Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cub Scouts visit the KMFA studios!

We just enjoyed a visit from an enthusiastic “pack” of Cub Scouts!

On occasion,  we’ll receive a request from a youth scout group to tour the KMFA radio station as part of their efforts to broaden their horizons and learn more about industry and vocations.  Jeffrey Blair serves as teacher and tour guide,  showing off the Master Control On-Air studio, the CD library,  and the recording studios.

“Den 10, Pack 55” had a great time, and we had fun seeing the radio station for the first time through their eyes. They even held still long enough for these photos.  🙂

Mark, Michael, Devin and Dylan on their tour of the KMFA Studios

The chaperons were just as engrossed as the scouts

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

Preview of ALO’s Lucia di Lammermoor — an interview with the stars

This Saturday, KMFA will be broadcasting the ALO production of Lucia di Lammermoor LIVE from the Long Center!

Maestro Richard Buckley, Dianne Donovan, Lyubov Petrova, and Doug Scholz-Carlson

On this week’s Classical Austin, host Dianne Donovan had the great pleasure of interviewing some of the artists and artistic leaders who are so instrumental in creating this glorious operatic presentation.  She chatted with the star,  soprano Lyubov Petrova, as well as the conductor, Maestro Richard Buckley, and Stage Director, Doug Scholz Carlson.

If you missed this episode of Classical Austin, you can hear the interview portion again here.

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

Just for fun: play Google’s online guitar

When the legendary guitarist Les Paul’s birthday rolled around, Google posted an interactive “Google Doodle” in his honor: an online, playable guitar! Although the birthday is long passed, here’s a persisting archival link to it:  http://www.google.com/logos/2011/lespaul.html

Not only did it allow you to strum the strings with your mouse cursor, it could record what you played and play it back for you. Lots of folks took it to the next level and posted videos of their music-making on YouTube. Here’s one of my favorites (Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9):

Enjoy!

~posted by Alison @ KMFA 🙂

KMFA’s first Gamba-cast: listen to La Follia’s “An Angel-ic Concert”

KMFA broadcast a special presentation of An Angel-ic Concert with La Follia Austin Baroque and internationally celebrated countertenor Ryland Angel! KMFA recorded this performance live at St. Louis Catholic Chapel on Nov. 5th. Listeners immersed themselves in the rich voice of one of the finest countertenors working today, as he presented sumptuous Marian hymns from Italy and the Austrian Court, backed by the musicians of La Follia, directed by Keith Womer. Original KMFA broadcast time was Sunday, November 27th at 2:30pm.

If you missed the original broadcast, you can listen to it again, just by visiting the KMFA website:
www.kmfa.org/SH-Angelic-Concert.htm

Enjoy!

The Austin Polish Film Festival – A Cultural Revelation

Born in 1976

Who are you; what would you like; what do you think is important?

~posted by Hannah Schaeffer, KMFA administrative assistant

I am as new to KMFA as I am to Austin. I have only lived in the outskirts for the past few years, so I am just now able to truly explore and discover this diverse and wonderful city. Naturally, I was excited to be sent to the Austin Polish Film Festival for my first blogging assignment. I did not know about the Austin Polish Society before the festival, so this event was the perfect opportunity for learning more about their community and Austin as a whole.

The festival spanned over the course of 5 days, and I attended the final day of the festival on Saturday, November 12th at the Marchesa Hall and Theatre. I enjoyed five short films and one full-length feature, including a live interview with one of the headline actors from the final film. I was moved by a beautiful, yet tragic animation about the man who invented moving pictures in color, and entranced by a modern story of love and intrigue in the age of computer/reality simulation.

My favorite feature was a quick documentary from the year 1980 called “Talking Heads” in which Polish citizens were asked three questions: “Who are you, what would you like, and what is important to you?” The film began with charming and hopeful responses from young Polish children. As the interviewees slowly grew older, their hopes, dreams and identities grew more diverse. Words like “choice, work and freedom” transitioned into “democracy, health, suffering and humanity” as a montage of older professionals from academics to miners discussed their hopes for the future on the black-and-white screen. Finally, a 100 year-old woman playfully confessed that she just “wants to live longer.” I was delighted to have learned so much about a foreign society in such a small amount of time.

Needless to say, I was grateful to have experienced this cultural and artistic celebration. The APS has so much to offer Austin, so I hope to see more from them in the near future.

~Hannah Schaeffer 🙂

McCallum’s music in the park

~posted by Phil Pollack, KMFA Tech Ops Manager

Last weekend I enjoyed the great pleasure of  attending the McCallum Orchestra’s event, Music in the Park.  Held in the Mueller neighborhood’s Lake Park Amphitheater, the Orchestra played musical arrangements from favorite movies.

The student musicians all wore blinking lights while they performed on the night-time stage, and scenes from each film score that they played would appear on the movie screen behind them.  And at the end, how could I miss the 1980’s classic “Back to the Future” that was shown following the concert?

This was a free, family friendly event, encouraging donations to assist with orchestra expenses. It was the second of a series. I definitely recommend attending their next performance!

Here’s a short video clip featuring an orchestral version from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack:

Halloween at the Symphony!

~posted by Holly Algreen, KMFA’s Director of Individual Giving

On Sunday, October 23rd, I had the opportunity to attend the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s Halloween Children’s Concert at the Long Center. With a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old in tow, we made our way to the Long Center on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had Snow White, Pinkalicious and Yoda with us, and once we arrived we saw lots of princesses, Tinker Bells, ninjas, and ghosts in attendance.

The concert started out with Marco Perella as the Master of Ceremonies (dressed in a clown costume of course) by greeting everyone and explaining each section of the orchestra with guest conductor Irwin Wagner. As he announced each section they would play something familiar. The kids seem to love hearing the wind section, but the percussion section received the greatest applause. Then we heard The Smurfs March and enjoyed life-sized Smurfs dancing on stage! As the show went on we heard the ET theme-song and were amazed by skeletons and spiders coming down from the ceiling. All the kids screamed and laughed in surprise. Before the main event, “Peter and the Wolf,” we enjoyed a sing along of “My Pumpkin Lives Right Here in Austin,” which all three kids have been singing for days since. It’s now become a theme song in our home. And then we enjoyed a narrative, with music and pictures on the big screen of Peter and the Wolf.

The Concert was a wonderful introduction for kids to the symphony. They loved all the costumes, the spooky decorations throughout the Long Center and of course the music. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Halloween with music and fun for kids! I highly recommend this annual treat for any family with kids!

In memory of Nockey Willet

Today’s programming on KMFA is dedicated to the memory of Nockey Willet, our very first Chief Engineer who was instrumental in creating and launching this all-classical radio station for Austin back in 1967. Nockey was instrumental in forming and launching *all* of Austin’s public broadcasting stations.

It was Nockey who decided that the first piece of music to be played when KMFA took to the airwaves would be the William Tell overture, because Nockey wanted to pay tribute to the “Father of radio,” Lee DeForest, who played the overture during a historic 1907 transmission.

Today this station is a specific tribute to the legacy of this wonderful man. Thank you, Nockey. Your legacy lives on here at KMFA.

A Festival of Organ Concertos

Posted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director

Organist Keith Womer couldn’t have given his recent concert a more fitting title than “A Festival of Organ Concertos.” The whole thing felt like a celebration — not only of the sonorous pairing of organ and strings, but also of St. Austin’s lovely neo-Baroque pipe organ! The concert was in fact in honor of the 10th anniversary of the dedication and installation of the Laukhuff-Bier Organ at St. Austin’s, an instrument built in the style of an 18th century south German organ.

Keith Womer on the St. Austin's organ

Keith and his gallant band of string players from La Follia Austin Baroque treated us to music by Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, and Handel, along with the famous Adagio for Organ and Strings by Tomaso Albinoni Remo Giazotto.

Hey, wait a minute…

Yes, it’s true! As Keith told us in his entertaining and informative remarks, that famous Adagio was in fact composed by the musicologist responsible for cataloging Albinoni’s works, Remo Giazotto. At first, Giazotto claimed it was a newly rediscovered work by Albinoni. But as time went on, the truth emerged: it was an original work by Giazotto, based on a scant 2-3 measure bass line by Albinoni.

Another musical illusion shattered! But regardless of who wrote it, it sounded magnificent in that space. Concertmaster Go Yamamoto’s solo work was especially moving—the plaintive solo violin contrasted beautifully with the measured intensity of the organ.

The neo-Baroque organ at St. Austin's church

The program concluded with Handel’s beloved F Major Organ Concerto, subtitled “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale.” This was definitely the high pointof the evening—the organ absolutely sparkled! In Handel’s time, an organist was expected to improvise parts of a work like this, and being the talented instrumentalist he is, Keith did ol’ George proud with his effervescent performance.

If you get the chance, please go hear the lovely Laukhuff-Bier Organ at St. Austin’s! You can see a list of upcoming events here: http://www.staustin.org/

For more information about future performances by Keith Womer and La Follia Austin Baroque, please visit their website: www.lafollia.org.