Intermezzo

Some experiences just stick out. Maybe because they’re out of the ordinary, or maybe because our senses were on high alert that day. In this episode, Christy and her cohost Betty dig into the kind of memories that pop up when you least expect them — and how music can take us right back to those moments. That spark of nostalgia leads the conversation into how composers throughout history have done...

Ever wonder what a song about a pet would sound like? If someone wrote a song remembering their dog — would it feel different than a song about a person? Maybe softer, funnier or just more… tail-waggy? Composer Leonard Bernstein actually wrote music for dogs. He wrote a piece called "Fanfare for Bima." Bima was a black cocker spaniel, and the melody came from the whistle used to call her inside. L...

In this episode, we dive into the unexpected ways nostalgia shows up in our lives. We start by asking our cohost Betty: "What sparks nostalgia for you?" For Betty, it’s often photos — especially the ones that pop up unexpectedly. These days, it’s Google Photos or Facebook memories, quietly waiting to catch you off guard with a flood of emotion. But before that, it was printed photo albums. And eve...

Christy and her cohost Betty unpack how nostalgia for home is more than just longing — it's an emotion made of memories, culture and identity. Composer Teresa Carreno was born in Venezuela, and was already writing her own piano pieces by age six. Her family believed in her talent so much, they moved to New York City. By age nine, she was performing sold-out concerts in Boston and she even played f...

We're exploring nostalgia this week: memories, emotions and classical music. In this first episode with our cohost Betty, the focus is on childhood — a time of wonder, play and imagination. Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), a suite of 13 short piano pieces that reflect the emotional world of a child. Music in this episode: Schumann: "Scenes from Childhood" Bonis: Suite for Flute, Vi...

We're following the mischief of Till Eulenspiegel... but today it catches up to him. Richard Strauss's score sets Till's antics to music. Till has been captured! Someone has tied his hands and thrown him into a burlap sack. Has justice finally come for Till Eulenspiegel? Who has managed to catch the uncatchable trickster? Music in this episode: Richard Strauss: "Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks"

After escaping from the monks, Till finds himself outside a garden party, which he crashes. Once inside, he begins showing off for a girl he just met. You’ll hear his love theme (yes, he has one!) and some very dramatic music that shows how badly he handles rejection. In the music, Richard Strauss uses playful leitmotifs, or musical themes, to help us recognize who’s who. Leitmotifs are kind of li...

Follow the outrageous antics of the trickster Till Eulenspiegel as told through Richard Strauss’s playful music. Tuesday's episode dives into his wild adventures at a market chaos and then a church mischief — all brought to life through Strauss’s score. Music in this episode: Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

Till Eulenspiegel is a rascal of a character from German folklore and composer Richard Strauss captures his "merry pranks" with sound. Eulenspiegel was a both a nuisance and a folk hero — some say he lived around 1300, although his stories didn’t show up in literature until 200 years later. Real or not, we can laugh at him and learn from him. His stories are lessons on where troublemaking can lead...

When you hold a seashell to your ear, it’s not the ocean you’re hearing — it’s ambient noise resonating inside the shell’s hollow chamber. This amplification happens through a phenomenon called acoustic resonance. It’s the same principle behind how musical instruments like cellos, flutes, and even conch shell trumpets produce sound. In this episode, you’ll hear about a 17,000-year-old conch shell...

What are we really hearing when leaves rustle in the wind? In this episode, we explore psithurism—the whispering song of leaves vibrating at their natural frequencies—and discover how nature, science, and even Wagner’s music capture this quiet symphony. Music in this episode: Wagner: "Forest Murmurs" from "Siegfried"

Naturally resonant spaces are everywhere. And throughout history, they’ve sparked some of classical music’s most haunting and breathtaking creations. This episode takes you deep into the sonic wonders of caves and other resonant spaces. Your own body acts as a chamber — mouth, chest, even your skull — shaping the way sound travels. But natural caverns take it even further. Meet the Great Stalacpip...

Christy and Andrew explore how tiny birds produce massive sound through acoustic resonance and how birdsong has long inspired both science and music. You might think the loudest animal in the world must be massive — like an elephant or a lion. But think again. Scientists have discovered that the title actually goes to a tiny bird no bigger than a dove. Composers, ever inspired by nature, often lis...

Christy L’Esperance is joined by 8-year-old cohost Andrew, a second grader with a love for games and a curious mind. The topic of the week is resonance in nature. Here's an example... resonance explains why tiny birds can sound as loud as elephants and why drips of water echo so powerfully in caves. To demonstrate, they head to Interlochen Public Radio’s Studio A for a hands-on musical experiment...

Violinist Jad Ibrahim explores the crisp, percussive technique of upbow staccato and reflects on his musical journey from Syria to Interlochen. Music in this episode: Grigoraș Dinicu: "Hora Staccato"

Christy L’Esperance talks with Interlochen Arts Academy senior Jad Ibrahim about his musical journey, double stops in violin playing and the value of perseverance and positivity in music. Music in this episode: J.S. Bach: Partita for Solo Violin performed by Itzhak Perlman

This week’s cohost is violinist Jad Ibrahim, a student at Interlochen Arts Academy. Jad introduces you to the challenging technique of left-hand pizzicato — a skill that involves plucking and bowing the violin at the same time. He shares how he's tackling it through pieces like Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 Later, Jad reflects on how traditional Eastern Mediterranean music, especially songs by Lebanes...

Today on Intermezzo, we're joined by violinist Jad Ibrahim, a student at Interlochen Arts Academy, whose remarkable journey began in Latakia, Syria. Jad shares how he taught himself to play violin by watching YouTube videos of the old masters — Heifetz, Oistrakh, Menuhin — and how his life transformed after coming to Interlochen. Jad discusses the challenges of learning music without formal lesson...

Christy and her cohost explore one of the violin’s most expressive techniques: vibrato. This week on Intermezzo, host Christy L'Esperance is joined by violinist Jad Ibrahim. Originally from Latakia, Syria, Jad picked up the violin at just seven years old, inspired by the young musicians around him who would later become close friends. Music in this episode: Yehudi Menuhin performing Brahms's Violi...

Thanks for joining us for our first week of Intermezzo! So far we've talked about we talked about comedic timing, teasing, physical comedy and defying expectation in classical music. Today we're exploring exaggeration. When you tell a story and totally exaggerate just one part of it, it becomes something totally different. For example, if you get a caricature drawn, the artist will exaggerate one...

Surprise has been the heart of humor since Aristotle, and in music — as in Mel Brooks’s "Young Frankenstein" or Malcolm Arnold’s "A Grand, Grand Overture" — that surprise often comes through absurd, unexpected twists that make us laugh. In this episode, Christy shares a clip from one of her favorite comic movies, Mel Brooks's "Young Frankenstein." In this scene, to prove that the monster can blend...

To understand slapstick all you have to do is watch old cartoons or old comic moves by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Gardy or The Three Stooges. Characters slip and fall, get caught holding an exploding stick of dynamite, get squashed by a piano dropped from fourth story window — but they always survive. But you can use all sorts of instruments to suggest physical comedy. Composer Pau...

Host Christy L'Esperance and cohost Hazel dive into the quirky side of classical music, exploring how light teasing and pranks can be a source of friendly fun. Tuesday’s discussion wanders into the mischievous behavior of both animals and composers. Music in this episode: Haydn: Symphony No. 60 "Il Distratto" Saint-Saens: "Carnival of the Animals" - "Pianists"

What does a timing joke sound like? As an example from today's episode of "Intermezzo" — Hazel and Christy compare classical humor to timing in stand-up comedy, such as in the famous Elf movie scene. And here's an example of humor in classical music from the end of Franz Josef Haydn's "The Joke Quartet." The joke here is that Haydn repeatedly tricks the audience into thinking the piece has ended w...