WUGA...The Classic 91.7/97.9FM

A music-and-stories celebration of Thanksgiving. Host John Birge creates a thoughtful, contemporary reflection on the meaning of the holiday, for families gathering to share common blessings.

America Abroad: Taking on the Taliban
Wednesday, November 11, 11:00 a.m.

They are an enemy that knows no borders — trafficking between Afghanistan and Pakistan, terrorizing both countries and posing a serious challenge to coalition forces deployed there. “Taking on the Taliban” explores the origins of radicalism in that region, and examines the fight on both sides of the border to eliminate the Taliban and terrorist threats.

2009 Third Coast Broadcast
Friday, November 27, 3:00 p.m.

The 2009 edition of the Third Coast International Audio Festival presents the best new documentaries produced worldwide. Hosted by award-winning writer, producer and humorist Gwen Macsai, the featured documentaries, all winners of the ninth annual TC / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, prove just how powerful radio can be. Innovative and insightful, the stories engage, provoke, entertain and transport listeners, proving that all one needs to discover new worlds is a little box and an antenna.

In addition to showcasing the winning documentaries, the “2009 Third Coast Broadcast” includes interviews with the winning producers, who give a glimpse into the art of audio storytelling, a profile of the year’s Audio Luminary Award winner, and highlights from the annual Awards Ceremony.

Harvest Home: Thanksgiving with the Dale Warland Singers 2009
Thursday, November 26, 4:00 p.m.

When the Dale Warland Singers decided to create a special Thanksgiving concert, it became a huge hit. As America’s premier a cappella choir for more than 30 years, the Dale Warland Singers crafted a beautiful hour of newly arranged favorites, quiet and simple Shaker tunes and rousing folk songs. With brief, evocative poems by John Keats and Meridel LeSueur interspersed among the songs, Harvest Home is the perfect dessert to set before your guests.

The Really Big Questions
Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. during November only

This series considers some of the great questions of humanity. What is the nature of consciousness? How do we face death? How do emotions shape our worldview? What is the significance of religious experience? These questions have inspired great works of art, literature, and philosophy and are recurrent themes in human history. They have also inspired scientific inquiry. Provocative new work in the sciences — such as evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and experimental psychology — gives us a chance to have a broader discussion about human nature and human understanding, but science does not have all the answers; sometimes it just shows us how much we still don’t know.

Hosted by NPR’s Lynn Neary, in four one-hour programs, The Really Big Questions considers the intersection of empirical science and the humanities and what that conversation can or cannot tell us about who we are and what we value.

Live performance and conversation with local and visiting musicians (and occasionally other performers).

November 6: Aaron Diehl
Pianist Aaron Diehl is a very recent graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, but he’s most assuredly an up-and-coming force in jazz. Dubbed “the Real Diehl” by the reigning prince of jazz, Wynton Marsalis, Diehl displays a brilliant technique and a truly creative approach to music whether he’s interpreting Tatum, Ellington, or Mozart. He joins McPartland on “April in Paris” and “One Morning in May.”

November 13: Randy Brecker with guest host Bill Charlap
Trumpeter Randy Brecker has been a tireless explorer of all kinds of musical genres, from funk to Brazilian to mainstream jazz. Brecker brought along his group to this Piano Jazz where he joins guest host Bill Charlap and performs some of his own tunes including “There’s a Mingus A Monk Us,” “Skunk Funk” and “Moontide.” Charlap joins the group for “All the Things You Are.”

November 20: George Shearing
English pianist George Shearing has appeared on Piano Jazz four times over the last 30 years -- a record shared with Bobby Short for most appearances by a single guest. In this program from 1987, McPartland reminisces with her fellow countryman about obscure British tunes and the two have fun re-harmonizing “God Save the Queen.” Shearing sings and plays Cole Porter’s “After You” and the two end with a two piano version of “Indiana.”

November 27: Sheila Jordan with guest host Jon Weber
Sheila Jordan’s unique singing style lights up Piano Jazz with guest host Jon Weber. Jordan reflects on her early inspirations in Detroit and chasing the great Charlie Parker, who later became a close friend. Along with brilliant pianist and collaborator Steve Kuhn, Jordan sets flame to “Hum Drum Blues” and “The Touch of Your Lips.”

November 6: Maria Schneider Orchestra
Schneider writes with transparency and color, then like a dancer, partners with her orchestra in realizing the score. This new set from the Kennedy Center features “Cerulean Skies” from Sky Blue.

November 13: Miguel Zenon on the Marsalis Stage at Newport
Saxophonist Zenon is fusing the plena (a Puerto Rican vocal and hand drum tradition) and jazz through his ingenious composing and a quartet that can count! His new CD is Esta Plena.

November 20: Claudia Acuna on the Marsalis Stage at Newport
Claudia from Chile sings poetry by Violeta Parra and Victor Jara, and Branford Marsalis guests with her New York band.

November 27: New from the Kennedy Center
A set from Fall ‘09... artists to be announced.

November 7: Antonin Dvorak: Rusalka
Glyndebourne Festival
London Philharmonic, Glyndebourne Chorus
Jiri Belohlavek, conductor

CAST: Ana Maria Martinez (Rusalka); Brandon Jovanovich (The Prince); Tatiana Pavlovskaya (The Foreign Princess); Mischa Schelomianski (Vodnik); Larissa Diadkova (Jezibaba); Diana Axentii (Turnspit); Alasdair Elliott (Gamekeeper)

Best known in most of the world for his dramatic and popular symphonies, Dvorak also wrote more than a dozen operas. Rusalka is the most widely heard of them and, arguably, his best. The title character is a beautiful water nymph who falls tragically in love with a fickle human prince, and the opera’s music is Dvorak at his finest.

November 14: Richard Strauss: Elektra
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Heinz Fricke, conductor

CAST: Susan Bullock (Elektra); Christine Goerke (Chrysothemis); Irina Mishua (Clytaemnestra); Daniel Sumegi (Orestes); Alan Woodrow (Aegisthus)

Surely Clytaemnestra, Agamemnon and their kids Elektra and Orestes qualify as one of the most dysfunctional families in all of literature, not to mention opera. Elektra takes the lead in this chapter of their appalling yet absorbing history, with a star turn by soprano Susan Bullock.

November 21: W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Constantinos Carydis, conductor

CAST: Ildebrando d’Arcangelo (Don Giovanni); Rene Pape (Leporello); Ricarda Merbeth (Donna Anna); Soile Isokoski (Donna Elvira); Michael Schade (Don Ottavio); Michaele Selinger (Zerlina); Boaz Daniel (Masetto); Eric Halfvarson (Commendatore)

Mozart’s astonishing dramma giocoso — literally, “playful drama” — succeeds on so many different levels that nearly every new production reveals something previously unheard or unappreciated. This one brings us a first-rate cast, from a truly historic operatic venue.

November 28: Richard Wagner: The Flying Dutchman
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Heinz Fricke, conductor

CAST: Alan Held (Dutchman); Jennifer Wilson (Senta); Gidon Saks (Daland); Ian Storey (Erik); Janice Meyerson (Mary); Andreas Conrad (Steersman)

Wagner’s stormy one-acter requires lead singers with great power, both dramatically and vocally. Alan Held and Jennifer Wilson fit the bill in this turbulent opera focused on one of Wagner’s favorite themes — the redemptive power of love.

November 8: The Witness
Fiona talks with writer Jamie Jauncey about the role of music in his novel The Witness. Also a professional pianist, Jauncey shares the music of his life as well as introducing compositions inspired by the book.

November 15: Stretching the Boundaries
If you bend a tradition too far could you break it? Decide for yourself as we listen to some groundbreaking music from Celtic roots that leads us forward in new and unexpected ways.

November 22: Newly Hatched
Enjoy some of the latest recordings to arrive at the Thistle offices in the U.S. and Scotland.

November 29: The Wisdom of Pete Seeger
Hear the reflections of one of the great figures of American folksong, along with music from a remarkable life, recorded during Fiona’s visit with Pete Seeger.

November 2009