The distance between Classical music and popular culture isn't as far as you might think. Just take a look at some of the TV shows currently in production:

Now the story of a wealthy composer who thought tonality was lost and the one Brahms who had no choice but to keep harmony and rhythm together.

Mozart's response to the critic that accused him of using "too many notes"? "Bring me my dragon." After all, the night is dark and full of tenors.

Kids can't get enough of Robert Schumann's Symphony No.2 "The Pineapple Under The Sea"

"Is Josephine Brunsvik my 'Immortal Beloved'? Why I couldn't possibly comment." - Senator L.V. Beethoven (I-Bonn)

Who needs "Bazinga" when you've got two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together? Amiright?

The Nation Sees A Hero. She Sees A Folk-Dance.

A long ...

For two recent nights, Classical KUSC host and all-round music hyphenate Alan Chapman had the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage to himself, charming audiences eager to learn more about classical music.

“Inside the Music” was the first set of music appreciation classes sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the response was so enthusiastic that it will not be the last.

Admission was a mere $3, and about half of the crowd attended both sessions even though the evenings were intended for separate audiences. The first night’s class was designed for those who knew very little about classical music, and the second was intended for people with an intermediate level of musical knowledge.

It was clear, from the photos snapped of the interior prior to the lecture and the number of children attending, that the audience on the first night included many who had never been inside Disney Hall.

Standing ...

Violinists don't often take the stage on late night talk shows, but that's exactly what Nicola Benedetti did during her last visit to Los Angeles. The Scottish violinist was a guest on her countryman Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show to promote her new album The Silver Violin. The album's offerings range from Korngold violin concertos to moments from great film scores. Benedetti stopped by the KUSC studios to talk to Brian Lauritzen about her album's unique concept and unusual success.

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No doubt about it, spring has sprung in Southern California! The warm sunshine, melodious bird songs and technicolor  flowers could make poets of us all. Maybe that's why April was named National Poetry Month. Here at KUSC, we love to celebrate all forms of great art: from the sonata to the sonnet and we know our listeners are incredibly creative folks. That's why I'm happy to announce that Arts Alive is joining this annual celebration of poetry with a very special contest for you, our listeners.

We want you to write us a poem! There is only one rule. Your poem must incorporate two themes we all hold close to our hearts: Southern California and music. Not bad subject material!

You have until 5PM on April 30th to email your poem to artsalive@kusc.org. Just one poem per person and it needs to be in ...

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue dates from 1924. The next year Walter Damrosch had an idea. Damrosch was the conductor of the New York Symphony Society and his idea was that it: “might be a lovely and important inducement for Gershwin’s artistic future to commission him to write a piano concerto.” Damrosch was thinking of a conventional concerto in three movements (as opposed to the free form of a rhapsody).

Gershwin later remarked that the commission showed great confidence on Damrosch’s part because had never written anything for a symphony orchestra before. Rhapsody in Blue had been orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. But now Gershwin would do it all. With tongue in cheek, Gershwin said that he rushed out and got four or five books on musical structure so he could find out what a concerto was.

Gershwin’s Concerto in F is a masterpiece created by a composer who never attended ...

The piano was essentially the single-handed invention (or maybe the two-handed invention) of Bartolomeo Cristofori of Florence. Cristofori introduced his instrument around 1709 and perfected its mechanical action by 1720. In 1732 a composer named Lodovico Giustini published the first set of pieces specifically for the piano.

L.A. in springtime
Unleash the poet within
As allergies rage



Poetry lovers
Yearning to paint life with words
Muse Shmuse: Just write it