River

A melody in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was made famous to fans of Eric Carmen’s pop tune “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” But in the symphony, that melody leads to one of the most beautiful, and difficult, clarinet solos in the literature. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has the story.

There's always so much to prepare for Thanksgiving, but one thing you can check off your "To Do" list is finding just the right music for your holiday celebration. WRTI has that taken care of! So, be our guest all day long.

Deep in the heart of Texas, the Kronos Quartet reflects on race relations and social unrest with At War with Ourselves – 400 Years of You, by composer Michael Abels and poet Nikky Finney.

For almost 60 years, the only recording on which Hasaan Ibn Ali’s piano playing could be heard was 1964’s The Max Roach Trio Featuring The Legendary Hasaan, an album for which Hasaan—one of the most enigmatic figures in all of Philadelphia jazz lore—did not receive top billing even though he wrote all the music.

Lahav Shani followed Yannick Nézet-Séguin as principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in September of 2018 and has succeeded Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic as of 2020. A concert pianist, he has also studied and played the bass professionally. WRTI’s Susan Lewis has more on the young maestro and the story of how Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 led him into conducting.

Lahav Shani succeeded Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic in 2020, and became principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic back in 2018, taking over from Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Join us on Sunday, Nov. 21st at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, Nov. 22nd at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 to hear his Philadelphia Orchestra debut from March of that year.

Iconic jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter has completed a long-held dream, an opera based on the mythic Greek character Iphigenia, with help from singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding.

The Black Music City project has announced that for a second year it will provide grants to Black creatives to produce more new artistic works inspired by Philadelphia’s rich Black music history. With additional funding being sought, it is anticipated that a total of nearly $100,000 will be awarded.

Throw on Joey DeFrancesco’s new album, More Music, and you’re met almost immediately with the sound of an organ. Of course you are; DeFrancesco’s the most celebrated jazz organist in the world—what’d you expect? But this organ, this organ player… something sounds different, more subdued—earth tones compared to the boisterous musical pastels and neons we’ve grown accustomed to hearing from DeFrancesco.

Join us on Sunday, November 14th at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1 and Monday, November 15th at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2 for an unforgettable Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert broadcast from 2017 featuring music by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and the East Coast premiere of an organ work by the Texan Wayne Oquin. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.