International Center for Music and the Youth Conservatory of Music at Park University

This week, co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies celebrate the birthday of the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. We'll hear his Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring Behzod Abduraimov, his Violin Concerto No. 2 featuring Gil Shaham and his Symphony No. 3 featuring organist Jan Kraybill. Michael and Dan also explore the life and work of Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz and we'll hear her delightful Overture.

Pianists Mikhail Voskresensky and Stanislav Ioudenitch join Classical KC's Christy L'Esperance for an extended conversation about Mikhail's life and music ahead of his performance in Kansas City. Mikhail shares the story of his harrowing escape during a Nazi attack when he was six years old, and how that experience helped motivate his choice to leave Russia in protest of their 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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.

Experience some of Kansas City's best classical musicians in performance with Classical KC's broadcast of 'Stanislav and Friends 2023' presented by the Park University's International Center for Music. Maria Ioudenitch, Behzod Abduraimov and others take the stage to perform works by Amy Beach, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Modest Mussorgsky and more. Also, Stanislav Ioudenitch performs Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Andres Franco and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra.

This week, hear three masterful concertos interpreted by three masters on their instruments. Emanuel Ax plays Beethoven's "Concerto for Piano No. 5," Vadim Gluzman rips through Sergei Prokofiev's "Concerto No. 2 for Violin," and Behzod Abduraimov tackles Prokofiev's demanding "Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra." Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies offer behind-the-scenes insight and context.

The six finalists in the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition include Ilya Shmukler, who attends Park University’s International Center for Music.

Classical KC speaks with pianist Ilya Shmukler about his first musical inspiration, studying at Park University's International Center for Music, preparing for competitions like the Van Cliburn and playing ping pong. We'll hear Ilya perform music by Bach, Haydn, Scriabin and Stravinsky.

This week we'll listen to the Kansas City Symphony perform another trio of twos: Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto and Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety."