We begin the 2020 Classical Marathon with a nod to the fact that many of us now spend most of our lives in our homes. We might yearn for a return to the concert hall, but classical music has a storied tradition of being performed in the comfort of home. Join Kyle as we explore the many pieces we have come to love that had their start in apartments and houses. And if you consider WTJU to be your home for classical music, please support your local station with a pledge of support!

Music can help us make sense of life and be a source of renewal and growth. As we say goodbye to 2020, join Andrew Morgan for two hours of classical works of new beginnings, and help make our garden grow at WTJU during the first day of the Classical Marathon.

Join Louise on a two-hour tour around the world -- Europe, Asia, the Middle East. Hassle-free travel, and no security lines or flight delays! Tune in and be transported. This is one staycation you won't want to miss.

The rich legacy of Black composers is only just now coming to light. Join Ralph Graves as he presents 300 years composed by Black musicians. From Joseph Bologne, through Samuel Coleridge-Tayler, Blind Tom, the DeDes (father and son), to William Grant Still, Florence Price, Aldophus Hailstork, and more!

We’re all familiar with the virtuosic pieces that capture our attention for 20, 30, and even 60 minutes. But what about those bite-sized delights that still test soloist and orchestra alike? Join Michael Latsko for A Collection of Concertinos, featuring the music of Chaminade, Kuchler, Schatz, and many others.

The written words of a poet can be used in many forms, such as a play or operetta. This show will explore poems set to music for the sole purpose of their own works. Join Penelope and Thann as they showcase the poems of Goethe, Shakespeare, and others.

The year 2020 marks the 325th anniversary of the death of composer Henry Purcell at age 36. Just fifty years ago Purcell was best known for a few favorite works — some not by him — and his opera Dido and Aeneas, while most of his music remained untouched. In 2020, nearly all of Purcell has been recorded and reveals him as the greatest native English speaker among Baroque composers. His "Ode to St. Cecilia's Day" will be heard, in addition to works by some of his peers: Matthew Locke, John Blow, and his brother, Daniel Purcell.

Film composer Bernard Hermann is best known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock. But from the late 1930s until his death in 1975 he supplied a steady stream of music for films and more that was in stark contrast to the more conventional soundtracks of Golden Age Hollywood. We'll survey many of his well- and lesser-known music in this show.

Classical music all night long! Join us for hours of non-stop selections, and while you're at it be sure to make a pledge of support to your favorite radio station, WTJU!

Snowy landscapes, an icy wind, and chilly, sunny days -- celebrate the season with music inspired by winter. Tune in to enjoy dancing snowflakes and quiet nights by the fireside.

One of the most distinctive and idiosyncratic instruments ever created was the celesta, the small keyboard instrument that sounds like bells, or a music box. Since its creation in 1886, composers have used it to evoke the stars and planets (The Planets), to depict a delicate, magical sound world (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy or Harry Potter), or to create a sense of space, scale and distance in music.

"A painter in sound" is how biographer Stephen Walsh described composer Claude Debussy, but he could have been talking about that grand group of French artists who, over the decades, wrote piano music of immense delicacy and beauty. Alas, we can't go to Paris for the 2020 holidays, but we can join Ann Porotti for two hours of sublime piano expression, featuring the classicists to the moderns.

Take a brief sojourn into classical music’s impact on, and use in, other genres such as folk and rock. From the obvious to the sublime, Michael will explore some connections with both music and musicians.

Join Francesca for a concord of voices as she surveys some of the best choral recordings of 2020.

How does Western Classical Music draw from and adapt local, traditional musics? We’ll explore this process with the likes of Dvorak, Liszt, Brahms, Bloch, Copeland, Sowande, Guebrou, Fanshawe, Gurrumul Yunupingu, and many others from around the world.

In this program, we take a closer look at choral composers inspired by the sounds and textures of jazz.

Henry Cowell's "New Music Quarterly" was funded by composer Charles Ives and provided a forum for American composers of what was then called 'ultra-modern' music. From 1927 until it was declared obsolete in 1955, NMQ printed editions of music by Ives, Edgar Varese, Carl Ruggles, Ruth Crawford Seeger and many others; some of these works remain timeless classics of the American vanguard while others are now forgotten along with their composers. Uncle Dave Lewis will draw from both groups of composers in presenting a survey of works from NMQ, along with some rare historic recordings issued on NMQ's own record label, NMQR.

Classical music all night long! Join us for hours of non-stop selections, and while you're at it be sure to make a pledge of support to your favorite radio station, WTJU!

WTJU has reviewed over 150 releases this past year. Which are the most noteworthy? We narrowed the list to eight, and asked our listeners to decide! Tune in Wednesday morning for our live countdown to find out how your favorite faired.

Duke Ellington envisioned long-form jazz compositions before the technology was created to support them.  Initially limited to around six minutes on two sides of a 78 RPM disc, the advent of the 12’ Long-Playing record liberated Ellington and other jazz composers to conceive and record extended compositions.  Several contemporary composers are continuing to explore the format with enthusiasm. Recent suites for large ensembles from Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, Rufus Reed, Darcy James Argue and Brian Krock.

We're off to the Dance! Tune in for a waltz or two, and the polka, mambo, allemande, tango, gavotte, and more!

There have been female composers all through history. Discover music by composers like Tibora de Sarenom and Hildegard von Bingen of the Middle Ages through modern masters like Joan Tower and Jennifer Higdon. Plus Barbara Strozzi, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Loise Ferranc, Ruth Gipps, Florence Price, and many, many more.

Do you know the difference between a lute and a guitar? Don’t fret. We will learn more about both while hearing classical music from both instruments, spanning the centuries.

Opera transcriptions, dazzling virtuoso selections, and technical tours-de-force take center stage.  We’ll hear encore pieces from the pens of Liszt, Thalberg, and others, featuring some of the greatest piano virtuosi of the last 100 years.  Along with your bravos, send your pledges to WTJU during this 2020 Classical Marathon.

Musicians across the globe have seen their entire lives and livelihoods upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, many of today's leading composers and performers explored new ways to make music and share it with music lovers around the world. On this show, we'll hear new works written by composers during the pandemic, new performance projects from some of today's leading performers, and a few gems that have come out on record in the last nine months. Though this has been a challenging time, music and musicians persist and flourish. And the power of music to inspire and enliven our lives has never been clearer.

Labeled as "the most radical and experimental art movement of the 60s,” Fluxus was deeply rooted in the idea of indeterminacy and open-endedness from John Cage. Musicians played a vital part throughout the revolution, borrowing poetry, free improvisation and early electronic music into their often performative and intermedia works. This show is a dedication to pioneers such as Henry Flynt, Charlotte Moorman and Takehisa Kosugi.

Classical music all night long! Join us for hours of non-stop selections, and while you're at it be sure to make a pledge of support to your favorite radio station, WTJU!

For three hours, we indulge our delight in those sounds that tell us we're listening to something a little older than MP3s. The vinyl record has been touted as the ideal listening format in an age of increasingly digital technologies, and we couldn't agree more. Join Kyle as we listen to the past in the present, and yearn for a simpler time before downloads, streaming services, and lossless compressed audio formats.

This is all about percussion: the first drums, gongs, and cymbals up to the hand claps, stomps, prepared pianos, and modern gadgets.  The orchestral section with the most toys is the star of this show!

Community is as intrinsic to music as it is to gaming.  An MMORPG is a type of video game built on community, sustained by community.  People from all walks of life, all regions of the earth, can join together in these virtual worlds and connect with one another. In this show, MMORPG, we'll explore the incredible music that underpins the experiences of millions of people.

You've had your tickets for months. You're excited about an evening of musical theater. You've entered the playhouse and you've settled into your seat. The lights dim, but before the curtain opens, the orchestra is about to take you on a musical journey that will set the stage for the rest of the evening. It's time for the overture! Your heart is pounding as you hear the astounding music that will carry you through the rest of the night. Sit back and enjoy two hours of Broadway overtures.

Program music -- music that tells a story with and beyond the notes -- flourished in the Romantic era but can be found throughout centuries of classical music. Join Andrew Morgan for two hours of storytelling through sound!

These two similarly-named English composers, who lived some 500 years apart, are very often confused for each other. John Taverner (1490-1545) was one of the great English composers of the Renaissance. John Tavener (1944-2013) was a renowned 20th-century composer of ‘mystical minimalism,’ known for his affecting, spiritual works, including Song for Athene, which was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana. Though the time between their lives was vast, it’s remarkable how clearly these two composers share a sense of the spiritual, and a talent for constructing vast and deeply moving spiritual spaces in music.

Starting in early April, Piano Forte co-hosts Matt Fritts and Paul Cederoth have featured one of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas each Thursday evening, leading up to his 250th birthday on Dec. 17. As the culmination of this musical celebration, this special Classical Marathon show will feature Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano, Four Hands (Op. 6), his Triple Concerto (Op. 56), and much more!

Period instrument performances of music up through Johann Sebastian Bach have become commonplace in the world of classical music and is regularly heard on “The Early Music Show” here on WTJU. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the period instruments stay within those prescribed borders, and “The Future of the Past” demonstrates what it’s like when they do not. We will hear period instruments and historically informed groups tackle music by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven up to the Beatles and beyond.

Classical music all night long! Join us for hours of non-stop selections, and while you're at it be sure to make a pledge of support to your favorite radio station, WTJU!

Italian composers have been integral to classical music in many forms. From Vivaldi to Einaudi, this show will survey these fine and diverse composers.

Composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart were an American songwriting partnership, collaborating on more than 25 stage musicals and 500 songs from 1919 until 1943. Many of their best compositions have been adopted by jazz artists and have become "standards" in the jazz repertoire. Join Brian Keena, host of The Jazz Messenger, for two hours of the best of the best. Expect to hear outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman and more. Enjoy the music of this wonderful American songwriting team while supporting the 2020 WTJU Classical Music Marathon!

Yearning for transcendence is a hallmark of human existence, especially during challenging times such as those we’ve faced in 2020. Composers and musicians throughout the centuries have been involved in mystical pursuits, and recent neurological research has demonstrated commonalities in brain activation patterns evoked by (or through) music and mystical experience. This show will explore the lives and works of mystic musicians through the ages—including the well-known (Stravinsky, Holst, Wagner, Messiaen and Glass) and the lesser-known (Tomás Luis de Victoria, Dane Rudhyar, Cyril Scott, John Tavener and John Foulds).

Did you know the history of Latinx composers dates back to the 1600s? Join Ralph Graves as he presents a variety of Central and South American composers from the past 300 years, including Ignacio de Jerusalem, Leo Brouwer, Carlos Chavez, Enresto Lecuona, Silvestre Revueltas, Gabriela Lena Frank, Mozart Camargo Guarnieri, and more!

Jordi Savall is a Catalan conductor and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. We’ll focus on his beautiful early music repertoire from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods with his ensemble Hespèrion XXI. Savall's discography includes more than 100 recordings now largely housed on his own label, Alia Vox.

Join the good, the bad, and the ugly Deadbeat crew on a sonic journey that will cover the life and legacy of Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

In this Bernstein bonanza, Perry and Xavier go through the theatrical music and shows of Leonard Bernstein, from On the Town to West Side Story.

Back by popular demand, WTJU will air Max Richter's transcendent SLEEP in its 8.5 hour entirety. We hope you will tune in and listen to its calming chords, and keep the radio on when you slumber off to bed. Indeed, the piece is meant to aid you in your sleep and its many stages, building toward a radiant conclusion as the sun rises.

This show has become a standard feature of our annual Classical Music Marathon, and I am honored to be hosting it this year. We’ll have favorites from Praetorius, Josquin, and others, but I'll bring you some surprises as well.

The great English choral tradition will be showcased as usual and needs no introduction. The English Anthem is back and we will be spanning the centuries, presenting some wonderful examples of this transcendent music to brighten your Saturday morning. We look forward to your company!

It’s remarkable just how many of our favorite composers were huge cat lovers - from Scarlatti to Stravinsky, Barber to Mozart to Ravel. We’ll listen to an assortment of works inspired by cats (in a few cases, perhaps partly composed by cats!) from these cat-loving composers.

In the first half of the 20th century, the United States saw an emigration of European composers, as well as the development of homegrown styles like ragtime and jazz. Listen to how a selection of Classical keyboard composers responded.

“Who can retell the things that befell us, who can count them. In every age a hero or sage came to our aid. Hark!” join us as Xavier shares some music for Hanukkah, featuring works by David Ludwig and Sylvie Bodorova.

Join our merry troupe as we dance and drink to festive pieces, celebrating the weekend and the coming close of the Classical Marathon. Be sure to RSVP, dress for the occasion, and make a pledge of support to your favorite classical music radio station, WTJU!

Featuring Poppy Ackroyd, Nils Frahm, Johann Johannsson, David Wenngren, Olafur Arnalds, Rachel Grimes, Yann Tiersen, … Songs might come from the last couple decades, so ‘new’ in one sense of the term.

Classical music all night long! Join us for hours of non-stop selections, and while you're at it be sure to make a pledge of support to your favorite radio station, WTJU!

This show explores the ages-long appeal of triptychs, ABA forms, harmonic thirds, and multiples of rhythmic three over the past five centuries. Beginning with the three-part harmonies, and ABA forms, moving on to the crucial minor/major third that dominated Western music for more than 400 years, and the layers above (9ths, 11ths, etc). This will be a fun romp in three.

As this year has affected many of our travel plans, we can take solace in traveling through music. A number of composers have their imaginations and memories of their own travels set to melody and harmony. Join your hosts Penelope and Thann as they take you places through music.

Music inspired by folk and fairy tales, old and new, for listeners old and young. Featuring the broadcast premiere of William Grant Still’s The Little Song that Wanted to be a Symphony.

Tosca is one of Puccini’s most popular operas, and the 1953 recording featuring Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Tito Gobbi is one of the great opera recordings of all time.  Tune in, sit back, and enjoy this stellar performance as you earn your own gold star by pledging your support to WTJU.

Two hours of pipes, power, and bombast featuring virtuosic organ music needing a bit more time than the King's usual hour. Fear not, as some subtle tones of the monarch of music will also be featured.

Join us as we conclude the WTJU Classical Marathon with music for the season: Handel's Messiah.

The return of the big closing crescendo. When string arrangements are added to just the right rock, soul or jazz song,  the results can be majestic... or downright strange. Join Radio Wowsville's Don Harrison and Rick Clark as they close out the 2020 Classical Marathon with a very special kind of string theory.