Classical WSMR - Florida's Classical Music Station

Former students from The Perlman Music Program return to the Sarasota area. Violinist Areta Zhulla, violist Molly Carr, and cellist Brook Speltz are playing in our local schools, but they stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio first to play for you live! Join Russell Gant and his guests for some Dvorak, Beethoven, and good conversation, on Classical WSMR 89.1 & 103.9. Origina...

Violist Molly Carr and pianist Yannick Rafalimanana are back in town to perform for The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast’s concert at the Sarasota Opera House. We give you a little preview of this concert as Bethany Cagle welcomes these two fine young musicians to our Sarasota studio to play for you live! Good conversation and live music on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9. Original airdate October 8,...

The Perlman Music Program alumni visit Sarasota to perform for local schools as part of The Perlman Music Program Suncoast's Education Outreach Program. They stopped by our Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio for a live performance! Join Bethany Cagle with her guests violinist Areta Zhulla and pianist Michael Bukhman as they play music by Ravel, Elgar, and Bartok on Classical WSMR 89.1 &...

The complete concerto lasts about 21 minutes and is composed in Fuchs' mature musical style, incorporating hallmarks of the American symphonic school, rigorous counterpoint, and aspects of minimalism. The first movement, Spiritualist, cast in modified sonata-allegro form, is optimistic and playful in spirit. The woodwinds introduce a jocular rhythmic motive emphasizing the intervals of the third a...

Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64, one of the most frequently performed of all violin concerti. The work premiered in Leipzig on March 13, 1845 and, although the composer used standard classical structures for the piece, Mendelssohn made adaptations to suit his personal tastes and changing times, which included an almost instant introduction of the solo instrument and a written solo cadenza whic...

The Marriage of Figaro is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. It was based on a stage play by French author Pierre Beaumarchais which had been banned in Vienna by the Emperor Joseph II, claiming “the piece contains much that is objectionable” and encouraging the Austrian Censor to forbid its performance.

Sarasota Orchestra performed the Gliere Harp Concerto with acclaimed harpist Xavier de Maistre, and we bring you a little preview of that concert on Classical WSMR! Join Russell Gant as he welcomes his guest Xavier de Maistre to our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio for live music and conversation.

The Ying Quartet and Sarasota Orchestra principal clarinetist Bharat Chandra stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio to play for you live on the radio! Hear the music of Mozart and Brahms, as well as conversation with Bethany Cagle.

The Bridge Trio presented a concert at the Neel Performing Arts Center in Bradenton called "Coming to America," featuring the Dvořák Piano Trio in F Minor as well as music by John Adams and Ernest Bloch. Bethany Cagle welcomes the trio, led by Sarasota Orchestra violinist Felicia Brunelle, to our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio. They engage in conversation and live performance to commemo...

Sarasota Orchestra presented a program of Russian masterworks including Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, played by Estonian pianist Mihkel Poll. He joined Bethany Cagle to play a few selections in our Sarasota studio.

Join Classical WSMR's Bethany Cagle for live music as she welcomes famed American pianist William Wolfram to our Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio. William Wolfram was a silver medalist at both the William Kapell and the Naumburg International Piano Competitions, a bronze medalist at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, and finalist in the Van Cliburn International Pian...

Pianist and conductor David Greilsammer paid a visit to Classical WSMR’s Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio while guest conducting for Sarasota Orchestra! Greilsammer has a passion for exploring contrasting musical worlds, and his programs frequently juxtapose works from the past and present. His Sarasota Orchestra concert featured composers from four musical eras who stretched the boundari...

One year after his Carnegie Hall debut, violinist Ray Chen made his first guest appearance with Sarasota Orchestra. While in town, Chen and his 1702 “Lord Newlands” Stradivarius stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio to talk with Bethany Cagle and play a bit of Bach and Mozart for you live.

Charismatic trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling gained acclaim portraying Louis Armstrong in the musical Satchmo and has been featured with many top big bands. He’s performed with more than 50 symphonies and came to town to play with Sarasota Orchestra in a show titled “Satchmo, Fats, and the Duke.” Stripling and pianist Kenny Drew, Jr. joined Bob Seymour for conversation and an exciting live stu...

Between rehearsals for a concert featuring the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 2, Sarasota Orchestra concertmaster Daniel Jordan stopped by our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast studio to play for you live.

Sarasota Orchestra (previously the Florida West Coast Symphony) opened its 60th season with a new name and a new look, changes prompted by months of community research by Sarasota’s regional orchestra. Music Director and conductor Leif Bjaland talked with WUSF classical music host Coleen Cook about a growing arts community, reasons behind Sarasota Orchestra’s name change, and the innovative “Journ...

Coleen Cook welcomes Chloe Hanslip, whom some critics have called the most exciting violinist to come out of England. Hanslip performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Sarasota Orchestra and stopped by our Sarasota studio to play works for solo violin, including music by Paganini and Peteris Plakadis.

Russell Gant is joined by conductor Leif Bjaland and pianist Orion Weiss in our Sarasota studio for live music and conversation. In this session, Maestro Bjaland, was preparing for the farewell concert of 15-year tenure as Music Director of Sarasota Orchestra, and you’ll hear his reflections about his time in Sarasota. Plus Orion Weiss plays for you, too.

On a late-night drive towards what might be a deadly encounter, a liberal writer grapples with his paradoxical interest in guns. Conceal and Carry delves into the psyche of a mass shooting victim's father, the cryptic history of the NRA, and how we go about giving up the gun.

Russell Gant is joined in the WUSF Sarasota Studio by the Sara Quartet, all alumni of the Perlman Music Program, for live music and conversation. The quartet consists of violinists KJ McDonald and Rinat Erlichman, violist Hannah Geisinger, and cellist Derek Louie. They talk about recent outreach concerts they’ve been presenting throughout Sarasota, and play a couple movements from Dvorak’s “Americ...

Russell Gant welcomes Doori Na, violin, Jeremiah Blacklow, violin, Chlo​​é Thominet, viola and Bryan Park, cello to the Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio who’ve all studied with the Perlman Music Program. They perform music by Beethoven and Ravel and talk about their experiences with working with one of the world’s greatest violinist, Itzhak Perlman. Original airdate November 14, 2018.

Join Classical WSMR’s Russell Gant for a live performance from our Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio as he welcomes musicians from the 2013 La Musica International Music Festival. Each year the festival brings outstanding European and American chamber musicians to Sarasota to present exciting programs of familiar and seldom-heard chamber music. Russell welcomes pianist Derek Han, violinist...

La Musica International Chamber Music Festival is underway and three of the festivals very well-known musicians stop by our Sarasota Broadcast and Performance Studio for a live performance on Classical WSMR 89.1 & 103.9! Bethany Cagle speaks with acclaimed violinist Federico Agostini, the great violist Bruno Giuranna, and new to the festival this year; cellist Antonio Menesses. They also play...

Acclaimed Israeli cellist Matt Haimovitz is coming to town to play a series of concerts featuring Bach’s Cello Suites paired with overtures created by leading contemporary composers from around the world. You can get a preview of these concerts as Russell welcomes Matt to our Sarasota Performance and Broadcast Studio for live music and conversation.

St. Pete Opera Archived Performances & Interviews - May 2017