Category Archives: KMFA announcers/hosts

Anne Akiko Meyers and Anton Nel perform together at UT

KMFA is out and about on the Austin classical-music scene…. this particular event was the recital with Anne Akiko Meyers and Anton Nel, last Sunday, Feb. 7, presented by The Jessen Series of Faculty Artists — The University of Texas at Austin, Butler School of Music — at the Bates Recital Hall

(posted by Dianne Donovan, KMFA host and producer of KMFA’s Classical Austin)

It was a much anticipated event: violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ first recital here since joining the faculty of the Butler School of Music at UT. She performed with piano-great Anton Nel (also part of the Butler Music School faculty).

In a varied and somewhat daring program that included Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 (The Spring),  sandwiched between pieces by Alfred Schnittke (Suite in the Old Style and Stille Nacht) in the first half of the program, and a new work for electronics and violin by Jakub Ciupinski in the second half. Ms. Meyers proved why she has earned the title of “trailblazing violinist.” She is comfortable in many styles and sonic textures and is always reaching and growing. To cap the afternoon we were treated to lovely readings of the American standards, Autumn in New York (Vernon Duke) and Summertime (George Gershwin) — the former uncannily reminiscent of that hero fiddler of the Hot Club of France, Stéphane Grappelli.

The pairing with pianist Anton Nel was brilliant. They have a beautiful rapport.  I was reminded of how lucky we all are to have such great artists right here in Central Texas. We’ll look forward to this pairing again soon!

~ posted by Dianne Donovan, KMFA host and producer  🙂

Anne Akiko Meyers and Anton Nel visit the KMFA studios

Anne Akiko Meyers and Anton Nel visited the KMFA studios yesterday for a live-to-tape interview with Dianne Donovan for her program, Classical Austin. Their interview premiers on KMFA this Wednesday evening at 8pm.

It was so exciting to eavesdrop through the studio door while they were warming up at their respective instruments…  Ms. Meyers at the Violin, and Mr. Nel on the piano… two of classical music’s brightest international stars, and they live right here in Austin, Texas!

In Wednesday’s Classical Austin, Ms. Meyers and Mr. Nel will be chatting with Ms. Donovan about their upcoming performance at the U.T. Butler School of Music, in the Bates Recital Hall, this Sunday, Feb. 7th at 4pm.  You can find out more about this event by clicking here. 

If you missed Dianne’s interview on Classical Austin (Wednesdays at 8pm) you can listen to the highlights by clicking here.

Everything Old is New Again

(photo credit: Jim Garrison took this spectacular shot from the balcony view at St. Mary Cathedral.)

 

~ submitted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director 

A fine crowd gathered in St. Mary Cathedral on Friday, January 29 to hear ‘Harmonia Ariosa: Vocal and Instrumental Music from 17th century Austria and Italy,’ performed by Laurie Young Stevens and Friends and presented by Texas Early Music Project. Violinist Laurie Young Stevens is one of Austin’s premier period-instrument performers, and LYS & Friends has become a yearly concert event. If I had friends like Laurie’s, I’d want to show them off, too!

Internationally acclaimed Argentinean violinist Manfredo Kraemer joined in for the first time. He has performed with exceptional early music ensembles like Musica Antiqua Köln and Jordi Savall’s Concert de Nations, and can be heard on countless CDs. What a joy and a pleasure it was to hear him perform works like Schmelzer’s Harmonia a 5 and Biber’s Partita III.

Cellist Phoebe Carrai has become an LYS & Friends regular, and I always look forward to her amazing performances. A highlight this time was a moving canzona by Frescobaldi, in which she made her 17th century cello ring with marvelous sonorities.

Another Friend we’re always glad to see return is recorder virtuoso Paul Leenhouts from the Netherlands. He blew us away (literally!) with his amazing technique, fleet fingers and seemingly boundless lung capacity! The audience loved his performance of Canzone Sesta by Angelo Berardi, judging by the ensuing applause and cheers! Paul also arranged the pieces on the program, and included 3 pieces that he discovered in various libraries and archives around Europe, works never before heard on US soil. It’s amazing to think of ‘new’ early music- pieces that may not have been heard since their first performance (if at all). One of Paul’s finds, Paduana and Gagliarda V by Isaac Posch, was a highlight for me, being exceptionally lovely with just the right amount of Germanic melancholy. My other favorite piece on the program was Georg Muffat’s Passacaglia (sometimes called Chaconne) from Sonata V, a work of absolute soaring beauty that will cure any bout of the blues. You’ll hear it in rotation on KMFA, which I consider a public service.  🙂

Harpsichordist/organist Gabriel Shuford was kept busy all evening playing continuo, but he also had his chance to shine in a solo toccata by Frescobaldi. Frescobaldi was nice enough to warn potential players in the manuscript: “you won’t get to the end without suffering.” But Gabriel didn’t even seem to break a sweat as he wowed the audience with this aural thrill ride, full of bizarre chromatics.

Completing the group of friends were violinist Kathleen Kajioka from Toronto, violist Andrew Justice from Denton, contrabassist David Dawson from Austin, and superlative soprano Jenifer Thyssen, well known to early music fans here in Central Texas.

Keep bringing your friends to town, Laurie! I’m sure I’m not the only one already looking forward to next year’s performance!

(submitted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director )

(Dianne Donovan took this photo of the beautiful church stage)

The Party is over….

.. but we’re still celebrating! Thanks so much for your gifts, comments, thank yous, and support during our Birthday Membership Drive! Because of your support, we’ve nurtured classical music radio for 43 years… and counting.

 

Here are  a couple more photos to give you an idea of the mood we’ve been in on this last day of the party… (When did our Birthday Drive become the Crazy Hat Drive? Well I’ll tell you: about 2 days ago, apparently.)

 

 

 

 

and finally….

 

 

What a great birthday party!  We have so many people to thank…. visitors and volunteers and vittles-providers… and we’re back to the serious craft of airing classical masterpieces 24/7.

Thanks again!!!

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂 

 

 

More pictures from our Birthday Drive….

 

It’s DAY TWO of the 2010 KMFA Birthday Membership Drive!

We’re handing out Snuggies “Personal Comforters” …. 

(Sarah hands over another "Snuffluffagus" blankie to a happy pledger)

 

 

… and we’re giving hugs to our long-time friends…. 

 

 

… and we’re giving tours…..

 

 

 … and we’re giving each other the giggles… 

 

 

… were giving it our best effort… 

 

 

… we’re giving out the world’s best cupcakes…. 

 

 …. we’re giving the new announcers a hard time…. 

 

 

…. but best of all, we are all giving the gift of classical music to each other!

Thank you, KMFA members!

 

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

Dianne Donovan cooks up some jazz

Dianne Donovan, Mady Kaye, and Beth Ullman are The Beat Divas.

As diverse as classical music is,  our KMFA announcers and hosts are also known for their expertise in other musical genres. Our mid-day host, Dianne Donovan, is also a famous for her jazz singing! She is one-third of a group called The Beat Divas, and in addition to preforming at local jazz venues, they also teach a cooking class at Central Market. This class, “Dishin’ up the Divas,” was recently featured in the Austin American Statesman. Click on the thumbnail image below to read the whole article, complete with recipe!

~posted by Alison at KMFA  🙂

Happy New Year from Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director

Dear Fellow KMFA Listeners,

It’s a new year, and KMFA has new goals in mind for improving our service to YOU! One major goal is to expand the programming content on our website. In the past, if you were listening to one of our syndicated programs, like the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Broadcast, and you heard something you liked and wanted to know what it was, that information was not readily available. Many of you called and wrote to let us know that you would like to see that content on our website. We listened, and we heard, and we are working on making that new content a reality!

KMFA has only nine full-time staff members, and each of us has a full plate at all times! As KMFA’s Music Director, much of my time is spent scheduling the music you hear during the day, listening to new CDs that arrive at the station, and fulfilling database and library management tasks.  In order to take on a new responsibility like the one outlined above, I needed to free up some time. It is in the spirit of improving the overall quality of KMFA’s product to our listeners that I have decided to voluntarily relinquish my position of host of Banquet Music.

I’ve been hosting this program since 2005, and I have sincerely enjoyed having dinner with you each weekday evening! Not to worry — I will continue to host Ancient Voices with great pleasure (and let me take this opportunity to remind you of Ancient Voices’ new time: Sundays at 9am and 4pm), and I’ll also be hosting a new KMFA program that will showcase new releases (called, appropriately enough, What’s New?). Jeffrey Blair, Dianne Donovan, Rich Upton and I will host the show on a rotating schedule. I’ll host the first installment on Saturday, January 9th at 9pm. I hope you’ll join me then!

Best regards,

Sara Hessel

KMFA Music Director

TCC gives us our our “Choir Fix” for the season

(photos by R. Sweeney)

Last weekend we enjoyed our Christmas choir “fix” for the season: several of us attended the Texas Choral Consort annual Christmas event,  this year titled: Winter on the Wing.   

KMFA’s daytime announcer, Dianne Donovan, introduced the event on Friday evening, and our very own Phil Pollack (Technical Operations Manager) was one of the performing tenors. There were lots of familiar faces in the crowd (I went to the Sunday performance) and I recognized several friends and members of KMFA.  

As usual, there was a diverse sampling of musical treats, ranging from an early-music German piece by Buxtehude, to a contemporary piece by jazz musician Vince Guaraldi. The Director, Brent Baldwin, even participated in an early Spanish piece, “Riu, Riu, Chiu”… sample some short videos below… fun!).  

For a choral layman like me, it’s always entertaining to enjoy the relatively obscure alongside the comfortably familiar.  🙂  

~ submitted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

  

Three Questions for Lauren Rico, KMFA Program Director

[posted by Kelsey Padgett, KMFA Development-Production Associate]

What’s the difference between Program Director and Music Director? Who does what at my favorite classical station? We sat down with Program Director Lauren Rico to learn a bit about the behind-the-scenes roles at KMFA. 

Lauren Rico

Lauren Rico, KMFA Program Director, co-hosting a live opera broadcast

KP: Could you describe the position of Programming Director and what you do for KMFA? 

LR: “The Program Director monitors the station’s sound from day to day. How does each host sound on each shift? How do all the weekend programs work together? Are people hearing the perfect program during the perfect time of day?

“The Program Director is responsible for the overall sound of the station. At KMFA, I manage duties ranging from coaching our hosts to deciding what shows air when. I write some of the promotional materials you hear on the station, and starting in January will host a new program called Reverie.

“My biggest duty, though, is to the listeners of KMFA. I must always have them in my mind. With every decision I make, I ask myself, “Will this benefit our listeners?” I’m constantly striving to find interesting and fun ways to engage our audience, both on air and in the community.” 

KP: How is your position different from Sara Hessel’s, KMFA’s Music Director? 

LR: “While I’m responsible for the overall sound of KMFA, Sara Hessel, Music Director, is more responsible for the sound of KMFA from hour to hour. I entrust to Sara the creation of each individual hour of music you hear on the station. She determines which CDs qualify for the library, what pieces are played during which parts of the day, and what kind of special programming is put into place for various holidays and special events. Sara’s vast musicological knowledge and her passion for classical music make her a natural as Music Director. In other words, she makes my job a whole lot easier!” 

KP: What is your favorite classical piece? 

LR: “There are so many to choose from! I LOVE all things Bach and Copland. But my favorite piece? I’d have to say it’s a tie between Morten Lauridsen’s “Dirait-on” and Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria.” At my wedding a few years back, I arranged for the whole ceremony to come to a complete halt so an a capella ensemble could sing them for me. It’s good to be the bride!”

Dianne Donovan Interviews Kathryn Mishell

If you missed KMFA’s show Classical Austin last Sunday evening, here’s your chance to hear the interview…. KMFA host Dianne Donovan interviewed Kathryn Mishell, Artistic Director of Salon Concerts. They chatted about the upcoming concerts on Sunday and Monday (Oct. 18 & 19)  as well as highlights of the upcoming season (it’s their 20th Season!).

Here’s the link:  http://www.kmfa.org/MishellInterview.htm.  Enjoy!

~Alison Cowden, KMFA webmaster