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Classical KC extends its local reach to re-broadcast the most recent performances by the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to the music, these broadcasts include backstage interviews with soloists, conductors and orchestra members.
These broadcasts are produced by St. Louis Public Radio and made possible in partnership with St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Hosts
Rod Milam
St. Louis Public Radio
Jonathan Ahl
St. Louis Public Radio
Commentators
Lauren Eldridge Stewart
Assistant Professor of Music at Washington University
Jennifer Gartley
Director of Programming and Applied Music at Washington University
*An agreement with the St. Louis Symphony allows us to share audio for this program up to two weeks after the program's original air date.*
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The Magic Flute is a story that blends fairy tale and philosophy. One of Mozart’s most brilliant orchestral scores, this magnificent, extravagant opera-in-concert production combines the talents of the SLSO, a cast of acclaimed vocalists including Kansas City born tenor Ben Bliss, and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and Children's Chorus. -
Humanity is at the core of this transformative program that includes Sergei Prokofiev's wartime Fifth Symphony, and RE|Member by Reena Esmail. And composer Billy Childs expresses trauma, resilience, and empowerment within the Black American experience through his poignant symphonic poem, Diaspora, brought to life by saxophone soloist Steven Banks. -
Conductor Dima Slobodeniouk joins the SLSO for the first time, leading the orchestra in Peter Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Wu Wei plays a stunning concerto by Finnish composer Jukka Tiensuu on the sheng, a mouth organ and one of the oldest-known Chinese instruments, dating back more than 3,000 years. Plus, we'll hear Lotta Wennäkoski’s Flounce. -
The SLSO and St. Louis Dance Theatre come together in an adventurous collaboration to imagine Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite in an entirely new way. Ballet music from Claude Debussy and Albert Roussel complete a program that celebrates partnerships between dance and music. -
Music Director Stéphane Denève and the SLSO break out the bubbly for a sparkling New Year’s Eve Celebration, simulcast LIVE on St. Louis Public Radio and Classical KC. Revel in an evening of lively music, from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Bernstein’s Candide Overture to Bizet’s Selections from L’Arlésienne and more. -
Handel’s Messiah draws us in time and time again. Nicholas McGegan, one of the world’s foremost experts on Handel’s music, conducts the SLSO and St. Louis Symphony Chorus in this beloved holiday tradition. -
Clara Schumann’s Three Romances are wistful and intimate, gracefully opening this concert led by frequent SLSO guest conductor John Storgårds, and Cellist Kian Soltani performs Haydn’s Cello Concerto. Then, a musical kaleidoscope takes shape in Shostakovich’s final symphony.
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The SLSO presents Ludwig van Beethoven’s personal favorite piece—his boisterous Symphony No. 7. We'll also hear Béla Bartók's Dance Suite, and pianist Joyce Yang’s performance of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini centers this concert, which also features conductor Kevin John Edusei’s SLSO debut.
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Igor Stravinsky’s complete score to the 1910 ballet The Firebird revolutionized orchestral music while reimagining an age-old fairy tale. Adding charge to this program is Guillaume Connesson’s Maslenitsa, whcih brims with the energy of a Slavic holiday festival. -
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem reflects on war, across all generations and continents and this musical call for reconciliation has been called a contemporary masterpiece. The SLSO is joined by three world-renowned vocalists, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs to create one of the most expansive ranges of emotion and sound imaginable.
