Join us Sunday at 1 pm (one hour earlier than usual) as Garrick Ohlsson plays Brahms, and Yannick returns to the podium to conduct a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and two lush orchestral works by Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, and a suite from his opera, Der Rosenkavalier!

On the anniversary of his 85th birthday this Sunday, we'll remember bandleader and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Big Band Jazz. Stan Kenton added the Canadian born trumpet titan in 1950 to his Innovations in Modern Music band. A few years later, he started his own band. We'll feature recordings from his Birdland Dream Band to Be Bop Nouveau. And of course those famous high-end solos! Sunday, May 5, 7 to 8 pm.

Concertos for low instruments bookend a concerto for orchestra on Now Is the Time, Sunday, May 5th at 10 pm. Gunther Schuller conducts Orchestra 2001 in his Concerto da Camera, a classical-sized work with twists. Carter Brey’s singing tone dives deep into Steven Gerber’s Cello Concerto, bringing up a work of warmth and beauty.

The program opens with a perky yet challenging Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra by John Williams. Although he’s known worldwide for his decades of award-winning film scores, he’s written many concert pieces—including concertos. This one has become a repertoire piece for tubists since he composed it in 1985.

Join us on Sunday at 3 pm as Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) presents Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. Drama takes center stage in this opera of political intrigue, based on a true historical event: the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden. The king falls in love with the wife of his best friend and most trusted advisor. A love triangle turns deadly as jealousy leads to conspiracy, murder, and betrayal at a masked ball. Sunday, May 5, 3 to 6 pm.

Poulenc’s masterpiece makes a rare return to the repertory with a fine cast led by Patricia Racette, Felicity Palmer, and Isabel Leonard. Louis Langrée conducts this dramatic work with one of the most haunting final moments in opera. Saturday, May 4, *11:30 am to 3 pm (*note early start time).

Francis Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Synopsis

Cast:

Conductor: Louis Langrée
Blanche de la Force: Isabel Leonard
Mme Lidoine: Patricia Racette
Constance: Erin Morley
Mère Marie: Elizabeth Bishop
First Prioress: Felicity Palmer
Chevalier de la Force: Paul Appleby

The WRTI Spring Member Drive is over, and we're happy to report that: it ended early, we raised over $350,000, AND we had one of the best drives in the history of the station. How? Because of you, and over 3,000 dedicated members who believe in what we do and care deeply about keeping classical music and jazz on the radio in our community.  If you haven't pledged yet, there's still time. Your support keeps WRTI accessible to SO many people. Pledge Here or call 866-809-9784. Please remember that over 50% of WRTI's funding comes from people just like you - listeners who become members.

On Discoveries from the Fleisher Collection, Saturday, May 4th at 5 pm...

Sergei Prokofiev lived in Paris in 1936 but longed for Russia. He had never relinquished his Soviet citizenship in the years he was abroad; since 1918 he lived in the U.S., Germany, and France. He toured America, Europe, and the USSR often, playing piano in and conducting his growing repertoire of increasingly popular works.

WRTI's Jazz Hot 11 is a weekly countdown of your favorite new jazz releases in rotation.  

This week's Hot 11: 

You're in a for a treat this Sunday, April 28th at 2 pm! That's when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert Broadcast will feature a first for the ensemble:  It's the first time in the Orchestra's distinguished history that they performed the complete, uncut St. Matthew Passion, in two parts, with five soloists, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and American Boychoir, all under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.  

This exciting, historical first was performed at the end of March, during the Easter period.

It’s different ways to say good night on Now is the Time, Sunday, April 28th at 10 pm. Alex Freeman’s solo piano Night on the Prairies leads to a sextet in Jeremy Beck’s In Flight until Mysterious Night (and do we hear Steely Dan in there?). Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble then runs with the Night of the Flying Horses of Osvaldo Golijov.

Then, two quartets. Night Blossoms of Mary Jane Leach is a haiku for four singers, and the four string instruments of Kronos play Terry Riley’s long-breathed Cadenza on the Night Plain, out into that good night.