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.

Texas Early Music Project’s “El Mundo Nuevo” (The New World)

Posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of attending my very first Texas Early Music Project (TEMP) performance. I know, I’m way overdue, but to be fair, I thought I was getting adequate early-music fulfillment with KMFA’s wonderful Sunday show, Ancient Voices.

Well, the performance I attended proved to me that there is more than great music involved in a TEMP performance. Of course I expected the beautiful vocal pieces, some haunting, some playful. The piece “El Palomo” (called a Tonadilla, i.e., a little Tonada) seemed like it was created just for soloist Stephanie Prewitt to sing, which of course is impossible, since it dated back to the 17th century. And the rousing percussion piece, labeled simply as Zarambeques, coupled with the wholesome harp, was one of my favorites.

The overall theme of the concert (named “El Mundo Nuevo: 18th-Century Music from Latin America”) was music from  the city streets, Indian villages, and missions and cathedrals of 18th-century Peru and Bolivia. (Hah! I’ll bet you thought all early music was from the courts and monasteries of old England, didn’t you? Another presumptive stereotype dashed.) One of the most interesting aspects of the performance was the brief description of the history of the percussion instruments, including the shipping crate that became a drum, and the drumstick on the alms box that changed pitch when the hinged lid is raised and lowered. There was an early-music harp featured as well, and other instruments that I didn’t get a chance to scrutinize from the back of the audience, but they all sounded so wonderful…. Guest artist Tom Zajac shared most of the historical insights between pieces, and was such an amazing performer. And because I know no one else will say it (early music people are so polite), he’s pretty good-looking, too.  😉

I highly recommend attending the next TEMP event…. this was the season opener, and after perusing their website, they have a wonderfully diverse offering this season.

Here’s a little slideshow of my surreptitiously taken snapshots:

~ posted by Alison @ KMFA

In the KMFA Studios — Dr. Joyce Wu

This weekend, KMFA’s newest show, Pianoforté, will feature some really popular piano favorites, including Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, Debussy’s Claire de Lune,  and Chopin’s Ballade No. 4.

Local artist and teacher, Dr. Joyce Wu, performed the Fantasy pieces live in KMFA’s Studio 2000, and I took a few photos while she was warming up. She’s really good!

You can hear this episode of Pianoforté this Saturday at 8pm. Enjoy!  🙂

Dr. Joyce Wu, playing the Steinway-O piano in Studio 2000

Note the strategic microphone placement for recording

Producer Sarah Addison governs the sound board while Dr. Joyce Wu performs

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂

Just for Fun: Translating weather into music– from stormy weather to “Stormy Weather”

At KMFA we are always on the lookout for interesting interpretations of music. Here’s the latest: Nathalie Miebach, a contributor to the amazing T.E.D. Talks, translates weather and climate data into musical scores, which she then renders into vibrant, whimsical sculptures. She uses them as the basis for collaboration with musicians across a wide spectrum of styles and genres. She says on her website, “Musical notation allows me a more nuanced way of translating information without compromising it.”

Each sculpture maps the meteorological landscape of weather of a specific time and place, but is also a fully functional musical score to be played and interpreted by musicans on instruments, such as piano, French horn and electrican guitar.

"Stormy Weather, Internal Storms --Score for Sculptor and Musician" (You can click on this image to hear the actual music)

"She's Coming on Strong" -- This piece is a rendering of the path of both Hurricane Grace and the Halloween Storm, which created the "Perfect Storm"

"Urban Weather Prairies" is based on data collected in Omaha, Nebraska, during a 2-month period in 2008.

You can listen to the resulting music, as well as see more sculptures, on Nathalie Miebach’s website. One of the songs actually sounds like rain on piano keys. Perhaps playing it would be a bit of a rainmaker here in Central Texas.   🙂

~posted by Alison @ KMFA

KMFA Radio Summer Camp calls it a wrap

[UPDATE: the interviews and recorded music that these great kids compiled during their summer camp week has culminated into a radio show! Tune in to hear their show August 20th at 10am and August 21st at 3pm.]

 

~ posted by Kelsey Padgett, KMFA Production & Development Associate

I can’t believe KMFA’s Summer Camp has already come and gone – the KMFA staff and I absolutely loved having these great kids here in the studios for a full week! They were all amazing students for our first ever radio-production camp.

During the second week of June, six lucky 8th and 9th graders participated in “Kids Recording Kids,” learning on-air speaking techniques, how to record musicians performing live, radio interviewing skills, and editing and audio production techniques.

These kids are smart, fun, and enthusiastic!

Young musicians from the Austin Classical Guitar Society and the Austin Chamber Music Center were the recording subjects for the project, and by the end of the week, they had created their very own radio show!

We took lots of photos, and even turned them loose with the video camera a couple of times. We’ll be posting more photos soon… In the meantime, here’s a great video with highlights of teaching, learning, and fun!

Here’s a blog entry written by one camper, Nate:

KMFA’s summer camp, “Kids Recording Kids,” has been a great experience. I have learned so much about music and radio over the process, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves listening to radio, who is interested as to how radio works, and is interested in interviewing.

Nate sits in the "hot seat" in Master Control

One of the things I got the most out of is getting to meet all of the KMFA staff, getting the chance to ask questions, and knowing that I would always get a fantastic answer. All of the KMFA employees are laid back and fun to get to know. From the staff in the office to the radio hosts, our camp counselors to the radio engineer Phil, they all rocked my socks! I even got to sit in the radio control room while Diane Donovan did her radio show. I think I overloaded her with questions by asking her, “What does this button do? What does this switch do?”

I also enjoyed getting to learn about audio production, interviewing techniques, how to speak on the radio, getting to know more about classical music, learning how broadcasting and radio frequencies work, and of course getting to know how a radio station works and operates.

And last but not least, our camp counselors, Carmel, Lauren, and Kelsey were terrific. For the first year of this camp, they did a fantastic job of creating it and making it happen. Not to mention the fact that Carmel and Kelsey were really good at making awkward situations not so awkward. In the end, I can say that Kids Recording Kids has been terrific!!!  ~Nate Z.

and here’s Hunter’s blog entry:

At KMFA’s summer camp, there was a lot for us as a group to learn and enjoy.  Starting out, we got to have a tour of the studio by Phil Pollack, and although it maybe didn’t all make sense it was still interesting to see how the station ran.  The next day we learned about microphone and also enjoyed informally recording each other.  We continued throughout the week to enjoy interviewing and recording a quartet of the Classical Guitar Society, and Nate and I got to have some fun watching Dianne Donovan “live” on air in the control room. 

My personal favorite so far, however, has been learning things from Jeffrey in the control booth during interviews.  There are so many interesting buttons and knobs to learn about, as well as various types of electronic equipment.  Second on my list of favorites was recording a video tour with Nate of KMFA studio. As the week comes to a close, I as well as the other campers are looking forward to editing recordings as well as learning other interesting “finishing” techniques here at KMFA.  ~ Hunter A.

It was so successful, I hope that we will be able to keep this program going and growing for many years to come.


~posted by Kelsey Padgett, Camp Counselor and KMFA Production Associate

And the Beat Goes On …

We all know that Dianne Donovan, KMFA’s mid-day announcer, is a classical-music lover. But did you know she sings in a jazz trio?

That’s right, Dianne is one of The Beat Divas. Famous for their singing/cooking classes at Central Market, they recently celebrated a new CD release, called Dishin’ With the Divas: Songs of Food, Love & Mayhem, and they presented several of these songs during the opening ceremonies of the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference. They caught the attention of a New York Times’ writer… and they were featured in yesterday’s edition! You can read the whole article by clicking here.

They were also just featured in the Austin Chronicle, and that article is also on their website.

Here’s their new video for the song “Sweet Treat,” featuring Central Market Chef Robert Jenkins. 🙂

Our KMFA arts partners score big at the 2011 Austin Critics’ Table Awards!

~posted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director

KMFA congratulates our cultural partners who were honored at the 2010-2011 Austin Critics’ Table Awards:

Ballet Austin (Best Ensemble for Kai)

Austin Symphony Orchestra (Best Symphonic Performance for Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with Pepe Romero)

Adam Holzman, guitar with the Miro Quartet (Best Chamber Performance for Austin Goes Classical)

Texas Early Music Project (Best Chamber Performance for Convivencia)

Conspirare (Best Choral Performance for Renaissance and Response: Polyphony Then and Now)

Austin Lyric Opera/Austin Chamber Music Center (Best Opera for The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat)

Anne Akiko Meyers, violin (Best Instrumentalist for Anne Akiko Meyers with the Austin Symphony)

Miro Quartet (Special citation: Inimitable FourPlay Award for 15 years with Sandy Yamamoto)

Texas Performing Arts (Special citation: Ears Wide Open Award for adventurous bookings of classical music)

Congratulations, and thank you for all of your efforts in making Austin such a rich artistic environment to live in!

 See the full list of winners here.

Blast from the Past: hear a familiar KMFA voice on Classical Guitar Alive this weekend!


Russell Sarre, Australian composer (and former host of KMFA)

If you’ve been listening to KMFA since the 1990s, you’ll remember an announcer named Russell Sarre. His distinctly Australian accent, coupled with an irrepressible sense of humor, made him a popular host on KMFA. The show he was most remembered for was “Mind Your Music,” co-starring David Ford. It was so successful, they even beat the famous NPR show “From the Top” one year for a national radio award!

Russell is a classical composer, and he and his family now live in Hamburg, Germany. Luckily for his Austin fans he was interviewed by Tony Morris (host of the popular show, Classical Guitar Alive) about the premiere of his most recent work: Lyric Suite for Guitar and String Quartet.

To hear the whole episode, tune in tonight at 9pm, and again on Sunday at 11am, on KMFA 89.5.

Here’s a quick preview:

~posted by Alison @ KMFA  🙂