Category Archives: KMFA announcers/hosts

Metamorphoses: from Ovid to Britten

~posted by Renee Beale, KMFA part-time announcer

I recently watched the performance of Metamorphoses at Zachary Scott Theatre and absolutely enjoyed the performance.  I am always so pleased to find Austin’s cultural community willing to take risks.

Metamorphoses is a presentational play based on the poem written by the Roman poet Ovid .  This modern adaptation, written by Mary Zimmerman, is a unique presentation with a very simple set that revolves around a pool. Vignettes from Ovid’s poem are told utilizing this pool in interesting ways… for example, the play itself allows for modern costuming, such as the bathing suits worn by the young and beautiful female narrators of King Midas, mixed with the classic Grecian togas such as worn in the vignette about Alcyone and Ceyx.  (I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the nouveau riche King Midas appearing on stage in full western regalia of the modern day rancher.  It  brought regional humor with which the audience connected.)

Ovid inspired composer Benjamin Britten to write a solo piece for Oboe based on six of the mythological characters in Metamorphoses, and of course inspired playwright Mary Zimmerman to create her version of Metamorphoses being performed now for Austin audiences to enjoy.  To that I say: enjoy, marvel at the antiquity of the poem, and how fortunate we are that this great work has survived through time.

~posted by Renee Beale, KMFA part-time announcer
(photos courtesy of Zach Scott Theatre)

Summer greetings from Carmel O’Donovan

~posted by Carmel O’Donovan, KMFA part-time announcer

It has been a long summer and I have been away from Austin for far too long!

I have badly missed the dulcet tones of my fellow announcers, as well as the glorious music mix on KMFA, as I have explored Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico on a big road trip with my family reminiscent of the Griswolds. (Where is Chevy Chase when I need him?)

Try as I might (and believe me, I tried hard — I find that using classical music to drown out fighting siblings works a treat), I could not find a radio station to hold a candle to our dearly beloved KMFA. All of which reinforced something that we all know: we have our own little treasure right here in Central Texas — the jewel of the airwaves at 89.5 and the guarantee of glorious classical music 24/7. What could be better for the soul and the spirit?


~ Carmel O’Donovan is a part-time announcer on KMFA 89.5; you can read more about Carmel and all our Music Hosts on our website.

See Brian Satterwhite at the Alamo Drafthouse

Are you a fan of KMFA’s weekly show, Film Score Focus? Have you always wanted to put a face to the voice of host/producer, Brian Satterwhite?

Well, this Sunday you can see him in person at the downtown Alamo Drafthouse! He’ll be introducing the screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, with special attention paid to the score composed by Bernard Herrmann. The Alamo website says, “Before the show, Brian will discuss the score, its history, construction and inspiration. You will truly come to understand how the pieces of film music fit together and how a score is constructed to convey drama, action and character. Then, when we watch the film, we can experience it not just as a film made by a master but as a great work of music as well.”

For more information about tickets and location, visit the Alamo Drafthouse website.

~posted by Alison @ KMFA 🙂

Jeffrey Blair asks: Are conductors really necessary?

~posted by Jeffrey Blair, KMFA morning announcer

I recently came across this article in the LA Times, pondering the need for conductors in today’s symphonies:  http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/15/entertainment/la-ca-what-conductors-do-20100815

It’s funny that this question seems to come up every couple of years or so;  heck, I even asked the same thing when I was knee-high to an armadillo. I remember I was just a young radio geek in training and I thought it must be pretty cool to be the conductor. Standing up on this little podium with your back to the audience (it must be tempting to make faces at the orchestra and try to get them to crack up), waving around this little stick, telling the orchestra what to do with the slightest crook of your little finger. And then after the performance you get to acknowledge all the applause. Yep, that’s the life for me.

 Then I started recording orchestras and going to rehearsals other than the final dress. I quickly found out that conducting is HARD WORK. The part about standing up in front and waving the baton around is actually the end of a long and grueling process that is just as demanding if not more demanding than giving a solo recital. It’s been said that violinists play the violin and pianists play the piano, but conductors play the orchestra. From what I’ve picked up from various conductors, this is absolutely true. Conductors tell the various segments of the orchestra when to get loud, when to get quiet, when to come in, when to play vigorously, and when to play with great emotion. It all has to match what they think the composer wanted, what the audience expects, and what his or her interpretation happens to be. That’s a lot of plates to keep spinning at the same time.

 The L.A. Times article spells it out much better than I can, with conversations with Leonard Slatkin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davis, and others, but they all agree that a conductor brings his own interpretation to a score. Sometimes it’s good…sometimes it’s not so good, but its the conductor’s job to figure out phrasing, emotional direction and balance. Then they have to convey all of that to the musicians in such a fashion that they can bring about the desired reaction from the audience. Imagine someone translating Beowulf from Old English and then telling someone else who then tells you, but you still expect to get the full emotional impact from the original story. It’s a tough job and I’ll leave it to the professionals!

 I still want to stand with my back to the audience and wave the baton around. That part would be fun. 🙂

 
Jeffrey Blair is KMFA’s weekday morning announcer, Production Engineer, and host of the weekend show, Choral Classics. Tune in Sundays at 10am and 5pm to hear Choral Classics, right here on KMFA, 89.5

A Farewell to Mitch Miller

~ posted by Rich Upton, KMFA Operations Manager and afternoon announcer

 

Mitch Miller died Saturday, July 31.  He was 99.

The younger you are, the less likely you are to know who Mitch Miller was.  I was born in 1955, and much of the earliest music I remember hearing came to my ears courtesy of Mitch Miller.

He was a musician, a singer, a record producer, a choral director, a conductor, a television personality, a record company executive, and an Artists and Repertoire man for a major record label.  His career encompassed popular music, easy listening, classical, film music, and country music.  He abhorred rock music to the point that he passed up the opportunity to sign Elvis Presley (whose manager wanted too much money for Miller’s taste) and Buddy Holly (although he himself DID eventually record an embarrassing version of John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance”).  He produced records for Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Marty Robbins, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and many others, and while many of these records were hits, Miller had plenty of critics who felt that he reduced these singers to the lowest common denominator by aiming for the charts (often with novelty songs) rather than making great records.

I remember becoming aware of Mitch Miller in the early ’60s when “Sing Along with Mitch” appeared on the NBC television network.  Each week, Miller smiled non-stop while conducting a male chorus in well-known songs, inviting the audience at home to “follow the bouncing ball” that moved along the top of superimposed lyrics, and sing along.  That’s his male chorus you hear singing Paul Anka’s “Theme from ‘The Longest Day'” under the credits for that film.

Miller was a classically trained oboist, and guest-conducted many fine American orchestras.  He appears as a conductor in the KMFA music library on a 1987 recording with pianist David Golub and the London Symphony Orchestra of George Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra.



This photo of Mitch Miller and me was taken in the hallway at the KMFA studios in 1995.  I was 40 then, and Miller was a spry 84.  (As you can see, this was also before we painted the dark brown paneling on the walls, and, as evidenced by the cigar in Miller’s hand, before smoking was disallowed in the building.)  He came by the studios for an interview. I don’t know if it ever aired, and the fate of the recording is unknown to me.  But it was a privilege to meet such a legend, and he was a very nice man.  The smiles on our faces are genuine.

Thanks for all the music, Mitch.  You will be missed.

Rich Upton is KMFA’s weekday afternoon announcer, KMFA Operations Manager, and host of Sunday Night Symphony. You can hear Sunday Night Symphony on Sundays at 9pm.

Lang Lang honors Sir Paul McCartney at Gershwin Award Ceremony

~posted by Rich Upton, KMFA afternoon announcer and host of Sunday Night Symphony
I just finished watching “In Performance at the White House” on PBS, wherein President Obama presented the Gershwin Award for Popular Music — the highest award for popular music — to Sir Paul McCartney, for a lifetime of achievement in that field.  McCartney and his band performed, Jerry Seinfeld did a bit, and a number of pop music luminaries performed McCartney songs — from Herbie Hancock to Elvis Costello to The Jonas Brothers (the latter a little something for the Obama daughters).
One highlight of the evening was a performance by classical pianist Lang Lang, who performed a solo piano work composed by McCartney.  I recognized the melody immediately — it first appeared on a recording of Paul McCartney demos of music created for an as-yet-unproduced animated film featuring the character of Rupert the Bear, then resurfaced in 1997 — in a much more expanded and gloriously beautiful performance for chorus and orchestra — as the finale for McCartney’s most ambitious classical work to date, “Standing Stone.”  In that context, it was assigned the title “Celebration,” which is how it was announced for Lang Lang’s performance at the White House.  Having heard only the two versions — one a home recording by McCartney alone, never intended for public release, and the other this wonderful full arrangement for orchestra and voices — I was curious to hear how this melody would translate to solo piano….
Well, duh!  Combine a master of melody like Paul McCartney with a master of the piano like Lang Lang, and how could the result be anything but gorgeous? Which is exactly what it was.  Here is a video that unfortunately picks up well into Lang Lang’s performance, but you can still see how deeply he feels the music.  He doesn’t just play the music;  he IS the music. It’s a moving performance of a lovely piece. (You can catch the entire broadcast at http://www.PBS.org.)

Rich Upton is KMFA’s weekday afternoon announcer, and host of Sunday Night Symphony. You can hear Sunday Night Symphony on Sundays at 9pm.

Classical music’s “New Golden Age”

~posted by Jeffrey Blair, KMFA morning announcer

“Classical Music’s New Golden Age.” That’s the title of an article that was just released in the City Journal, a magazine published by the Manhattan Institute.  The article’s author, Heather MacDonald, goes to great length to point out that we live in an age where classical music is appreciated by more people than ever before.

… And I have to agree with her!  Its only been within the last century or so that conductors and musicians finally stopped “improving” the symphonies of Beethoven or the quartets of Mozart.  We get to hear great works performed by skilled musicians, and it makes no difference whether it’s something written 500 years ago or just last year.  The sense of respect that the musician has for the composer, and vice-versa, comes forth in an astounding experience for the listener.

The music is everywhere,  too.  Concert halls, convenience stores, cell phones, the music surrounds us as never before.  Technology has made it possible to enjoy a symphony while planting a garden, or listen to a piano sonata while grocery shopping.  Amazing.  Click here to read the entire article — read it and see if you don’t agree that we live in Classical Music’s New Golden Age.

Jeffrey Blair is KMFA’s weekday morning announcer, Production Engineer, and host of the weekend show, Choral Classics. Tune in Sundays at 10am and 5pm to hear Choral Classics, right here on KMFA, 89.5.

Reflections on “Austin Goes Classical”

– posted by Dianne Donovan, KMFA midday announcer

“Austin Goes Classical” (June 22-29th, 2010) was billed as “Austin’s Greatest Collaborative Classical Event Ever,” and had been in the works for over two years. I’m pleased to say that the Festival did not disappoint.

The Festival was spearheaded by Dr. Matthew Hinsley, Executive Director of The Austin Classical Guitar Society. The A.C.G.S. was awarded the Guitar Foundation of America’s 2010 International Convention and Competition, and the Festival was built around that event. This was unprecedented in the G.F.A.’s history. There were 60 events in six days. All the action took place at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. There were workshops for guitarists young and old and preliminary competitions that ran in the daytime, followed by major performances in the evening.

I had to pace myself with the “headline concerts” and attended four of the six evening shows. Though I would have loved to have seen and heard all the them, at least for yours truly, like the kid in the candy store, it is possible to overdo it.

Day 1’s main event was Pepe Romero’s (rare) solo performance. KMFA was proud to broadcast this performance, and I was fortunate to have co-hosted it with Tony Morris, host of Classical Guitar Alive. Pepe Romero’s performance of an all-Spanish music program was inspired. Later in the week, we were treated to world-renown local heroes, Adam Holzman (previous G.F.A. champ) with the Miró Quartet. The word “thrilling” kept coming to mind as these masters played the music of Giuliani, Boccherini, Morel and Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Adam Holzman’s beautiful sound and clean execution are always a delight, and the members of the Miró seem to have their own secret language, so it does take an exceptional musician not just to perform with them but to really be part of the conversation…amazing-edge-of-your-seat-action.

For the Saturday night concert, Pepe Romero returned, as did The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, to perform with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Peter Bay. The LAGQ performed “Interchange” by the virtuoso guitarist and composer, Sergio Assad. The shifting colors and moods of the piece were realized through the performer’s attention to subtlety and dynamics.  In the second half of the show, Pepe Romero performed the most famous guitar concerto of all-time, “The Concierto de Aranjuez,” by Joaquin Rodrigo. The performance was preceded by excerpts of a film about the composer and the piece. This was a nice touch that added poignancy to an already poignant second movement. The orchestra was on point and Pepe Romero’s performance of this work, which he has played over a thousand times, was (to my ears)  reverential.

The final night featured the International Concert Artist Competition Finals. Four guitarists vied for the top prize in what has been described as “The Wimbledon of Classical Guitar Competitions.” All the finalists are already on the world stage, but the promise of a 65-city tour and recording project is clearly a great incentive. They all played one piece in common and for the rest of their time, they had their pick of music. I was most surprised to hear the stylistic differences from one guitarist to the next. All were amazing, but in the end only one could win. The big prize went to Johannes Möller of Sweden.

Also, just before the winner was announced, the GFA entered new inductees into their Hall of Fame, among whom was Pepe Romero himself! The audience chuckled and cheered when, in his thanks, Pepe said, “I’m very glad that you didn’t wait for me to die to give me this; that is a great pleasure for me.”

Thanks to all of the musicians, arts-collaborators, sponsors, volunteers, attendees and especially, thanks to Dr. Matthew Hinsley, for his tireless efforts, organizational skills, artistry, and most of all, for his incredible vision. I hope that he’s resting somewhere now, with a cool one.

Dianne Donovan is KMFA’s midday announcer and host/producer of Classical Austin. You can listen to a new episode of Classical Austin every Wednesday at 8pm, on Classical 89.5, KMFA-FM.

In the KMFA studios: Sara Hessel interviews Michael Nyman

In conjunction with Austin Lyric Opera’s production of the chamber opera, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” Sara Hessel interviewed the composer, Michael Nyman. She produced a special program on Nyman’s life and works, called Motion and Emotion (original airdate on July 9th). In this one-hour special, Sara Hessel presented highlights from Nyman’s many film scores and concert works, as well as segments of her exclusive interview with him.

If you missed the original program, you can listen to the interview portion by clicking here.

Also, you can read Sara’s related blog post about her impressions of this sold-out performance last weekend.

Enjoy! 🙂

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

“Hats off” to Austin Lyric Opera

~posted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director

Can a story about a neurological condition be engaging, moving and human? Austin Lyric Opera and the Austin Chamber Music Center proved that it certainly can last weekend when they presented a sold-out run of Michael Nyman’s chamber opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

The opera is based on a case study by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Dr. P. is a professional singer and music teacher who lately has been making strange mistakes. He asks for directions from a parking meter, thinking it’s a person. He can no longer recognize loved ones or familiar objects. He and his wife visit the neurologist Dr. S. at his clinic, and later Dr. S. visits them at home so that he can observe the patient in his own environment. Dr. S. discovers that Dr. P. cannot process visual information. He can see perfectly well, but his brain can’t make sense of what he sees. Dr. P. uses music to create order in the chaos, and at the end of the opera, Dr. S. prescribes “more music”.

All three members of the cast were marvelous singers and actors: soprano Cara Johnston brought wonderful warmth to her role as Mrs. P., and we felt her fear, rage and powerlessness in the face of her husband’s bizarre ailment right along with her. Tenor Brian Joyce was impressive in his ability to bring forth the mixture of clinical detachment, compassion, and scientific sleuthing necessary for the portrayal of Dr. S.

To my mind and ears, however, bass Matthew Treviño stole the show as Dr. P. His rich voice and embodiment of the character drew me in and didn’t let go.  In final scene, Dr. P. stands alone on stage, humming softly to himself, making sense of the world in his way. The lights dimmed gradually, and one by one, the musicians finished playing and departed, until at last only the piano remained. The music stopped, as it always must, leaving Dr. P in the dark, in every sense of the word. It was a superb moment — moving and chilling.

Pianist Michelle Schumann and her gallant band of players from the Austin Chamber Music Center did Nyman’s music proud with their nuanced performance. After the opera I left St. Martin’s Lutheran Church with Dr. S’s words ringing in my ears (with a small addendum): more music like this!

Sara Hessel is KMFA’s Music Director, as well as producer and host of Ancient Voices. Tune in on Sundays, 9am and 4pm, to enjoy Ancient Voices, right here on KMFA, 89.5.