaymenschorus.org for tickets and details.
WNED-Classical Program Host, Marty Wimmer recently sat down with BGMC Artistic Director, Dr. Robert Strauss for a one-on-one interview to discuss One Voice and the vital role the BGMC plays in its members' lives, the local LGBTQA+ community, and all of Western New York. Although music is central to the group's mission, the BGMC is more than that; it's family, friends, community, kindness, love, and fun - all of which are expressed in the One Voice program.
We hope you enjoy the interview, and come out to hear One Voice with the Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus on May 14th, 15th, & 21st.
20-year-old piano phenom Alexander Malofeev, first prize and gold medal winner at the 8th Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians, is returning to Buffalo to perform Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with JoAnn Falletta and the BPO at Kleinhans. Performance dates are March 4 and 5. He spoke from his home in Moscow, Russia with WNED's Peter Hall.
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Assistant Conductor Jaman E. Dunn speaks with WNED Classical host Peter Hall about returning to Rockwell Hall on the Buffalo State College campus to conduct SPOTLIGHT ON BLACK COMPOSERS starring soprano Sirgourney Cook and baritone Jaman Dunn along with orchestra and soloists Madeline Olson, Anna Mattix, and Inga Yanoski performing works by African American composers William Grant Still, Margaret Bonds, Ulysses Kay, and Adolphus Hailstork.
The event is Friday, February 25 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 27 at 2:30.
For tickets call 716-878-3005 or visit www.buffalostatepac.org
Peter Hall, WNED Classical radio host talks with Author and Radio Host Martin Goldsmith about the movie WINTER JOURNEY inspired by his book The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany. The book recounts how Goldsmith's parents met in Germany, played music together, and escaped the Holocaust together, ultimately arriving in the United States. Martin Goldsmith is the younger brother of the late Peter Goldsmith, founding Program Director of WNED Classical radio in Buffalo. The program Thursday, February 10, at 6 pm at Kleinhans Music Hall will feature the author, JoAnn Falletta, a screening of the movie, light refreshment, a Q&A, book signing, and a performance of the entire Symphony No. 4 by Carl Nielsen known as "The Inextinguishable."
You can listen to all of the past Classical 94.5 interviews on our soundcloud page.
CLASSIC INTERVIEWS
Joshua Bell remembers that he first performed Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor with the BPO conducted by Semyon Bychkov back in March, 1986. He was only 18 years old. Now, 30 years later, he returns to play that same concerto with JoAnn Falletta and the BPO on Saturday night, September 17, 2017. In this conversation with WNED Classical's Peter Hall, he explains why he loves that concerto, and talks about a few things he's learned over time
Most violinists start at age 3. Cleveland Orchestra Principle Cellist Mark Kosower was half that age when he began and this student of the great Janos Starker will bring his talent to Kleinhans Music Hall to play Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme with JoAnn Falletta conducting the BPO, Saturday, October 15, 2017 at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. In a recent conversation with WNED Classical's Peter Hall, Mark Kosower talks about the piece he'll be performing.
Why are Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO and Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE so different? CBC Radio Host and Stratford Summer Music Festival lecturer Robert Harris speaks with WNED Clssical's Peter Hall about this, touching on Beethoven and opera overtures as well. Robert Harris will speak at Stratford on Wednesday, August 17, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. at the University of Waterloo, Stratford campus.
CBC radio host and lecturer Robert Harris speaks in this podcast about the last of the great Broadway creators - Stephen Sondheim. Recorded last year around Canada's Stratford Festival for Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake for SWEENEY TODD
Esin Gunduz, voice, and Megan Kyle, oboe and English horn (and violin!), will perform a concert this July, 2017, of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque works re-contextualized through contemporary improvisation techniques and the unique sonic environment of Silo City. They spoke with WNED Classical's Peter Hall about the sound worlds opened up by these pieces, and by the extreme resonance of the silos, which will be further explored in improvised material. The result is an immersive concert experience in which early music and new sounds are intertwined, reverberating in a post-industrial cathedral! For sound clips visit @sensodivoce.