Suzanne Bona

I so love learning about exceptionally talented young musicians, and sharing their performances. Today’s Beautiful Music is a brilliant young bassoon player — Kevin Zephyrin — with Orchestra of Camerata New Jersey, conducted by Byung-Hyun Rhee. They are performing the first movement of Carl Maria von Weber’s Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in F Major, […]

Prepare for a brief but breathtaking musical experience! Violinist Randall Goosby began violin studies at age 7 and made his solo debut with the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony at 9. At the age of 13, Randall was the youngest participant ever to win the Sphinx Concerto Competition. Now a seasoned pro of 27 (!) Randall Goosby

A Sunday Baroque listener recently told me about an innovative and talented musician called BLKBOK. The Detroit native grew up in a music-filled house and by ag 8, he was an acclaimed piano prodigy, winning statewide accolades and college-level competitions. BLKBOK describes himself as, “ARTIST / COMPOSER / LOVER OF HUMANS.” Today’s Beautiful Music features

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday that is typically observed around November 1. It is a time to celebrate and honor the spirits of deceased loved ones. As you will hear when you listen to today’s Beautiful Music, the tone of the holiday is uplifting and celebratory, and the

Boo! It’s Halloween, and today’s Beautiful Music is a composition that is deeply associated with horror movies … as well as the 1940 Disney film FANTASIA. The young Latvian organist Liene Andreta Kalnciema performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 at Riga Cathedral.

Carl Orff composed his epic cantata CARMINA BURANA in 1935-36. Today’s Beautiful Music features a huge gathering of students in New South Wales called SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR performing O FORTUNA from CARMINA BURANA. The 2016 performance includes an arena full of young singers with dramatic choreography.

Claudio Monteverdi’s opera ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE was first performed in 1607 in Mantua, Italy. It is the mythological story of Orpheus who attempts to rescue his beloved, Eurydice, from the underworld. Today’s Beautiful Music is a choreographed performance by The Royal Opera of a harrowing scene from ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.

The great Hollywood composer Bernard Hermann provided music for some of history’s most iconic films, including Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE, Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO and NORTH BY NORTHWEST, and Martin Scorsese’s TAXI DRIVER. Today’s Beautiful (scary) Music is Hermann’s dramatic and unforgettable music from Hitchcock’s film PSYCHO. John Wilson leads this performance from 2013 “Hollywood Rhapsody”

Composer Alyaksandr Fjodarawitsch Litvinouski (aka Alexander Litvinovsky) was born in 1962 in Minsk, Belorussia. He graduated from the Belorussian Academy of Music with degrees in musicology and composition. He cites many influences as a composer — from the baroque, classical, and romantic periods, to music by composers such as Igor Stravinsky and the avant-garde musicians. Today’s

When Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky died in 1881, his 1867 orchestral composition NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN (completed in 1867) had not been published. It became much better known when it was used in the 1940 Disney film FANTASIA. The turbulent and dramatic tone poem depicts a gathering of witches and spirits. Today’s Beautiful Music features