Speaking of the Arts

On this week's show host Diana Moxon lingers in the world of classical music with pianist and Odyssey Chamber Music Series founder Ayako Tsuruta; Maestro Scott Yoo - violinist, Mexico City Philharmonic conductor and artistic director, and host of the PBS series 'Now Hear This'; and conductor Maestro Dr. Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, music director for the Missouri Symphony Conservatory and Director of Orchestral Activities for the University of Missouri. Ever wondered why classical music often feels less accessible than pop and rock? Why is Brahms being programmed so much right now? Why do orchestras need conductors? What are the rules between a composer and a conductor? It's all in the show. Opening and closing music credit thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). More links at https://www.odysseymissouri.org/; https://scott-yoo.com/; https://themosy.org/; http://www.stephenrogersradcliffe.com/

New plays, giant checks, and tiny 18th century rare treasures all make an appearance on this week's Speaking of the Arts with host Diana Moxon. Playwrights Monica Senecal Palmer and Mark Baumgartner drop in to chat about Talking Horse Production's Starting Gate New Play Festival 2021 and how it feels to send a play out into the world; Lisa Braman Bartlett and Lois Kay talk about the Veterans United Foundation's $231,530 donation to the North Village Arts District and the sculpture/art walk it will fund; and antique dealer Doug Solliday talks about Bilston patch boxes and feeling the ghosts in antiques! Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

On this week's show a lusciously written new book about the food history of India; the life of a touring Broadway actor during a pandemic; and New York circa 1989 and a production that ties that world with 2021. Host Diana Moxon chats with award-winning food writer, Nina Mukerjee Furstenau about her new book 'Green Chili and other Imposters' which mixes memoir, a lot of food history sleuthing, with pages of delicious Bengali recipes; actor John Hemphill looks back on 18 months of no theatre and his imminent return to the touring production of Dear Evan Hansen; and MU Theatre Department's director Joy Powell talks about their new production of RENT and what a powerful connection it offers to today's young actors with the struggles of their contemporaries a quarter of a century ago. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

A swedish mystic artist, a woman who runs with wolves, a mid century painter who explored the micoscopic and the massive, a musical revue set in an unmarked bar on Christmas Eve, and the chance to acquire art and support an organization that has been supporting artists for over 60 years. And it's all on this week's show, with actor and director Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and playwright Julia Valen from GreenHouse Theatre Project talking about their Urban One Acts: 'Hilma' and 'Wolf Play'; Stephens College's Macklanburg Theatre director Jennifer Hemphill chatting about reworking the musical revue 'And the World Goes Round'. In the fine art world Hannah Reeves from Sager Reeves Gallery talks about becoming a partner of the Sager Reeves gallery, and the work of Lawrence Kupferman; and Kelsey Hammond from the Columbia Art League gives a peek at the second annual Patrons' Party. Opening and closing music with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the October four: Carthage-based painter, Andy Thomas, who paints works that tell stories from Civil War battles to saloon brawls and political history - including a particular painting that hit the news cycle in 2018 and, for a short while, became the most talked about painting in the country; magic realism painter, Brie Duey from Bucklin, whose works reimagine a symbiotic relationship between people and the natural environment; Kansas City's Poet t l Sanders who is an educator, a motivator, a body builder, a bass player, a film maker and a language artist; and Priscilla Block from St Louis, former Executive Director of St Louis Artworks and now, once again, with an art room of her own. You can see the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://andythomas.com/, https://www.brieduey.net/, https://www.poettlsanders.com/, https://www.beaumontstudios.space/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

On this week's show, host Diana Moxon chats with three songwriting musicians - Audra Sergel, Phylshawn Johnson and Violet Vonder Haar, about making their dream of a mid-Missouri music center for children and adults come true; to theatre director, Ed Elsea, whose production of Joseph Kesselring's classic farce 'Arsenic and Old Lace' opens next week at Columbia Entertainment Company, about interjecting freshness into an 80-year old play; and The Stable Boys' Stacie Pottinger talks about diving into improv for the first time at the age of 47 and making the move from the rehearsal room back to the stage after 18 months away. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

As Broadway returns to the stage, so too do many regional theatres including Stephens College's Macklanburg Playhouse, which opens the third revised edition of the romantic comedy 'Almost, Maine', revised by the playwright, John Cariani, to better reflect our post Me Too! movement world. And Ragtag Film Society's new artistic director, London-based Chloe Trayner, a veteran of film festival management with the London Open City Documentary Film Festival, chats with Diana about films, film-making, and what she likes to put on her chips (or fries). Opening and closing music credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Like so much in 2020, Columbia's annual Roots n Blues festival was stymied by the pandemic BUT this weekend it is back with 3 days of music that puts female musicians front and center. On this week's show Diana Moxon chats with festival owners Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper about how they are keeping festival-goers safe, and about some of the local performers who will be on stage - and ambulating - this weekend. Plus musician Violet Vonder Haar of Violet and the Undercurrents (http://www.violetandtheundercurrents.com/) talks about transitioning back to live performances, and singer songwriter Sifa Bihomora talks about her career since leaving for the Berklee School of Music (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5DA0mc4BCT6DKnFgwY2Owa). Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

On this week's show a cross-section of Columbia's arts instigators, each working creatively to change expectations. The Missouri Symphony Orchestra is taking classical music out to local drinking holes and Executive Director Trent Rash talks about Preludes at the Pub; the University of Missouri's theatre department teams up with the international Climate Change Theatre Action to present 13 short plays written by playwrights around the world following the prompt of "Envisioning a Global Green New Deal" and director Kasey Lynch talks about their production; Film-maker Matt Schacht talks about the return of the COMO Shorts Film festival and the importance of giving film makers a local platform; and at the Columbia Art League the Interpretations show returns and Diana talks with Executive Director Kelsey Hammond along with artist John Fennell and writer Lori Younker about their experience of interpreting each others' work. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the September four: Kansas City-based precious metals jeweler and sculptor Genevieve Flynn, who uses ancient metalworking techniques to create heirloom art pieces; Malcolm 'Airbrush Assassin' McCrae from Cape Girardeau, who is traveling the United States on his art bus to spread creativity and positivity; St Louis jazz singer Denise Thimes, who has sung for three queens including the Queen of Soul; and Columbia painter David Spear, who chats about creating an artistic alter-ego and the importance of protecting an artist's artistic legacy. You can see the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.genevieveflynn.com/; https://www.malcolmmccrae.com/; https://denisethimes.com/; https://www.alleywayarts.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.