Music

'Hip-Hop Evolution' Features Rap Music's Architects And Legends

February 16, 2019 - 11:00am

An award-winning emcee himself, Shad Kabango confesses to WPR’s "BETA" that he’s a bit star-struck when sitting down to interview his hip-hop idols in his new Peabody Award-winning Netflix documentary series, "Hip-Hop Evolution."

Shankar and the Sitar

February 16, 2019 - 10:00am

Ravi Shankar, sitar player, was 92 when he passed away in 2012. Arguably, he was the best known contemporary Indian Musician. Those fondest of Ravi Shankar’s music called him “Pandit”- the Hindu word meaning scholar, teacher and master.

Remembering 'Freedom Songs' To Mark Anniversary Of Mandela's Release

February 15, 2019 - 4:10pm

This past Monday, Feb. 11, marked 29 years since Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in South Africa. Apartheid had been the law of the land in South Africa for over 40 years, but change was in the air and music played an important role in that change.

Clarinetist Amitai Vardi

February 15, 2019 - 12:00pm

Norman talks to clarinetist Amitai Vardi who will be performing Weber's "Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra" with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Mills Concert Hall on the University of isconsinW-Madison campus. He gives us a short performance of the piece in the studio.

Violinist James Ehnes

February 14, 2019 - 12:00pm

Norman interviews violinist James Ehnes who recently won a 2018 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Instrumental Solo." He will be performing the Brahms "Violin Concerto in D major, Op.7715" with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and conductor John Demain on Feb. 15-17 at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.

Nothing But You

February 14, 2019 - 11:30am

Robert Schumann on his way to Zwickau, wrote to Clara Wieck on the eve of Valentine's Day 1836: “It's all I can do to keep my eyes open. For the last two hours I've been waiting for the express mail coach. The roads are so bad that it may be...

Spectrum West, February 14, 2019

February 14, 2019 - 10:00am

Comedian, Theater season, Jazz Concert- Comedian Paula Poundstone, who is appearing next week at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts in Menomonie, joined host Al Ross on Spectrum West. Cleghorn author Nickolas Butler was featured on the show, which also included a preview of the St. Croix Festival Theater season in St. Croix Falls, and looked ahead to next week’s Chippewa Valley Jazz Orchestra concert.

Alma Mahler: 'Malevolent Muse' Or Early Feminist Composer?

February 14, 2019 - 6:00am

Alma Mahler inspired symphonies, poems and paintings. She was lover and muse to some of the most celebrated artists of the early 20th century. Novelist Mary Sharratt thinks Alma Mahler would have been a great artist in her own right — if she hadn’t been born a woman.

WPR Music Hosts Share Songs For Valentine's Day

February 13, 2019 - 6:00pm

Love, gained and lost, is one of the most common themes in all music. In honor of Valentine’s Day, WPR's Music Staff shares some wide-ranging personal favorites, from the familiar to the unexpected.

Tchaikovsky on the Road

February 12, 2019 - 11:30am

On February 12th, 1888 Peter Tchaikovsky was traveling from Leipzig to Prague. He wrote to his brother Modeste: “On Sunday the 12th we left for Prague. At the frontier I already felt the coming celebrations. The chief of guards asked if I was Tchaikovsky, and when I said that I...

Pianist Andrew Armstrong & Cellist Alex Wu

February 11, 2019 - 12:00pm

Norman talks to pianist Andrew Armstrong and cellist Alex Wu about this summer's Green Lake Chamber Music Camp from June 30 to July 13, 2019.

February Request Show

February 10, 2019 - 5:00pm

Join us for the February request show, with listener-selected favorites from Porter Nickerson, Joni Mitchell and a lovers’ waltz by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.

Heroes and Hearts

February 10, 2019 - 1:00pm

Music for stout hearts, and hearts on sleeves.

The Musical Glow of the Garifuna People

February 9, 2019 - 10:00am

The Garifuna People, descendants of West African, Central African, the Caribbean, and the Arawak people, represent a group of shipwrecked enslaved Africans who intermarried with locals on the island known today as St. Vincent. In time the Garifuna people would be deported to the Central American coast in the late eighteenth century...

#1284 2.9.20 Live Broadcast

February 8, 2019 - 1:00pm

Saturday's live broadcast of world music features: Susana Baca, Afro Celt Sound System, Joan Baez, Kitka, Oliver Mutukudzi, Gaelic Storm, Bassekou Kouyate, Turkish Folk Music Ensemble, Emily King, Sam Cooke, Saz’iso, Tri Nguyen, Gotan Project, Imani Winds, Orchestre Mangelepa, and Deer Tick. Tk 7. Steppin' With T.P. 4:47 Hilton Ruiz...

Verdi Doesn't Exist

February 8, 2019 - 11:30am

Giuseppe Verdi is remembered as a composer who fought for political causes. But his official role in politics came against his will. On February 8 th , 1865 he wrote to librettist Francesco Maria Piave: "I received a letter from Count Cavour urging me to accept the nomination to parliament...

Madison Opera

February 7, 2019 - 12:00pm

Norman talks to Kathryn Smith, General Director of the Madison Opera, about their upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" on February 8 and 10 in the Capitol Theater in Madison. They play and discuss several excerpts from the opera.

Berlioz' Headlong Love

February 6, 2019 - 11:30am

Hector Berlioz expressed himself in a grand way, both musically and romantically. In 1828 he was smitten with Harriet Smithson, an Irish actress who was playing Juliet and Ophelia with an English theater company in Paris. Full of unrequited love, Berlioz wrote to his friend Humbert Ferand in February 1830:...

UW Folklore Professor Emeritus Nominated For Grammy

February 6, 2019 - 6:00am

In 1920, a Swiss immigrant to Wisconsin decided to start a record label. Helvetia Records didn’t last long — only four years — but the songs it put out evoke rich stories of the immigrant experience in Wisconsin. Jim Leary, our guest, was nominated for a Grammy for writing the album notes for "Alpine Dreaming: The Helvetia Records Story, 1920-1924."

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'Hip-Hop Evolution' Features Rap Music's Architects And Legends

Shankar and the Sitar

Remembering 'Freedom Songs' To Mark Anniversary Of Mandela's Release

Clarinetist Amitai Vardi

Violinist James Ehnes

Nothing But You

Spectrum West, February 14, 2019

Alma Mahler: 'Malevolent Muse' Or Early Feminist Composer?

WPR Music Hosts Share Songs For Valentine's Day

Tchaikovsky on the Road

Pianist Andrew Armstrong & Cellist Alex Wu

February Request Show

Heroes and Hearts

The Musical Glow of the Garifuna People

#1284 2.9.20 Live Broadcast

Verdi Doesn't Exist

Madison Opera

Berlioz' Headlong Love

UW Folklore Professor Emeritus Nominated For Grammy

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