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Classically Speaking Nashville's backstage pass to classical music. Host Colleen Phelps interviews composers, conductors, and instrumentalists for an in-depth look at their repertoire and life in the orchestra. Get closer to classical music in Music City.
Classically Speaking

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Classically Speaking

Classically Speaking

From WPLN

Nashville's backstage pass to classical music. Host Colleen Phelps interviews composers, conductors, and instrumentalists for an in-depth look at their repertoire and life in the orchestra. Get closer to classical music in Music City.

Most Recent Episodes

Classically Speaking: Anna and Dmitri Shelest Cannot Be Silent

Music is visibly at the heart of the Ukrainian people, as can easily be seen during the ongoing Russian invasion of the country. Piano duo Anna and Dmitri Shelest have taken to heart the encouragement to use their talents for their fellow Ukrainian people and re-released their 2018 album Ukrainian Rhapsody. Hear from Anna and Dmitri why the cultural front in this war is so important, as well as the joys of putting four hands together on one keyboard.

Ben Folds Is The Rock Star Who Wrote A Concerto

This is the re-release of an episode from 2019. When you've been playing in a rock band for your whole career the way Ben Folds has, getting in front of a huge symphony orchestra feels completely different. In writing his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Folds was composing a piece for the dancers of Nashville Ballet, while at the same time telling hThe concerto was released as part of Folds's album So There, which also includes his collaboration with classical ensemble YMusic. In this video from a CBS broadcast in 2015 you can see the partnership in action. is own story: that of a rock pianist composing a concerto. In this Classically Speaking interview, he compares composition to songwriting, and concerto playing to rock. The concerto was released as part of Folds's album So There, which also includes his collaboration with classical ensemble YMusic. In this video from a CBS broadcast in 2015 you can see the partnership in action.

Rhiannon Giddens Hath They Wish Hast Thy Will

While thoughts of love, sex and power dominate Nashville Ballet's Lucy Negro Redux, for Rhiannon Giddens the work is about uncovering a hidden part of history.

Classically Speaking: Titus Underwood And The Oboe In The Easy Bake Oven

For Nashville Symphony Principal Oboist Titus Underwood, the pandemic has been a fairly prolific time. It's also been a successful year - with a regional Emmy Award and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, as well as a viral sensation on YouTube. And while he looks forward to a return to the Schermerhorn stage, he also has a lot of goals for the future of orchestral music - including equity in auditions, and a new broader focus in musicians' training.

Classically Speaking: Titus Underwood And The Oboe In The Easy Bake Oven

Listen · 23:25

Classically Speaking: The 51 Percent

Nashville's chamber orchestra Intersection has commissioned new works from 25 female-identifying composers for a project titled "Listen." So, we did just that - assembling a panel of the composing participants. Their diverse life experiences are reflected in their music, and also in the misconceptions they face on a daily basis.

Classically Speaking: Maurice Ravel's Wonderful World of Childhood Tantrums

There's nothing more wild yet utterly predictable than a child's tantrum. But in Maurice Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges, the consequences take the child completely by surprise. Vanderbilt Opera Theater's production of the piece is Nashville's latest example of how performing arts have pivoted to create new and interesting projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of Classically Speaking hear from director Gayle Shay and music director Jennifer McGuire about how Vanderbilt students learned a whole new set of skills to put on this production.

Classically Speaking: Maurice Ravel's Wonderful World of Childhood Tantrums

Listen · 21:38

Classically Speaking: Synth Patches, Spy Games, and Songs In Code - Composing 'Call Of Duty'

The newest "Call of Duty" game hit the market in late 2020. In" Black Ops - Cold War" it's composer Jack Wall's job to transport you to the turbulence of the 1980s. From green computer screens to hidden messages in Russian lyrics, Wall's scores are epic thanks to their use of a full orchestra – recorded right here in Nashville. Hear all about building the game's story scene by scene.

Classically Speaking: Synth Patches, Spy Games, and Songs In Code - Composing 'Call Of Duty'

Listen · 18:49

Classically Speaking: Leila Adu And The Fierce Guardian Of Compassion

While this episode of Classically Speaking was prepared in a tumultuous time, we never could have predicted how many more shocking things would happen before its release. That being said, Leila Adu's Mahakala Oratorio is still the right piece of music for this exact moment. The piece itself is well-timed invocation to a deity whose charge is to protect the good in all of us. Adu describes how meditation informs her music making, how she comes to her minimalism honestly, and how the project of premiering this oratorio took on new life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classically Speaking: Love, Magic, And A Mechanical Tree

From the archive: Perennial holiday favorite The Nutcracker has a special local treatment from Nashville Ballet. This year, as the work makes its local television debut, get behind the scenes with Artistic Director Paul Vasterling.

Classically Speaking: A Bubble, A Chapel, And 30 Million Hearing Lessons And Carols

During the COVID-19 pandemic, singing in large groups has been an off-limits activity. But, King's College Cambridge has gone to extraordinary lengths to continue its Christmas services safely. Hear from Director of Music Daniel Hyde on how King's is carrying on through this challenging time. Woven with the choral music that for many of us, has heralded the beginning of Christmas for nearly a century.

Classically Speaking: A Bubble, A Chapel, And 30 Million Hearing Lessons And Carols

Listen · 23:18
Classically Speaking

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