Beethoven walks into a bar...

We're back!! Season Two of Beethoven Walks into a Bar is here! In this episode, we sit down with one of our favorite Symphony pairs, clarinetist John Klinghammer and cellist Maria Crosby. John and Maria tell us about the porch concerts they've presented in their neighborhood throughout the summer, how the orchestra has grown in their time here in KC, and we have a great time playing our own version of the Newlywed Game.

Episode 201 Playlist

John and Maria's Covid-64 Video

This week in our Season One Finale, we will be answering YOUR questions.  Many of you have submitted excellent questions over the past month or so, inquiring about careers at the Symphony, audition tips, the rehearsal process, performance practice, and much more.  We dive in and answer as many of them as possible this week in our Ask Us Anything episode. 

Look for all new episodes of Beethoven Walks into a Bar as we kick off Season Two in early September! Enjoy your August and thanks for listening!

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, it’s all about flutes and food. We go for another round of Bar Talk with associate principal flute, Shannon Finney. She’s gathered up quite a following for her weekly porch concerts in front of her home in Waldo. We also learn about her passion for cooking, and what it’s like to sit next to Mike for 13 long years.  

Spotify Playlist

Kansas City Symphony – Britten’s Orchestra

EMMANUEL PAHUD | Flute solo from "Daphnis et Chloé" by Ravel

Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome by R. Strauss

Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Flute Solo

This week, meet the biggest and baddest brass instrument of all, the Tuba! Principal Tuba Joe LeFevre joins us for another riveting round of Bar Talk and we get the low down on the lowest brass instrument in the band. This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar.

Spotify Playlist

Mussorgsky/Ravel Bydlo from Pictures at an Exhibition

Symphony fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat

Each season our musicians need thousands of individual pieces of printed music prepared, delivered to them for preparation, and placed on-stage for concerts. This week, we talk with Kansas City Symphony principal librarian, Elena Lence Tally and learn what it takes to make this massive task happen smoothly for every performance week in, and week out. We cap off the conversation with another round of Bar Talk and discuss mojitos and chocolate cookie recipes this week on Beethoven Walks Into a Bar.

Spotify Playlist

The podcast is called “Beethoven Walks into a Bar,” which means we have to talk about the big man, LVB, every so often. This week, we discuss Beethoven’s epic ninth symphony, chat with our good friend and president of the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Kim Gear, and learn a not-so-secret family cocktail recipe that you’ll be sippin’ all summer long.

Spotify Playlist

Benjamin Britten conducts his War Requiem

This week, we sit down with one of our favorite American composers and Mike’s fellow Rice classmate, Caroline Shaw.  Caroline is without a doubt one of the most versatile and creative musicians in the Classical world right now and is also the youngest composer to ever win the Pulitzer Prize in Music at age 30. Hear about her unique works for a variety of ensembles as well as her love of the Beethoven Harp Quartet and otters.  

Spotify Playlist

Roomful of Teeth: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Kanye West – Say You Will ft. Caroline Shaw

Kansas City has a lot to be proud of – the KC Symphony, the Super-Bowl winning Chiefs, burnt ends… but something that is all too often overlooked if you’re not from here is the city’s incredible jazz scene. This week we talk with our good friend and a powerful force in the jazz trumpet universe, Hermon Mehari.  We look into the crossover between the jazz and classical worlds, hear all about Hermon’s brand new album “A Change for the Dreamlike”, and talk about the natural wine, fine cuisine, and the jazz scene in Paris.

Spotify Playlist

Hermon Mehari – A Change for the Dreamlike

Claude Bolling Suite No. 1

Bobby Watson plays Amazing Grace on the Best of Bank of America Celebration at the Station

This week, we’re talking to our good friend and Principal Horn of the Kansas City Symphony, Albert Suarez. Albert will tell us why the horn is not only the greatest We also have some fun playing our own version of “Around the Horn” with Albert, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar. 

Spotify Playlist

Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall – Shostakovich Symphony No. 5

Schumann Konzertstuck for Four Horns and Orchestra

Strauss Second Horn Concerto – Radovan Vlatkovic

Ask Us Anything! Your question may be answered on a future episode of “Beethoven Walks into a Bar!”

Service through music is at the heart of everything we do. It’s a big topic, and a big topic deserves a big guest, the maestro himself, our music director Michael Stern. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Issac Stern’s birth, we talk about his legacy of advocacy for the arts, and how Michael continues the family tradition here in Kansas City, and all over the world. 

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ekvRjJF5SLssDgHurbZ7U?si=yZprZWcGR0uML-sbW0muuQ

Isaac Stern - Life’s Virtuoso

Isaac Stern performing Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor

Kansas City Symphony Mixology