Let's face it, most Christmas music is lame. And it's that same lame Christmas music that gets blared over loudspeakers in shopping malls all across this great country of ours. Ask most people about classical Christmas music and they'll probably say something about that horrifying version of Pachelbel's Canon in D by an electronic group that … Continue reading A Classical Christmas
5 Questions for Michael Giacchino
This weekend, the American Youth Symphony will present a screening of Star Trek Into Darkness with the film score played live to picture. David Newman will conduct Michael Giacchino's exhilarating score and Giacchino will be on hand for a pre-concert/screening Q&A with film music journalist (and frequent KUSC contributor) Jon Burlingame. Details here. In advance … Continue reading 5 Questions for Michael Giacchino
10 Pieces of Classical Music Everyone Should Know
This is my first contribution to a new series on the KUSC blog. Over the next several weeks, each of the KUSC on-air hosts will unveil a list of 10 essential pieces of classical music that we think everyone should know. These aren’t the “10 Best” pieces, or even our “10 Favorite” pieces--just 10 that we … Continue reading 10 Pieces of Classical Music Everyone Should Know
The Sounds of Sunrise
Sunrise. It's beautiful. Or so I'm told. I am *not* a morning person and can count the number of sunrises I've actually seen on my two hands and still have a finger left over to tap the snooze button on my alarm clock. Many composers have also been inspired by sunrises. In fact, some of … Continue reading The Sounds of Sunrise
Kicking Brass: An Interview with the LA Phil’s Andrew Bain and Thomas Hooten
This week’s LA Philharmonic radio broadcast on Classical KUSC features two concerto performances by two LA Phil brass principals. Thomas Hooten, principal trumpet, will play Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat. Andrew Bain, principal French horn, will play Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4. Before the performance, which was recorded in February 2015, I sat down with … Continue reading Kicking Brass: An Interview with the LA Phil’s Andrew Bain and Thomas Hooten
GUEST POST: Vijay Gupta on the True Power of Music to Change Lives
The following is the Commencement Address to the Class of 2015 at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, given recently by LA Philharmonic violinist and Street Symphony founder Vijay Gupta. My thanks to Vijay for allowing me to share this inspiring speech here in this forum. -Brian ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earlier this week, I was on the 10 … Continue reading GUEST POST: Vijay Gupta on the True Power of Music to Change Lives
The KUSC Classical Top 100 Analyzed
Well, the KUSC Classical Top 100 has been fully revealed and with it, some predictable results...and more than a few surprises as well. To recap, we asked KUSC listeners to vote on their favorite pieces of classical music and then we counted down the top 100 vote-getters on the air. You can view the entire … Continue reading The KUSC Classical Top 100 Analyzed
11 Conductors Who Are Doing Something Else While Conducting
1. Herbert von Karajan grumpily churning the butter. 2. Valery Gergiev mostly likely suffering from food poisoning. 3a. Gustavo Dudamel suddenly noticing there's a scorpion on his hand. 3b. Gustavo Dudamel touches a hot stove and refuses to learn that he will get burned. 4. Pierre Boulez brings you the glass of … Continue reading 11 Conductors Who Are Doing Something Else While Conducting
Composer Emojis
Because no one has done this yet...at least not that I have found. 😇 Bach - soli deo gloria 👂 Beethoven - say what? 😲 Berlioz - currently hallucinating 😴 Brahms - go to sleep ⏳ Cage - time matters 🗽 Copland - the Dean 🌜 Debussy - ask Clair 🚂 Dvorak - he really liked trains … Continue reading Composer Emojis
Mozart at the Bat
With opening week of the new baseball season upon us, I was thinking about the various songs the players choose for their walk-up music as they head up to bat. It's totally their choice and the picks range from something with a good thumping bass to get the adrenaline flowing to music of menace and … Continue reading Mozart at the Bat
Brian Lauritzen 