Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra joined WQED-FM live on Public Radio Music Day (October 23, 2024), to play three pieces from Stravinsky's Tale of the Soldier (Histoire du soldat). They played The Soldier's March, Airs by the Stream, the Little Concert. Anna Singer talked with Douglas Rosenthal, David Sogg, and Jeremy Branson about the piece and the group. Members of the group included: Ron Samuels, clarinet; David Sogg, bassoon; Neal Berntsen, trumpet; Douglas Rosenthal,...

Pianist and Conductor Christoph Eschenbach returns to Pittsburgh after many years as Music Director of the Philadelphia, Houston and National Symphony orchestras. He talks about his program of Schumann’s Second Symphony, and the Brahms Violin Concerto with Ray Chen. He remembers his first Pittsburgh concert in 1972 with William Steinberg and hundreds of other concerts he played and conducted at Heinz Hall. He points to the recent Ukraine benefit concert he gave at Carnegie Hall in New York...

WQED-FM broadcast the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert live on Friday September 27, 2024. Jim Cunningham spoke with WQED-FM's Anna Singer, PSO Principal Cellist Anne Martindale Williams and Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic Jeremy Reynolds after the concert.

WQED-FM broadcast the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert live on Friday September 27, 2024. Jim Cunningham spoke with PSO Music Director Manfred Honeck and guest soloist - violinist Augustin Hadelich backstage during intermission.

WQED-FM broadcast the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert live on Friday September 27, 2024. Jim Cunningham spoke with WQED President and CEO Jason Jedlinski, WQED Board Chair Emeritus Millie Myers, and PSO Contrabassoon James Rodgers backstage prior to the concert.

Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Percussionist Andrew Reamer spoke with Jim Cunningham just a few hours before the final concert of the Pittsburgh Symphony European Festival tour September 7 2024 in Vienna, Austria. He talks about the special events of the tour which began at the Salzburg Festival. It is an emotional event for Mr. Reamer because it is his last concert as he will begin his retirement after 35 years. He looks back at some of the special events that took place having been hired by...

The Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony David McCarroll spoke about the two German European Tour concerts at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg Germany. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was on its way an afternoon rehearsal with Yefim Bronfman playing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. The program consists of John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Stravinsky’s Suite From the Firebird and Puccini’s Turandot Suite. David discusses the tour so far with Anne Sophie Mutter, who will be...

The Principal Horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony, William Caballero, and Principal Oboe, Cynthia Koledo de Almeida, talk about the 2024 European Festivals Tour just before the first of two concerts at the Elb Philharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. They describe the extraordinary success of the Salzburg Festival concert, the beauty of the South Tirol in Merano Italy, and the confetti at the end of the concert in Dusseldorf with Anne Sophie Mutter. The Pittsburgh Symphony has met the challenges of very...

Piano superstar Yefim Bronfman joined Jim Cunningham in the third floor rehearsal room at Heinz Hall to discuss his interpretation of the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto which he will play on August 15 at the Pittsburgh Symphony's European Tour sendoff celebration, at the Salzburg Festival, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and at Merano in the Italian Alps. He talks about his tour routine, playing outside, his recent performance at the Tanglewood Festival of the Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy, how author...

Pittsburgh Symphony Music Director, Manfred Honeck, talks about the upcoming European festivals tour starting with a visit to the prestigious Salzburg festival. He talks with Jim Cunningham about the special atmosphere at Salzburg and how it is Mozart’s birthplace, the country where Honeck was born, and where the Sound Of Music was filmed over 60 years ago! Maestro runs through the special qualities of each stop on the tour and how pleased he is to be working with Yefim Bronfman, Anne Sophie...

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director and composer Michael Daugherty backstage immediately after the world premiere of Daugherty's "Songs of the Open Road," during our live broadcast on Friday June 7, 2024.

Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Oboe Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida and Principal Horn William Caballero have joined pianist Rodrigo Ojeda to record Three Rivers Trios on the Crystal label released May 27. The disc features two pieces written for them: Chris Massa’s Scenes From Chautauqua Lake and Eric Ewazen’s Three Rivers Trio along with several other first recordings of the Mozart trio for oboe horn and piano arranged by Eric Naumann from the Quintet k. 407, Robert Kahn’s Serenade, and Heinrich...

Jim Cunningham spoke with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor who plays the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this weekend. Benjamin talks about the piece, his latest recording projects, and more.

Vasily Petrenko returns to Heinz Hall to conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this weekend. He'll conduct Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony and Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Benjamin Grosvenor. Jim Cunningham talks to him about the program, his latest projects and more.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with this weekend's Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra guest conductor, Stephane Deneve. He's conducting music of Ravel, Poulenc and the Gershwin "An American in Paris." He talks about program, working in St. Louis, if he ever sees Leonard Slatkin in town, and if he is a classical radio fan.

Pianist Cedric Tiberghien plays the Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand this weekend with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It's his Heinz Hall debut. WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham got his thoughts on the Ravel concerto, his interests outside of music and more.

Montreal Canada born composer Samy Moussa talks about his Pittsburgh Symphony commission Adgilis Deda ---Hymn for Orchestra - mentioning that it is terrific to have it on a program with one of his favorite composers Anton Bruckner as well as how it was inspired by a person he met in Georgia of the former USSR where he spent an extended period of time. He describes his path so far as a musician studying in Canada, Munich, Germany and now living in Berlin. He is delighted that the Pittsburgh...

Pittsburgh Symphony Music Director Manfred Honeck talks with Jim Cunningham in the grand lobby of Heinz Hall about the Liszt Dante Symphony and this weekend's performances of Beethoven’s Ninth with 3 pieces by Anton Bruckner - Locus Iste, Ave Maria and the Adagio from the String Quintet in F in the arrangement Manfred Honeck and Thomas Ille have made. He also speaks about the Beethoven Ninth and how it is always new including an offstage military band and working with Daniel Singer at the...

Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes returns to the Pittsburgh Symphony to play one of the most challenging piano concertos of all, the Third by Sergei Rachmaninov with Music Director Manfred Honeck. He joins Jim Cunningham in the Grand Lobby of Heinz Hall to talk about the fine points of the Concerto, how he stays " in the pocket" as drummers in jazz and funk bands like to do, comments on the record Rachmaninov made of his own Third, mentions a few favorites from the 37 cd box set of his recordings...

Gilmore and Avery Fisher prize winning pianist Charlie Albright makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut April 12, 13 and 14 with George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for PNC Pops and Saturday morning Fiddlesticks concerts. He’s from Centralia, Washington with a start at age 3 then on to studying at Harvard with an interest in economics and pre medicine but the piano became the main focus. He’s appeared with Yo Yo Ma on numerous occasions often with special circumstances and he is loving the sound...

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins Jim Cunningham to share his thoughts about Camille Saint-Saens and the Egyptian Concerto No. 5 written in uxor and inspired by his visit to the country even weaving a bit of a song he heard from the river. Jean-Yves talks about his Hall of Fame designation at the Hollywood Bowl, his work in the wine region of Burgundy with cellist Gautier Capucon, his interest in jazz, his new cd with Michael Feinstein and his style with couture from Vivienne Westwood.

The long time Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra discusses the Inextinguishable Symphony No 4 by Carl Nielsen, the Bach Toccata and Fugue in d minor in the Skrowacewski transcription and its use on horror films along the way to becoming the best known music by J. S. Bach. Maestro Vanska says he’s living the Finnish equivalent of the free life but enjoys his home in Minnesota, he knows the Finnish wunderkind Klaus Makela and why he is great having just been appointed Music Director in...

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham sat down with conductor Juano Mena, who will conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this weekend in Elgar's Enigma Variations and Sukkot Through Orion's Nebula by James Lee III. Plus, he'll conduct violin works by Ginastera and Sarasate with Hilary Hahn.