Category Archives: Interview
John Pitman Review: Mao Fujita Takes On Mozart
Pianist Mao Fujita was born in Japan and now lives in Europe, where he is studying with Kirill Gerstein. Mao was invited to the renowned Verbier Festival in Switzerland a couple of years ago, on the strength of having a number of Mozart’s piano sonatas in his fingers. The Festival asked Mao if he could get… More
Black Renaissance Woman: Meet Musicologist-Pianist Samantha Ege
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… More
Soprano Karen Slack and RII Advisor Mara Miller: A Conversation
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… More
John Pitman Review: Berlin-based Seong-Jin Cho Returns to Chopin
John Pitman, All Classical Portland’s Director of Music and Programming, interviews pianist Seong-Jin Cho about the sixth and latest album. Returning to the music of Frédéric Chopin with Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2, Cho’s CD was recorded in April of 2021, in Hamburg and London. Seong-Jin shares with John the process, and the special challenges,… More
John Pitman Review: Roots: Debut recording by violinist Randall Goosby
John interviews Randall Goosby, whose debut on the Decca label, “Roots,” was released this summer (and is being played on All Classical Portland regularly). The disc is an exploration of music written by Black composers and of composers inspired by Black American culture. Randall tells John Pitman about the importance and responsibility of bringing underrepresented… More
Get to know Composer in Residence Lauren McCall
This summer, All Classical Portland welcomes three new Composers in Residence: Lauren McCall, Jasmine Barnes, and Keyla Orozco! These residencies are co-hosted by N M Bodecker Foundation as part of the Recording Inclusivity Initiative, a program designed to change America’s playlist by recording classical works by composers from historically excluded communities. The station’s three resident composers and their musical… More
John Pitman Review: Kenji Bunch debuts “Lost Freedom” with George Takei
John Pitman, director of Music and Programming at All Classical Portland interviews Portland composer Kenji Bunch about an important world premiere happening a few states away, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, on September 4. Inspired by the autobiographical accounts of the incarceration of United States citizens – Japanese-Americans, in World War II –… More
John Pitman Review: Osvaldo Golijov on “Falling Out of Time”
John interviews composer Osvaldo Golijov about the new album that features the Silkroad Ensemble. Falling Out of Time, which was written for the ensemble by longtime collaborator/composer Osvaldo Golijov, is an 80-minute tone poem based on David Grossman’s novel about parental grief and loss. In John’s interview with the composer, Mr. Golijov likened it to… More
The Magic of Radio: Behind the Scenes with Chief Engineer Mike Alston
National Radio Day crackles to life on August 20th every year in the United States for us to celebrate the miracle of sound waves travelling to our ears from far and wide. The history of National Radio Day is about as fuzzy as an untuned radio though, with rumors of its beginnings lying somewhere in… More
John Pitman Review: Jonathan Biss completes Beethoven journey
As a part of the celebrations this year of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig Van Beethoven, program director John Pitman is interviewing some of today’s top artists involved in the newest recordings of his music. American pianist Jonathan Biss has just completed a 9-year journey exploring the piano sonatas of Ludwig Van Beethoven…. More
