February 14, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“I think what makes these works still so viable today is that Puccini had this amazing ability to get to the heart of the human condition,” says Michael Scarola, Interim Director of SMU’s Meadows Lyric Theatre, referencing the two enduring operatic masterpieces they’ll perform February 15-18, 2024. In this feature with WRR’s Amy Bishop, Scarola… Read more »
February 8, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“To be intermingled with that sound is really incredible… I don’t think of it as me in the front and them in the back,” says saxophonist Branford Marsalis, the GRAMMY Award-winning instrumentalist and composer who will join the Plano Symphony Orchestra Feb. 17, 2024. In this feature, Marsalis chats with WRR’s Amy Bishop about the… Read more »
February 6, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“We love the artform that is concert curation – the kind of conversational possibilities it offers both between ourselves and the composers whose works we choose to play,” says violinist Brigid Coleridge of the Merz Trio. Dallas Chamber Music Society will welcome the group in concert at SMU Feb. 12, 2024, marking the organization’s inaugural… Read more »
February 1, 2024 by Amy Bishop
Sahun Sam Hong is the pianist and Executive Director of NYC-based chamber music collective Ensemble132, but TCU can also claim him as their own: As one of the school’s notable alumni, he graduated in 2011 at the age of 16. WRR’s Kurt Rongey had an opportunity to speak with two members of the group about… Read more »
January 23, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“We recorded it in 1996 and then companies changed hands and I don’t really know what happened,” explains cellist Ofra Harnoy, in reference to her Abbey Road recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, which was recently found after nearly 27 years. Get the details in this feature with WRR’s Amy Bishop.
January 17, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“Every Mozart concerto is an absolute gem and they’re all different from one another in different ways,” says pianist Alessio Bax. “This one is very dear to me because it is actually the one piece that made me fall in love with the piano.” Bax revisits Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Dallas Symphony… Read more »
January 10, 2024 by Amy Bishop
“There was something in the joy – this kind of utter joy that I was finding in the silence of meditation and of going inwardly thatwas coming through, and it started with lyrics and melodies, and then this whole thing came about,” explains soprano Hila Plitmann, describing her composition, “In this Circle,” which she’ll perform… Read more »
December 7, 2023 by Amy Bishop
In this feature, WRR’s Kurt Rongey interviews conductor John Jeter about his new release on the Naxos label with the Fort Smith Symphony. The CD features the Fort Smith Symphony and surveys the music of Louis Wayne Ballard, known as the Father of Native American Composers.
December 7, 2023 by Amy Bishop
“Whenever I’m asked about this Christmas tradition, I kind of light up, because it’s such an important one – certainly to Orpheus – but it’s a hugely important one in our community,” says J.D. Burnett, Artistic Director for Dallas-based Orpheus Chamber Singers. Their annual Christmas program has been a beloved tradition for North Texans for… Read more »
December 5, 2023 by Amy Bishop
“I honestly think that when the Trains open, it tells you that the holidays are approaching,” says Jill Cumnock, CEO of the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. Since 1987, The Trains at NorthPark have raised more than $18 million in support of the Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit providing a home and services for families… Read more »
