Music Lives in Gloucester County, New Jersey, where WRTI’s Meridee Duddleston finds a concert series that focuses on bringing music to a previously underserved community.
A concert series in southern New Jersey’s Washington Township attracts top-notch performers from the region, across the river, New York, and all around. The Music at Bunker Hill concerts take place in a church built on a high point in Gloucester County.
Starting with three concerts, the program has steadily grown. Having just completed its fifth season, the Sunday series stands out as a breath of fresh air. The sanctuary of Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church is the venue for Music at Bunker Hill, and it's Where Music Lives.
Music at Bunker Hill Artistic Director William Frampton on the trials and tribulations of getting all the performers together for the concert featuring Choong-Jin Chang and Friends.
Music lives in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, at a site rich with American history. WRTI’s Susan Lewis explores Sol Unlimited Jazz and Arts at Cliveden. The summer music series kicks off this month on June 19th, or "Juneteenth," a holiday celebrating African American freedom from slavery. Each program features a variety of jazz styles, says producer Serena Sol Brown, including standards as well as original pieces.
Music lives at LaRose Jazz Club in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. That's where sax player and local jazz legend Tony Williams has a steady Monday night gig. WRTI’s Meridee Duddleston spends time with Tony Williams - now in his 80s - and finds out how this mainstay of the Philadelphia jazz scene keeps it fresh today and pursues his vision for tomorrow.
Music lives in a quaint, historic building on Philadelphia’s Locust Street, just a few doors down from the Curtis Institute of Music, where David Michie restores and sells violins and bows, drawing virtuoso musicians from far and wide. WRTI’s Meridee Duddleston paid a visit to this master craftsman.
Master violin restorer and dealer David Michie recounts how renowned French archetier (the French term for bow maker) Eugene Sartory policed the market for counterfeits of his work. Michie also provides some advice on choosing a bow in these excerpts of an interview with Meridee Duddleston.
Michie has much to say about the importance of a high-quality bow. "What the Italians were to string instruments, the French were to bows," he explains. In the 1800s, large blocks of wood from the pernambuco tree were used as ballast in ships making their way from Brazil to France. And Francois Tourte, who developed the modern bow and is considered the “Stradavarius of bow makers,” took to the wood and started using it. Pernambuco is now an endangered species whose export is restricted. Although carbon fiber and other substitutes are now in the mix, Michie says nothing beats a bow made of pernambuco wood from Brazil. Here's the website for David Michie Violins.
