Heifetz on Air
Each week, Heifetz On Air presents captivating performances by students, faculty, and alumni of the renowned Heifetz International Music Institute, located in the Staunton, VA. The program is hosted by Benjamin K. Roe, President and CEO of the Heifetz Institute, and a Peabody Award-winning public media veteran. The Heifetz Institute is distinguished by its intensive six-week summer program, which assembles the most promising young musicians from across the globe to study and perform under the tutelage of the premier pedagogues in the field, led by Artistic Director Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo String Quartet. Each episode of Heifetz on Air focuses on a particular theme, composer, or style, and explores the boundaries of both familiar masterworks and underrepresented repertoire through the dazzling solo performances and inspiring chamber music collaborations captured live on the Heifetz stage. Heifetz On Air is produced in partnership with NPR station WTJU, Charlottesville, VA, and distributed via PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.
Listen on:
Episodes
Sunday Jan 22, 2023
Sunday Jan 22, 2023
A showcase for some of the inventive premieres, custom arrangements, and other one-of-a-kind performances that routinely happen in HeifetzLand! Featuring works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Ralph Vaughan Williams as you’ve never heard them before, and all played on the stages of the Heifetz International Music Institute.
This Episode’s Playlist
J.S. Bach arr. Nicholas Kitchen: Prelude in B Major, fr. Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 892Borromeo Quartet - Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Kristopher Tong, violin | Mai Motobuchi, viola | Yeesun Kim, cello“The Kitchen Studio,” Boston MA | 05.21.2021
Mozart: Adagio F-Sharp Major, K. 404aBach, arr. Mozart: Fugue in F-Sharp Major fr. Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 882Heifetz Ensemble in Residence: Yezu Woo, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Noémie Raymond-Friset, celloGreat Hall, Blackburn Inn & Conference Center, Staunton, VA | 02.28.2021
Haydn, recreated by Suggs: Contrabass Concerto in D MajorI. AllegroSamuel Suggs, doublebass | Jessica Osborne, pianoFirst Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA | 08.02.2021
Mozart, arr. Mamiko Kobayakawa: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat, K. 364II. AndanteShmuel Ashkenasi, violin solo | Kunbo Xu, viola solo | Rachell Wong, Strauss Shi, violins |Andrew Gonzalez, viola | Coleman Itzkoff, celloFrancis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA | 07.10.2016
Haydn: Cello Concerto in C MajorIII. Allegro MoltoAmit Peled, cello soloDmitry Volkov, Antoinette Gan, Andrea Cassarubios, Tony Rymer, Yunjin Ro, Colin Stokes, cellosAnderson Hall, Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, NH | 07.02.2009
Ralph Vaughan Williams, arr. Marin Gerigk: The Lark AscendingEric Silberger, violin soloVon Quartet: Jisun Lee, Guðbjartur Hákonarson, violins | Ursula Steele, viola | Joanne Yesol Choi, cello | Matt Sorrentino, bassFrancis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA | 07.24.2016
Go Deeper
What is it about The Lark Ascending that makes it so perenially popular in Britain? Violinist Jennifer Pike attempts to explain.
Follow along in the score to bassist / composer Samuel Suggs‘ inventive re-creation of the lost Haydn Contrabass Concerto in D major
Speaking of inventive re-arrangements, we have a whole playlist of Borromeo Quartet leader and Heifetz Artistic Director Nicholas Kitchen‘s reworking of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier for string quartet
Sunday Jan 15, 2023
Sunday Jan 15, 2023
His mother was a choir director; his wife was a conservatory-trained singer, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches were peppered with musical cadences and images. Coming up on the next Heifetz On Air, a tribute in music to Dr. King, featuring works by Antonin Dvorak, Florence Price, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Virginia’s own Adolphus Hailstork.
This Episode’s Playlist
Florence Price: Piano Quintet in A minor: III. JubaElena Urioste, violin; Melissa White, violinPaul Neubauer, viola | Rosemary Elliott, cello | Tom Poster, pianoFrancis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA | 07.29.2022
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Deep River, Op. 59, No. 10 from 24 Negro Spirituals (1904)Wynton Grant, violin | Stefan Petrov, pianoMonroe’s Highland, Charlottesville, VA | 07.04.2016
Antonin Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 “American:”I. Allegro non troppoII. LentoJulia Angelov, violin; Yezu Woo, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Coleman Itzkoff, celloGreat Hall, Blackburn Inn & Conference Center, Stauton, VA | 03.14.2021
Florence Price: Piano Sonata in E minor (1932)II. AndanteAndrew Rosenblum, pianoFirst Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA | 07.19.2021
Adolphus Hailstork: String Quartet No. 2, “Variations on Swing Low Sweet Chariot”Borromeo String Quartet - Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Kristopher Tong, violin | Mai Motobuchi, viola | Yeesun Kim, celloFrancis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA | 07.29.2022
Go Deeper
Read about Coretta Scott King’s career as a violinist and singer – including clips of her performances!
Music in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. went far beyond We Shall Overcome. You can find the earliest evidence in his boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, steps away from the celebrated Ebenezer Baptist Church, pastored by his father, Daddy King. Host Benjamin K. Roe explores the musical roots of MLK.
Enjoy this wide-ranging interview with Adolphus Hailstork, the Heifetz Institute’s 2022 Composer-in-Residence. Hailstork’s Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed is one of the best-known pieces written in MLK’s memory.
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
We kick off 2023 with a debut program that looks ahead to some milestones and new arrivals to the Heifetz Institute in the New Year, as well as celebrating the artistry of the students, alumni, and outstanding faculty who visit the Heifetz International Music Institute year after year. You’ll hear performances of works by Rachmaninoff (whose 150th birth anniversary is coming up in 2023), Vivaldi, Beethoven, and the Scottish duo of Fraser & Haas, tapped to be resident artists at Heifetz 2023.
This Episode’s Playlist
Go Deeper
Learn why Alasdair Fraser has been called “The Michael Jordan of Scottish Fiddling,” and how the Scottish fiddler came to team up with the California cellist Natalie Haas. The groundbreaking duo will be in residence at the 2023 Heifetz Festival of Concert
Marking the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s birthday is the Philadelphia Orchestra’s own kind of Super Bowl. Find out about the composer’s unique Philly connection.
The renowned Heifetz faculty violinist Ilya Kaler joins our Heifetz Ensemble in Residence in our inagural season of the Heifetz Hear & Now series. Tickets and information.
Communcicate. Engage. Inspire.
The Heifetz International Music Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to the artistic growth and career development of the most talented and promising young musicians in the world. We believe there are specific factors that distinguish a good performance from a great one, an emerging musician struggling to form their artistic identity from a complete performer who will establish a notable career. We seek to know, and to teach, what those factors are and how to achieve them. Through the innovative Performance & Communication Training method, the Institute leads musicians to convey the emotion of the music they’re performing, explore their full creative potential, express their individuality, and redefine the concert experience. As a summer program, we are uniquely positioned to guide our students at this critical point in their development in a non-competitive, supportive environment outside of the trials of conservatories and competitions.
Learn more about the Heifetz Institute
From the Institute's industry-leading multimedia archives and updates about upcoming performances, visit our website to learn more about the latest and greatest from the Heifetz Institute. https://heifetzinstitute.org/