Before serving as the Prime Minister of Poland, Ignacy Jan Paderewski was an internationally acclaimed composer and pianist. He drew on lyrical and traditional works to influence his compositions, writing and performing for almost seven decades.  Paderewski was born in southeast Poland in 1860, and raised by distant relatives of his […]

Known for her lengthy career in composition and efforts to support underrepresented communities, Barbara Harbach has become a prominent figure in modern American classical music. She has written works for symphonies, musicals, film, ballet, solo artists and choirs, composing a symphony as recently as 2017.  Barbara Harbach was born in Pennsylvania in 1946. She studied […]

A sitar virtuoso and composer of North Indian classical music, Ravi Shankar became famous in the mid-20th century for his solo performances and collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison. He inspired a generation of musicians and is considered to be one of the greatest Indian musicians of all time.  Ravi Shankar was born in […]

 This episode of WorldView features music performed on  double reed instruments—such as the bassoon and the oboe—and written by composers from America, Canada, and Croatia. In Ancient Greece, instruments with two reeds were held in higher regard than any other; in Renaissance Europe they became a favorite medium for minstrels and bards. Updated versions of […]

Celebrated for his portrayal of “American music”, Aaron Copland was heavily influenced by the sights and sounds of America during the Great Depression, both World Wars, and the tumultuous second half of the 20th century. His most famous pieces are those which he called “accessible”; these works feature simpler melodies, folk music roots, and relatable […]

Jean Sibelius is often considered the greatest Finnish composer of all time, but his symphonies, operas, and instrumental works are known and performed worldwide. Episode nine of WorldView features his Violin Concerto in D Minor, the only concerto the composer ever wrote.  Johan Julius Sibelius was born in 1865 when Finland was an autonomous region […]

Margaret Bonds was born in Chicago in 1931 to a church musician and Civil Rights activist. She grew up in her mother’s house, where she met several prominent Black artists of the time, including Abbie Mitchell and Lillian Evanti. These interactions influenced many of her compositions, and guided her career towards collaborations with writers of […]

Episode six of WorldView features two composers from Scandinavia: Agathe Grøndahl (Norway) and Carl Nielsen (Denmark). In just under one hundred years, the two wrote more than 120 combined opus works, 6 symphonies, and hundreds of shorter pieces for a variety of instruments. Both have become icons of classical music in their countries.  Agathe Grøndahl […]