April 27, 2022
Poetry was a major theme in the music of American composer Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944). Her 117 art songs explore a huge range of poets, from Robert Browning to Robert Burns. Amy Beach’s love of poetry also appears in a large catalogue of choral compositions, with settings of poets like Oliver Wendell Holmes, in …
April 19, 2022
All Classical Portland is proud to announce 16-year-old double bass player Maggie Carter as the 2022 Young Artist in Residence. A home-schooled high school junior, Maggie began music lessons with former Oregon Symphony bassist Nina DeCesare at age nine. She currently studies with Jordan Anderson, Principal Bass of the Seattle Symphony, and performs regularly with …
April 14, 2022
Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot were two of the bel canto era’s greatest mezzo sopranos. Sisters, and daughters of the imposing Spanish pedagogue Manuel García, Malibran and Viardot each left an indelible mark on nineteenth-century opera. Each was also a composer, a quality less celebrated during their lifetimes. Malibran, who died tragically young in 1836, …
April 11, 2022
Program director John Pitman shares his latest conversation with pianist Simone Dinnerstein, where they discuss her new CD titled Undersong. Dinnerstein chose this word, an archaic term meaning “refrain”, which can be found both in the individual pieces (Schumann’s Arabesque, and Kreisleriana; Couperin’s Les Barricade Mysterieuses), and throughout the entire program. Hear more of their …
March 25, 2022
Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot were two of the bel canto era’s greatest mezzo sopranos. Sisters, and daughters of the imposing Spanish pedagogue Manuel García, Malibran and Viardot each left an indelible mark on nineteenth-century opera. Each was also a composer, but their ability to compose was less celebrated during their lifetimes. Malibran, who died …
February 23, 2022
It is part of All Classical Portland’s mission to expand and advance knowledge of and appreciation for classical music. If you’re just starting to discover music outside the traditional classical canon, there’s no better composer to start with than that African American 20th-century composer Florence Price, whose music has been enjoying a recent resurgence in …
February 22, 2022
In his newest recording for Deutsche Grammophon (released September, 2021), Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson explores Mozart’s music in the context of composers who came before him and who helped Mozart shape his distinctive and immediately recognizable style. Ólafsson speaks with program director John Pitman about how he made connections between Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel …
January 26, 2022
All Classical Portland is pleased to announce the station’s 2022 Artist in Residence: pianist María García! A celebrated performer and music educator, García is an enthusiastic proponent of classical works by women and composers of color. Together with All Classical Portland, she will use this opportunity to educate and inspire listeners to explore beyond the …
January 24, 2022
This month, we celebrate an important milestone for humankind: almost 170 years of kazooing! January 28th is National Kazoo Day, and you know what that means — it’s time for us to dive into the history, humor, “how,” and “why” of one of the world’s funniest musical inventions. Let’s get to it!
January 13, 2022
As part of All Classical Portland’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative, five pieces were recorded, including “Taking Names” by Jasmine Barnes. Soprano Karen Slack and pianist Yoko Greeney tackled this moving work for the official recording. Enjoy the conversation below as RII Executive Advisor Mara Miller and Slack speak about the importance of this piece, the inspiration …
