Gregg Whiteside

Classical Host

As one of New York City's most popular radio personalities, Gregg delighted listeners as WQXR FM's chief announcer and on-air host of the morning drive-time show for over 20 years. His credentials are lengthy - he is the former national voice of live broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic and the commercial voice of The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Former host of live intermission features for The Metropolitan Opera Radio Network, Gregg also narrated the PBS special Pavarotti and the Italian Tenor, Classic Views video magazine, the feature film Royal Kalibur, and the documentary Montserrat Caballe, Beyond Music. Gregg performed with F. Murray Abraham and George Plimpton in the Pierpont Morgan's 9/11 Memorial Tribute. The list goes on...

Currently, Gregg is the voice of PBS' series Keeping Score with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. He also produces and hosts the nationally syndicated music and information program Making Music in Monaco.

Gregg can be heard weekdays from 6 to 10 am.

Recent announcement about selection of Gregg Whiteside as official weekday morning classical host on WRTI

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Yannick and Shaham LIVE From The Kimmel Center!
7:23 am
Tue May 21, 2013

A Must-Hear Broadcast: The Philadelphia Orchestra LIVE On WRTI, May 24 At 2 PM

Credit Christian Steiner
Violinist Gil Shaham

For the first time in over 13 years, we're bringing you a LIVE remote broadcast of The Philadelphia Orchestra on WRTI, featuring Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the Philadelphians in works by Schumann, Janacek, and Dvorak and highlighted by violinist Gil Shaham performing the famous Violin Concerto of Brahms. Hosted by Gregg Whiteside, live from the Kimmel Center on Friday, May 24th at 2 pm, with intermission interviews by Susan Lewis and Jim Cotter.

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Brandenburgs, Double Violin Concerto, and More!
1:13 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert On WRTI: An All-Bach Broadcast!

Maestro Nicholas McGegan

Bach specialist Nicholas McGegan conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, May 19th, 2 to 4 pm, in an all-Bach concert - bringing a special touch to the Orchestra, and throwing the spotlight on several Philadelphia Orchestra soloists.

Concertmaster David Kim, Principal Oboist Richard Woodhams, Principal Horn Jennifer Montone, and Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner are just some of the stellar players of the Orchestra who will play major roles in a program including:

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Maestro Jaap van Zweden, Tchaikovsky & Prokofiev
5:10 pm
Fri May 10, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert On WRTI: Two Popular Russian Works!

This Sunday from 2 to 4 pm, Guest Conductor Jaap van Zweden takes the podium to conduct The Philadelphia Orchestra in an all-Russian program from mid-April, which offers two major works. Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, inspired by the sights and sounds of Italy, was originally scored for string sextet. We’ll hear it performed in an expanded version for the full strings of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

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Yannick Nezet-Seguin Conducts!
11:18 am
Sun May 5, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert On WRTI: Garrick Ohlsson Plays Brahms, May 5th, 1 PM

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson

Join us Sunday at 1 pm (one hour earlier than usual) as Garrick Ohlsson plays Brahms, and Yannick returns to the podium to conduct a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and two lush orchestral works by Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, and a suite from his opera, Der Rosenkavalier!

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A First!
5:59 am
Sat April 27, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert On WRTI: Yannick Conducts Bach's ENTIRE St. Matthew Passion!

J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

You're in a for a treat this Sunday, April 28th at 2 pm! That's when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert Broadcast will feature a first for the ensemble:  It's the first time in the Orchestra's distinguished history that they performed the complete, uncut St. Matthew Passion, in two parts, with five soloists, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and American Boychoir, all under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.  

This exciting, historical first was performed at the end of March, during the Easter period.

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WRTI Spotlight
5:04 pm
Thu April 18, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert On WRTI: Tchaikovsky's 5th On April 21

Percussionist Colin Currie

"Fate" is the unifying thread as guest conductor Andrey Boreyko conducts The Philadelphians in an exciting program beginning with the Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla ​from Wagner's Das Reingold, and culminating in the brilliant and brassy apotheosis of the "fate" motif that Tchaikovsky used in all four movements of his Symphony No. 5. 

In between, a spectacular display of drumming by soloist Colin Currie in Alberich Saved, a percussion concerto by the American composer Christopher Rouse.

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Two Romantic Masterpieces!
3:04 pm
Thu April 11, 2013

Viennese Masters: The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert On WRTI

Credit Terry O'Neill
Maestro Christoph von Dohnanyi

Listen on Sunday, April 14, 2 to 4 pm to two works, composed 52 years apart, that are tailor-made for the dense, glorious string sound of The Fabulous Philadelphians: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, also known as the "Unfinished Symphony," and Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, "Romantic."

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WRTI Spotlight
12:21 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert on WRTI: Dohnanyi Conducts Beethoven and Mozart

Credit Terry O'Neill
Maestro Christoph von Dohnanyi

Guest conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, April 7th from 2 to 4 pm in a program featuring Witold Lutoslawski's Funeral Music - one of the most accessible works by the 20th-century Polish composer. It will be followed by a performance of Mozart's darkly sublime Piano Concerto No. 20 with pianist Rudolph Buchbinder, who speaks with WRTI's Jim Cotter during intermission. 

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WRTI Spotlight
4:58 pm
Thu March 28, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert On WRTI: Acclaimed 2011 Performance of Brahms' German Requiem

It was an unforgettable performance! Re-live it on Sunday, March 31st, 2 to 4 pm as then Music Director-Designate Yannick Nezet-Seguin took the podium in March, 2011 to conduct The Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Symphonic Choir, and soloists Dorothea Roeschmann and Matthias Goerne in a critically acclaimed performance of Johannes Brahms's humanistic and glorious Ein Deutsches Requiem, A German Requiem - a symphonic as well as a choral masterpiece.

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The Pines of Rome and More!
12:01 pm
Wed March 20, 2013

The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert: Yannick and Italian-Themed Music, March 24 at 2 PM

This week's broadcast, on Sunday, March 24, 2 to 4 pm, takes us back to November, 2011, when then-Music Director Designate Yannick Nezet-Seguin was appearing with greater frequency in Philadelphia, winning over the hearts of the Orchestra as well as Verizon Hall audiences. 

One of the most memorable of these early concerts was the Italian-themed program scheduled for rebroadcast this Sunday - Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, followed by the ever-popular fourth symphony of Mendelssohn, and -  following Intermission - Verdi's overture to his opera La Forza del Destino, one of his finest overtures, and Respighi's exciting orchestral showpiece The Pines of Rome, a long-time favorite of Philadelphia audiences.

Listen to Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Principal Clarinet Sam Caviezel talk with Susan Lewis about how the clarinet depicts a nightingale in The Pines of Rome.
Susan Lewis talks with Philadelphia Orchestra Organist Michael Stairs about how the Kimmel Center organ has changed the sound of his part in The Pines of Rome.

Intermission Features: As part of Women's History Month, Meridee Duddleston will take a closer look at The Philadelphia Orchestra's first female player, harpist Edna Phillips, the first woman to be appointed a principal player of any American orchestra.  And afterward, Susan Lewis will speak with today's principal harpist, Elizabeth Hainen - one of the world's great ambassadors for the instrument.

**Audio for Intermission features will be added to this post on Monday morning.

The performances that you'll hear in this broadcast were widely admired, receiving high praise from critics and concert-goers alike. So don't miss this opportunity to re-live them, this Sunday, March 24th, from 2 to 4 pm.

More information, including Program Notes, at The Philadelphia Orchestra's website.

Program:

Tchaikovsky - Francesca da Rimini
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 ("Italian")
Verdi - Overture to La forza del destino
Respighi - The Pines of Rome
Yannick Nézet-Séguin - Conductor

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