Sound Bites From the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra

Listen as as APO Concertmaster Er-Gene Kahng and reknowned cellist Anita Graef discuss her upcoming performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’ "Cello Concerto No. 1", Graef will perform with the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra on October 13th as part of "Innovations: A Celebration of Breakthroughs". This evening of music will accompany the Fashioning America exhibition at the beautiful Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Benontonville, Arkansas. TIckets on sale now: https://bit.ly/APO-innovations-concert

Seven Last Words: Joel Thompson's Seven Last Words of the Unarmed takes the last words of unarmed Black Men (Kenneth Chamberlain, Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, John Crawford, Eric Garner and George Floyd) before they were killed.  According to Thompson, the composition was "an effort to humanize these men and to reckon with my identity as a black man in this country in relation to this specific scourge of police brutality". Join me in exploring this powerful work this week.  

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Ineffable Grief: How many times have we witnessed or personally experienced an event too great for words, when we can neither muster the words nor find the "right" words to fully express how we feel? This week we explore the ways Berio's  "O King" and Messien's "Quartet for the End of Time" respond to the specific tragic events of their time and attempt to "find the right words" through their music.

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

What is the role of the conductor?: I interview UK-based conductor Dwight-Pile Gray this week as we cover a range of topics such as the history of the role of the conductor; how a conductor approaches and prepares for a rehearsal, as well as the question: is there a place for modern values to be expressed in classical music? Dwight also shares some of his favorite compositions by nationalist composer Antonin Dvorak.  

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Tchaikovsky's Ballet Music: This week we speak with London-based violist, Wei Wei Tan, who has performed the music to every major ballet in the Classical music repertory.  She tells us about the brief history of ballet music with a special focus on Tchaivkosky's Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.  

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Join Maestro Steven Byess, Choreographer, David Justin, Soloist, Er-Gene Kahng, and Principal Dancer, Carmen Felder in a discussion about APO and NWA Ballet's collaborative performance of Ralph Vaughan William's, The Lark Ascending. This episode contains the audio recording of the performance, for video, visit APO's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVboWRTn6eU_BlY3zVKE-jg

Lyrical Modernism, Light and Timbre: We explore the music of German-Korean composer, Unsuk Chin, the third woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for her Violin Concerto no. 1.  Listen as we explore her sonic world of lyrical modernism, centered around concepts of light, texture, and etherealism in a modernist classical music tradition.  

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Exploring the Hyphen: Korean-American composer Jean Ahn stops by to speak with me about her compositions, many of which incorporate Korean folk songs (such as the Arirang) and/or Korean cultural themes (such as "Haan" - collective trauma and deep grief). We explore how her music, which is in the Western European classical music tradition, houses elements of Korean folk culture.

Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033