Every weekday, WPR host Norman Gilliland shares his midday with WPR listeners on the
News & Classical Music Network and WPR's 24 hour Classical Network stations.
Norman plays music, interviews musicians, and holds the popular Midday Quiz at about 12:30pm CT.
THE MIDDAY QUIZ
The Quiz numbers are:
Toll Free 800-442-7106
or in Madison 263-1236
or email at Midday@wpr.org.
Maestro John DeMain joins Norman in Buck Studio to talk about and play music by iconic composer George Gershwin. DeMain conducted the Madison Symphony on May 11, 12, and 13 for an all Gershwin concert.
Norman hosts a live broadcast of the Portland Cello Project from WPR's studios. They are a remarkable group that has collaborated with indie stars like Thao Nguyen, Laura Gibson and members of the Decemberists. They perform a wide variety of music including pieces derived from classical, hip-hop and even heavy metal. They performed at the Majestic Theater in Madison on May 3, 2012.
Composer John Harbison joins Norman in the studio to discuss the new string quartet he's written for the Pro Arte Quartet.
String Quartet No. 5 will be performed by Pro Arte Saturday April 21st at Mills Concert Hall at 8:00 p.m. Pro Arte will also be performing the String Quartet No. 5 at the Chazen at 12:30 Sunday April 22nd. This performance will be broadcast live by Wisconsin Public Radio.
The director of the show, Garnett Bruce, has brought the classic tale to 1930s Hollywood where Angelina (Cinderella) lives with her evil stepfather and wicked stepsisters.
Philippe Bianconi joins Norman in the studio for a live performance of Piano Concerto Number 4. Bianconi goes into detail on his love of the Concerto, and gives some of his insights to the piece. He also performed Des Abends by Robert Schumann and Feux d'Artifice by Claude Debussy.
Norman interviews Grammy award-winning composer and pianist William Bolcom and his wife, vocalist Joan Morris. Bolcom's Piano Quintet No. 2 had its official premiere on Saturday, March 24th in the Wisconsin Union Theater.
This is part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the UW's Pro Arte String Quartet. Pianist Christopher Taylor performed with the Pro Arte.
Live from WPR's Studio One, we hear Celtic harmony from the group Navan. Norman talks to them about their music and how diverse it is. In fact, they learned to sing the songs in their original languages of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man.
The group recently released their fourth CD, Oran nan Tonn.
The Grammy Award-winning group consistently plays to sold-out houses world-wide. Their programs often include Latin, African, Far East, Irish, Folk and American Classics that transport listeners around the world in a single concert experience.
Allen is a Wisconsin native and began studying the cello at the age of 10. He attended the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Steven Doane. After receiving his Bachelor's degree, Allen moved to Miami Beach, Florida to play with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. He currently plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and participates in other freelance teaching and performing opportunities in the Madison area.
Norman interviews violinist Philip Setzer, a member and one of the founders of the Grammy winning Emerson String Quartet. Setzer is also touring and recording the piano trios of Schubert and Mendelssohn with cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han.
It is this trio that is performing Friday evening at the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison following master classes that afternoon. They will perform an all-Mendelssohn program including the Sonata for cello & piano in D-Major Op. 58 as well as the two trios for piano, violin, and cello (in D-minor, Op 49, and in C-minor, Op. 66).
Norman talks with British violinist Alexander Sitkovstsky who played with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra on Friday, February 24th at 8 pm in the Capitol Theater in Madison. His performance included Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major.
Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow in 1983 into a family with an established musical tradition. At the age of eight he was invited to become a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England studying the violin with Natasha Boyarsky. In 1996, Alexander played Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in Budapest with Menuhin conducting.
On Saturday, February 11th, the orchestra performs at the Weidner Center with the theme "The Romance of Spring". It will include the Strauss Voices of Spring, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.
Norman talked with violinist Naha Greenholtz who was recently named the new Concert master for the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She was born in Kyoto, Japan and raised in Canada.
She made her solo debut at the age of 14 playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She received her BM from the Juilliard School in 2007.
Ms. Greenholtz played live from Studio One in Madison with pianist Jeannie Yu. She performed the first, third and final movements from Franck's Sonata in A for Violin and Piano and Elgar's Salute to Love. (By the artist's request, only portions of these performances are available here.)
Norman interviews soprano Emily Birsan who performed with the Middleton Community Orchestra at the Middleton Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, December 23rd. She sang arias by Puccini, Donizetti and Mozart.
Ms. Birsan is a resident artist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season she covers the roles of Lucia, Papagena and Armida and performs the roles of Stella (Tales of Hoffman) and Xenia (Boris Godunov). She was born in Appleton, Wisconsin and is a graduate of the UW Madison School of Music.
Norman welcomes the Ekaterinburg Classical Trio aka "The Kat Trio" back to WPR's Studio One in Madison for a live Midday Recital. Current members of the trio include violinist Victoria Gorbich, clarinetist Vladislav Gorbich and pianist Julie Page. They play music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Brahms, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Bruch, Bohm, Gershwin and Frolov.
The trio has released ten CD's since their formation in 1998 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. They are now touring as "artists-in-residence" with Wisconsin Public Radio and the Chazen Museum of Art. Studio Photo 1 | Studio Photo 2
Norman interviews Trevor Stephenson, harpsichordist and Artistic Director of the Madison Bach Musicians. They will be performing their holiday concert on Friday, December 16th starting at 8pm at the First Congregational Church, 1609 Unversity Ave in Madison. The concert will include Fall and Winter from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, Concerto in G minor, Op. 6 no. 8, "Christmas" by Corelli, and Cantata 61, Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland by Bach.
Trevor Stephenson tours throughout the United States regularly giving concerts, lectures, and masterclasses.
