Pittsburgh Public Theater's Ted Pappas directs the one-man play "Thurgood" by George Stevens, Jr., starring Montae Russell. "Thurgood" is described as an"eye-opening, humorous, and uplifting portrait of a true American hero." The play follows America's first African-American Supreme Court justice from his youth in Baltimore to his work on some of the most important cases in U. S. history.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre company pianist Yoland Collin plays Etudes by Virgil Thomson as the company dances "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" by Mark Morris through March 17 at the August Wilson Center. The dance program "Unspoken" also includes Balanchine's "Serenade" and Tudor's "Lilac Garden." The Belgian-born pianist speaks about Thomson's seldom-heard Etudes, which are delightful, folk-infused gems.

Composer and pianist Linda Kernohan is perhaps best known as the classical music blogger “Miss Music Nerd,” now an annual correspondent at the Grammy Awards. Now living in Pittsburgh, she holds degrees in music from New York University and U. C. Berkeley. Linda Kernohan's most recent commission was a concerto for the San Diego Symphony and she visited Jim Cunningham to talk about her March 17 piano recital, the Grammys, and missmusicnerd.com.

Music Director Susan Medley previews the PCC's "Three B's" concerts on March 2 & 3. She highlights the diversity of styles, notes the three Hallelujahs in Bach's Cantata #4, sings the praises of Brahms' Schicksalslied which resembles the composer's German Requiem, and describes how Beethoven's Choral Fantasy was a prototype for the Ode to Joy. Medley also talks about the choir's upcoming New York City debut at St. John the Divine.

The exhibition “Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851–1939,” now on view at The Carnegie Museum of Art, includes over 200 works, some seen in the US for the first time. The Carnegie's Jason Busch co-organized the show and gives QED's Stephen Baum a personal tour. Take this podcast to the Carnegie as your own tour guide. The show closes Feb. 24, 2013.

Christopher Franklin, son of University of Pittsburgh Bach scholar Don Franklin, has an active conducting career in Europe, and will conduct Minnesota Opera's world premiere adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's play "Doubt" in January, 2013. Franklin talks about his youth in Pittsburgh, his work with Italian orchestras, and the production of "Doubt."

Pittsburgh jazz trumpeter Sean Jones talks about “Suite Life: A Billy Strayhorn Birthday Bash,” a celebration on Nov. 24, 2012, of Pittsburgh jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and Duke Ellington's collaborator Billy Strayhorn at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. Jones will lead his Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, with commentary from Strayhorn's nephew, Greg Morris, who administers Strayhorn's estate. Jones also talks about touring with jazz luminaries, and teaching at Duquesne University.

Artistic Director Thomas Douglas talks about the first concerts of the Bach Choir's "Time Voyagers" season, including the Pittsburgh premiere of "Alzheimer's Stories" by Robert S. Cohen. Other works on the program for October 13 & 14, 2012 include Howard Hanson's "Song of Democracy" on texts by Walt Whitman, Rachmaninoff's famous Vocalise, and two pieces by Diane Benjamin.

They'll be painting the town, Oct. 1-7, during the first-ever Plein Air Mt. Lebanon, an event that turns outdoor art into a spectator sport with two dozen professional artists, prizes, and a "paint-out" open to the general public with celebrity participants. Local architectural illustrator and watercolorist David Csont explains how the week will unfold and how you can watch or get involved.

Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012) chats with Jim Cunningham at QED's Carolyn Byham Studio at Theater Square during RADical Days on Oct. 6, 2007.