Coming up on TFR for Wednesday, 4/1/09

Who is today's Mystery Co-Host? Will we make our Fundraising Goal? Tune in to find out the answers to Life's Persistent Questions (forgive me, if I steal from Guy Noir)!

You love public radio, and public radio loves you. Show your support; make a pledge during today's TFR ... our "Mystery Guest" just might have some goodies to sweeten the deal!

Also, The Bach Society's Artistic Director Albert LeDoux & Professor Michael Marissen of Swarthmore College discuss Handel's neglected Brockes Passion. Actors Detria Ward & Cynthia Brown talk about the Ensemble Theatre's production of Constant Star, a bio-drama about civil rights pioneer Ida B. Wells. And we hear about the MFAH's April Artful Thursday event, featuring Sue Schroeder's CORE Performance Company.

Join us for an up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row," weekdays at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

The Amazing Chitra

I've become a fan of writer Chitra Divakaruni's blog, Amazing Things. She can comment on anything from the Google cafeteria to Mango Ice Cream to indie bookstores with such freshness, charm and meaning. I really do feel like I'm seeing these amazing things for the first time!

Here's our extended interview, in which Chitra Divakaruni reads from her new young adult novel, Shadowland, and chats about that quality of wonderment that she tries to bring to all her writing (originally aired in edited form on Monday's TFR.)

Coming up on TFR for Tuesday, 3/31/2009

Oscar-winning composer John Williams talks about two of his concert pieces, which the Houston Symphony performs this weekend. We also chat with one of the coolest jazz pianists in the biz, Chick Corea [pictured right]. And the leads from Theatre Under the Stars' new production of Les Miserables pay us a visit.

Join us for an up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row," weekdays at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

Coming up on TFR for Monday, 3/30/09

We celebrate the literary arts, with visits by three great contemporary writers: former US Poet Laureate Charles Simic, award-winning novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni of the UH Creative Writing Program, and decorated author & NPR commentator, Andrei Codrescu ... all of whom read from their latest books Monday night around Houston!

Are you a Front Row-er? Be the Water that makes our Garden of Arts Coverage grow! Contribute to KUHF's Spring Fundraising Campaign during your up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row" ... Monday at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1! Repeats can be heard at 10pm on HD-2.

Thanks for your support!

Coming up on TFR for Friday, 3/27/09

Ever seen the St. Lawrence String Quartet in concert? They blew me away the first I heard them several years ago at a Da Camera of Houston performance, where they played Haydn effortlessly. Here's a sample of their artistry:


SLSQ cellist Christopher Costanza stops by TFR, along with composer Roberto Sierra (Songs of the Diaspora), to chat about Dreams & Prayers, Friday's concert at the Wortham Center. California-based pianist Sarah Cahill talks about A Sweeter Music, a program of pieces she's commissioned on the theme of peace, coming up at the Rothko Chapel. And cellist Michael Kannen & pianist Brian Connelly of Context share their love for Dvorak's Piano Trios, two of which they'll perform Sunday at Rice University.

It's all about chamber music on this edition of TFR ... Friday at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

Coming up on TFR for Thursday, 3/26/09

Remember the 1995 film noir, Devil in a Blue Dress, starring Denzel Washington as "Easy Rawlins," a private detective working 1940s L.A.?

Mystery writer, Walter Mosley, whose novel inspired that movie, visits TFR on Thursday! He introduces his new character (ex-boxer & investigator Leonid McGill), new setting (NYC) and new novel, The Long Fall, which he'll be signing at Murder By The Book.

Here's an excerpt:

Throwing a punch is the yang of a boxer's life. The yin is being able to avoid getting hit. I'm pretty good at the yang part. Everybody knows but few can exploit the fact that a good punch comes first from the foot, moves in circular motion around the hips, and only then connects with the arm, fist, and if you're lucky, your opponent's jaw or rib cage. Fighting therefore is like the dance of a mighty Scot stamping and swinging in a dewy Highland morning.

Click here to read more, and hear from Walter Mosley, himself, live on TFR!

Also, General Manager Steve Brosvik reveals what we can expect to see, hear, learn and even taste at the Houston Symphony's Bach vs. Vivaldi Experience. And Artistic Director Robert Simpson chats about Handel's oratorio, Esther, which his Houston Chamber Choir performs this weekend.

Join us for an up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row," weekdays at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

Go Spring Fundraising Campaign!

Coming up on TFR for Wednesday, 3/25/09

Classical guitarist Valerie Hartzell [pictured right] performs for us! She also talks about her Salon Concert, coming up this Saturday night, benefitting the Classical Minds Guitar Competition. Composer & Professor Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman of Baylor College of Medicine preview Exploring the Mind Through Music, this weekend's conference at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. And internationally-acclaimed bass-baritone & Houstonian Richard Paul Fink chats about his role in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera, which can be heard on KUHF's Live from the Met broadcasts starting this Saturday!

Join us for an up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row," weekdays at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

Coming up on TFR for Tuesday, 3/24/09

Violist James Dunham of the St. Cecilia Chamber Music Society, flutist Catherine Ramirez & harpist Sadie Turner play Debussy for us! We also hear a performance by Austin-based guitarist Alejandro Montiel. And we preview the Houston Symphony’s upcoming 2-day music festival, The Bach vs. Vivaldi Experience.

Join us for an up-close look at the Houston area's diverse & vibrant arts scene on "The Front Row," weekdays at Noon on 88.7 FM & KUHF HD-1 ... and 10pm on HD-2!

[Photo by Fulton Davenport; Houston Symphony Music Director Hans Graf poises with pals Bach & the "Red-Haired Priest," Vivaldi.]

Coming up on TFR for Monday, 3/23/09

Maestro William Weibel & singers from his Opera in the Heights treat us to excepts from Verdi's comic opera, Falstaff, live from KUHF's Geary Performance Studio! We also speak with Craig Arnold, director of the Nordic Choir of Luther College in Iowa, which houses one of the largest, most active music schools in the country. And we preview Society for the Performing Arts' upcoming program that celebrates the 50th anniverary of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, presenting a new work, Go in Grace, accompanied by live music by the African-American traditional vocal ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Monday, we speak with Hope Boykin, the young choreographer who created Go in Grace, and Sweet Honey singer Ysaye Barnwell.

Non-Classical

There is a new culture of music emerging in what has been called the Post-Classical era. You'll remember on a recent edition of The Front Row, we spent an hour in conversation with Author Joe Horowitz who says that we are, in fact, in a Post-Classical era which is being created in the wake of the new world of sounds and rhythms originating with composers like John Adams, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Add to that the impulse of young artists who move just as easily between Beethoven and Bach as they do between Hip-Hop and Punk Rock and you have the begining of a new musical culture. Author Greg Sandow refers to new music being written today by Rock Star Composers like Nico Muhly, Daniel Bernard Roumain and Gabriel Kahane at venues like Manhattan's [Le] Poisson Rouge as Alt-Classical.

Just as in New York, composer and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev has been working to create a space for this new culture of music to emerge in London. Over the last few years his classical club nights, known as Nonclassical, have become a growing feature in the night-life of his hometown. His success is fueled by a new generation of performers, composer and promoters who are redefining the rules and freeing themselves of the constraints of the traditional classical concert halls.

This week Prokofiev brings his forward thinking music, and circle of friends to New York's [Le] Poisson Rouge and The Tap Room in Austin as part of the annual music festival known as South by Southwest.

I called him on his cell phone as he had just arrived in New York City and was in the midst of preparing for this week's gigs. We had a very casual conversation about his music, his club-nights and his legendary grandfather, Sergei Prokofiev. Listen. Download.

Download a track from Gabriel Prokofiev's latest CD:
String Quartet No.2 (Mvt. 2) - The Elysian Quartet

Related radio segment broadast on The Front Row

More links to some of the folks performing on the Nonclassical Showcase in Austin:

Elysian Quartet
John Matthias, violin
Nick Ryan, LapTop

Jed Marum brings out the Irish in us!

March 11, 2009

An early Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Dallas-based Celtic musician Jed Marum was born and raised near Boston. His selection of material and his own song-writing both incline heavily toward the traditional Irish repertoire, but also include elements of Civil War-era American ballads, and a flavoring of Appalachian bluegrass.

Today in the KUHF Performance Studio, Jed sang "Mama's Lily," a touching song he wrote, inspired by a true story from the diary of Irish-American immigrant William McCarter. Listen

The Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas presents A Lonestar Stout Evening of Celtic Music with Jed Marum & Scottish button-accordion player, Hugh Morrison, on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30pm.

Thanks to Mr. Marum for being on the show, and thanks to KUHF audio engineer, Todd Hulslander!

TFR goes Green!

March 6, 2009

Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of live music & live radio! We had a blast at our first-ever remote broadcast, live from Discovery Green Park, in the heart of downtown Houston.




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.


Many thanks to our special guests:

- Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, who rocked out, and made us all want to skip the rest of the work day!

- Emmeline Kramlich, board member of Houston Young Artist's Concert, and grade-school musicians: violinist Yaegy Park, who gave a jaw-dropping performance of a Kreisler "Scherzo," and Ethan Le & Liana Wang (piano 4-hands), who played with such poise that they barely flinched when a siren whizzed by.

- The Invincible Czars, who came all the way down from Austin to bring us their unique DIY blend of rock, instrumental/symphonic jams and avant-garde film music!

Check out the pics of the musicians in action ... Plus, see if you can spot our fearless leader/host St.John Flynn; producer-extraordinaire Bob Stevenson; COO Debra Fraser, CEO John Proffitt; TFR's Meghan Hendley; and the back of my head (and part of my arm)! By the way, we heart our Engineers, as well as TFR "Mixmaster" Chris Johnson. (Photos by KUHF's Paul Pendergraft)

But, most importantly, thank YOU for being part of the live Front Row Experience at Discovery Green. We loved seeing your happy, shiny faces; your kids, your dogs; the bicyclists; the parents; the picnickers; and fellow arts-community friends.

Stay tuned for details about our next live, remote broadcast ... and we'll see you there!