Classics For Kids

By Naomi Lewin

What's Classics For Kids about?

Join host Naomi Lewin as she introduces children to classical music in a fun and entertaining way with this educational outreach program of Cincinnati Public Radio, 90.9 WGUC, and the Charles H. Dater Foundation.

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Classics For Kids episodes:

04.29.2024
The Music of Lili Boulanger
Trinity Le, CFK Intern Today we are joined by guest Marissa Kerbel, a fantastic pianist and teacher, and graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music! Here she talks about the […]
03.26.2024
Celebrating Women’s History Month: Clara Schumann
Trinity Le, CFK Intern Molly Stanford, DMA student and soon-to-be graduate at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, joins us today to talk about Clara Schumann. She was a piano child […]
11.16.2023
Gustav Holst 3: Music for Students (2023)
St. Paul's Girls' School in London has a sign that says: "Gustav Holst wrote The Planets and taught here." Holst composed his St. Paul's Suite for the student orchestra at St. Paul's Girls' School. Many other composers wrote music for...
11.15.2023
Gustav Holst 2: The Planets (2023)
Astronomy is the science that studies the sun, moon, planets, and other objects in the sky. Astrology is not a science – it tries to show how objects in the […]
11.15.2023
Gustav Holst 1: About Gustav Holst (2023)
Born into a family of composers, Gustav Holst wanted to follow in their footsteps. His career included playing in orchestras and serving as head of music at St. Paul's Girls' School for almost thirty years while also composing. He liked music...
02.16.2023
Scott Joplin 1: About Scott Joplin
From a very early age, Scott Joplin supported himself as a performing pianist. Eventually, he earned a living selling his compositions, too. Thanks to Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, the most […]
12.31.2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams 5: Winter in Music
It’s December, and winter has officially begun. This is a program of music with wintery themes.
12.24.2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams 4: Christmas Carols in Classical Music
In celebration of the Christmas season, some classical compositions that have Christmas carols in them.
12.17.2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams 3: Turn of the 20th Century English Composers
Ralph Vaughan Williams arrived on the scene just as a definite English classical music sound was being established. His three main teachers at the Royal Academy of Music were Arthur […]
12.10.2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams 2: Musical Fantasies
Originally, a musical fantasy was a piece that instrumentalists made up as they went along. Eventually, fantasies evolved into pieces that composers built out of various melodies they liked — […]
12.03.2022
Ralph Vaughan Williams 1: About Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of the most important 20th century English composers. He spent years traveling the country collecting English folk songs, writing them down, and publishing them. Many […]
11.26.2022
Charles Ives 4: American Hymns in Classical Music
Charles Ives loved to put hymns into his music. Several other composers borrowed hymn tunes; here are several examples from 20th Century American compositions.
11.19.2022
Charles Ives 3: Folk Tunes in Classical Music
The Country Band March has 12 recognizable popular and folk tunes in it. But Ives was not the only composer to put borrowed tunes in his music. Many classical composers […]
11.12.2022
Charles Ives 2: Marching Through the Country Band March
Charles Ives wrote the Country Band March about amateur musicians — people who make music for the love of it. In the Country Band March Ives combines a tune that […]
11.05.2022
Charles Ives 1: About Charles Ives
The music that Charles Ives wrote was greatly influenced by his father, George. From the time he was a kid, Ives heard his father experiment with sound. George Ives always […]
10.29.2022
Igor Stravinsky 5: Halloween Music
Appropriately spooky classical music for Halloween.
10.22.2022
Igor Stravinsky 4: Composer Teachers and their Students
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov spent years as a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Many of his students became famous composers themselves: Anatol Liadov, Alexander Glazunov, and Igor Stravinsky. A lot of […]
10.15.2022
Igor Stravinsky 3: Fire Music
To go with this month’s music from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, some more music by composers who were playing with fire.
10.08.2022
Igor Stravinsky 2: The Firebird
Igor Stravinsky based his ballet The Firebird on a Russian folk tale about an evil demon named Kashchei, who has thirteen princesses under his spell. A prince who wanders into […]
10.01.2022
Igor Stravinsky 1: About Igor Stravinsky
Russian composer Igor Stravinsky had a big hit with his first ballet, The Firebird. Stravinksy kept on writing ballets, followed by operas, and orchestral and choral music.
09.24.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The “Gigue” is Up!
Testing the Excerpt for Georg Philipp.
09.24.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The “Gigue” is Up!
“Gigue” is the French word for jig — a lively dance in triple time. The jig started out as folk dance in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England, before finding its […]
09.24.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The "Gigue" is Up!
"Gigue" is the French word for jig -- a lively dance in triple time. The jig started out as folk dance in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England, before finding its way into classical music.
09.17.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 3: Self-Taught Composers
Georg Philipp Telemann never studied composition – he taught himself how to write music. There are quite a few composers who taught themselves, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Edward Elgar, Francis Poulenc, […]
09.10.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 2: Go for Baroque
Georg Philipp Telemann composed during the Baroque period, which ran from about 1600 to 1750. Suzanne Bona, host of the National Public Radio program Sunday Baroque, talks with Naomi Lewin […]
09.03.2022
Georg Philipp Telemann 1: About Georg Philipp Telemann
Telemann loved to write. He wrote more pieces of music than any other composer, and he also wrote not one, not two, but THREE autobiographies.
08.27.2022
Johann Strauss, Jr. 4: Musical Conversation
Tritsch-Tratsch — the title of a polka by Johann Strauss, Jr. — is Austrian slang for “chit-chat.” A lot of composers used music to portray people making sounds: talking, laughing, […]
08.20.2022
Johann Strauss, Jr. 3: The Waltz
The waltz is a dance in 3/4 time that was very popular in Vienna, Austria in the 19th century. But the roots of the waltz go back to the German […]
08.13.2022
Johann Strauss, Jr. 2: Other Members of the Strauss Family
Johann Strauss, Sr. had three musical sons: Johann, Jr.; Josef; and Eduard. Sometimes they worked together as musicians, but other times, there was bitter rivalry.
08.06.2022
Johann Strauss, Jr. 1: About Johann Strauss, Jr.
Johann Strauss, Jr. was the son of a very successful violinist and orchestra leader. Eventually, Johann, Jr. was in competition with his father, conducting an orchestra of his own. When […]
07.30.2022
Aaron Copland 5: Classical Music in Pop
What do Frank Sinatra, Blood Sweat and Tears and John Denver have in common? They all used classical music in some of their pieces. After Aaron Copland composed his Fanfare […]
07.23.2022
Aaron Copland 4: What’s in a Name
In 1942, Eugene Goossens, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony, invited two dozen or so composers to write fanfares honoring those serving in World War II. Hear some more of […]
07.23.2022
Aaron Copland 4: What's in a Name
In 1942, Eugene Goossens, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony, invited two dozen or so composers to write fanfares honoring those serving in World War II. Hear some more of those fanfares, and take a guess why Aaron Copland's Fanfare...
07.16.2022
Aaron Copland 3: Tiptoe Through the Fanfare
A look at exactly what’s going on musically in Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
07.09.2022
Aaron Copland 2: What is a Fanfare
The word fanfare comes from a French word that means to blow trumpets. Fanfares have been used for centuries to announce someone or something important. Presidential inaugurations, movies, the Olympics […]
07.02.2022
Aaron Copland 1: About Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was a 20th century American composer from Brooklyn, New York. Copland is known for writing very American music, but he actually studied in France. His teacher, Nadia Boulanger, […]
06.25.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 4: What’s it like to be an Opera Singer?
Opera singer Denyce Graves talks with Naomi Lewin about what it’s like to be an international opera star.
06.25.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 4: What's it like to be an Opera Singer?
Opera singer Denyce Graves talks with Naomi Lewin about what it's like to be an international opera star.
06.18.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 3: The Story of Aida
Giuseppe Verdi composed Aida for a new opera house in Cairo, Egypt that opened around the time as the opening of the Suez Canal. Aida is the story of an […]
06.11.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 2: What’s an Opera?
An opera is like a play in which the characters sing all their lines. Opera singers do not use microphones — their voices are trained, and can fill a whole […]
06.11.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 2: What's an Opera?
An opera is like a play in which the characters sing all their lines. Opera singers do not use microphones -- their voices are trained, and can fill a whole theater with sound without any amplification. All operas have solo...
06.04.2022
Giuseppe Verdi 1: About Giuseppe Verdi
Guiseppe Verdi — “Joe Green,” in Italian — was a great opera composer and Italian patriot. His music became part of the Italian fight for independence and unity.
05.28.2022
Frédéric Chopin 4: Famous Pianist-Composers
From the time Frédéric Chopin was a child, audiences loved to hear him play the piano. A lot of composers were famous as keyboard players, too: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt…
05.28.2022
Frederic Chopin 4: Famous Pianist-Composers
From the time Frederic Chopin was a child, audiences loved to hear him play the piano. A lot of composers were famous as keyboard players, too: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt...
05.21.2022
Frédéric Chopin 3: Military Music
In his Military Polonaise, Frédéric Chopin uses the piano to imitate the drums that accompanied armies marching into battle. A lot of composers have put battle sounds into their music.
05.21.2022
Frederic Chopin 3: Military Music
In his Military Polonaise, Frederic Chopin uses the piano to imitate the drums that accompanied armies marching into battle. A lot of composers have put battle sounds into their music.
05.14.2022
Frédéric Chopin 2: The Polonaise
The polonaise is a dance that was fashionable in the Polish court. Since Polish nobility used to like to speak French, the name “polonaise” is French. Eventually, the polonaise caught […]
05.14.2022
Frederic Chopin 2: The Polonaise
The polonaise is a dance that was fashionable in the Polish court. Since Polish nobility used to like to speak French, the name "polonaise" is French. Eventually, the polonaise caught on all over Europe, and even migrated to America. Lots...
05.07.2022
Frédéric Chopin 1: About Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin was one of the greatest pianists of his day. Every single piece of music he wrote used the piano. The name Chopin doesn’t sound very Polish because Chopin's […]
05.07.2022
Frederic Chopin 1: About Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin was one of the greatest pianists of his day. Every single piece of music he wrote used the piano. The name Chopin doesn't sound very Polish because Chopin's father was born in France. Even though he was fiercely...

What's Classics For Kids about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Classics For Kids episodes:

The Music of Lili Boulanger

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Clara Schumann

Gustav Holst 3: Music for Students (2023)

Gustav Holst 2: The Planets (2023)

Gustav Holst 1: About Gustav Holst (2023)

Scott Joplin 1: About Scott Joplin

Ralph Vaughan Williams 5: Winter in Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams 4: Christmas Carols in Classical Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams 3: Turn of the 20th Century English Composers

Ralph Vaughan Williams 2: Musical Fantasies

Ralph Vaughan Williams 1: About Ralph Vaughan Williams

Charles Ives 4: American Hymns in Classical Music

Charles Ives 3: Folk Tunes in Classical Music

Charles Ives 2: Marching Through the Country Band March

Charles Ives 1: About Charles Ives

Igor Stravinsky 5: Halloween Music

Igor Stravinsky 4: Composer Teachers and their Students

Igor Stravinsky 3: Fire Music

Igor Stravinsky 2: The Firebird

Igor Stravinsky 1: About Igor Stravinsky

Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The “Gigue” is Up!

Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The “Gigue” is Up!

Georg Philipp Telemann 4: The "Gigue" is Up!

Georg Philipp Telemann 3: Self-Taught Composers

Georg Philipp Telemann 2: Go for Baroque

Georg Philipp Telemann 1: About Georg Philipp Telemann

Johann Strauss, Jr. 4: Musical Conversation

Johann Strauss, Jr. 3: The Waltz

Johann Strauss, Jr. 2: Other Members of the Strauss Family

Johann Strauss, Jr. 1: About Johann Strauss, Jr.

Aaron Copland 5: Classical Music in Pop

Aaron Copland 4: What’s in a Name

Aaron Copland 4: What's in a Name

Aaron Copland 3: Tiptoe Through the Fanfare

Aaron Copland 2: What is a Fanfare

Aaron Copland 1: About Aaron Copland

Giuseppe Verdi 4: What’s it like to be an Opera Singer?

Giuseppe Verdi 4: What's it like to be an Opera Singer?

Giuseppe Verdi 3: The Story of Aida

Giuseppe Verdi 2: What’s an Opera?

Giuseppe Verdi 2: What's an Opera?

Giuseppe Verdi 1: About Giuseppe Verdi

Frédéric Chopin 4: Famous Pianist-Composers

Frederic Chopin 4: Famous Pianist-Composers

Frédéric Chopin 3: Military Music

Frederic Chopin 3: Military Music

Frédéric Chopin 2: The Polonaise

Frederic Chopin 2: The Polonaise

Frédéric Chopin 1: About Frédéric Chopin

Frederic Chopin 1: About Frederic Chopin