Explore every episode of the podcast @ the Symphony

Danny Elfman brings a brand-new symphonic project featuring music from his celebrated film career to Pittsburgh! Danny speaks with Jim Cunningham ahead of the concert about the program and his career.

Danny will premiere five new pieces with the PSO, while featuring favorites from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and more. He talks about working with Tim Burton and violinist Sandy Cameron, as well as his "Halloween reputation." Danny also shares with Jim how special it is to play with a symphony orchestra and what success means to him.

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Pianist and composer Andrew Kierszenbaum plays music from the hit show Arcane with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra! He speaks with Jim Cunningham about working on the show, classical inspirations, and what fans should expect.

The Music of Arcane is Andrew's love letter to the series and to the world its art, story, and music bring to life. As both one of the show’s composers and a classical pianist, he hopes to tell that story at the piano with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra—through his original arrangements of the show’s soundtrack.

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The Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, Daniele Rustioni, speaks with Jim Cunningham in the Guest Conductor's Dressing Room at Heinz Hall about his program for March 27,28 and 29, with Yefim Bronfman playing the Schumann Concerto, Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and Samuel Barber's School for Scandal Overture. Maestro Rustioni discusses his upcoming concerts, his work in Pittsburgh (including his visit to Carnegie Hall in December 2025 to hear the Orchestra play), and his operatic engagements in Europe.

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Minister of Music at Eastminster Presbyterian Church and choir director, Nikki Porter, discussed with Jim Cunningham live on the QED Morning Show her upcoming concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Oleta Adams, conductor Anthony Parnther, pianist Alton Merrell, and trombonist Cooper-Cromwell Whitley in "Lift Every Voice" next Saturday, February 3rd at 7 pm. Nikki talks about the program featuring Florence Price and some of Oleta Adam's most famous works. Nikki also highlights here work as a local choir director in the Pittsburgh area. Tickets start at $25. Visit https://pittsburghsymphony.org/ to learn more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Violinist Alexi Kenney returns to Pittsburgh to perform the Barber Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Juraj Valcuha. Alexi talks about the concerto, playing the PSO and more with Jim Cunningham. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Juraj Valcuha returns to Heinz Hall to conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Nico Muhly's "Bright Idea", Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Barber's Violin Concerto with guest soloist Alexi Kenney. WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke to the maestro about the concert. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham speaks with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Guest Conductor Petr Popelka, pianist Yulianna Avdeeva and PSO Vice President of Artistic Planning Mary Persin during intermission of WQED-FM's live broadcast on Friday January 12, 2024. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Moon Doh stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Schooltime concert "Courage to Stand" taking place Wednesday January 17th at 10:30 and 7pm and Tuesday January 23rd at 10:30am. The concerts feature the orchestra and special guests in a dynamic exploration of musicians, dancers, poets, and other leaders who have used the power of the arts to express their core convictions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Holiday Pops concludes this weekend. The conductor of the shows, Daniel Meyer, stopped by the QED Morning Show with Jim Cunningham to tell people what they can expect when they see the show at Heinz Hall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk about this weekend's concerts titled "Cirque Carnival." Byron talks about what you can expect from the concert, PSO Principal Flute playing as a soloist and working with Dizzy Gillespie. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham interviewed violinist Bomsori, guest conductor James Gaffigan, new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Associate Trombone Doug Rosenthal, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic Jeremy Reynolds during our live broadcast from Friday November 3, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rudolf Buchbinder talks with Jim Cunningham about playing all five Beethoven concertos in a single weekend at Heinz Hall October 26th and 28th 2023. He says it is not a big deal, that Beethoven and Mozart did it all the time even though it has never been done in Pittsburgh since the 1967 concerts of Rudolf Serkin and William Steinberg at the Syria Mosque. Buchbinder discusses his love for Beethoven and where he feels his presence in his favorite city Vienna. Does he know who The Immortal Beloved was and what is the key to his nature are among the topics. Love is the answer! Plus, thoughts about his most recent recording for DG Soiree de Vienne and all the Beethoven Sonatas recorded in a few days at the Salzburg Festival for live ORF broadcasts. The importance of radio, having Frau Buchbinder, Agnes, along for the ride, his admiration for Pittsburgh, and the good summer at his Grafenegg Festival all turn up along the conversation path. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh born rapper Frzy returns to WQED where he won an Emmy award for his "Wont You Be My Neighbor" video joining Christian Kriegeskotte who has composed the orchestral score for an evening of Frzy fun at Heinz Hall with Moon Doh conducting November 8. DJ Solo and Frzy’s The Faculty with singers and more mark the 50th anniversary of hip hop in style. Frzy talks about the positive flow of his message with Jim Cunningham. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Piano superstar Yefim Bronfman is a Mets fan. Yefim also loves making his coffee mostly at home in New York when he isn't jetting around China, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston or wherever great music happens.  

 

He spoke with Jim Cunningham in his dressing room at Heinz Hall after rehearsing the Schumann Concerto. He plays March 27-29 with Daniele Rustioni and the Pittsburgh Symphony. It's their first time working together.  

 

Yefim also talks about his love for the opera but gets to the Met only now and then with his full calendar. He admires Clara Schumann but has not yet played her music. He has met members of the extended Schumann family and Franz Schubert's family was represented in a chance meeting in Los Angeles. Yefim plays the fierce Alfred Schnittke Concerto and music by Mathias Pintscher too but he is a master of the classics of Vienna and Central Europe. Is classical music growing or getting smaller? It is changing, he says while noting that Music Director Andris Nelsons of the Boston Symphony will be all right. It is a big loss to have his contract end after next season.  

 

Pittsburgh is a favorite stop. He's be back next season with Liszt and there is talk of adding one more concert next fall. 

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WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Vice-President of Artistic Planning Mary Persin about tonight's (10/18) PSO360 concert as Pittsburgh Symphony musicians take center stage for an intimate evening of music in collaboration with the landmark Pittsburgh Violins of Hope community project. She also talks about upcoming PSO concerts she's looking forward to and about the special Violins of Hope concert taking place in November. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Moon Doh stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk about the concerts he's conducting this weekend called "Disney: The Sound of Magic." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Conductor Jacob Joyce joins Jim Cunningham and Erin Lynn, Director of Audience Experience, to speak about the Disrupt concert "Ludwig Grooves" with Manfred Honeck conducting Beethoven’s Seventh and the John Adams "Short Ride in a Fast Machine." The Transformation Fizz cocktail and mocktail can be taken in to the concert hall. Arrive early for fun with the photo booths and optional wigs, art from the Carnegie Museum, Attack Theater Dancers and Jacob Joyce revealing special features of the music. Will Maestro Honeck wear sneakers? A relaxed vibe with music making at the highest level. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham interviews Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck, guest soloist Helene Grimaud and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Melia Tourangeau during intermission of our live broadcast on Friday September 29th, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham had a chance to interview Helene Grimaud at Heinz Hall before she plays the Schumann Piano Concerto this weekend with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She talks about the concerto, her love of playing in Pittsburgh and if she celebrates Halloween. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra opens its 2023-2024 Mellon Grand Classics Season this weekend with music by Gabriela Ortiz and Sergei Rachmaninoff, with Helene Grimaud playing the Schumann Piano Concerto. Music Director Manfred Honeck stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk with Jim Cunningham about the concert, the Gala with Renee Fleming and much more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians John Moore and Neal Berntsen discussed with Jim Cunningham live on air during WQED-FM's fall funder about the Musicians of Steel 5k Run and Walk on September 30th at 10am in Millvale. 100% of the race entry fees go towards the PSO Musicians Care Fund that is a non-profit that support local community and school programs that have lost funding. They also talk about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's newest CD featuring Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. Visit https://www.musiciansofsteel5k.com to learn more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Superstar soprano Renee Fleming sat down with Music Director Manfred Honeck in the Fifth Floor dressing room to talk about their Pittsburgh Symphony "Now is the Time" Gala concert at Heinz hall September 23, 2023 recalling Renee’s first years in Indiana, PA and Ridgeway. Manfred Honeck answers the question - is Renee Fleming a diva? Renee discusses her Kennedy Center honor at the end of the year with Dionne Warwick, Queen Latifah, Billy Crystal and Barry Gibb. Jim Cunningham asks about her series of Imax ‘Cities that Sing’ live to theaters concerts with Paris and Venice. Renee Fleming mentions her work with Andre Previn in "Streetcar Named Desire" and his last music, "Penelope." They run down the concert program with 4 Black Dances by Carlos Simon, John Kandar’s "Letter From Sullivan Ballou," La Boheme by Leoncavallo, "Till There Was You" from the Music Man, and Andrew Lippa’s "The Diva." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Moon Doh stopped by the QED Morning Show with Jim Cunningham to talk about the "Summer Shorts" series of concerts the orchestra is doing this summer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pianist Igor Levit will play the Gershwin Piano Concerto this weekend with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He spoke with WQED-FM's Anna Singer about the piece. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Manfred Honeck, plays Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection". WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey. She talks about singing with Ying Fang before; her thoughts on the music; and this being her very first time in Pittsburgh, even though she grew up in Virginia. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

June 9th through the 11, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will World Premiere "Forging Steel" by composer Stacy Garrop. Stacy spoke with WQED-FM's Anna Singer about the piece. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WQED-FM's Anna Singer spoke with Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Melia Tourangeau about the PSO's concert this Friday through Sunday that features the Pittsburgh Ballet, two commissions and features Igor Levit with Gershwin's piano concerto. They also talk about the League of American Orchestra meetings taking place in Pittsburgh. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado speaks with Jim Cunningham in the conductor’s dressing room after rehearsal on May 18, 2023 about the Stravinsky Rite of Spring and it’s ferocity, sense of danger and riot inducing nature which he recently recorded in France. He explains what composer Igor Stravinsky meant when he said Herbert von Karajan’s Rite of Spring featured a “Hootchie Kootchie tempo”; he speaks about his personal approach and about his recent recordings for Harmonia Mundi of Schumann, Schubert and Beethoven, his tour with the the Freiburg Orchestra, the Disrupt concert at Heinz Hall with the Riot theme and how to engage a younger audience for classical music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pianist Alice Sara Ott tells Jim Cunningham about her long association with the Edvard Grieg Concerto, playing it in Norway, visiting the Grieg House and playing his piano, recording it with Esa Pekka Salonen , her ten CDs for DG, growing up in Germany and home in Munich, her fashion sense and design work and how delighted she is to make her Pittsburgh debut. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Korean born pianist Seong–Jin Cho returns to Heinz Hall and the Pittsburgh Symphony conducted by Manfred Honeck April 21, 22 and 23 2023 in the Ravel Piano Concerto in G. He’s played it many times for a pianist who is 28 years old and in this conversation with Jim Cunningham, explains the special moments of the French masterpiece. Fresh from his solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York where he played music by Handel featured on his latest DG cd, Seong-Jin shares what he’s working on for concerts in the near future and the high wire debut at Carnegie Hall with the Vienna Philharmonic when Denis Matsuev and Valery Gergiev withdrew from the program on short notice. Berlin is his home these days but he gets back to his birthplace often where classical music is thriving. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony including David McCarroll, Concetmaser; Tatjana Mead Chamis, viola; Dylan Naroff, violin; and cellist Angela Park joined Jim Cunningham to discuss their performance of suppressed composers including Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff and Mieceslaw Weinberg in the Chatham University Chapel, 7pm on April 18. Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the cornerstone program of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. It is the day set aside to remember the approximately six-million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Center’s annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration is a solemn community gathering. This year, in addition to a concert, the evening will include a candle lighting ceremony, with additional candles lit in honor of the Liberators, Veterans, and the non-Jews who risked their lives to save the lives of their Jewish friends and neighbors; a film produced by Chatham University students featuring local survivors; and a memorial for local survivors who have passed away. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jader Bignamini makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut with Shostakovich Tenth Symphony and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto played by Kiril Gerstein - April 14th and 16th, 2023 with a special Disrupt concert on the 15th with a more casual concert presentation. Maestro Bignamini speaks about the Tenth and Beethoven, plus gives Jim Cunningham a summary of his early years in Crema, Italy not far from Cremona. He says he is delighted to make several debuts this season and is enjoying his second full season in Detroit as Music Director. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jim Cunningham spoke with Guest Conductor Daniele Rustioni and pianist Francesco Piemontesi during intermission of WQED-FM's live broadcast of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on March 31, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Daniele Rustioni makes his Heinz Hall debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony March 31st and April 2nd with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, the Brahms First Piano Concerto with Francesco Piemontesi, and Unsuk Chin’s "Subito Con Forza." It’s a high wire act because he is also conducting the Metropolitan Opera’s Falstaff during the same weekend with a Saturday matinee live broadcast on radio and to theaters with the HD series. He told the orchestra his Mother will be watching in Italy so it must be good! He flew to Pittsburgh on Thursday morning for rehearsal and he will fly to New York after the Friday performance at Heinz Hall for the Saturday Met Falstaff which begins with an early curtain. Then he returns to Pittsburgh for Sunday afternoon. His friend and mentor Gianadrea Noseda had done something similar a few years ago. Daniele tells Jim Cunningham about his admiration for Italian conductor Victor de Sabata who made his American debut in Pittsburgh at the Syria Mosque. Daniele Rustioni was born in Milan and studied at the Conservatory there. He is married to Francesca Dego and they recoded the Violin Concerto by Ermanno Wolf Ferrari and the Mozart Violin Concertos. About his Falstaff at the Met, Patrick Dillon in Opera Canada wrote: “The not-quite-forty-year-old Milanese has been making ever-increasing waves in the world’s opera houses and concert halls, and at the Met this season he took the virtuosic house band out of the pit and onto the stage of Carnegie Hall for Bartók and Stravinsky before helming the current string of Falstaff's. Everything about his deft, graceful, shipshape account of this infinitely rewarding score seemed unobtrusively right.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony visit Teutonia Maennerchor on Phineas Street, Northside to present Triumph of the Misfits in the Discovery and Drinks series with Schubert’s Death and the maiden Quartet and Ravel’s String Quartet on March 30 at 7pm. Each ticket includes a selection from the bar. Pittsburgh Symphony Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Marty Bates will host. In May, Assistant Conductor Moon Doh will present the next program in the series with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as the centerpiece. Assistant Conductor Doh also has a free Side by Side concert April 11 at Heinz Hall with Gustav Mahler. The plans for the PSO Disrupt series and highlights of the remainder of the season are in the discussion with Jim Cunningham. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Manfred Honeck, plays Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection". WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham spoke with soprano Ying Fang. She talks about her work with Manfred Honeck; doing the piece recently with Yannick Nezet-Seguin; performing Mozart's Idomeneo with Manfred at the Met; and her espresso machine she takes on the road with her. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Composer Sir James MacMillan joins Jim Cunningham in the WQED-FM studio just hours before his world premiere to share his thoughts about his new music heard for the first time on commission from the Pittsburgh Symphony - March 17th ,18th and 19th, 2023. Her tears fell with the dews at even will be recorded along with the Mozart Requiem for Reference. He wrote the music and found the words of Tennyson From Mariana that seemed to fit. Sir James has known Principal Flute Lorna McGhee since she was just starting out in Scotland and he wrote a considerable amount for the flute in the score. He discusses his time as Composer of the Year in Pittsburgh, and his music written for Pittsburgh starting with a Fanfare in 2016, the Fourth Symphony, the Larghetto for Manfred Honeck’s 10th year as Music Director. Also on the list of topics: the chant workshop he will lead on Saturday with the men of the Westminster Choir, his new music being heard around the globe including at the Cincinnati May Festival, St. Patrick’s Day in Scotland, Andrew Carnegie the Great Scot, the ability of music to lift us even in our darkest hour, how he shares much of Manfred Honeck’s thinking about spirituality and where we are with the state of the spiritual life in our world today. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony runs down the concerts of March 7 with Lang Lang playing the Saint-Saens 2nd Concerto and March 10th and 12th with Franz Schmidt’s Fourth Symphony for the first time at Heinz Hall, along with Emanuel Ax playing Chopin’s Second Concerto . The weekend of March 17, 18 and 19, Manfred Honeck conducts his personal version of the Mozart Requiem which will be recorded for the Reference label with narrator F. Murray Abraham and soloists with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Emanuel Ax plays the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Chopin with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Friday March 10 and Saturday March 12 at 2:30 at Heinz Hall. Jim Cunningham joined Mr. Ax to talk about Chopin, the love of his life George Sand, Ax's long association with the composer including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, recording the concerto twice with Eugene Ormandy and Sir Charles Mackerras plus doing crosswords, a new cd on the way from Yo Yo Ma and much more in this interview recorded after rehearsal at Heinz Hall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, born in Moscow and a long time resident of Finland where he conducted and recorded with the Lahti Symphony makes his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony this weekend. In this conversation with Jim Cunningham he speaks about the war in Ukraine and adding music by Valentin Silvestrov, the Prayer for Ukraine, played on the anniversary of entering year two of the conflict. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Violinist Gil Shaham talks about his unique approach to the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Franz Clement who played his instrument upside down during the cadenza at the premiere when the ink was still wet on the page. Gil also talks about his recording with the Knights, his long collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the 360 concert on Saturday night and how to pronounce his name depending on where you are in the world. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Music Director of Syracuse New York’s Symphoria, Lawrence Loh, leads a program of favorite film scores by John Williams for the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops. After serving more than a decade as Resident Conductor in Pittsburgh and conducting hundreds of concerts in and out of Heinz Hall, Lawrence Loh has become an acknowledged master with concerts in Seattle, Detroit, Florida and Phoenix just recently in addition to a long standing annual holiday concert with the Dallas Symphony. He has the rundown of scores, the surprises, the Chewbacca Roar contest in the lobby, which players have nice solo moments, and much more in this discussion with Jim Cunningham. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jim Cunningham speaks with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck and PSO Principal Cello Anne Martindale Williams during intermission of our live broadcast on February 15, 2023. Yo-Yo Ma also says a quick hi at the end of the broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jim Cunningham interviews Music Director Manfred Honeck, guest violinist Ray Chen, PSO Concertmaster David McCarroll, and thermin player Arturo Fernandez, during WQED-FM's live broadcast on February 10, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck stopped by the QED Morning Show with Jim Cunningham to talk about this weekend's concerts with violinist Ray Chen and Holst's "The Planets." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pittsburgh Symphony soloist Baritone Matthias Goerne, described by many as the greatest singer in the lieder world today and one of the greatest operatic stars, speaks backstage minutes after his rehearsal of Wotan’s Farewell by Richard Wagner which he sings this weekend with music from Tristan und Isolde and The Flying Dutchman next to the Beethoven ‘s Fifth Symphony - February 3rd ,4th and 5th at Heinz Hall. He talks in detail about the program, the special challenges of singing Wagner, his teacher Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, about his new CD for Deutsche Grammophon, Schubert Revisited and about his decades long friendship with Manfred Honeck. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Piano legend, global classical music superstar, and Musical America Artist of the year 2026 Emanuel Ax plays Brahms' First Concerto with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony this weekend at Heinz Hall! WQED's Jim Cunningham ventured down to Heinz Hall for a chat with Mr. Ax during Friday's rehearsals.  

Ax talks about his honors and the memory he has of pianist Arthur Rubinstein at the Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv in 1974, as well as the premiere of the John Williams's Piano Concerto written for him and heard with the composer onstage last year in Los Angeles. He remembers many Pittsburgh personalities with great warmth, including Byron Janis, Andre Previn, Lorin Maazel, and Mariss Jansons.  

Ax reflects on the Brahms, calling it a piece full of "Hungarian passion," and highlights some of his favorite recordings. He also provides his outlook on the current state of classical music in the public world.

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Pianist Paul Lewis joins Sir Mark Elder and the Pittsburgh Symphony to make his Heinz Hall debut with Mozart’s 12th Concerto in A January 20 and 22, 2023. He describes the delights of the Mozart with Jim Cunningham in his second floor dressing room following the Thursday rehearsal. Paul became a Commander of the British Empire in 2016. He has no opinion at all about Prince Harry’s criticism of the Royal Family. Paul greatly admires his teacher Alfred Brendel, talks about his years in Liverpool, his latest recordings of Brahms and Schubert for Harmonia Mundi, first impressions of Pittsburgh and where contemporary music turns up in his repertoire which has won the highest praise for Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt, Haydn and Schubert. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Conductor Peter Oundjian and violinist Alina Ibragimova provide the roadmap for the Prokofiev First Violin Concerto which they perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony January 13th and 15th. Peter chooses a few high points in his 14 years as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony and fills Jim Cunningham in on his family ties to Eric Idle of Monty Python. He also shares his love of Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Thomas Tallis Fantasy having recorded the composer in Toronto. Alina remembers being in Pittsburgh on March 11, 2020 just hours from her debut when the music world went on hiatus. Both are glad to have survived the pandemic and feel optimistic about the future of classical music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Daniel Meyer conducts 8 Pittsburgh Symphony Holiday Pops concerts through Sunday the 18th of December with the Mendelssohn Choir, Santa and Blaine Alden Krauss who stars in Hamilton on Broadway plus dancers from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater who perform highlights from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. Maestro Meyer has the rundown of the event for Jim Cunningham and what he is up to with the Erie Philharmonic and the Westmoreland Symphony. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.