Music – Past & Present Podcasts

A new web features follows an entering class of Fifers and Drummers on their journey through the ranks.

The 2014 Early Music Festival promises to be a lively one. With instruments, scores, and performances of an 18th-century vintage, you’ll be surrounded by the sounds of another century. Enjoy this musical preview featuring Jane Hanson and Michael Monaco from the opera “Thomas and Sally.”

For Drum Major Lance Pedigo, leading comes naturally. All year round and at any time of day, chances are good that you’ll see him marching at the front of the Fifes and Drums, keeping time and metering the pace of the corps of young men and women who make the music of history ring through […]

Christmas tunes reverberate from an instrument you’ve probably never heard before. Hear Dean Shostak play Ben Franklin’s invention: the glass armonica.

Members of the Senior Corps of the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums play the tunes that directed a soldier through his day, from morning’s first light to the night’s last ale.

Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums introduces the instruments designed to be heard under cannon fire and over musket volleys. Learn the history of their distinctive sound with Amy Miller and members of the Senior Fife and Drum Corps.

The Governor’s Musick is Colonial Williamsburg’s resident 18th-century musical ensemble. Jane Hanson, Herb Watson, Jenny Edenborn and Wayne Moss perform.

Christmases during the Civil War were marked with equal parts of sadness and hope. “Uncivil Christmas,” a Williamsburg music program, captures the mood in songs of the period. Carson Hudson narrates this musical podcast.

Restoration presents a paradox when repairing old instruments could mean erasing their stories. Conservator John Watson walks the fine line.

Organist Michael Monaco coaxes the sound of the 1700s from an 18th century organ in William and Mary’s Wren Chapel.

Relating the daily lives of America’s ancestors is the product of research and performance. Performer Kat Getward shares the part that music plays in the EFT “Making History Live.”

In clear voice and high spirits, Kelly Kennedy sings Irish Christmas melodies.

The noble tradition of the fifes and drums is celebrated May 18-20 during Drummers Call.

Colonial ladies played instruments that showed their graceful features to the best advantage, and they never showed their elbows. Music Interpreter Jane Hanson explains.

Colonial Williamsburg musician John Turner explains the origins of America’s beloved Christmas hymns.