Frances Rabalais talks about the stage direction in Pittsburgh Opera's production of "The Long Walk."

Benjamin  Taylor talks about his role as Brian in Pittsburgh Opera's production of "The Long Walk."

Sunday January 21st, 6pm, at First Unitarian Church, the Incidental Chamber Players perform music from Asia.   Some members of the group stopped by WQED-FM to talk about the concert.

Joe Miller standing in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel rest stop on their way to St Louis,  the conductor of the Westminster Choir, talks about the grand finale of the winter tour in Pittsburgh at Calvary Episcopal Church Sunday January 14 at 5pm. He lets us in on the beauty of the Frank Martin Mass for Double Choir and the Randall Thompson Alleluia which the choir will sing along with two composers directly connected with the choir Joel Phillips and Tim Brent . Maestro Miller describes the special features of the choir which has sung with Gustavo Dudamel and Yannick Nezet Seguin, Andrew Manze and many other great conductors and orchestras and  tells us the concert will be in honor of Elsie and Henry Hillman. Elsie and her Mom both enjoyed a long relationship with the Westminster Choir which sang at Elsie’s memorial service.

Hear why you will enjoy the Microtonal Music Festival with the University of Pittsburgh’s Matthew Rosenblum composer and clarinetist David Krakauer who will give the premiere of Matthew’s new Concerto on Thursday evening at Carnegie Music Hall, Symposia, a reception, and events at the Warhol and Frick on the Pitt campus between Thursday January 11 and Saturday night. David Krakauer is a legend in the klezmer and jazz worlds in addition to his work with the microtonal music scene. Matthew has won a shelf full of awwrds for his work and made multiple recordings. Hear all about it and thei memories of Thelonious Monk in New York.

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers talking from a studio in Los Angeles fills us in on her new cd Fantasia featuring the world premier of a new piece she commissioned from Finland's Einojuhani Rautavaara which turned out to be one of his last pieces. The Szymanowski Violin Concerto No 1 and Ravel's Tzigane round the out the new release. She remembers her visit to Pittsburgh to play the Mason Bates Violin Concerto and her reveals her favorite thing about Los Angeles.

Hear why you will enjoy the Microtonal Music Festival with the University of Pittsburgh’s  Matthew Rosenblum composer and clarinetist David Krakauer who will give the premiere of Matthew’s new Concerto on Thursday evening at Carnegie Music Hall, Symposia, a reception, and events at the Warhol and Frick on the Pitt campus between Thursday January 11 and Saturday night.  David Krakauer is a legend in the klezmer and jazz worlds in addition to his work with the microtonal music scene.  Matthew has won a shelf full of awwrds for his work and made multiple recordings. Hear all about it and thei memories of Thelonious Monk in New York.

Music for Food presents a delicious afternoon at Chatham University with Juilliard Faculty member Catherine Cho violin  and pianist Tina Faigen at 3pm January 14 in the James Laughlin Music Hall. Mozart, Faure, Scarlatti, Eugene Phillips last work and Robert Schultz’ Fantasy in a Pittsburgh premiere. Donations benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food band.

Clarinet Janice Coppola and pianist Nanette Kaplan Solomon will perform for the Tuesday Musical Club Tuesday January 9 at 1pm in the Levy Hall at Rodef Shalom Temple. They played in the studio and provided the story on the Gershwin, Marsalis, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Bernstein, klezmer classsics and much more on their program.

Pianist Christopher O Riley the host of From the Top and Taylor Allderdice High School grad has a new 2cd cd set with cellist Matt Haimovitz, Troika. It features Dimitri Shostakovich Waltz No 2 in a new arrangement they wrote, the Sonata in d minor op. 40 and the Prokofiev Sonata in C op. 119 with a new arrangement of his Troika. With the Rachmaninoff Sonata in g minor is the Vocalise, Viktor Tsoi's Kakushka, Lennon and McCartney's Back in the USSR and Punk Prayer-Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away by the Russian dissident rock band Pussy Riot. There's a discussion of what the cover art represents.  Chris remembers highlights from his Pittsburgh years working with Fred Rogers and Jim Cunningham attempts to draw from Matt details of his New York past and get Chris  to remember shop class and homeroom but the conversation reaches an end just at the bell.