News & Reviews

Elizabeth Beilman, the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute’s Executive Director, is this week’s guest on Preview! Beyond the NCCMI, Beilman is the North Carolina Symphony’s Assistant Principal Cellist.

This Sunday, The Classical Station will feature GRAMMY-nominated lutenist Ronn McFarlane, the mind behind Ayreheart and The Baltimore Consort, and Carolyn Surrick, who has released multi-disciplinary works like her poetry book Between War and Here, but always returns to her beloved viola da gamba. Caleb Gardner discusses their collaboration, As Flows the River, its inspirations, and their musical backgrounds.

This week on Preview!, The Classical Station's Rob Kennedy speaks with Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki about his recording of the Mendelssohn piano concertos. Jan Lisiecki has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Chicago Symphony, and has worked with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Manfred Honeck, and Claudio Abbado.

On August 27th, Ofra Harnoy and Mike Herriott will appear as guests on our Preview! program! They will speak with Rob Kennedy about their newest recording, a 10-track EP of pieces by Gershwin, Delibes, Bizet, Tchaikovsky, and Donizetti, among others. With 5 JUNO wins and a membership in the Order of Canada, Ofra Harnoy is one of Canada’s most well-respected cellists, and Mike Herriott has toured extensively across North America as a producer and solo performer.

Classical pianist Garrick Ohlssohn appears this week on Preview! to speak with Rob Kennedy about his newest recording, The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, completed with the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra and conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles.

This week, Jorge Osorio appears on Preview! As one of Mexico’s most respected classical pianists, Osorio has received the Medalla Bellas Artes and collaborated with top orchestras across the world. Now, he has returned to his long-standing relationship with the Minería Symphony Orchestra of Mexico for his recording of Conciertos Románticos, which pairs Ricardo Castro’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with Manuel Ponce’s “Romántico” Piano Concerto. Caleb Gardner discusses the new release with him for this week’s interview.

For My Life in Music, Robert Kennedy interviews Scott Metcalfe, the Artistic Director of the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir. As a specialist in 15th to 17th century music, Metcalfe strives to bring unknown Renaissance artists and composers new appreciation. Tonight, he discusses the history of Blue Heron, as well as the challenges of performing music from centuries ago. 

Tonight’s Monday Night at the Symphony highlights the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In the 106 years since its founding, it has expanded from its small roots into one of America’s leading orchestras. The orchestra’s current Music Director, Jonathan Heyward, answered a few of our questions about their current program.

This week, our Preview! guest is world-renowned classical pianist Elizabeth Sombart. She’s received the Order of National Merit from her native country, France, and founded the Fondation Résonnance, which brings classical music to hospitals, prisons, and orphanages. On Preview!, she and Naomi Lambert discuss working with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Sombart’s recent recording of Mozart’s piano concertos.

Today’s Preview! guest, Daniel Gawthrop, is an accomplished composer of choral and organ pieces, and his motet Sing Me to Heaven has sold over half a million copies. His 2001 cantata, In Quiet Resting Places, has recently been re-recorded by Craig Jessop and the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra.

Internationally-recognized cellist Bion Tsang appears on this week’s Preview! program to speak with our Music Director, Caleb Gardner. They discuss Cantabile, Tsang’s compilation of Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor, a collaboration with Scott Yoo (the subject of last week’s Preview!) and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Scott Yoo is this week’s guest on Preview! As the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Mexico City Philharmonic, Scott Yoo also hosts the PBS series Now Hear This, in which he travels the world to track down experts in all forms of music. 

Tonight, our program Monday Night at the Symphony will feature the Seattle Symphony. We were honored to be able to ask a few questions to Jeffrey Barker, the symphony’s Associate Principal Flute player, about the symphony’s recent programs and upcoming events.

Pianist Lara Downes, a recipient of the 2022 Classical Woman of the Year Award, appears on this week’s Preview programming. Lara Downes recently released Love at Last, an exploration of hope, loss, love, and light through a collection of 25 solo piano pieces from around the world. Rob Kennedy discusses the recording’s inspirations with her, as well as her goal in performing music.

Gerard Schwarz, the Musical Director of the Eastern Music Festival, appears on Preview! A four-time Emmy-winner, a 14-time GRAMMY nominee, and the first American to win Musical America’s Conductor of the Year, Gerard Schwarz speaks with Caleb Gardner about the upcoming Eastern Musical Festival.