Rudolf Buchbinder talks with Jim Cunningham about playing all five Beethoven concertos in a single weekend at Heinz Hall October 26th and 28th 2023. He says it is not a big deal, that Beethoven and Mozart did it all the time even though it has never been done in Pittsburgh since the 1967 concerts of Rudolf Serkin and William Steinberg at the Syria Mosque. Buchbinder discusses his love for Beethoven and where he feels his presence in his favorite city Vienna. Does he know who The Immortal...

Pittsburgh born rapper Frzy returns to WQED where he won an Emmy award for his "Wont You Be My Neighbor" video joining Christian Kriegeskotte who has composed the orchestral score for an evening of Frzy fun at Heinz Hall with Moon Doh conducting November 8. DJ Solo and Frzy’s The Faculty with singers and more mark the 50th anniversary of hip hop in style. Frzy talks about the positive flow of his message with Jim Cunningham.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Vice-President of Artistic Planning Mary Persin about tonight's (10/18) PSO360 concert as Pittsburgh Symphony musicians take center stage for an intimate evening of music in collaboration with the landmark Pittsburgh Violins of Hope community project. She also talks about upcoming PSO concerts she's looking forward to and about the special Violins of Hope concert taking place in November.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Moon Doh stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk about the concerts he's conducting this weekend called "Disney: The Sound of Magic."

Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Conductor Jacob Joyce joins Jim Cunningham and Erin Lynn, Director of Audience Experience, to speak about the Disrupt concert "Ludwig Grooves" with Manfred Honeck conducting Beethoven’s Seventh and the John Adams "Short Ride in a Fast Machine." The Transformation Fizz cocktail and mocktail can be taken in to the concert hall. Arrive early for fun with the photo booths and optional wigs, art from the Carnegie Museum, Attack Theater Dancers and Jacob Joyce...

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham interviews Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck, guest soloist Helene Grimaud and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Melia Tourangeau during intermission of our live broadcast on Friday September 29th, 2023.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham had a chance to interview Helene Grimaud at Heinz Hall before she plays the Schumann Piano Concerto this weekend with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She talks about the concerto, her love of playing in Pittsburgh and if she celebrates Halloween.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra opens its 2023-2024 Mellon Grand Classics Season this weekend with music by Gabriela Ortiz and Sergei Rachmaninoff, with Helene Grimaud playing the Schumann Piano Concerto. Music Director Manfred Honeck stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk with Jim Cunningham about the concert, the Gala with Renee Fleming and much more.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians John Moore and Neal Berntsen discussed with Jim Cunningham live on air during WQED-FM's fall funder about the Musicians of Steel 5k Run and Walk on September 30th at 10am in Millvale. 100% of the race entry fees go towards the PSO Musicians Care Fund that is a non-profit that support local community and school programs that have lost funding. They also talk about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's newest CD featuring Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. Visit...

Superstar soprano Renee Fleming sat down with Music Director Manfred Honeck in the Fifth Floor dressing room to talk about their Pittsburgh Symphony "Now is the Time" Gala concert at Heinz hall September 23, 2023 recalling Renee’s first years in Indiana, PA and Ridgeway. Manfred Honeck answers the question - is Renee Fleming a diva? Renee discusses her Kennedy Center honor at the end of the year with Dionne Warwick, Queen Latifah, Billy Crystal and Barry Gibb. Jim Cunningham asks about her...

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Moon Doh stopped by the QED Morning Show with Jim Cunningham to talk about the "Summer Shorts" series of concerts the orchestra is doing this summer.

Pianist Igor Levit will play the Gershwin Piano Concerto this weekend with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He spoke with WQED-FM's Anna Singer about the piece.

June 9th through the 11, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will World Premiere "Forging Steel" by composer Stacy Garrop. Stacy spoke with WQED-FM's Anna Singer about the piece.

WQED-FM's Anna Singer spoke with Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Melia Tourangeau about the PSO's concert this Friday through Sunday that features the Pittsburgh Ballet, two commissions and features Igor Levit with Gershwin's piano concerto. They also talk about the League of American Orchestra meetings taking place in Pittsburgh.

Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado speaks with Jim Cunningham in the conductor’s dressing room after rehearsal on May 18, 2023 about the Stravinsky Rite of Spring and it’s ferocity, sense of danger and riot inducing nature which he recently recorded in France. He explains what composer Igor Stravinsky meant when he said Herbert von Karajan’s Rite of Spring featured a “Hootchie Kootchie tempo”; he speaks about his personal approach and about his recent recordings for Harmonia Mundi of Schumann,...

Pianist Alice Sara Ott tells Jim Cunningham about her long association with the Edvard Grieg Concerto, playing it in Norway, visiting the Grieg House and playing his piano, recording it with Esa Pekka Salonen , her ten CDs for DG, growing up in Germany and home in Munich, her fashion sense and design work and how delighted she is to make her Pittsburgh debut.

Korean born pianist Seong–Jin Cho returns to Heinz Hall and the Pittsburgh Symphony conducted by Manfred Honeck April 21, 22 and 23 2023 in the Ravel Piano Concerto in G. He’s played it many times for a pianist who is 28 years old and in this conversation with Jim Cunningham, explains the special moments of the French masterpiece. Fresh from his solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York where he played music by Handel featured on his latest DG cd, Seong-Jin shares what he’s working on for...

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony including David McCarroll, Concetmaser; Tatjana Mead Chamis, viola; Dylan Naroff, violin; and cellist Angela Park joined Jim Cunningham to discuss their performance of suppressed composers including Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff and Mieceslaw Weinberg in the Chatham University Chapel, 7pm on April 18. Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the cornerstone program of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. It is the day set aside to remember the...

Jader Bignamini makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut with Shostakovich Tenth Symphony and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto played by Kiril Gerstein - April 14th and 16th, 2023 with a special Disrupt concert on the 15th with a more casual concert presentation. Maestro Bignamini speaks about the Tenth and Beethoven, plus gives Jim Cunningham a summary of his early years in Crema, Italy not far from Cremona. He says he is delighted to make several debuts this season and is enjoying his second...

Jim Cunningham spoke with Guest Conductor Daniele Rustioni and pianist Francesco Piemontesi during intermission of WQED-FM's live broadcast of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on March 31, 2023.

Daniele Rustioni makes his Heinz Hall debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony March 31st and April 2nd with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, the Brahms First Piano Concerto with Francesco Piemontesi, and Unsuk Chin’s "Subito Con Forza." It’s a high wire act because he is also conducting the Metropolitan Opera’s Falstaff during the same weekend with a Saturday matinee live broadcast on radio and to theaters with the HD series. He told the orchestra his Mother will be watching in Italy so it must...

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony visit Teutonia Maennerchor on Phineas Street, Northside to present Triumph of the Misfits in the Discovery and Drinks series with Schubert’s Death and the maiden Quartet and Ravel’s String Quartet on March 30 at 7pm. Each ticket includes a selection from the bar. Pittsburgh Symphony Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Marty Bates will host. In May, Assistant Conductor Moon Doh will present the next program in the series with Stravinsky’s...

Composer Sir James MacMillan joins Jim Cunningham in the WQED-FM studio just hours before his world premiere to share his thoughts about his new music heard for the first time on commission from the Pittsburgh Symphony - March 17th ,18th and 19th, 2023. Her tears fell with the dews at even will be recorded along with the Mozart Requiem for Reference. He wrote the music and found the words of Tennyson From Mariana that seemed to fit. Sir James has known Principal Flute Lorna McGhee since she...

The Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony runs down the concerts of March 7 with Lang Lang playing the Saint-Saens 2nd Concerto and March 10th and 12th with Franz Schmidt’s Fourth Symphony for the first time at Heinz Hall, along with Emanuel Ax playing Chopin’s Second Concerto . The weekend of March 17, 18 and 19, Manfred Honeck conducts his personal version of the Mozart Requiem which will be recorded for the Reference label with narrator F. Murray Abraham and soloists with the...

Emanuel Ax plays the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Chopin with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Friday March 10 and Saturday March 12 at 2:30 at Heinz Hall. Jim Cunningham joined Mr. Ax to talk about Chopin, the love of his life George Sand, Ax's long association with the composer including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, recording the concerto twice with Eugene Ormandy and Sir Charles Mackerras plus doing crosswords, a new cd on the way from Yo Yo Ma and much more in this interview...