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Classical Classroom

Feb 27, 2017

Collaborative pianist Madeline Slettedahl came to the Classical Classroom to describe the nuances of her trade. What’s it like to play one instrument that’s sometimes a stand-in for a whole orchestra? How is playing piano with a vocalist different than playing with an instrumentalist? Doesn’t she like the glory...


Feb 21, 2017

All of us have heard spirituals before – those sometimes jubilant, sometimes sorrowful songs created by African American slaves. But have you really heardthem? As it turns out, these deceptively simple songs sometimes carried hidden messages, signals, and directions. Dr. Jason Oby, artistic director of the Houston...


Feb 13, 2017

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Spoon boy: There is no spoon.

Neo: There is no spoon?

Spoon boy: Then you’ll see that it is not the spoon that bends; it is only yourself.

– from The Matrix

Dr. George E. Lewis is the Neo of the...


Feb 6, 2017

Liszt’s Transcendental Études are such popular pieces that pianists Kirill Gerstein and Daniil Trifonov put out recordings of them within a month of each other during 2016. Which made Classical Classroom ask, “What’s with the étude, dude?” In this episode, Gerstein teaches what an étude is, and why Liszt’s...