classical music

Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies celebrate the birthdays of composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Gustav Holst. We'll hear violinist Mayu Kishima bring warmth to Shostakovich's searing A minor Violin Concerto and Michael Stern conduct's Holst's "Walt Whitman" Overture. Also, guest conductor Teddy Abrams leads the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus in a recent performance of Holst's celestial audience favorite: "The Planets."

On one hand it’s one of the most famous pieces of classical music. On the other, when was the last time you heard it in a concert hall? We’ll show some love to this amazing overture that’s really a tone poem with a finale that is second to none.

The world lost a great musician and great advocate for music in the passing of André Watts. We’ll hear recordings from different stages of his distinguished career in works long associated with him.

Hear the Kansas City Symphony perform works by Joseph Haydn and Dmitri Shostakovich. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies clear up the myth of Haydn's "Miracle" Symphony No. 96 and explore the emotional depth of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor as arranged for string orchestra. We'll also hear a recent performance of his searing Symphony No. 5 in a performance led by guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein.

The Last Night of the Proms is one of the most joyous events in classical music. There’s a degree of enthusiasm and audience participation that’s hard to top. We’ll hear live recordings from over the years on the same weekend as the 2023 Last Night. Don’t miss it!

It may surprise you that 12-tone composer Arnold Schoenberg had a deep connection to and love of the music of Bach and Brahms. We’ll hear two of his transcriptions that transform the originals into glorious works for full orchestra.

In the continuing series of music inspired by Shakespeare, enjoy colorful works inspired by Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra and more. It seems there is no end to the ways composers have been inspired by the Bard’s words to create marvelous music.

There is a multitude of overtures out there, and we just don’t hear them often enough. Enjoy these gems of the repertoire - familiar and unfamiliar - in performances that set them apart.

Beethoven’s final piano concerto was the only one he never performed. His deafness robbed him of that experience, but what he imagined in his mind is truly glorious. Hear a fascinating, intensely personal interpretation by Glenn Gould that gives new perspective to this very familiar masterpiece.

Violist Victor Diaz and violinist Jose Ramirez stopped by the Classical KC studio to play Colombian music and to talk about life as international music students in Kansas City.

This week, Michael Stern and Dan Margolies continue to celebrate the life and work of Leonard Bernstein. We'll hear his Suite from "On the Waterfront," "Three Meditations from Mass" and "Chichester Psalms." We'll also hear Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto in A minor and the rollicking "Academic Festival Overture" by Johannes Brahms.

Join co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies for a birthday celebration of Leonard Bernstein and Claude Debussy. We'll hear Bernstein's enduring Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story," and Symphony No. 2: "The Age of Anxiety" along with Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun" and "En blanc et noir." Plus, we'll hear a fun work from contemporary American composer Jonathan Leshnoff called "Starburst."