Suzanne Bona

A Sunday Baroque listener recently contacted me to recommend the artistry of Colombian harpsichordist Rafael Puyana. The late Grammy-winning musician started on piano and pursued his musical training at New England Conservatory in Boston. Later, he studied harpsichord with Wanda Landowska and composition with Nadia Boulanger. Today’s Beautiful Music features Rafael Puyana playing Sonatas by […]

Austrian theorbo player, harpist, and conductor Christina Pluhar and her group L’Arpeggiata are known for their thrilling and spirited performances of interesting repertory. Today’s Beautiful Music is no exception! It’s not only fun to hear them perform this Tarantella by Cristoforo Caresana, it’s captivating to watch the looks of joy on their faces, the energy,

Today’s Beautiful Music is a jazz take on a fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Modern Jazz Quartet and Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida show what happens when genius meets genius from this 1964 performance. LAURINDO ALMEIDA with THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET Fugue in A Minor 1964 – YouTube

On this first day of October, today’s Beautiful Music is the OCTOBER Suite BY Christopher Simpson played by Sonnerie from Simpson’s collection THE MONTHES. Christopher Simpson – The Monthes – October – YouTube

On this date in 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved opera THE MAGIC FLUTE was premiered in Vienna. Today’s Beautiful Music features the extraordinary baritone Roderick Williams singing Der Vogelfanger bin Ich ja, the famous aria from the opera, sung by the jolly bird-catcher Papageno. You can also read more about Roderick Williams using the link

Celadon is an ensemble that specializes in playing ancient music on ancient instruments. It’s extraordinary to hear Medieval music brought to life in the 21st century! Today’s Beautiful Music is Celadon’s performance from a church in France. Céladon Ancient music .Medieval Time. Middle ages music ! – YouTube

Cuban early music ensemble Ars Longa was founded in Havana in 1994 by Teresa Paz and Aland López. In 2018 they performed in New York at St Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University. From their program of “Baroque Music from Cuba and the New World.” From that concert, today’s Beautiful Music is VAYAN UNAS ESPECIES, a villancico

Peter Breiner has crafted many clever and fun baroque-style arrangements. Today’s Beautiful Music features his Concerto Grosso in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach, based on songs of The Beatles. See if you can identify all the Beatles songs in this arrangement! Beatles go Baroque, Concerto grosso in the style of Bach – YouTube

Even Johann Sebastian Bach appreciated a good cup o’joe! Today’s Beautiful Music is from Bach’s COFFEE CANTATA (yes, really!) performed by the talented soprano Katherine Jolly with pianist Sandra Geary at the 2017 Bach Festival of Saint Louis. You can also read more about the marvelous singer, who is an Associate Professor of Voice at

Violinist Randall Goosby is a phenomenal talent! I’m so excited to share this Beautiful Music featuring the wonderful young musician. First, watch Mr. Goosby giving a full-length recital with pianist Zhu Wang at Merkin Concert Hall in New York in 2019. Their program including music by Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Claude Debussy, William Grant Still, Richard