Classical Music Happy Hour – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Classical Music Happy Hour

WNYC, WQXR

Music

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/13d. Total Eps: 26

Join renowned pianist and host Emanuel Ax for Classical Music Happy Hour: a new podcast full of music, merriment, and conversation. Manny (Emanuel) talks with an eclectic lineup of composers, performers, and creative voices from the world of classical music and beyond. Each episode explores the guest’s life and career, dives into their favorite classical gems, includes music-inspired games, and folds in questions from listeners. The result is a podcast that feels like a relaxed gathering of friends who love classical music and want others to join the party. Grab a cocktail and press play on a podcast celebrating our love of all things classical music!

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Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
26/08/2026
#79
🇺🇸 USA - musicInterviews
26/08/2026
#14
🇺🇸 USA - music
26/08/2026
#71
🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
25/08/2026
#41
🇺🇸 USA - musicInterviews
25/08/2026
#11
🇺🇸 USA - music
25/08/2026
#54
🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
24/08/2026
#22
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicInterviews
24/08/2026
#91
🇩🇪 Germany - musicInterviews
24/08/2026
#73
🇺🇸 USA - musicInterviews
24/08/2026
#9

Spotify

No recent rankings available

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https://pcm.adswizz.com
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https://link.podtrac.com/gphxf3nk
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https://yoyoma.lnk.to/ocn
6 shares

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BQKptFuZv/
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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 63%

Publication history

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Our Common Nature with Yo-Yo Ma: Coming Soon!

Thursday, September 11, 2025 • Duration 01:54

When the world stopped in 2020, cellist Yo-Yo Ma started thinking about how music can reconnect people to nature. In this limited podcast series, Yo-Yo travels around the country to make music and meet people who have deep connections to the earth. Host Ana González joins him to uncover stories of the ways that culture binds us to nature, from Maine to Appalachia and Hawaii.

The result is a seven-episode series that fuses music, personal narratives, and local histories from across the United States. We travel into the world's largest cave to hear the Louisville Orchestra perform. In Hawai‘i, an elder says her “chants are our contribution to the human orchestra of the world.” And the Wabanaki teach us about their duty to welcome the sun each day in Maine. For Yo-Yo Ma, who has spent most of his career indoors, a connection to the natural world is “what doesn’t exist in my life, that I know is missing.” Our Common Nature helps to bridge the gap – for Yo-Yo and for all of us.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Acadia: Yo-Yo Ma and the Wabanaki Play for the Dawn

Wednesday, October 8, 2025 • Duration 32:04

The series opens with a window into the Yo-Yo universe, one where music and nature work together. Host Ana González guides us into Yo-Yo Ma’s mindset, connecting Bach to leaves, birds, and sunlight. That takes us to a sunrise in Acadia National Park in Maine, where Chris Newell leads Yo-Yo and Wabanaki musicians in a musical performance to welcome the dawn.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Newell, and Lauren Stevens.

Yo-Yo’s performance of In the Gale by Anna Clyne

Additional audio provided by the Upstander Project. Watch the Upstander Project film about this sunrise performance here: https://www.reciprocity.org/films/weckuwapok

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP here.

Preview more videos on @wnyc Instagram/Facebook

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Special thanks to Acadia National Park.

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies.

Episode photo by Austin Mann; episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Yo-Yo Ma wants to know: what place do you love most? What reminds you that you are part of the Earth? Snap a photo of your favorite place on the planet and share it on social with the tag #ourcommonnature

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Kentucky: Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra perform in Mammoth Cave

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 • Duration 33:45

A cave can hold secrets. Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams knows that, which is why he wrote a piece for symphony orchestra to be performed entirely underground. This episode takes us into Mammoth Cave to hear a performance that unlocks a centuries of stories preserved by the caves' seemingly endless walls. One of those is the story of Jerry Bransford, who brought the Bransford name back to Mammoth Cave 80 years after his ancestors were removed from their jobs as cave guides because of their race.

Featuring original music from Louisville Symphony Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams, performed by the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Davóne Tines, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Special thanks to: Mammoth Cave National Park and Louisville Orchestra for their recording of Mammoth used throughout this episode. Find out more about their projects and concerts by visiting louisvilleorchestra.org

To learn more about all the history of enslaved guides at Mammoth Cave, read Making Their Mark: The Signature of Slavery at Mammoth Cave, written by Joy Lyons.

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.
Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

The Smokies: Mountains and Forgotten Family with Yo-Yo Ma

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 • Duration 42:52

In the Smoky Mountains, traditions layer and intersect. Yo-Yo Ma believes that story and song can help us grapple with America’s complicated history. This episode highlights two stories of people who are reclaiming their connections to the land. The first brings us to Cherokee, North Carolina, where Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe are working to change the name of the tallest mountain in the range back to its original Cherokee name.

Then, we go to the other side of the mountains, where musician Eric Mingus meets up with some long-lost family, and grapples with the weight of his family’s history. His performance reconnects him to a lineage he never thought he’d find.

Featuring music by Eric Mingus, Rhiannon Giddens and Yo-Yo Ma.

“Grinds My Bones/The Mill” was composed and performed by Eric Mingus.

Flute and vocal performance in this episode by Jarrett Wildcatt. Additional audio recording provided by Taylor MacKay.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
With editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music from Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado

Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

And if you want to listen to more music from this series, you can check out the Our Common Nature EP, featuring Yo-Yo playing with Eric Mingus, Jen Kreisberg and an Icelandic choir, now available on all streaming platforms.

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

West Virginia: Yo-Yo Ma and West Virginia Coal

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 • Duration 45:35

West Virginia is defined by its beauty and its coal, two things that can work against each other. Yo-Yo Ma felt this as soon as stepped foot in its hills.This episode explores how music and poetry help process the emotions of a community besieged with disaster and held together by pride and duty. We travel down the Coal River with third-generation coal miner Chris Saunders, who tells us how coal has saved and threatened his life. Poet Crystal Good shares her poetry, which channels her rage and love. And musician and granddaughter of West Virginia coal miners, Kathy Mattea, explains the beauty of belting out your home state in a chorus. The end of the episode finds host Ana floating down the New River with help from a group of high schoolers and Yo-Yo Ma.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Dom Flemons, and Kathy Mattea and poetry by Crystal Good.

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings
Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers : Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What reminds you that you are part of the Earth? Snap a photo of your favorite place on the planet and share it on social with the tag #

Alaska: Yo-Yo Ma and the Gwich’in play for the salmon

Wednesday, October 29, 2025 • Duration 44:06

This episode begins in Fairbanks, AK. Yo-Yo Ma is at a house concert with drag queen environmentalist Pattie Gonia, singer/songwriter Quinn Christopherson and Princess Daazhraii Johnson, a writer and filmmaker from the Gwich’in Nation. They were all performing to help their communities process the negative effects of climate change in Alaska. Salmon have been disappearing for decades, but now there are laws preventing fishing along the Yukon River, an ancestral practice for many Alaska Native people. Host Ana travels up to the 2024 Gwich’in Gathering in Circle, Alaska to learn how the Gwich’in nation uses its centuries-old tools of music and discussion to speak with one voice and bring back the salmon.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Quinn Christopherson and Pattie Gonia, poetry by Princess Johnson, and traditional music by members of the Gwich’in Nation.

Watch Pattie Gonia performing "Won't Give Up" featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Quinn Christopherson (video)
Watch Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach in a birch forest damaged by melting permafrost on Lower Tanana Dene lands near Fairbanks, Alaska
Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings
Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
With editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies

Hawai‘i: Yo-Yo Ma on Moloka‘i

Wednesday, November 12, 2025 • Duration 44:33

On the island of Molokaʻi in Hawaii, we trace the spiritual power of mana, from a sacred grove to the Kalaupapa colony, where music, story, and Yo-Yo Ma’s performance honor the resilience and memory of those who came before.

Perched on a plateau on the southeast side of the island of Molokaʻi sits a grove of kukui trees. Mikiʻala Pescaia tells us that beneath the roots of these trees are the bones of Hawaiian spiritual leader Lanikaula. It holds his energy and power, his mana, a key concept in Hawaiian culture. On the north side of the same island, on a rugged peninsula called Kalaupapa, we explore the mana left behind by another history. It’s the site of a government-mandated colony for people who contracted Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.

Historian Anwei Law tells us the story of Bernard Punikaiʻa, who came to Kalaupapa as a boy with a disease and created a life of music and community within the bounds of the colony. We reflect on how to memorialize the residents of Kalaupapa as the last remaining living residents listen to Yo-Yo play in one of the peninsula's many cemeteries.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma and Bernard Punikaʻia

Watch a video of Bernard performing “Where Birds Never Fly”

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hawai‘i: Yo-Yo Ma and the Whales

Wednesday, November 19, 2025 • Duration 43:46

Yo-Yo Ma has wanted to use his cello to communicate with whales for half his life. And, in Hawai’i he got a chance. With help from the Polyneisan Voyaging Society and hula master Snowbird Bento, Yo-Yo learns about the ancient art of Hawaiian chant, what one local singer describes to him as their “contribution to the orchestra of the world.” Then Ana and Yo-Yo board a legendary canoe, Hōkūleʻa, with local fishermen, seafaring captains, and marine biologists. The musicians play cello for whales through the hull of the ship, all in the red glow of volcano Mauna Loa’s active eruption.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma and Snowbird Bento

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Our Common Nature Recommends: Classical Music Happy Hour

Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Duration 09:44

Hello Our Common Nature fans, Ana González is dropping into the feed to tell you about Classical Music Happy Hour, a new podcast you might be interested in, hosted by Yo-Yo Ma’s friend and pianist Emanuel Ax.

The show is all about the joy in chatting about music with all sorts of people, including some of Manny’s dearest friends like pianist Yuja Wang, composer John Adams, actor David Hyde Pierce, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

In every episode, Manny Ax speaks with a guest about their relationship with music. We’ll hear their favorite music selections–sometimes performed live in the studio! Manny also takes listener questions, and he and his guests play music-inspired games.

To Our Common Nature fans, please join Manny for music, merriment, and conversation. And to give you a taste of what you can expect, here’s just a bit of the episode with guest Yo-Yo Ma.

Follow or subscribe to this show for upcoming episodes of Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Introducing Classical Music Happy Hour with Manny Ax

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 • Duration 02:47

Join renowned pianist Emanuel Ax for Classical Music Happy Hour: a new podcast full of music, merriment, and conversation. Manny (Emanuel) talks with special guests about their lives, listens to some of their favorite classical gems, plays music-inspired games, and answers questions from listeners. Grab a cocktail and press play on a podcast celebrating our love of all things classical music! Episode one with guest and pianist Yuja Wang drops next week.

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Classical Music Happy Hour – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Apple Podcasts

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Apple Podcasts

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Classical Music Happy Hour – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other16

Youtube6

Facebook1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other16

Youtube6

Facebook1

Apple Podcasts

Spotify