It was 202 years ago when "Silent Night" was first heard by Austrian villagers attending Christmas Eve mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf. How did this simple melody, with its words of comfort, become a beloved hymn of peace throughout the world? WRTI's Susan Lewis has the story.

December 14, 2020. La Lucha’s Everybody Wants to Rule the World—with its ensemble cast and eclectic mix of Klezmer-flavored cumbias, Columbian bambucos, anthemic post-bop originals, and Jukebox Jazz-flavored covers—is among my favorite albums of 2020. So, imagine my delighted surprise to learn that they’ve taken it upon themselves to do for the Christmas album what Everybody Wants to Rule the World did for “Lullaby of Birdland.”

December 14, 2020. It’s been a turbulent year, but a glowing and glimmering note for Philadelphia has been the continued skyrocketing success of the young Dover Quartet. And just in time for Beethoven’s 250th birth anniversary celebration, the first installment of the ensemble's complete Beethoven String Quartets cycle was released over the summer.

During the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 in the People's Republic of China, Western classical music all but disappeared from Chinese cultural life. The Philadelphia Orchestra's trailblazing 1973 trip to China helped turn that around. Led by Music Director Eugene Ormandy, and part of a larger plan of cross-cultural exchange, the tour planted the seeds for a relationship between China and the Orchestra that has grown and blossomed in the last three decades.

Beethoven. Sure, he was the deaf, scowling musical genius with the wild hair. But those who knew him thought of him a little differently. We’ll take a look at some little-known quirks of the great composer, culled from documented recollections of his friends and acquaintances, biographies, and my conversation with John Suchet, author of Beethoven: The Man Revealed.

Whether singing jazz in a nuanced, mellow tone, tackling soul with sultry zeal, or hosting gospel’s tender spirituality with holy heft—there are no walls for Philly vocalist Lee Mo. Only open doors and easy gradations.