Architect Daniel Libeskind reflects on the healing power of music and architecture and reveals his lifelong obsession with the dazzling Toccata and Fugue by JS Bach.
Sep 30, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Digital strategist Jacqui Cheng shares how she discovered the music of Bach via her 1980s Atari 2600 habit, but it’s the Violin Sonata No. 1 that helps walk her through a period of grief. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 29, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Jazz Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis discusses how Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 helped him understand the role of music — and musician — in connecting the past and the future. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 28, 2019•6 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Instagram’s Eva Chen talks about how Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 helps her switch between gears as she moves from a busy life in fashion to being a working mother to writing a successful series of children’s books. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 27, 2019•17 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard talks about how Debussy’s Clair de Lune became “comfort music” after her mother died when she was a child, and still elevates her from the noise and chaos of everyday life.
Sep 26, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Opera singer J'Nai Bridges discusses what she learned about forgiveness, memory and legacy from Henry Purcell's heartbreaking Dido's Lament .
Sep 25, 2019•10 min•Season 1Ep. 16
US Army reservist Joe Young talks about how Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians helped him through a period of deep depression when he was stationed in Texas and required to perform funeral rites for his fallen soldier colleagues.
Sep 24, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Writer Robert Macfarlane reflects on the transporting fragility and beauty of Frédéric Chopin's Berceuse heard in a time of war. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 23, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Violinist Nicola Benedetti reveals what hearing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto as a child taught her about listening, empathy and vulnerability. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 22, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 13
WNYC's Lee Hill recalls how "Little's Theme" from Nicholas Britell's score to Moonlight resonates with his own life experience as a queer black man and helps him stand in his own truth.
Sep 21, 2019•4 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Director Sam Mendes explains how Carl Orff’s Gassenhauer helped him establish the mood for his first film, American Beauty. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 20, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Comedienne Rachel Strauss-Muniz discusses sharing Mozart’s First Piano Sonata with her babies, and reflects on how their joy at hearing Mozart reminds her of how so much of the music we listen to is rooted in classical — and how music connects us all. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 19, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Bandleader Jon Batiste talks about how Mickey Mouse sold him on The Rite of Spring and gives a scintillating insight into Stravinsky’s mind. Keep listening after the episode to hear excerpts of the work.
Sep 18, 2019•9 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Queer opera singer Jamie Barton talks about how Chopin's Nocturne No. 21 helped her to find her identity in a world in which she did not fit in. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 17, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Conductor Eric Jacobsen recalls losing his beloved mother at the age of 11 and how her favourite piece, Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 inspired him to become a musician. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 16, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Novelist Ian McEwan remembers how Bach's Concerto for Two Violins helped him first to navigate selfhood as a teenager, and, later in life, the sorrow of losing his best friend.
Sep 15, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Podcaster Aminatou Sow talks about how the cheerful defiance of Florence Price’s Juba Dance helped her through a life-changing moment. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 14, 2019•8 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić discusses his deep connection to the longing for home expressed in Francisco Tárrega’s Lágrima . Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 13, 2019•7 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Yoga teacher Connie Viglietti tells us how she remembers her beloved Grandma Ginger by singing one of her favorite songs, Schubert’s “Ave Maria”, and contemplates the transporting power that music has to connect us to the people we love the most, even if they are no longer with us.
Sep 12, 2019•12 min•Season 1Ep. 3
New York City firefighter Rob Vogt talks about how Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries helped him cope in the tragic aftermath of 9/11. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 11, 2019•11 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Actor Alec Baldwin talks about how Aram Khachaturian's Spartacus Adagio revives and energizes him during the busiest days of his life. Keep listening after the episode to hear the full track.
Sep 10, 2019•13 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Which piece of music speaks to your soul? Each bite-sized episode of The Open Ears Project introduces you to a new classical work and offers a brief and soulful glimpse into a human life, helping us to listen to this music—and each other—differently. The Open Ears Project is produced by WQXR and WNYC Studios. You can follow the project starting on day 1 by subscribing to our newsletter and following #OpenEarsProject on Instagram and Twitter ....
Aug 21, 2019•2 min
