The Metropolitan Opera
Saturdays through June 11
The Met continues with weekly live broadcasts from Lincoln Center, including Verdi’s Don Carlos on March 26, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro on April 9, and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor on May 21. Debra Lew Harder is your host.
March is Women’s History Month
We’ll feature ground-breaking female composers from throughout history, women who pursued their love of music even when society at large wasn’t keen on the idea. They include Clara Wieck Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Louise Farrenc and Ethel Smyth. And we’ll highlight today’s most exciting female composers, including Caroline Shaw, Clarice Assad, and Anna Clyne, during Wavelengths, Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern.
A “Cinema Classics” Weekend
March 12-13
Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
in Sunset Boulevard
Credit: Loren Javier
Motion pictures had music long before they had dialogue. The silent film-makers knew a good theater pianist could switch the mood of a scene from comic to tragic with just a few notes. Today we have a rich legacy of music to enhance the cinematic experience, including classical favorites used in beloved movies and music written specifically for the silver screen. We’ll feature classic movie composers such as Max Steiner and Bernard Hermann along with Elmer Bernstein, John Williams and Hans Zimmer. A truly fun weekend!
Spring Membership Drive
March 18-27
Your financial support helps us share Great Classical Music with listeners everywhere. Make your gift here on this website, or mail your Silent Pledge to WCPE The Classical Station, PO Box 828, Wake Forest, North Carolina 27588. Sending in your Silent Pledge now means we can spend less time on-air fundraising and more time playing the Great Classical Music you love.
If you prefer, call us anytime to have a member of our staff take your donation. 800-556-5178. Don’t forget to take a Thank You Gift or allocate 50% of your donation to our Education Fund. Thank you for your support.
Passover
April 15
We will observe Passover with a special program featuring our own Greysolynne Hyman as narrator. Greysolynne explains Passover and introduces beautiful music sung by Western Wind and the Monteverdi Choir. The program begins at 6 p.m. Eastern. Happy Pesach!
Easter
April 17
Join us for the festive sounds of Easter on Great Sacred Music. You’ll hear the Choir of St. Thomas Church, New York, the Voices of Ascension, and the Harvard University Choir. On the playlist is the Easter Oratorio of Johann Sebastian Bach, Part Three of Messiah by George Frederic Handel, and Antonín Dvořák’s Te Deum.
The Easter edition of Great Sacred Music begins at 8 a.m. Eastern. Right after Sing For Joy. With Rob Kennedy.
“In the Gardens of Spain” Weekend
April 9-10
It’s hard to hear the passionate music of Spain without envisioning the magical landscape that gave it birth. Join The Classical Station as we evoke the sounds and colors of Spain with compositions by Rodrigo, de Falla, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados, and more.
A “Back to the Baroque” Weekend
April 23-24
For Johann Sebastian Bach, writing music was an act of devotion, intended to glorify God (even if some of his works are devilishly difficult to play). We’ll celebrate Bach and his contemporaries from the Baroque era (1600-1750) with a weekend of music built on harmonic exploration and human virtuosity. Explore with us works by Handel and Vivaldi, Telemann, Albinoni, Purcell, Buxtehude and more.
A “Primarily Piano” Weekend
May 7-8
The piano was in its infancy — a small, fragile instrument — even as Mozart and Beethoven were writing some of its greatest literature. As the repertoire grew, so did the piano, eventually becoming the nine-foot concert grand of today, capable of sounds at once thunderous and intimate. Join us for a special weekend featuring today’s brightest pianists, among them Paul Lewis, Isata Kanneh-Mason, and Charles Richard-Hamelin, along with masters of the last century including Artur Rubinstein, Alicia de Larrocha, and Sviatoslav Richter.
Memorial Day Weekend
May 28-30
An extended weekend celebrating American composers and performers, with lots of patriotic music on Monday to honor the men and women who have given so much for our country.
Request Programs
Thank you for making our request programs a success! The Classical Station now gives you two weekly opportunities to ask for your classical music favorites. All-Request Friday airs from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. The Saturday Evening Request Program airs from 6 p.m. until midnight. Submit your advance requests online or on our app.