WETA Classical

04/22/2025

Join us in celebrating our beautiful planet on this Earth Day!

For as long as we've been on this planet, we strived to imitate and communicate with Mother Nature through music, from bird songs to the wind. Check out our latest blog from James Jacobs exploring our earliest attempts to some of the best in classical music!

This Earth Day also marks the start of our Spring Pledge Drive. For every donation received today, a tree will be planted to help renew and replenish our national forests. Join us in preserving classical music and celebrating Earth Day at weta.org. Together we can all make a meaningful difference.

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/earth-day-recorders-and-remembrance

James Jacobs explores our fascination to communicate with and imitate nature. Since over 60,000 years ago, we let bird songs spark our creativity, including our favorite classical composers.

04/20/2025

Happy Easter!

Did you know Handel’s Messiah was actually written for Easter?

Check out more shocking truths behind this holiday favorite in the link below, and tune in tonight at 9 for a rousing performance of Messiah on Choral Showcase…on the actual holiday it was written for!

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/shocking-truth-behind-handels-messiah-tale-three-april-13ths

04/17/2025

Looking for weekend plans? Come celebrate Shakespeare's birthday at Folger Shakespeare Library this Saturday! Our own Nicole Lacroix will be on-site to celebrate the Bard's birthday - be sure to stop by and say hi!

The beloved annual tradition returns: Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday at the Folger with fun, family-friendly activities and birthday cupcakes for all.

More info: https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/shakespeares-birthday-celebration-2025/

Click here to learn more about Shakespeare's influence on classical music: https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/shakespeares-400-year-musical-journey

04/15/2025

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 is a powerful example of what can be said through music. Explore this symphony of bravery, intrigue, and survival on the latest Classical Breakdown podcast.

Few other works in the canon occupy a place like this symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich. John Banther and Evan Keely dive into history as they show you what to listen for, Shostakovich's perilous circumstances, and what clues he could have left for all of us in the music.

04/09/2025

We always knew our listeners are passionate about classical music, but this story of how one of our listeners went on a quest to install a grave marker for Florence Price blew us away.

Read on below to learn how Maria discovered the music and life of Florence Price through WETA Classical and went on to right a historic wrong. What a great story to share on Florence Price's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Florence!

WETA Classical listener Maria Voultsides shares about her quest to install a grave marker for American treasure, Florence Price, after discovering her music and the story of her life.

04/08/2025

A lunchtime treat with Chip Brienza and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto today. Happy Tuesday! ☀️

04/04/2025

A morning greeting and a haiku from Chip Brienza this morning with a view of the tree outside the studio!

Looking out window,
Grey sky and April Shower,
Tiny leaves unfurl

Last time Chip shared this view, the tree was bare and covered in snow. Spring is indeed upon us!

04/02/2025

Some are born with music in their DNA. This month's NSO Showcase highlights two guest conductors who have inherited their parents' conducting genes. Ken-David Masur conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with Orion Weiss, piano. Karina Canellakis showcases the National Symphony Orchestra Musicians in Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Join us tonight at 9PM ET.

03/28/2025

Our Friday night recommendation: Tune in for the Elgar Cello Concerto with Jacqueline du Pré conducted by her husband Daniel Barenboim hosted by our resident cellist James Jacobs at 7:58 on WETA Classical, then catch the broadcast premiere of the new documentary "Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy" narrated by Yo-Yo Ma on WETA PBS at 9PM ET!

You can watch over the airwaves on WETA PBS or WETA Metro, stream online at weta.org, or on your PBS app.

Read more about the Jacqueline du Pré story below!

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/jacqueline-du-pre-genius-and-tragedy-weta-pbs

Ahead of the broadcast of Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy on WETA PBS and Metro on March 28, our resident cellist James Jacobs shares his insight on one of the greatest cellists of all time.

03/25/2025

We are wrapping up our celebrations of Bach's birthday month with St. John Passion on Choral Showcase this Sunday at 9PM. Join us for a moving performance by DC's own Washington Bach Consort, led by Dana Marsh.

Whether you are new to the masterpiece or it's an old favorite, check out this fantastic guide to St. John Passion by the Consort's Artistic Director Dana Marsh ahead of the program. As a leading figure in early music and Professor of Music and Director of the Historical Performance Institute at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, you will be in great hands to dive deeper into this work that has endured 300 years of popularity.

Dana Marsh, Artistic Director of Washington Bach Consort, guides us through Johann Sebastian Bach's enduring masterpiece, St. John Passion, ahead of the WBC performance on October 1.

03/21/2025

Happy Birthday, Maestro! It’s a Bach Birthday Bash on our airwaves today! Be sure to tune in to celebrate his 340th birthday with us all day. 🎶

03/20/2025

Celebrate International Day of Happiness with us today! 🙂

We think we can all use a bit of extra joy and happiness these days...We will be playing some of the most joyous music ever written throughout the day and hope they will bring a smile to your face!

03/18/2025

Explore the music of Clarice Assad, one of the most prolific and in-demand composers of today, and find out how you can explore more than 10,000 works by 1500 women and gender-marginalized composers through the work of Boulanger Initiative with founder and Artistic Director, Laura Colgate. All on the latest episode of Classical Breakdown, your guide to classical music!

https://weta.org/fm/features/classical-breakdown/future-female-exploring-clarice-assad-and-boulanger-initiative

03/17/2025

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 🍀

We're having a shamrockin' of a good time with jig-worthy tunes throughout the day.

Wishing all of you the luck of the Irish today!

03/10/2025

He is indeed always Bach, and we celebrate his birthday all month long with CantataFest on WETA VivaLaVoce!

Throughout March, we will broadcast all of the more than 200 surviving cantatas by Bach. Check out each day's cantata selections here:

Classical WETA celebrates the birthday month of Johann Sebastian Bach with the return of "CantataFest" on VivaLaVoce.

03/07/2025

No, this isn't a preview from Paris Fashion Week...this is Maurice Ravel in the French Army in 1916! And we're celebrating his 150th birthday today! Be sure to listen in for his wonderfully innovative works throughout the day. Joyeux anniversaire, Maurice!

03/05/2025

You’ve heard of the 3 Bs (Bach, Beethoven and Brahms)? Well, this month’s NSO Showcase features three big composers whose names begin with the letter “S”. Music Director Gianandrea Noseda will lead the National Symphony Orchestra in two works by Carlos Simon, Dmitri Shostakovich’s 6th Symphony, and Igor Stravinsky’s complete Firebird ballet. Join us tonight at 9PM ET, and the program streams on-demand this month on wetaclassical.org.

https://weta.org/fm/features/nso-showcase/simon-shostakovich-and-stravinsky

03/04/2025

From being a fierce supporter of women's rights to always being surrounded by her large dogs, Ethel Smyth was a larger-than-life composer from the 19th century, and her extraordinary Mass in D speaks for the force of nature that she was. Artistic Director of Cathedral Choral Society, Steven Fox, shares his insight into the work on the latest Classical Breakdown podcast ahead of the CCS performance with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and The Clarion Choir on March 16 at the Washington National Cathedral.

🎧: https://weta.org/fm/features/classical-breakdown/ethel-smyths-mass-d-19th-century-mass-extraordinary-woman

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