We jump into the New Year with an all-American program, featuring Adolphus Hailstork's Three Spirituals for Orchestra and Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (featuring soprano Janinah Burnett). Finishing off the program is Antonin Dvořák's "New World" Symphony, which was written while Dvořák was living and working in the United States. Multiple Grammy winner and guest conductor JoAnn Falletta (pictured) joins us for a lively discussion of these works, her personal friendship with "Dolph" Hailstork, and her remarkable career and musical journey. Oh, and there's even a classical guitar qu ..read more

We welcome warmer weather with a preview of the Toledo Symphony's chamber program, Summer Music. In addition to seasonal selections from Samuel Barber and Wolfgang Mozart, we learn all about a world premiere on the program, called Mojave Sketches for brass quintet and percussion. The composer, Navdeep Singh Galen, plus one of the performers, TSO Principal Tuba David Saltzman, give valuable insight to the work, which was inspired by the seven magic mountains art installation in California's Mojave desert ..read more

We spend the hour getting to know Kerson Leong, who brings his violin to the Peristyle as soloist for Béla Bartók's Second Violin Concerto. Kerson leads us through the intricacies of Bartók's music, and recounts his early interest in the instrument (that is, after his parents discouraged Kerson's original choice, the double-bass - fearing transportation issues). And for our quiz of the day, we check in with Kerson's updated answers to the Violin Channel's Q&A (available on YouTube) from 2016 ..read more

As the Toledo Jazz Orchestra offers up its final performance of the season, we take the opportunity to examine the complex and virtuosic artistry of Toledo's own Art Tatum. We hear behind-the-scenes stories and marvel at Tatum's uncanny ability to transform simple melodies into one-of-a-kind showpieces for piano. We also uncover some fun facts which you may not know about Toledo's Jazz maestro in our quiz of the day ..read more

We celebrate the return of superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma to the Peristyle with a full house of Toledo Symphony personalities, including special guest Amy Chang (who is also a cellist). Hear stories and get to know Yo-Yo Ma through our conversation (and "Quiz"-versation), as he's not only a performing artist, but a driving force in the effort to use music to address global issues. Also, not to be forgotten is Johannes Brahms, whose final symphony pairs nicely with Yo-Yo Ma's rendition of the Elgar Cello Concerto on the program. Find out what these seemingly disparate works have in common with each ..read more

We highlight the Toledo Ballet's production of Sergei Prokofiev's Cinderella with guest appearances from the show's choreographer Eric Otto and the conductor of the program Jonathan McPhee. Think you know your Cinderella? Find out in our Fairy-Tale Quiz of the Day ..read more

We delve into the wonderful wide world of Dimitri Shostakovich and his powerhouse Symphony No. 5 (which the TSO plays this weekend!). Also, we welcome the star of the show, Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker, who makes his Toledo Symphony debut with one of the most beloved concertos of its kind, the "Tchaik I" - a.k.a. Piotr Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. And Did You Know? Jon Kimura Parker goes by the nickname "Jackie" when offstage. We'll explore some other well-known "Jackies" in our quiz of the day ..read more

We spend the hour with arranger, composer, Big Band leader, Pops conductor, pianist, saxophonist, and (whew!) vocalist, Matt Catingub – who brings his talents to the Peristyle with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra. Get to know Matt as he talks about his mother, the singer Mavis Rivers (who signed on with Frank Sinatra's label in the late '60s), tells stories and drops names (George Clooney and Toni Tennille among them). Plus, we uncover some "Frank Facts" in our quiz of the day for the Sinatraphiles in our audience ..read more

It's our April Fools Day special, as hilarity ensues with special guests Tony Geftos and Derek Emch joining us in the studio. Learn about our favorite pranks, hear some fake news reports (thank you, Tony!), and play "one true, two false" with newspaper headlines. Care to test your trivia knowledge? Try our quiz about the many shades of April. Listen in and celebrate the time of year when we all say, "April Fools ..read more

It's opera enthusiast time, as we welcome tenor Zach Borichevsky by phone to talk about his upcoming Puccini extravaganza at Rosary Cathedral with the TSO. We also take the opportunity to get to know Zach and his Toledo history, plus we nerd out on great tenors in our "drop-the-needle-and-name-that-tenor" quiz. What makes a singer great? Listen and find out ..read more