Beethoven walks into a bar...

Music Director Michael Stern joins Michael Gordon and concertmaster Jun Iwasaki to talk about his upcoming final season with the Kansas City Symphony. We also talk about his recently announced successor, Matthias Pintscher, and how he feels proud to hand over the keys to the hot-rod orchestra he’s helped to build for the last twenty years.

In this episode we talk with Vietnam veteran, voice artist, actor, musician, and longtime host for the Kansas City Symphony’s Memorial Day Celebration at the Station, Jim Birdsall. From his humble beginnings in North Dakota, to the jungles of Vietnam, to the quiet peacefulness of his home recording studio in Kansas City where he records his voice for the likes of CNBC, and NFL Films, Jim is a man who uses his voice like a musical instrument to draw listeners into any story he tells. Today, he’s using that iconic voice to tell his own fascinating story.

As Memorial Day approaches and the KC Symphony prepares for another Celebration at the Station, Beethoven Walks into a Bar revisits our conversation with Tim Donley of the band The Resilient. Tim, Mike, Stephanie, and our pal Jason Seber chat about making music in quarantine, the therapeutic power of art and dirty martinis. Hear Tim and The Resilient live at Celebration at the Station on Sunday, May 28. Visit kcsymphony.org for more information.

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, Mike and Stephanie are joined by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke who is town to sing Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd with the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus. We talk about Sasha's work with former podcast guests Caroline Shaw, Gabe Kahane, Nico Muhly and Joel Thompson on her Grammy award winning album "How do I Find you?" and discuss exploring "new music" vs. "new to you" music. Sasha also shares how finding a good coffee shop can make her feel at home no matter where she is in the world. We also reveal our Top 5 works for solo voice and orchestra. Listen now for all of this and more, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar.

Episode 705 Playlist

ALBUM: Sasha Cooke: "How Do I Find You?"

Teddy Abrams makes his second appearance on Beethoven Walks into a Bar this week, joining Mike and guest hosts Joe LeFevre (tuba) and Jessica Nance (viola). Teddy recently led the orchestra in a program including former podcast guest Caroline Shaw's The Observatory, Holst's The Planets, and Missy Mazzoli's Violin Concerto featuring the dazzling Jenny Koh. Hear how it went, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar!

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, Mike and Stephanie chat with maestro, educator and all-around inspiring human Thomas Wilkins. The King of acronyms, he is currently artistic advisor for education and community engagement and the Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts Conductor of the Boston Symphony (AAECEGYFCCBSO) and a winner of the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society (LBLAAFTEOMS). Thomas is in town conducting the Kansas City Symphony in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Coleridge-Taylor's Suite from Hiawatha, and Neielsen's "Inextinguishable" Symphony March 31-April 2 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Episode 703 Playlist

This week's episode features an off the podium chat with conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher. Stephanie, Gonzalo and return-guest John Klinghammer grill he maestro on this weekend's program, featuring works by Ravel, Scriabin and LIGETI. Matthias describes the French-inspired program as a lush, colorful garden that we can't wait to hear in Helzberg Hall! He also discusses his time studying with legendary composer Pierre Boulez, and of course has a question for Beethoven while drinking a dirty filthy martini. All this and more, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar.

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, Gonzalo and Stephanie chat with guest conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong about his upcoming visit to Kansas City. Francesco leads the Kansas City Symphony in a program of Mason Bates, Mozart and Respighi January 13-15 in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. In this episode, we talk about the importance of introducing performers and audiences to new music and Francesco dares to ask Beethoven, "Why the H*@! are there so many fermatas in the first two movements of the fifth symphony?!" Plus, we recommend listening to tunes from bossa nova to The Who. All this and more, this week on Beethoven walks into a Bar.

Episode 701 Playlist

Sometimes the best gifts are re-gifts. This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar we revisit this gem from Season Two with KCS musicians David Sullivan and Fabrice Curtis and our good friend Jason Seber. This holiday carol-filled episode is sure to ramp up your holiday spirit! Happy Holidays from all of us here at the Kansas City Symphony and Beethoven Walks into a Bar!

Name that Christmas Carol Playlist

Happy Thanksgiving from Beethoven Walks into a Bar! And Happy FIRST Thanksgiving to our guest Aziz Shokhakimov! In this week's episode, we chat off the podium with Aziz who is in town to lead the Kansas City Symphony and fellow Uzbek Behzod Abduraimov in a program of Smetana, Prokofief and Dvořák. Our conversation runs the gamut from programming to jellied cranberry sauce, including a Top 5 things you were doing at age 13. Here's a hint: only one of us was making our conducting debut. All this and more, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar.