Voice of the Arts

Pittsburgh Opera presents Verdi’s “La Traviata” March 16th through the 24th at the Benedum Center. WQED-FM’s Anna Singer spoke with Pittsburgh-born baritone Michael Chioldi, who sings the role of Giorgio Germont.

Pittsburgh Opera presents Verdi’s “La Traviata” March 16th through the 24th at the Benedum Center. WQED-FM’s Anna Singer spoke with Kristine McIntyre, the opera’s Stage Director.

Pittsburgh Opera presents Verdi’s “La Traviata” March 16th through the 24th at the Benedum Center. WQED-FM’s Anna Singer spoke with Pittsburgh Opera’s Music Director, Antony Walker, about the music from the opera.

Co-artistic director and baroque violinist with Chatham Baroque, Andrew Fouts, discussed live with Jim Cunningham about Chatham Baroque’s upcoming annual celebration of Bach. This concert, The Joy of Bach, features bass-baritone Jonathan Woody, oboist Kathryn Montoya, violist Daniel Elyar, violinist Paul Miller, cellist Rebecca Humphrey Diederich, bassist J. Tracy Mortimore, harpsichord and organist Justin Wallace, and an organ prelude by Alan Lewis. The concert will be at the Calvary Episcopal Church on Friday, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th. Andrew highlights this large group for the concert, the program they will be performing, including the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, and the controversy surrounding Bach’s birthday in March. Visit chathambaroque.org to learn more and find tickets.

Pianist and Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, David Korevaar, discusses with Anna Singer his newly released CD, Piano Quintets, that features pieces by Luigi Perrachio and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco with the Carpe Diem String Quartet. This CD includes a world premiere recording of Perrachio’s Quintet for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano and Tedesco’s Quintet No. 1 in F Major for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano Op. 69. David highlights how he found an original, unpublished manuscript of Perrachio’s Quintet in Turin, Italy while conducting extensive research on the composer. David also remembers the start of this project with the Carpe Diem String Quartets, Charles “Chas” Wetherbee who passed away from cancer in early 2023. David’s next project is recording all of Beethoven’s Sonatas which will no doubt take him a while. Listen to WQED-FM to hear David Korevaar’s Piano Quintet CD or find it online.

Director and co-artistic director at City Theatre, Monteze Freeland, and sound designer, Howard Patterson, discuss City Theatre’s performance of Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play, FAT HAM. Written by James Ijames, FAT HAM is a modern revamp of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set at a backyard family cookout as Juicy (Hamlet) grapples with avenging his father’s death. This dark comedy examines love, loss, and a particular set of daddy issues. Monteze and Howard discuss their approach to creating Juicy’s world and the impact of a play that centers on a black queer man. Monteze highlights the strength of the cast and crew in creating a safe environment for this play to thrive, while Howard touches upon representation in theatre in Pittsburgh. FAT HAM opens tonight, March 8th and will run until March 24th. This production was co-produced with TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Visit https://citytheatrecompany.org/play/fat-ham/ to learn more and find tickets.

Violist with the Academy String Quartet, Warren Davidson, discussed with Jim Cunningham live on the morning show about the Quartet’s upcoming concerts in the Pittsburgh region. The first concert of Dances and Madrigals will be this Sunday, March 10th at 4 pm at the Central Presbyterian Church in Tarentum. Other concerts include Thursday March 14th, Friday March 15th, and Sunday April 21st. The Quartet includes members Jorie Butler-Geyer and Leah Givelber, violins, Warren Davidson, viola, and Cecilia Caughman, cello. Warren and Jim discussed the program that includes Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Op 64. and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E-Flat Op. 12 that was written when he was only 19. They also listened to some of the Quartet’s previously recorded songs, including Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre recorded in our studios! Visit WQED’s Cultural Calendar to see all of the Academy String Quartet’s concerts.

Music Director and Conductor of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic, Daniel Nesta Curtis, discusses the Philharmonic’s upcoming concert, Orchestral Carnival, on Saturday, March 16th at 4 pm at The Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center. Daniel highlights this colorful program that features Dvorak’s Carnival Overture, Haydn’s “The Clock” Symphony, and a performance of the Elgar Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by soloist Nathan Choe. Nathan was the winner of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic’s 2023 Lorraine Lippert Concerto Competition and had blown away the judges with his sensitive rendition of Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Daniel discusses Nathan’s impressive CV as the principal cellist with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, the details of the Concerto Competition, and the closing performance of the Philharmonic’s season in May that features a new composition by the 2024 Pittsburgh Philharmonic Young Composers’ Competition winner. Visit https://pghphil.org/ to learn more and find tickets.

Pianist Nanette Kaplan Solomon and violist John McCarthy came to the studio to perform a piece from their upcoming Tuesday Musical Club concert on Tuesday, March 12th at 1 pm at Rodef Shalom’s Levy Hall. The program, “Hummel Along”, features Chamber Music of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, including his unusual arrangement of his Septet in D Minor for piano, winds and strings. Nanette and John play live another piece in the program, Hummel’s 3rd Movement of Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op 5, No. 3. John discusses his love for Hummel’s music, and his desire to create a program around it. John also talks about his performances in the pitt at the Benedum Center. This is a free concert with a livestream. Visit https://www.tuesdaymusicalclub.org/ to learn more.

Bass-Baritone Jonathan Woody discusses his upcoming concert with Chatham Baroque in Joy of Bach, a program featuring Bach’s Cantata, Ich Habe genug (BWV 82) and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. The Joy of Bach will be Friday, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th at 7:30 pm at Calvary Episcopal Church. Jonathan reminisces with Anna Singer about his first time singing Bach’s Cantata 82, and how his love for it grew until it was his favorite to perform. Jonathan also first visited Pittsburgh as a kid when his father had an art show at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and has since fallen in love with the city of bridges. Chatham Baroque will also be performing the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 and selections from Bach’s Cantata 36 with Kathryn Montoya (oboe), Daniel Elyar (viola), Paul Miller (violin), Rebecca Humphrey Diederich (cello), J. Tracy Mortimore (bass), Justin Wallace (harpsichord and organ), and Alan Lewis (organ prelude). Visit chathambaroque.org to learn more and find tickets.

Artistic Director of Corningworks, Beth Corning, discusses her upcoming performance of “What did you think you just heard me say?!” running from March 15th to the 24th at City Theatre’s Lillie Theatre in the South Side. This work addresses the ever-growing challenge we continue to face with interpersonal communication, interpretations, and our knee-jerk reactions to what people say. Beth asks, can not just listen to each other, but hear what we are trying to say? Beth also highlights how this work is part of her Glue Factory Projects that highlights performers over the age of 40 in multi-disciplinary dancetheater pieces. Beth hopes that this semi-humorous piece creates conversations in people about their conversations with one another. Visit https://www.corningworks.org/upcoming-productions.html to learn more and find tickets.

The Rosamunde Quartet stopped by WQED-FM on Tuesday March 5th, 2024 to perform live on the air! They perform at the Benedum Center on Wednesday March 6th, 7:30pm for the Chamber Music Pittsburgh concert series. The members of the Quartet, Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin; Shanshan Yao, violin; Teng Li, viola; and Nathan Vickery, cello spoke with Anna Singer about the concert. They also played the opening movement of Haydn’s String Quartet in C major, Op. 20 No. 2 and the final movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet # 15 in A minor, Op. 132 live from our studio.