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KPAC Blog

The KPAC Blog features classical music news and analysis from all our classical hosts. From Ron Moore's detailed look at Wagner's masterpiece "Parsifal," to an inside look at the Latin Grammys from James Baker, the KPAC Blog features writings about some of the music played on air as well as other interviews and essays about classical music.

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Classical Spotlight
2:25 pm
Thu December 22, 2011

Peters Conducts Triple Doubles - New Bridge Records Features YOSA Music Director

Troy Peters new release with the Vermont Symphony, courtesy of Bridge Records.
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The new CD "Triple Doubles" presents three recent double concertos - works composed for violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson. Performed by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, these performances have a remarkably personal quality, undoubtedly a result of the performers' close relationship with the composers and the unique bond of a husband and wife interacting with "their" orchestra. 

Troy Peters, who conducts Daron Hagen’s Masquerade, spoke with John Clare about this release.

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Arts & Culture
10:08 am
Tue October 18, 2011

"The Tree of Life" Alterna-Soundtrack

Credit Fox Searchlight Pictures
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Probably my favorite movie I’ve seen so far this year, “The Tree of Life” approaches for me a kind of magical or spiritual experience. It was recently released on Blu-ray/DVD.

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Movie Reviews
4:49 pm
Mon March 28, 2011

Blu-ray Review: "The Mikado" and "Topsy-Turvy"

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Credit Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
Kenny Baker (Nanki-Poo) woos Jean Colin (Yum-Yum).
Credit Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
Shirley Henderson (center) sings "Three Little Maids From School Are We" in "Topsy-Turvy."
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A painter may paint a picture, a composer may write a beautiful melody for solo piano, but in the world of the theater (and here I count motion pictures as well), one person may have a vision, but production is a collaborative art. W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan worked together on a total of 14 comic operas, of which “The Mikado” is far and away the most popular, and arguably the best. Two new releases from the Criterion Collection highlight the work of Gilbert and Sullivan in different ways.

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KPAC Blog
12:14 pm
Wed March 23, 2011

Celebrating Women: Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

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Credit Theodore Presser
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Credit Casey Houtz
Ellen and John after their interview
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"There are not many composers in the modern world who possess the lucky combination of writing music of substance and at the same time exercising an immediate appeal to mixed audiences. Zwilich offers this happy combination of purely technical excellence and a distinct power of communication."

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KPAC Blog
12:03 pm
Wed March 23, 2011

Celebrating Women: Composer Judith Lang Zaimont

Credit Subito Music Corp.
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Judith Lang Zaimont’s music is internationally acclaimed for its drama and expressiveness and has been programmed around the globe by major ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore and Mississippi Symphonies, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Czech Radio Orchestra, Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic, Connecticut Opera, New York Virtuosi, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestras (New York and Boston), American Guild of Organists, Harlem String Quartet, International Double Reed Society, World Viola Congress, Norway’s Bergen Wind Quintet, Zagreb Saxophone Quartet and others.

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KPAC Blog
2:18 pm
Wed June 30, 2010

YOSA's Great Tour of China: Hong Kong Concert

Credit John Clare
YOSA with the Hong Kong Youth Symphony
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Enjoy two selections from YOSA on tour in China, from Hong Kong here is the Spring Festival Overture: 

And the combined orchestras of YOSA with the Hong Kong Youth Symphony in The Moldau; both are conducted by Troy Peters.

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SXSW
12:06 pm
Wed March 17, 2010

Opera Singer Who Faced Discrimination at UT-Austin in 1957 Profiled in Documentary, "When I Rise"

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Credit Nathan Cone
L to R: Rochelle Small, a student of Ms. Conrad’s, Barbara Smith Conrad, Michelle Thomas of AT&T. AT&T helped finance the production of "When I Rise."
Credit Nathan Cone
L: Director, Mat Hames. R: Executive Producer, Dr. Don Carleton
Credit Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
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In 1957, Barbara Smith Conrad was studying music at the University of Texas in Austin. She was cast as Dido in a student production of Henry Purcell’s opera "Dido and Aeneas." 

Two weeks before the curtain, Conrad learned that she would not be singing the role of Dido, because a state congressman had objected to an African-American woman being cast opposite a white leading man in a romantic role.  

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