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Using fearless musical curiosity as a guiding force for more than 35 years, Tony Trischka has become one of the world’s foremost banjo players, inspiring an entire generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. Besides being one of the instrument’s top pickers, he has also long been one of it’s best teachers, working with young musicians…

While there are certain unmistakeable similarities in the musicianship of the two siblings, the younger brother of Nat King Cole long ago emerged from the awesome shadow cast by his elder brother. In truth, his phrasing is far closer to that of Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday than that of his brother, and his timing…

When immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland arrived in the Appalachian region of the United States in the 18th century, they brought with them the musical traditions of their homelands. These traditions were extended, refined and combined into a variety of American roots music styles, including a distinct musical form called bluegrass. In this episode,…

Bruce Molsky was born in the Bronx and fell in love with old-time music as a teenager. He moved to Virginia in the ’70s, learning directly from old masters like Tommy Jarrell, and seeing how music fit into people’s lives there. He has since become one of the world’s most revered fiddle players, and a…

The use of music in a painterly fashion by the French pioneered a direction in the creation of instrumental sound, and this attachment to visual culture has served as one of the inspirations for the unique modern tradition of the French musical language. In this episode, we listen to Daniel Hope & Friends performing the…

Original air date: week of October 7, 2012 When writing music, most composers see a piano as the best means of trying out ideas as they commit them to paper. In fact, there is more extensive solo repertoire for the piano than for any other instrument. During the 20th century, composers like Messiaen, Debussy and…

Original air date: week of September 22, 2012 Even though you can’t pack it in your hand luggage as you might a guitar, fiddle or flute, the piano opens up the entire world of music because it can translate the full range of harmony of orchestral and choral scores. There is no substitute for the…

Original air date: week of September 17, 2012 When you’re raised by a mother who is an aspiring concert pianist as well as your piano teacher, and she takes you to hear performances by Nat King Cole, Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, Earl Hines, Hank Jones and Lester Young, you’re not only a lucky guy,…

Original air date: September 9, 2012 Since 1975, the Takacs Quartet has been regarded as one of the great ensembles in chamber music, playing with a unique blend of drama, warmth and humor while bringing fresh insights to the chamber music repertoire. In 2012, the Takacs Quartet made their Savannah debut at our festival and…

Though he lacked the sheer power of many other keyboard artists in his day, Polish-born pianist Frederic Chopin more than compensated with his impeccable virtuoso technique and inspired musicianship. He incorporated the beauties of Italian opera into his piano compositions and performances, making them notable for their clarity of articulation, singing tone and flowing legato….

Coming from a homeland with no real classical guitar tradition and a population of only 600,000, the challenges faced by Milos Karadaglic in climbing the international guitar-playing ladder were daunting. War was happening all around his homeland in Montenegro, but because he came from a musical family and his parents loved music, they encouraged his…

In 1998, when Bela Fleck formed his renowned ensemble the Flecktones, he never dreamed the group would still be performing almost 25 years later. The original creations of these four virtuosic players, fusing a wealth of musical styles using both acoustic and electric instruments, is like no other band. In this episode, we listen to…

On paper, it wouldn’t appear that the mixture of a traditional New Orleans jazz group and a classic bluegrass band on the same stage would make for a musical extravaganza. But when the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band decided to make a recording and follow it up with a national tour,…

Original air date: week of July 29, 2012 Nearly a quarter of a century ago, banjo master Bela Fleck formed a band that drew on bluegrass, jazz, blues and rock, combining the talents of four unique musicians that play acoustic and electric instruments. They call themselves the Flecktones, and the dexterity they use to make…

Original air date: week of July 8, 2012 Struggling with illness and deafness in the final years of his life, Beethoven rose above them to create some of his most profound works. The emotional weight of his A minor Quartet, Op. 132 is manifest evidence of what French musicologist Joseph de Marliave called “the habitual…

Original air date: week of June 24, 2012 Throughout a lifetime of performing and composing, Edgar Meyer has turned the double bass into a modern virtuoso instrument that is equally at home in classical music and in the American vernacular. Mandolin master Mike Marshall has been blending genres in acoustic music for more than 30…

Original air date: week of June 17, 2012 In this episode, we listen to Antonin Dvorak’s great Piano Quintet, Op. 81, performed at the Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences by Menahem Pressler with Daniel Hope and Benny Kim on violin, Josephine Knight on cello, and Carla Maria Rodrigues on viola. This 2012 Savannah Music…

Original air date: week of June 3, 2012 This edition of SMF Live features selections from an all-Dvorak program that was part of the Daniel Hope & Friends series at the 2012 Savannah Music Festival. Joining Daniel and his colleagues on this occasion was the great pianist Menahem Pressler of the now retired Beaux Arts…

Original air date: week of May 27, 2012 Back in the 1930s, a group of related Pentecostal churches developed an African-American gospel music tradition known as sacred steel. The steel guitar was embraced in worship services in place of the traditional organ. This new instrument was met with great enthusiasm by musicians, many of whom…

Original air date: week of May 20, 2012 As arguably the greatest child prodigy the history of western music has ever known, Felix Mendelssohn produced works of extraordinary mastery throughout his entire life. His chamber music works, including the piano trios and cello sonata, continue to be favorites o musicians and audiences everywhere. In this…

Original air date: week of May 13, 2012 Every now and then a musician comes along with an artistic conception that is so original, he/she is incapable of sounding like anyone else. Such is the case with all great artists, but at age 30, Chris Thile has become one of the most unique American musicians…

The only documentation from Franz Schubert’s life concerning his great string string quintet – one of the masterpieces of the chamber music literature – is a letter from 1828 written by the composer just a month before his untimely death at the age of 31. In it, he asked his publisher when he might be…

Philadelphia has been the birthplace of many great jazz musicians, including many masters of jazz. By the late 1920s, players such as Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti had put Phillip on the jazz map, followed later by Stan Getz and a jazz scene in the 1950s that would include the Heath Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford…

Musical recitals offer listeners the opportunity to hear a collection of pieces selected by the performer. Such an occasion might feature the works of either a single composer, or a group of compositions that, when combined, illuminate a central theme or moment in time. During our 2012 festival, pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips gave a recital that…

As the concept of a jazz orchestra approaches nearly 90 years of existence, the big bands still around and touring with their own style and identity are few and far between. One group that has persisted in sustaining an international presence, while extending and refining the tradition, continues to be lead by a man that…

The history of the banjo in jazz dates back to the earliest ensembles of the 20th century in New Orleans, when banjo players were occasionally the star of the band. Over the next 100 years, however, the banjo changed within American musical culture, gradually falling out of favor as a primary instrument within a jazz…

To describe a classical pianist as thoughtful, modest and dedicated to his craft would almost make him/her seem unexciting. Yet those traits aptly describe one of the most commanding and consummate pianists of our time, Norwegian Leif Ove Ansdnes. In February of 2012, Mr. Andsnes played with exhilaration, creativity and elegance during a recital produced…