Voice of the Arts

Opera star Rolando Villazon returns to Pittsburgh for a recital on Sunday November 21st, 4pm at Pittsburgh Opera headquarters. Rolando was a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist in 1998-1999. WQED-FM’s Anna Singer spoke with him about his time as a resident artist, his upcoming performances, and how he is a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan!

Maria Sensi Sellner talks about Decameron Opera Coalition’s presentation of “Heroes”, seven world premiere opera short films presented in three episodes, all framed by original art songs by Hilliard and Boresi, featuring renowned soprano Karen Slack, mezzo-soprano Tesia Kwarteng, tenor Javier Abreu, and baritone John Castillo. Maria spoke with WQED-FM’s Anna Singer.

Chris Cox, Director of Marketing and Communications at Pittsburgh Opera has the story for Jim Cunningham on the Rising Stars Concert at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters October 3 6pm at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters with the Resident Artists. It’s free with support from the Regional Asset District but reservations are necessary. You’ll hear opera hits and some discoveries presented in a high wire audition format. Chis explores the season with Magic Flute in November at the Benedum, Carmen and brand new operas sung by world clas singers. There are also concerts in Market Square and Brown Bag programs for free. Wear your mask and bring the vaccination card.

Matthew Rygelski spoke with New York City clarinetist Pavel Vinnitsky about his life as a performer, learning classical and klezmer music, teaching during the pandemic, his opinion about Pittsburgh’s classical music scene, and gives some advice to aspiring musicians.

Susan Medley, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale, has been rehearsing online since mid-September, so they can present a Virtual “Sounds of the Season” Concert online on Friday, December 11 at 8:00 pm. (It’s free.) The singers have recorded themselves and compiled their videos into a virtual choir. Susan says ” It’s pretty amazing how well it is coming together, particularly since they weren’t hearing each other as they were singing. I am assembling the audio part of it and Janine Michael, the sister of two of the PCC singers, is putting the “Brady Bunch faces” on the screen and adding some other video as well. It’s incredibly labor-intensive putting the final product together, but it’s keeping the choir singing in some way and the singers have really enjoyed making music and seeing each other on screen every week.”

Chris Rawson – Post Gazette theater critic and long time contributor to the WQED-FM Arts Magazine – fills us in on “Off The Record 19 2.0 Pandemic Edition.” The event takes place in the virtual world October 8th with Ken Rice host and features great moments from the first two decades taking a light hearted satirical look at the local scene with the Mayor, WQED pledge efforts, Sophie Masloff, and other notables making cameo appearances all to raise funds for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Foodbank. Chris begins with a rundown of his efforts on behalf of the August Wilson House. Details on “Off the Record” can be found on the event Facebook page.

Yang Jin is a pipa performer based here in Pittsburgh. She has performed with ensembles like the Silk Road Ensemble and Afro Yaqui, and she recently created her new initiative, Yang Jin and Friends. Reputed as the leading pipa soloist of her generation, Yang Jin tells us more about the instrument, her upcoming performances, and her recent collaborations — and she even plays some music for us. Hear it all on our new Voice of the Arts podcast!

Film Pittsburgh Executive Director, Kathryn Spitz Cohan, stopped by WQED-FM to talk about their organization, their mission and the importance of RAD funding.

Vice-Chair of the RAD Board, Dusty Kirk, spoke with WQED-FM’s Jim Cunningham about RAD, it’s 25 year history, and its plans for the future.

Mrs. Fred Rogers, Joanne Rogers, speaks with Jim Cunningham in the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED about the movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” made by Tom Hanks in the studio where 500 episodes of Mr Rogers neighborhood was produced for PBS. Joanne remembers her late husband and his work dating back to 1954 at WQED. She talks about the 10 year period of script development and production details – including the number of takes it took to get the tossing of a sneaker from one hand to the other, coaching Tom Hanks on Mr Rogers voice inflection and famous phrases, where the film differs from actual events, the plans for the premiere, and much more. Introduction by WQED CEO Deborah Acklin. Recorded September 26, 2019.

Lynette Garlan of the Pittsburgh Savoyards, stopped by WQED-FM to talk about the importance of RAD funding for their organization.

Carnegie Mellon University professor Monique Mead brought in three students from her Art of Audience Engagement class to discuss their ongoing projects from the semester. Theresa Abalos discusses a project involving Afghan Refugee women in Pittsburgh, Emily Galllagher discusses ‘Yoga with Musicians: A Transformative Yoga Experience with Live Music’, and Evan Tegley discusses ‘Virtuosi in the Making’; a project involving CMU’s Osher students.