Tagged: Classical music

Today on Current State: Gay marriage in Michigan; a debate on the merits of "Common Core" education; MSU men's basketball with the Detroit Free Press' Joe Rexrode; the new realities of the publishing world; Ann Arbor teen named to inagural Carnegie Hall youth orchestra; MSU hockey playoffs; Interlochen Radio at Elderly Instruments this weekend. 

New York’s Carnegie Hall has launched a new initiative to bring an orchestra of young American musicians to the world stage. The newly-formed National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America finished its audition process this month to form an ensemble of 120-strong. The group will meet in New York in June to rehearse selected repertoire.

On today's Current State: Detroit's financial future, a local practitioner of the ancient Japanese art form called mokuhanga, sports with the Detroit Free Press' Joe Rexrode, the MSU football program's  legacy of racial integration, Friday fish fries and a preview of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra's next performance.

The Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s MasterWorks 5 concert is Saturday night at Wharton Center. Music of Barber and Dvorak is on the program, as well as a piece called “Ancestral Waters” by Brian Gaber.

WKAR’s Melissa Benmark talked to Gaber about his composition, and checked in with LSO conductor Timothy Muffitt to hear about the rest of the concert.

The Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s MasterWorks 5 concert is Saturday night at Wharton Center. Music of Barber and Dvorak is on the program, as well as a piece called “Ancestral Waters” by Brian Gaber. WKAR’s Melissa Benmark checked in with LSO conductor Timothy Muffitt for a preview of the concert.

This Sunday night at 9 p.m., WKAR TV presents the two-hour Season Three finale of the hit PBS TV series Downton Abbey. The “Sturm und Drang” of the third season brought us the wedding of Mary and Matthew, the death of Sybil, the near financial ruin of the estate itself and many more joys and heartbreaks. Millions of viewers nationwide will be tuned in to see what this year’s final installment brings and what it may promise for the coming Season Four.

Today on Current State: State Budget Director John Nixon and State Representative Sam Singh discuss Governor Snyder's budget proposal, sports with Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press, the largest LGBT college student conference comes to Lansing this weekend, Kirk Cousins on his NFL rookie year, and a breakdown of the Grammy nominees in classical music. 

The 55th Grammy Awards ceremony takes place Sunday night at 8pm on CBS. Millions of eyes and ears will be turned to some of the world’s most popular music that evening.

Classical music, as usual, will be somewhat of a sidebar. The classical Grammys are typically announced off-camera in a separate awards ceremony. But the fact remains that the breadth and depth of classical music leads to a large number of categories, nominations and awards.

The MSU Symphony Orchestra’s next concert is Friday, Feb. 8, at the Wharton Center. They’ll play Beethoven’s First Symphony, music from Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid,” and “The Chairman Dances” by John Adams. WKAR’s Melissa Benmark speaks with MSU Director of Orchestras Kevin Noe about the the program, starting with the Beethoven, which has a beginning that almost sounds like an ending.