Suzanne Bona

What a thrill to discover an ancient yet modern-sounding motet by a composer whose name was new to me: Vicente Lusitano. The 16th century Portuguese musician was also an ordained priest for the first part of his adulthood, and he traveled to Italy for his musical career. Below is a biography so you can familiarize […]

Today’s offering of Beautiful Music is a juxtaposition of old and new. Calefax Reed Ensemble uses oboes, bassoons, English horns, and a variety of clarinets and saxophones – sometimes to play arrangements of music that was written long before those instruments were invented. Here they play haunting music from the 15th century by Johannes Ockeghem

June 6 is the annual celebration of Yo-Yo Day! And while I fondly remember my red light-up “butterfly” yo-yo, what I prefer to share with you today is … (bet you’ve already guessed!) … Yo-Yo Ma! The second of his three recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 6 Suites for Unaccompanied Cello was augmented by collaborations

Despite his short life, Henry Purcell composed a lot of music and earned admiration and respect for his considerable talents. Purcell composed a variety of music: instrumental sonatas, theatre music, sacred works, and more. Today’s offering features some of his lovely songs.    

The bassoon is a quirky instrument — difficult to play, with a distinctive sound that requires lots of controlled breath support and control. It’s also a large and unwieldy instrument, and it requires the player to master the process of making reeds. Bassoonist Michael McCraw was one of the masters of the instrument. He died

Today ‘s offering is luscious oboe music featuring the phenomenal oboe player Washington McClain. The late virtuoso had such a sweet, silky tone and graceful technique. His biography is also linked below so you can learn more about this marvelous musician, and seek out some of the other fine recordings he made.   https://www.amherstearlymusic.org/node/348 https://africlassical.blogspot.com/2013/02/washington-mcclain-baroque-oboe.html

Please meet Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Composer — virtuoso violin player — conductor — champion fencer. He was born in Guadeloupe in 1745, right at the end of the official baroque era, and he only lived until 1799. Joseph Bologne’s talents provide today’s Beautiful Music — it’s a recording of Joseph Bologne’s Violin

Today’s Beautiful Music in Difficult Times is a tribute to a marvelous and beloved musician, violinist Judson Griffin. He was a member of the group Abendmusik, and recently died after a brief illness. His colleagues remember him for his exquisite playing, skillful programming, impeccable scholarship, beautiful editions, and gentlemanly wit.  Judson and his esteemed colleagues

A little over a year ago (in Spring 2019) I was privileged to visit Sacramento, where I met my colleagues at Capitol Public Radio, played several concerts with their talented announcer Jennifer Reason who is a PHENOMENAL pianist, and met with some other superb musicians, including members of Sinfonia Spirituosa. So today I’m offering you

Many musicians continue to admire Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, and even consider him to be an inspiration and even a sort of mentor. Today I’m sharing music by Bach’s mentor: Dietrich Buxtehude. You may have heard the story about Bach making a lengthy trip on foot (more than 200 miles!) from Arnstadt to Lübeck, where