Music and poetry go together like inhaling and exhaling, or like gasoline and matches, or like Sherlock and Watson, or like Parker and Stone, or like a hammer and a nail. Et cetera, et cetera. In this episode, composer Dale Trumbore talks about setting poems and prose to music, and about the relationship between poetry and music. There are exercises within, so get out your paper and your pencils. Music in this episode: As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending (The King's Singers, Royal Rhymes an...
Jan 16, 2017•46 min•Ep. 156
The celebrated classical music composer Béla Bartók was really into folk music. I mean, really into it. Not like, hitchhiking-with-beat-up-acoustic-guitar, playing-open-mic-nights folk music. More like, invented-an-analytic-study-of-folk-music-and-created-the-field-of-ethnomusicology-in-general folk music. Hyeyung Yoon, Greg Beaver, and Jonah Sirota of the Chiara String Quartet talk about how Bartók brought the collection and analysis of folk music into his work as a classical composer. They als...
Jan 10, 2017•13 min•Ep. 155
Welcome to part 2 of our holiday indulgence: a walk through the music of the Coen Brothers films with Craig Cohen of Houston Matters . We pick up our where our last conversation ended (with 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy ), and move on to the sparse music of Fargo . Hear a little Mozart, a fake bluegrass band, wind used as an instrument, and even the vocal stylings of an X-Wing fighter pilot. Music in this episode: From Fargo (the movie): Music by Carter Burwell From The Big Lebowski : Featuring Moz...
Jan 02, 2017•36 min•Ep. 154
Okay, so it's a little bit of a departure from our typical classical music fare, but it's the holidays so we're indulging in some serious fun: Craig Cohen, host of our mothership's daily public affairs program, Houston Matters , walks us through the music of the films of Joel and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen Brothers . In part 1 of our epic conversation, you'll learn about the musical mastermind behind the brothers' films, Carter Burwell . You'll also hear a little melodramatic Khachatur...
Dec 26, 2016•37 min•Ep. 153
Okay, so we are re-gifting this year's holiday episode from our 2013 collection. But it's only because we thought you'd like it! Please re-enjoy learning about this gorgeous, never-gets-old classic. And from all of us at Classical Classroom HQ: peace, joy, and ALL THE PRESENTS to you this year! We all know The Nutcracker , right? Wrong! In this episode of Classical Classroom , Shelly Power (director, Houston Ballet Academy ) and Michael Remson (executive director, AFA ) blow your minds with the ...
Dec 19, 2016•36 min•Ep. 33
As of 2016, the Emerson String Quartet has been around for 40 years. For comparison, here is a brief list of other awesome things that have been around for 40 years: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Muppet Show , the movie Rocky , the Blues Brothers, Big Red Gum, the game Whack-a-Mole, VHS tapes, and the Ramones' debut album. In this episode, Emerson violinist Eugene Drucker talks about what it means to play for that long with the same musicians, about what has changed over the years, and about Emerson...
Dec 12, 2016•27 min•Ep. 152
Jason Vieaux and Julien Labro both play instruments that have had historically complex relationships to classical music. Even today, the classical guitar and the bandoneon are a little unorthodox in that world. Maybe that's why Jason and Julien – and their instruments – are such an obvious fit together. Without easy paths to follow, they've made their own and they've subsequently both become uniquely musically versatile. They're also both brood-y and wear sunglasses at night (one imagines). Lear...
Dec 05, 2016•22 min•Ep. 151
Immortality might be writing a piece of music that is so cool, so archetypal, that hundreds of years later, it's still used in media that its creator never could have imagined existing. Case in point, Beethoven's 7th Symphony, which was used to amazing effect in the dystopian world of the Emmy award-winning USA Network show, Mr. Robot . Or Beethoven's 9th Symphony, recently used in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This old gold episode from the Classical Classroom vault, featuring independent...
Nov 28, 2016•24 min•Ep. 29
Holy 150th episode, Batman! Because we are so stoked to have reached this milestone, we bring you not one, but two treats: A new Classical Classroom show intro, and the comedic stylings of violinist Jennifer Koh. Jennifer was Musical America's Instrumentalist of 2016 and recently put out an album of Tchaikovsky's complete works for violin and orchestra. Some of Tchaikovsky's pieces are commonly referred to as, "…the most daunting works in the violin repertoire." Jennifer explains why a composer ...
Nov 21, 2016•22 min•Ep. 150
Before you get all excited, no: the Cypress String Quartet has not reunited. It's just that we at Classical Classroom have been so busy that we're a wee bit behind the times. By like…5 months-ish. This episode was originally recorded back in June of 2016, 3 days before the quartet's last performance after 20 years together, and just after the release of their CD Beethoven: The Early String Quartets . CST members Jennifer Kloetzel (cello) and Tom Stone (violin) talk about how Beethoven's music br...
Nov 14, 2016•20 min•Ep. 149
Learn about not one, but TWO amazing things in this episode: The Houston Youth Symphony, an organization that's been making music an important part of young peoples' lives for 70 years, and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the symphonic poem written by the French composer Paul Dukas that Walt Disney brought to the masses in the movie Fantasia . Michael Webster, artistic director and conductor of the Houston Youth Symphony, and HYS bassoonist Derek Marcum play examples and take us through the entire ...
Nov 07, 2016•34 min•Ep. 148
Composer Ned Rorem turned 93 on October 23rd. In honor of Rorem and his amazing career, composer Daron Hagen , Rorem's friend and former student, teaches a crash course in the music and life of Ned Rorem. Hear how his music has evolved over time, and about the life events that have precipitated creative growth and change. The amount of ground-breaking that Rorem has done in his life, both socially and creatively, is frankly more than one podcast can contain. But we give it our best shot anyway. ...
Oct 31, 2016•39 min•Ep. 147
Waaaay back in episode 102 , composer and conductor Victoria Bond taught us about the first woman to run for the U.S. presidency, about whom Bond wrote the opera Mrs. President . On this, the first day of early voting for the U.S.'s 2016 election, Bond is back to teach about what turns out to be a tradition in classical music: music based on true political events. Learn about the pieces throughout history that are… about history, go vote, and then learn about the upcoming performance of Bond's o...
Oct 24, 2016•39 min•Ep. 146
Producer Todd has been wandering around somewhere in the woods for the past week. We think he's found his way out, but while he readjusts to civilization, please enjoy this episode from the Classical Classroom vault! ——————————————————————– "You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life." – Pierre Jalbert to me*. Have you ever heard a piece of music that truly moved you? Has a piece of music actually changed the course of your life? Ravel and George Crumb wrote pieces of music that played...
Oct 17, 2016•28 min•Ep. 66
This is serious, people. Classical music has a long and meaningful history in cartoons that is no laughing matter. Just kidding! There is a really long history, but it is hilarious, and so is this episode. Richard Scerbo , Director of the National Orchestral Institute and Festival and founder and artistic director of the DC-based and Grammy-nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra , takes us on a tour of that history. Find out the practical, social, and financial reasons behind Looney Tunes use of cl...
Oct 10, 2016•33 min•Ep. 145
In an epic Classical Classroom , tenors Isaiah Bell and Chris Mayell (who, among many other things, co-host the Overthought podcast) walk through the entirety of Benjamin Britten's opera, Albert Herring . It is an incredible journey, not for the faint of heart, nor for the anti-Canadian. Discussed: townies, queer theory vs. non-queer theory interpretations of the opera, Sid and Nancy (no – not them – the other Sid and Nancy), and Ron Swanson. Music in this episode (all from Naxos and Decca recor...
Oct 03, 2016•59 min•Ep. 144
Fun fact: "Gilmore Girls" scripts are almost twice as long as other TV shows of comparable length. In this regard, this is the "Gilmore Girls" of "Classical Classroom" episodes. Andy Meyerson and Travis Andrews of the Living Earth Show teach all about electro-acoustic chamber music, sure, but they do a lot more. In addition to talking about the composers and works they commission, and about experimental classical music in general, you are guaranteed to hear boiling water used musically, and at l...
Sep 26, 2016•41 min•Ep. 143
Mark Abel's life infuses his music, and music has been his life. He's been a classical musician, a punk rocker, a reporter, and a classical musician and composer again. In this episode, Abel talks about "art song," a very particular kind of classical music where song and poetry intersect. Learn about its history, its composers, and hear some of Abel's own work. Music in this episode: "Roll Over Beethoven," The Beatles "Mr. Tambourine Man," The Byrds "A Love Supreme," John Coltrane "Marquee Moon,...
Sep 19, 2016•33 min•Ep. 142
Composer Stephen Lias didn't necessarily mean to become an "adventurer-composer." He was minding his own business as a perfectly normal composer, having his music played by soloists and ensembles, and working as a Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University . In his free time, he liked to go on adventure trips, backpacking and kayaking. Little did he know that one day soon, his two loves would merge and that he would become Stephen Lias, Adventurer-Composer! His whole life wou...
Sep 12, 2016•34 min•Ep. 141
That's not a violin – it's a woodbox! Daniel Bernard Roumain talks about creative appropriation in classical music. The Haitian-American composer's creative world was cracked open when he realized that everything – including the definition of "violin" – was ripe for reinterpretation. As a kid in garage bands, he took the decidedly uncool violin and made it his own. As a classically trained musician, he brings classical music together with hip hop, rock, bluegrass, and other genres to create his ...
Sep 05, 2016•30 min•Ep. 45
Our summer music festival series is over, and we are frankly a little sleepy now. So this week, while we nap, we are bringing you some old gold from the vault. It's one of our faves, featuring Branford Marsalis. If you don't love it, too, we will be both shocked and appalled. ————————————- Branford Marsalis ' stark 2014 solo album In My Solitude includes jazz standards like "Stardust" next to C.P.E. Bach's Sonata in A Minor for Oboe, Wq. 132. His jazz discography is peppered with classical relea...
Aug 29, 2016•31 min•Ep. 82
In our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! All good things must come to an end, and...here we are. The final installment of our summer music mini-series features New York Philharmonic concertmaster (who used to be Houston Symphony concertmaster), Frank Huang. He talks about the job of a concertmaster, and about his own story of a life in two cities with two orchestras. Frank a...
Aug 22, 2016•25 min•Ep. 140
In our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! Library of Congress "Living Legend" and Grammy Award-winning baritone Thomas Hampson has reached a point in his life and career at which one might use the term "venerable" to describe him. "Wise" is another word that music journalists probably throw down when talking about him. And they would not be wrong. But even Thomas Hampson got ...
Aug 15, 2016•29 min•Ep. 139
In our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! Laugh all you want at the viola – Cynthia Phelps, the New York Philharmonic's Principal Viola , ignores the haters. She doesn't even bother to hold up a hand and tell them to talk to it. She just produces beautiful music on the viola and lets it speak for itself. In the fourth installment of our MAW series, learn all about the viola, ...
Aug 08, 2016•37 min•Ep. 138
In our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! The third installment of our MAW series features composer, conductor, and pianist, Matthew Aucoin . Aucoin is a resident at that Music Academy of the West, and a sort of serial residentialist elsewhere (like the Peabody Essex Museum and soon, the Los Angeles Opera). He talks about what a "residency" is, and how it informs a composer's...
Aug 01, 2016•23 min•Ep. 137
In our second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California! The second installment of our MAW series features trumpet player, performance coach, and educator, Bill Williams . Williams initially spent his career as principal trumpet for orchestras like San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Barcelona. But when performances began to induce anxieties and other distractions, he started seeking ways to regai...
Jul 25, 2016•38 min•Ep. 136
It's time for the second annual Classical Classroom Summer Music Festival Series! This year, we hit the (sound)waves at the Music Academy of the West in sunny Santa Barbara, California. In the first installment of our MAW series, pianist Jeremy Denk talks about teaching the enormousness of Beethoven to young artists, ragging classical music, whether or not classical music today exists outside the bounds of style, and about what makes the Music Academy of the West unique to him. Throughout the MA...
Jul 18, 2016•31 min•Ep. 135
How strange (and awesome) it is to be Jherek Bischoff at all. This composer, arranger, performer, and producer began his musical journey playing prog rock on bass guitar. After spending years of his youth on a boat, which his family sailed around the world playing music with locals as they went, he toured and recorded with indie rock and experimental bands. Then one day, he heard a piece of classical music that changed his life forever. Suddenly, he found himself composing for chamber groups and...
Jul 11, 2016•34 min•Ep. 134
Video games have come a long way since Pong , and so has their music. The electronic bleeps and blorps of ye olden days have evolved into composed musical scores that have their own fans and are performed by major symphony orchestras nationwide. Final Fantasy , one such game with a musical score that – as illustrated in this episode – draws on the classical music tradition, will soon be performed (again) by the Houston Symphony. Lesley Sabol , Director of Popular Programming at the Houston Symph...
Jul 04, 2016•39 min•Ep. 133
When you hear the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, pretty much the last thing that comes to mind is self-doubt (Hello?! The man wrote actual cannons into his music!). But as conductor Mei-Ann Chen explains, the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture took him years to write because he was deeply self-critical. And his opinionated mentor, Mily Balakirev , didn't help the situation. Learn all about Tchaikovsky's creative process and about one of the most romantic pieces of music ever written in this episode....
Jun 27, 2016•35 min•Ep. 132
