Episode 48: Winter Dreams

December is here, and with it the nip in the air and the frost in the fields. On this episode we’ll explore some of the best music for the coldest time of year…a wintry mix of works by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, and more, with the help of radio icons Bob Edwards and Tom Hall. This Episode’s Playlist Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37: XII. December Stefan Petrov, piano Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Russian Dance, fr. Swan Lake, Op. 20 Max Yiming Mao, violin | Stefan Petrov, piano Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.15.2017 arr. Pablo Casals: Song of The Birds Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello | Stefan Petrov, piano Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017 Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I | Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II | Molly Wise, viola | Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017 Ottorino Respighi: Italiana fr. Ancient Airs & Dances [excerpt] SoHyun Ko, violin | Minchae Kim, violin | Jerome McCoy, viola | Dilshod Narzaillaev, cello Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2022 Antonio Vivaldi: “Winter” Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297 fr. The Four Seasons Bob Edwards, narrator | Danny Yehun Jin, solo violin | Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin | Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Zhihao Wu, cello Kreeger Museum of Art, Washington, DC Heifetz Institute Recording | 12. 17.2018 Robert Frost: Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening Tom Hall, narrator Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017 Antonin Dvořák, arr. Julia Egan: Silent Woods Andrew Gonzalez, viola | Robby Brown, guitar Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.02.2019 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in D Major, K. 136 III. Presto Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I | Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II | Molly Wise, viola | Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017 Robert Schumann: Romance, Op. 28, No. 2 [excerpt] Lynne Mackey, piano House concert, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 11.19.2020 Jean Sibelius: Souvenir, Op. 79, No. 1 Kitty Amaral, violin (Elk Creek, VA) | Eshter Lim, piano (New York, NY) Heifetz Institute Virtual Recording | 07.22.2020 Hanukkah Medley: “Oh Hanukkah,” “Al Hanisim” (Thank You for the Miracles) Rachell Ellen Wong, violin | Coleman Itzkoff, cello Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2016 Go Deeper December also ushers in our annual Heifetz Holiday Tour – two full weeks of public concerts, private musicales, outreach concerts, and radio appearances.  The 2023 Holiday Tour includes performances with the Candlelight Concerts Society in Columbia, MD, The Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC, at the Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, VA, and our Heifetz Holiday Homecoming in our Staunton hometown! Tom Hall, (pictured here with Heifetz Holiday Tour artists Matt Cohen, viola, Danny Jin, violin, Robby Brown, guitar, and Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin) is host of the award-winning Midday program on Baltimore NPR News station WYPR.  But lending his voice to this episode is no stretch – for years he was the Music Director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society! “In a career that has lasted more than 30 years, Bob Edwards has interviewed nearly 20,000 newsmakers. Born May 15, 1947 in Louisville, Kentucky, Edwards spent the early part of his career as a newscaster for Indiana station WHEL/New Albany, followed by a stint in Korea with Armed Forces Radio and Television….Read the Radio Hall of Fame entry of our featured speaker in this episode.who for 24 years served as host of NPR’s Morning Edition.