Voice of the Arts

Anna Singer spoke with composer Brian Field about his early education with music, his mentors and early compositions, and then his newest works which are Three Passions for our Tortured Planet, (all proceeds from this one go to charities to help fight against climate change) and Brian Field- Vocal Works (which features a social justice song).

Jim Cunningham sits down with Toto Fisher, founding WQED-FM supporter and recipient of the Q Award, during the WQED-FM 50th Anniversary celebration.

Pittsburgh Opera presents “We Shall Not Be Moved” with music by Daniel Bernard Roumain, or DBR.  He stopped by the QED Morning Show with Anna Singer to talk about the opera.

Lynette Garlan and Robert Hockenberry of the Pittsburgh Savoyards talk about their upcoming production of “Thespis,” which is having its Pittsburgh premiere. It runs April 28th-30th and May 5th-7th, with live stream tickets available for the 6th and 7th. They also talked about the lost music from Thespis and why scholars think Sullivan might have done it on purpose.

The Butler County Symphony Orchestra presents “The Golden Age of Hollywood” at the Butler Intermediate High School April 8th 2023 with Music Director Matthew Kraemer who has recently been named the Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic. The program includes scores from film classics by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, Franz Waxman and Miklos Rosza, plus Henry Mancini’s Moon River. Matthew Kraemer runs down the delights of the concert and fills us in on his plans for New Orleans in this conversation with Jim Cunningham.

Tim Kaiser serves as a board member for Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente Museum explaining to Jim Cunningham why you should visit and talking about his Father Lloyd Kaiser who served as President and CEO of  WQED Pittsburgh from 1971 to 1993. Tim credits his Dad for helping him stay grounded in the high energy world of Hollywood and recalls his Father’s pride in building a new tower for WQED to hold the antenna for WQED-FM in 1973 after successfully winning the license for Pittsburgh against the plan to build a state wide network of noncommercial stations that would have been controlled elsewhere.  Lloyd brought his son to the studio to meet Fred Rogers who had Tim sit in the control room and peek in the camera viewfinder. After graduating from Oakmont’s Riverview High School then  Westminster College and starring on the football team  Tim went on to work for Kentucky public television and then took a chance on a new show to be created for NBC by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Tim produced nearly 200 episodes winning two Emmys, a Golden Globe Award and a People’s Choice Award. Seinfeld joined the distinguished company of I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show for ending its run at number one in the ratings. The “show about nothing” changed everything about comedy on American television. Tim Kaiser then produced Will and Grace and 2 broke Girls winning more acclaim. Megan Mulally gave a shout out to Tim from the stage when she won her Emmy for Will and Grace. Tim remembers the “no soup for you!”  Soup Nazi and Elaine’s  dating The Maestro, the sad clown opera references in the show and many more Seinfeld details. Tim did it all while commuting from his home in Hampton for over 14 years in one of the longest commutes to work in Western Pennsylvania history. His home in LA has usually been on standby while Tim made it home for his three kids Adam, Joshua and Michael plus wife and high school sweetheart Kristin.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

The Three Rivers Community Band Festival was begun in order to highlight the community bands in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. The first festival, sponsored by the East Winds Symphonic Band, was presented on April 4, 2004 at the Upper St. Clair Theater.

This year’s festival takes place Saturday March 25th at Franklin Region High School at 2pm.  Festival Founder and Director Roger Schneider, East Winds Symphonic Band conductor Susan Sands, and Nanette Mancuso talk about this year’s festival.

Director Jolanta Lion; Executive Assistant Sowang Kundeling; Treasurer Isaac Fisher; PR Coordinator Miri Leaderman-Bray, and Programming Intern Regis Curtis talk about the CMU International Film Festival taking place March 16th – April 2nd.

The much loved Italian singer Patrizio Buanne returns to Pittsburgh March 17th at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall for a concert and dinner to raise funds for the La Scuola d’Italia Galileo Galilei hosting Two Fundraiser Events to support the opening of its Elementary & Middle School & Italian-American Community Center. The First Event from 4:00pm to 7:00pm is a Cocktail Hour and Formal Gala Dinner at the Soldiers and Sailors Hall Ballroom. The Second Event from 7:30pm to 10:00pm is Patrizio Buanne in Concert at the Soldiers and Sailors Hall Auditorium followed by Autographs of CDs and merchandise.

Patrizio speaks with Jim Cunningham from Naples where he is recording a new album discussing his early years in the musical city of Vienna and his admiration for Mario Lanza and Frank Sinatra even though he has followed his own path in the world of the romantic crooning tradition. The importance of language and learning Italian are very close to Patrizio since he speaks six languages. He promises he will be doing all the hits with a tight band as backup and hopes fans will stretch their budget to support the amazing work of the school lead by Executive Director Angela Hertz, the granddaughter of Eugene Jeep Depaquale. The former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale will be at the event which also honors Christina Mele – the Consul General from Philadelphia, Jack Mascaro, Salvatore Merante, Dennis Astorino and Giuseppe Joe D’Andrea.

Angela Hertz said the school is named for Galileo because he was a scientist, who changed the way we think about the world, and yet he was almost condemned for his discoveries at the time. We want to create a world of independent learners and critical thinkers just like Galileo Galilei. The children learn Italian and English and do third and 4th languages introducing the children to other languages such as Spanish, French, Mandarin, depending on parent requests, and children enrollment.

Beth Dolinar, award winning producer with WQED and WTAE who also writes for the Washington Observer each week speaks with Jim Cunningham about her latest WQED documentary Alone: Isolation Hurts. Social isolation has long been known to affect mental health, but new information shows it can increase the risk of poor physical health and early death. With direct connections to depression, suicide, dementia, stroke, coronary disease and poor sleep, isolation is having an ominous and widespread effect. As many as 40 percent of American adults report feeling cut off from meaningful family and community connection. The COVID pandemic only made things worse with an alarming spike in teenage mental health issues.

Alone: Isolation Hurts introduces a diverse group of people who speak candidly about how isolation exacerbated their experiences with alcoholism, suicide attempts, and emotional trauma, as well as the stigma associated with admitting to being lonely. The program also features ways in which those at risk for isolation’s worst consequences are reaching out to make positive, new social connections.

Dusty Kirk, Vice-Chair of the RAD Board, spoke with WQED-FM’s Anna Singer during the station’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on January 25, 2023.

WQED-FM’s Anna Singer spoke with Annette Banks, producer of the new WQED-TV documentary “Freedom House Ambulance: The First Responders.” Airing on Thursday January 12th at 8pm on WQED, the documentary tells the story of the paramedics of Freedom House Ambulance which was initially conceived to respond to the needs of Pittsburgh’s African American community who often times, couldn’t rely on police and fire departments during an emergency. With rare archival images, the program features the story of inception from an original founder, compelling reflections of surviving paramedics, stories of the world-renowned doctors who trained them, and memories of lifelong Hill District residents.