The Midday: Recent Episodes
Wisconsin Public Radio
Host Norman Gilliland provides listeners with a wide variety of classical music, presents a story from " Grace Notes ," and holds the popular "Midday Quiz." Musicians traveling through Wisconsin often stop by the studio for live performances, discussions about their most recent works, and upcoming shows. "The Midday" can be heard weekdays on the NPR News and Classical Music Network and on WPR's All Classical Network from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. "Grace Notes" air around 11:30 a.m. while interviews and the "Midday Quiz" usually start at Noon.
In Wisconsin to perform with the Madison Symphony, pianist Garrick Ohlsson and guest conductor Michael Stern get into a spirited conversation about what it takes to bring life to a […]
Capital City Theater Musical Director Andrew Abrams and cast member Tom Hensen stop by the Midday to let us know about their upcoming performances of a musical version of the […]
Several cast members from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Patience" stop by the Midday to perform songs from the show in our Buck Studio.
Chicago area pianist Mark Valenti plays Images by Debussy and tells us about the visual art that inspired them. From nearly a hundred years earlier, a youthful sonata by Schubert shows the composer at his lyrical best leading to a playful finale.
Stevens Point high school junior Jane Story has performed with the Madison Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony, among others. She's performed on NPR's From the Top and has placed in the Finale Forte twice. She'll be performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra during the July 10 Concert on the Square. She returns to the Midday to perform works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Kreisler, and Wieniawski.
Stevens Point high school junior Jane Story has performed with the Madison Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony, among others. She's performed on NPR's From the Top and has placed in the Finale Forte twice. She'll be performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra during the July 10 Concert on the Square. She returns to the Midday to perform works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Kreisler, and Wieniawski.
Flutist Emily Seaberry Graef, violinist Kristina Zlatareva, violinist and violist Julian Graef, and cellist Anita Graef perform works by Joseph Haydn, Isaac Albeniz, and Ernst von Dohnanyi and celebrate the upcoming second season of the Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival.
The charming cosmopolitan violinist, in Madison to perform The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams and Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, tells about the people who inspired him to become a musician.
The Lilies of the Midwest returned to the Midday to play several Irish and not-so-Irish tunes on their way to a weekend of performances for Saint Patrick’s Day.
In Wisconsin to perform with the Madison Symphony, the celebrated English cellist stopped by the Midday to share some thoughts about performing the Kabalevsky Cello Concerto No. 2 and speak of his admiration of...Harpo Marx
The Indianapolis-based pianist performs a program that pairs pieces by Debussy with compatible contemporary works by Amy Williams and Anthony R. Green.
Joyce Yang, in Madison to perform with the Madison Symphony, gives insights into a rare minor-key piano concerto by Mozart.
Joyce Yang, in Madison to perform with the Madison Symphony, gives insights into a rare minor-key piano concerto by Mozart.
Duo guitarists Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque stop by the Midday to share their rich repertory of Romani, jazz, and classical music.
Maxim Lando came to WPR’s Buck Studio during the Midday and applied his considerable virtuosity to works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Lowell Lieberman and played excerpts from Johannes Brahms’ demanding Piano Concerto No. 2 in B.
Pianist Terrence Wilson, in Wisconsin to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, gives Norman some insights into the piece that “made a lady out of jazz” and tells the surprising story of attending a formative concert given by a Wisconsin superstar.
New York-based Madison native Ariela Bohrod performed works by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Ólafur Arnalds, and Alexander Scriabin on the Midday and shared some of her experiences as a shipboard pianist and an interpreter of the subtleties of impressionistic music.
Michigan-based saxophonist Joseph Lulloff and pianist Yu-Lien The join Norman on the Midday to perform works by Carter Pann, Claude Debussy, Dorothy Chang, Stacy Garrop, and Cesar Franck.
Members of the Madison Savoyards stop by the Midday to sing some songs from their upcoming production of the Gilbert & Sullivan favorite The Pirates of Penzance..
Stefanie Jacob, Emmy Tisdel and Scott Tisdel play works by J.S. Bach, Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Astor Piazzolla and fill us in about this summer's Washington Island Music Festival.
Madison Memorial Hight School senior and 2021 Final Forte winner Sophia Jiang performs works by Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, and Margaret Bonds and tells us how she approaches each piece.
Chicago-based pianist Mark Valenti plays preludes by Debussy. How literally should we take those titles?) plus an Intermezzo and a Rhapsody by Brahms.
On Friday, June 20, Joshua Bell will perform two works with the Milwaukee Symphony--Ernest Chausson's Poem for Violin and Orchestra and Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. He shares some insights into both works.
Julian and Anita Graef stopped by the Midday to tell us about the Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival and performed works by Caroline Shaw, Astor Piazzolla, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro dazzle during the Midday, performing works by Schubert, Bizet, and Gavrilin.
Victor Gorodinsky, founder and conductor of the UW Russian Folk Orchestra shares some of the group's music as they approach their 25 Anniversary concert.
Lawrence University pianist Michael Mizrahi stops by the Midday to discuss his upcoming performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and pieces he commissioned for his CD "Currents."
During today's live Midday broadcast, two WYSO ensembles perform. Members of the Lalita Woodwind Quintet--flutist Asha Sandaram, oboist Caroline Sax, clarinetist Janice Chung, bassoonist Froysa Moshaeva, and hornist Flynn Ewer play works by August Klughardt and Mozart. From the Pondrom Quartet--violinists Ava Kenney and Jane Story, violist Sage Eckard-Lee, and cellist Katarina Kenney perform movements from quartets by Haydn, Kevin Lau, and Felix Mendelssohn.
Marcia Hadjimarkos shares some of her performances of harpsichord and clavichord music with clavichord builder Tim Farley and Norman Gilliland. It turns out that the clavichord is more expressive than we may have thought.
Violinist Blake Pouliot, in Wisconsin to perform with the Madison Symphony, tells Norman Gilliland about the challenges of recoding and shares his recordings of works by Ravel and Debussy.
Mabel Millan shares her insights into her recordings of works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Manuel Ponce, and Joaquin Malats. And tells why she's also a prosecutor.
Ellen Zhou, 2022 Final Forte winner, performs works by Sibelius, Bach, and Mozart during the Midday and gives us insights into her approach to competitions, musicality and technique.
Elissa Lee Koljonen stops by the Midday to share some thoughts about Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, which she's performing with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She also tells us about performing the great Wolfgang Korngold Violin Concerto and the delights of playing miniatures by Chopin and Elgar.
Norman talks with Orli Shaham about her upcoming performance of Frederic Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor with the Milwaukee Symphony, her affinity for Chopin's music, working with husband conductor David Robertson, and her recordings of the entire Mozart piano sonatas.
Norman Gilliland hosts the Naughton twins, Christina and Michelle, who return to their hometown to perform Max Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra with the Madison Symphony. They share the strange story behind the concerto, how the pandemic has changed the way they perform, and how they communicate during their performances.
Host Norman Gilliland welcomes pianist John O'Conor to the studio. He performed Beethoven's "Emperor Concerto" that night with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
Host Norman Gilliland welcomes harpist Johanna Weinholts and flutist Stephanie Jutt to the studio. They played music by Joseph Haydn, Nino Rota, Maurice Ravel, and two contemporary composers, New Zealand's Gareth Farr and Mexico's Eduardo Angulo.
This weekend, March 6, 7 and 8, the Madison Symphony Orchestra performs at the Overture Center in Madison. Blake Pouliot performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, Kenneth Woods leads the orchestra presenting Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, the "Miracle," and then closes with the orchestral tone poem by Richard Strauss — Ein Heldenleben. Norman welcomes Blake Pouliot and Kenneth Woods to the studio. They discuss and play several excerpts from the performances.
Norman talks to members of the UW Opera company including their director David Ronis with conductor Oriol Sanz, soprano Julia Urbank, and soprano Cayla Rosche. They will be performing Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte on February 28, March 1 and March 3 in Music Hall on the UW-Madison campus. They discuss and play several excerpts from the opera.
Norman welcomes violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman and his wife cellist Amanda Forsyth to the WPR Studios. They'll be performing the Brahms Double Concerto with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in several concerts from Friday, February 14 through Sunday, February 16 at the Overture Center in Madison.
The Ancora String Quartet performs several pieces in our Madison studios. The quartet includes violinists Wes Luke and Robin Ryan, cellist Benjamin Whitcomb and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt.
Harpist Jennifer DeRoche visits The Midday. She maintains a private studio and has performed in the area with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and various other groups. She's also the harp program director for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra . Ms. DeRoche performs several pieces for us.
Actor James Ridge talks about Madison Symphony Orchestra's "Beyond The Score"series. These programs combine live actors, multimedia, and the orchestra to present deep, entertaining background for a featured work - followed by a performance of that work. On Sunday, January 19, the program will be "Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 5: Pure Propaganda?" Mr Ridge along with other American Players Theatre actors Colleen Madden, Marcus Truschinski and Sarah Day, and MSO pianist Dan Lyons will be on stage to tell the story of Prokofiev’s grand patriotic wartime work.
Norman welcomes violinist Rachel Barton Pine to The Midday. She plays several short selections. She'll be playing the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor at a free concert with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra at the Hamel Music Center on Friday, December 27.
Norman welcomes guitarists Miles McConnell and Gabor Szarvas to The Midday. Together they're known as Red and Black. They perform several pieces by Granados, Bach and Lennon & McCartney and others.