From Music Icons to Medical Milestones: Marian Anderson and Pa.'s Oldest Hospital episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 19, 2026 · 44 MIN

From Music Icons to Medical Milestones: Marian Anderson and Pa.'s Oldest Hospital

from The Spark · host WITF, Inc.

(00:00:00) Anthony (Tony) Tommasini is the former chief classical music critic for The New York Times, a role he held from 2000 until his retirement in 2021 after 24 years with the paper. A graduate of Yale University with a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, he is also an accomplished author of four books, including The Indispensable Composers. As a pianist, he recorded two albums of Virgil Thomson’s music with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tommasini recently wrote about Marian Anderson’s legacy for the New York Times, a piece that earned praise from Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In 2022, Gates and Penguin Press invited him to contribute to the “Significations” series. His upcoming book, Voice of a Century: The Life and Artistry of Marian Anderson, will be released by Penguin in September. (00:22:40) Stacey C. Peeples, Curator and Lead Archivist at Pennsylvania Hospital, is helping guide the hospital’s celebration of its 275th anniversary by overseeing the transformation of its historic Pine Building into a public museum. As America’s first chartered hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital will use the new museum—opening in May—to showcase exhibits that connect its rich medical history with Penn Medicine’s ongoing innovations in science and healthcare.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 19, 2026

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From Music Icons to Medical Milestones: Marian Anderson and Pa.'s Oldest Hospital

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