Music on NCPR

(02/04/12) Jazz singer Shirley Crabbe's new CD, "Home" is getting rave reviews and lots of national attention. She joined Joel Hurd on The Bridge (via Skype from her home near NYC) to talk about the new disc, growing up in a musical family, and a vocal cord injury that nearly ended her singing career before it ever even started.

(02/01/12) A new photo exhibit in Potsdam connects art, music, gardens and friendship. Photographer Jane Lammers spent time last spring, summer and early fall in the perennial gardens of three North Country friends.

She also assembled a playlist of music to accompany her exhibit, Perennial Bliss. It includes music by Jean-Pierre Rampal, Yo-Yo Ma and James Galway. The eight photos in the exhibit follow the seasonal flow in flower gardens.

Todd Moe spoke with Jane Lammers about gardens, photography and music. Her show is up through the end of the month at First Crush Bistro in Potsdam.

(02/01/12) The Northern Symphonic Winds winter concert is this Saturday night (7:30) in the Massena High School Auditorium. "Altered States" is the theme of the concert that will also include select Massena student musicians. The concert is a benefit for the school's music program. Todd Moe talks with conductor Brian Doyle about choosing a theme and music for the concert.

(01/31/12) Todd Moe talks with Jennifer Choi, the violinist from the eclectic string quartet, Ethel. They're artists-in-residence at the Crane School of Music this week and will present a concert in Potsdam at Hosmer Hall Thursday night (7:30). They have a cool name and the young musicians like to play music influenced by pop and jazz. Ethel will perform its "Present Beauty" program featuring music by Philip Glass from the movie, The Hours. Choi says the four musicians have backgrounds in the classical genre, but the group prefers adventurous music.

(01/26/12) Not all pipers start young - and they aren't all Scottish either.

John Sullivan came to Canada from England back in 1952. Today he lives in Ottawa and pipes in neighboring Kemptville. Sullivan took up bagpipes later in life, almost on a whim. This past Wednesday, he helped pipe in the haggis for a Robbie Burns luncheon held in Burritts Rapids, Ontario.

Prior to reciting the traditional "Address to a Haggis", Sullivan told Lucy Martin how he reached this point. Sullivan is today's Heard Up North. more

(01/19/12) The Canadian play, 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, has played on five continents and in more than 150 cities since it first opened 15 years ago. Its success worldwide is due to its universal themes of dreams and discipline.

The set consists of two grand pianos, and the cast is just two actors. It's a simple show, ostensibly about piano lessons, that's moving, profound and lots of fun. It was written and first performed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt, both brilliant actors and pianists. They're back on stage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa this month for the farewell tour.

2 Pianos, 4 Hands continues through Saturday, January 28th at the National Arts Centre's English Theatre. NCPR's resident theater critic Connie Meng and Todd Moe share a review of the show.

(01/04/12) Team building is nothing new at corporate offices. But company strategies to get employees working together vary widely. The telecommunications firm M-5 Networks uses music education -- specifically, a "school of rock" culminating with a company-wide battle of the bands at the annual meeting. The Innovation Trail's Zack Seward reports from M-5's Rochester branch. more

(12/30/11) The new executive director of the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra will start her job early next month. Lisa Miller replaces Robert Rosoff, who will retire on Saturday. Miller's background is in marketing and corporate communications. She's also a member of Pro Musica, Albany's premier choral group. Before beginning her new role she'll spend the next couple of weeks at an orchestra management course in New York City.

The Glens Falls Orchestra has 55 musicians, a $300,000 budget and has operated in the black the last couple of years. But the recession has made it difficult for some orchestras to survive. The Syracuse Symphony filed for bankruptcy last spring. Todd Moe talks with Lisa Miller about some of the challenges and joys of leading the Glens Falls Symphony. For the last couple of years, she's worked with the orchestra's marketing committee.

(12/28/11) Crane School of Music professor of piano Paul Wyse has mastered two art forms. He's a classically trained concert pianist and also paints portraits. Earlier this month, he unveiled a full-length portrait of "piano man" Billy Joel in New York City. The artist joined the bestselling musician to unveil the painting at Steinway Hall. Paul Wyse was commissioned by Steinway and Sons to paint Joel's portrait. Two of Wyse's portraits of award-winning pianist and conductor Leon Fleischer are part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection in Washington D.C.

Wyse has performed at the piano on the concert stage around the world and his oil portraits hang in public and private collections and appear in national publications.

So, how does a classically trained concert pianist become an award winning visual artist? "It's hard to explain," says Wyse. But he adds that it's not uncommon for musicians who study the structure of a symphony to use those same skills in the visual arts.

During a visit to his portrait studio in his home near Prescott, Ontario, he told Todd Moe that the mystery of transforming cloth and pigment into something that is looking back at you is powerful, alluring, and part of the compulsion to paint.

(12/25/11) The Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Charles Peltz, and the GFSO Children's Chorus perform holiday favorites. Recorded live at Glens Falls High School December 11, 2011.