Bill McGlaughlin | |
---|---|
Birth name | William McGlaughlin |
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | October 3, 1943
Genres | Classical |
Occupation(s) | radio host, music educator, musicologist, composer, conductor |
Instrument | trombone |
Years active | 1967–present |
Website | billmcglaughlin.com |
William McGlaughlin (born October 3, 1943) is an American composer, conductor, music educator, and Peabody Award-winning classical music radio host. He is the host and music director of the public radio programs Exploring Music and Saint Paul Sunday .
A nationally noted radio commentator since 1981, Bill McGlaughlin is known for his cheerful, open, and down-to-earth personality on classical music radio. [1] Beyond his career as a broadcaster and music educator, McGlaughlin has also spent a decade as a professional orchestral musician, over three decades as a conductor, and a decade as a successful composer. He views the more recent, radio broadcast aspect of his musical career as outreach — as a way to keep classical music from becoming an increasingly marginalized art form, with ever-smaller and older audiences. [2]
McGlaughlin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his unusual accent stems from his Philadelphia childhood and the influence of his Scottish-American grandfather, with whom he lived during his early childhood and late teens. Bill absorbed the music of opera at a very young age, as his draftsman father listened while in his at-home workshop. When Bill was 6, his father gave him a harmonica, and together they enjoyed playing their favorite opera melodies by ear. [3] [4] His father also had many instrumental classical albums, which Bill enjoyed listening to in his own bedroom. [5] Bill's mother, a high-school English teacher, was also a music lover. [4] [6]
At the age of 14, McGlaughlin received his first piano lesson, quite by accident — his younger brother had been taking a series of pre-paid piano lessons but abruptly quit, so Bill was given the remainder. By his second lesson, he knew he wanted to be a professional musician, and began practicing eight hours a day. [7]
In high school, McGlaughlin took up the trombone, which he further studied in college, obtaining his Bachelor of Music degree from Philadelphia's Temple University in 1967.
Upon graduation in 1967 he became Assistant Principal Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a position he held through 1968. From 1969 to 1975 he was Co-Principal Trombonist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
In addition, during these years in Pennsylvania, McGlaughlin performed in groups such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Players, which he founded in 1973, [8] [9] the Penn Contemporary Players, and the Philadelphia Composers Forum. He also performed as trombonist during many of his 1975–1982 years with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. [10]
Orchestral performance sparked McGlaughlin's interest in conducting — an interest which was encouraged by Pittsburgh Symphony's William Steinberg. In 1969 he completed a Master of Music degree in conducting at Temple University, studying under Robert Page; and in addition he received private instruction and tutelage from William R. Smith, Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Max Rudolf. [10] [11] [12] McGlaughlin also became assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra during his period with the Pittsburgh Symphony. [13] [14]
During his years as a trombonist after his master's degree, he brought a full orchestral score to rehearsals, taking careful notes on how good and poor conductors handled difficult passages. [7] In 1973, he asked Georg Solti whether he should pursue a conducting career; Solti encouraged him, but insisted he needed an orchestra to practice with. McGlaughlin formed three orchestras in Pittsburgh that year — an orchestra of college students, the Pittsburgh Camerata, and the Upper Partials Chamber Players. His practice paid off: In 1975, he was awarded the Exxon-Arts Conducting Endowment, and an assistant conductorship at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. [15]
This led to a series of conducting positions:
During his 12-year tenure with the Kansas City Symphony, McGlaughlin greatly expanded the orchestra's repertoire, commissioned many new works, recorded albums, [16] made two nationwide television broadcasts, including a Christmas special with the King's Singers, [17] [18] greatly strengthened the orchestra's reputation, and brought it to a state of "unparalleled artistic and financial success." [19] [20] In addition, he received five ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards for his continued performing of contemporary music, and for aiding Kansas City Symphony audiences in understanding the composers' intentions in these works. [21]
McGlaughlin has also continuously had numerous guest conducting engagements, from a great variety of orchestras around the U.S. [22] [23]
McGlaughlin was early on a champion of living composers and new music, dating back to his Pennsylvania days and his involvement with groups such as the Penn Contemporary Players and the Philadelphia Composers Forum. McGlaughlin himself founded the Pittsburgh Camerata (1973), [9] which focused on contemporary music, and he was a steady proponent of living composers' works in Kansas City as well. Eventually, this championing became a desire to compose on his own. [21]
In 1998, he left his conducting position and moved to New York City to concentrate on composing. Prompted by the death of a friend who was a Kansas City pianist and composer, McGlaughlin's first major work was Three Dreams and a Question: Choral Songs on e.e. cummings — which he debuted with the Kansas City Symphony on April 28, 1998, to an enthusiastic audience and press. [10] Some of the other 20 works he created in his first decade of composing, most of them commissioned, include: Aaron's Horizons (a tribute to colleague Aaron Copland); Echoes, for horn trio; Angelus, a 9/11 remembrance; Three Pieces for Wind Trio; Bagatelles, for saxophone quartet; The Heart's Light: An Essay for Orchestra; Three by Six, for chamber ensemble; and The Bells of St. Ferdinand, for orchestra.
For a millennial celebration, he was chosen from a field of 350 composers to write a major new work for Continental Harmony, a nationwide cultural initiative commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum. The composition, Walt Whitman's Dream, premiered in July 2000, and celebrated the new millennium with a combined chorus of nearly 800 singers from around the world, accompanied by orchestra. [24] [25] [26]
On December 15, 2005, the national two-hour daily NPR classical music radio program Performance Today announced that out of all of the music aired that week, McGlaughlin's new composition Remembering Icarus garnered the most, and the most heartfelt, listener response. [27] The piece has been re-broadcast on radio three times. [26]
Discussing his own music, McGlaughlin describes his compositional style as more intuitive than intellectual, [28] and says that he does not shun tonality: "I think when composers turn completely away from tonality, they lose a big part of storytelling." [29] Some of his work incorporates or references elements of jazz — for instance Bela's Bounce, an homage to Béla Bartók and Charlie Parker. [21] [29]
In the late 1970s, during his conducting stint in Saint Paul, Minnesota, McGlaughlin often spoke to the audience before a performance, informally explaining the program and what to listen for. Garrison Keillor heard him, and invited him to fill in occasionally as host of his daily morning radio show on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). [30] MPR producer Tom Voegeli came up with the idea for a new show: Saint Paul Sunday Morning, with McGlaughlin as host. MPR had just received a public radio communications satellite uplink, as well as seed money to develop a few pilot shows for national distribution. Voegeli wanted a program which would present world-class musicians, in an informal live setting in MPR's new state-of-the-art studio, to a national audience. Voegeli also wanted McGlaughlin to sound like himself — a musician — rather than like a broadcaster, and to share his own intimate, animated enthusiasm with listeners. [31] [32]
The show, retitled Saint Paul Sunday , debuted locally in 1980, and went national via syndication in 1981. The weekly one-hour show, which aired through 2012, featured live in-studio performances by and interviews with the world's top classical musicians, both soloists and ensembles. It was America's most widely listened to weekly classical music program produced by public radio, and aired on approximately 200 stations nationwide. [33] The show, with McGlaughlin as host and music director since its inception, was awarded the Peabody Award in 1995.
McGlaughlin's enthusiasm for the show and the music was evident: "If I had been able to imagine Saint Paul Sunday as a kid," he says, "I think I’d have been in ecstasy at the idea of having the whole wide world of music to run around in, and best of everything, to be able to bring friends along." [20]
In 2002, Steve Robinson, Vice President of WFMT Radio Network, approached McGlaughlin to host a daily radio show, which would showcase and explicate great works of classical music. [34] Robinson notes, "As far as I'm concerned, no one can top Bill in the way he conveys his passion for music on the radio." [35] The show, Exploring Music , debuted nationally in 2003, and has proved very popular with audiences of all ages and levels of expertise. [35] [36] [37] The program, which explores a single classical music theme each week in one-hour daily episodes, has been praised for the enthusiasm and relatability with which it brings classical music appreciation to a large audience, [38] and as of 2008 has over 500,000 listeners. [39] [40]
Exploring Music garnered McGlaughlin, as its host and music director, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Fine Arts Radio International in 2004, "because he has taken up the music education baton implicitly passed to him by the late Karl Haas, whose Adventures in Good Music has metamorphized into Exploring Music, with an ear tuned to the evolving trends of the 21st-century classical audience." Fine Arts Radio International concluded by saying, "Exploring Music, with its weekly thematic concept, provides the classical radio listener with both in-depth education and compelling radio listening, a balance that is rarely achieved." [41] In 2011, the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio presented him with the AMPPR Lifetime Achievement Award, citing "McGlaughlin's incredibly knowledgeable but always inviting and warm presence with which he guides listeners to discover the heart, soul and humor of the music he plays." [42]
McGlaughlin has been the co-host of the nationally syndicated radio series Center Stage from Wolf Trap since its inception in 1999. He is also the host, since 2007, of the newly relaunched nationally syndicated radio series Concerts from the Library of Congress. [43]
In addition to these and to Saint Paul Sunday and Exploring Music, since 1986 he has also hosted, and occasionally conducted, a number of radio and television programs on NPR, PRI, PBS, and the BBC, and on local NPR affiliates. [44] He also lectures at and hosts live concerts and concert series and other musical events around the country. [26] [45]
Drawing upon his expertise as a conductor and his abilities as a music commentator, McGlaughlin contributed one of the ten chapters in the 2008 book, Leonard Bernstein: American Original. [46] Editor Barbara Haws describes McGlaughlin's chapter, "On the Podium: Intellect and Energy," in her introduction to the book:
McGlaughlin lives in New York City with his longtime partner, five-time Grammy-nominated jazz singer Karrin Allyson. The couple met in the early 1990s in Kansas City. [52] He has co-produced and assisted on most of Allyson's CDs, and also often accompanies her on the road when she is touring. He continues to compose, and continues to do guest conducting, concert hosting and lecturing, and other classical music outreach around the country. He has two grown children from a previous marriage. [53]
Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan. Bernstein's honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., and globally known as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, it is one of the leading American orchestras popularly called the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Herbert Thorson Blomstedt is a Swedish conductor.
The 19th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 19, 1977, and were broadcast live on American television (CBS). It was the seventh and final year Andy Williams hosted the telecast. The ceremony recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1976.
Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11.
James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.
Saint Paul Sunday is a Peabody Award-winning weekly classical music radio program that aired from 1980 to 2007, with encore broadcasts airing through 2012. It was hosted by Bill McGlaughlin for its entire run. At its height, it was America's most widely listened to weekly classical music program produced by public radio, and aired on approximately 200 stations nationwide. Programs since 1997 are also available as archived audio on the Internet. The hour-long show featured live, in-studio performances by and interviews with the world's top classical musicians, both soloists and ensembles.
Sir James Loy MacMillan, TOSD is a Scottish classical composer and conductor.
Boris Brott, was a Canadian conductor and motivational speaker. He was one of the most internationally recognized Canadian conductors, having conducted on stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall, La Scala, and Covent Garden. He was known for his innovative methods of introducing classical music to new audiences. Over his career, he commissioned, performed, and recorded a wide variety of Canadian works for orchestra.
Vernon George "Tod" Handley was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers.
Minnesota Youth Symphonies, commonly referred to as MYS, was founded in 1972 by Ralph Winkler. The program has five orchestras composed of students from elementary level through high school, with participation's based on an annual audition. All levels of MYS perform at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, as well as other locations, and hosts workshops and classes.
The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, or TSO, is the primary professional orchestra of Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1928, when the season consisted of just two concerts, the TSO is the oldest continuously running performing arts organization in the Southwest. The TSO's season now runs from September to May and consists of over 60 concerts, including a Classics Series of eight programs, a Pops Series of four programs, a Masterworks series of five chamber orchestra programs, a number of one-night only specials, and run-out concerts to surrounding areas, such as Oro Valley, Green Valley, Bisbee, Safford, Thatcher, and Nogales. The TSO also provides educational programming that reaches over 40,000 school children each season. Within the TSO are a number of standing chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, string quintet, piano trio, harp trio, brass quintet, and woodwind quintet. These ensembles help provide educational programming through school visits, perform recitals annually, and also perform at private and community events.
Alexander Frey, KM, KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success in the concert hall and opera house, and in the music of Broadway and Hollywood. Leonard Bernstein referred to him as "a wonderful spirit".
John McLaughlin Williams is a Grammy award-winning American orchestral conductor and violinist.
David Alan Miller is a multi-Grammy Award-winning American symphony orchestra conductor, and since 1992, music director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Miller served as assistant and associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1987–92 and music director of the New York Youth Symphony from 1982-88. He is currently also Artistic Advisor to both the Sarasota Orchestra and to The Little Orchestra Society in New York City.
Robert Kapilow is an American composer, conductor, and music commentator. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, and a student of Nadia Boulanger. He initially gained recognition for his classical music radio program, What Makes It Great?, which was under the umbrella of National Public Radio's Performance Today; "PT" is now a stablemate of classical programs produced by American Public Media. "What Makes It Great?" is part of NPR's NPR Music website. On the program he presented live full-length concert evenings and series throughout North America. Kapilow's program became a recurring event at New York's Lincoln Center, in Boston, Los Angeles and Kansas City among other venues. In 2014 "What Makes It Great?" relocated to Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, where Kapilow was a 2019-20 Artist-in-Residence.
Exploring Music is an internationally syndicated radio program featuring classical music, with commentary and analysis by host Bill McGlaughlin. It is a daily, one-hour show with a single in-depth theme each week. The show, which debuted in 2003, is produced by WFMT Radio Network. Exploring Music is in many ways the heir to the late Karl Haas' popular long-running show, Adventures in Good Music, expanded and updated for a 21st-century audience.
John Neal Axelrod is a Swiss/American conductor. In 2024, Axelrod was named Music Director and Principal Conductor of the newly created Swiss National Orchestra. Axelrod was elected Principal Conductor of the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra in a unique open ended contract in 2022. From 2019 to 2023 He was Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. He was also elected Artistic and musical director of the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville in 2014 and is Principal Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, "Giuseppe Verdi", also known as "LaVerdi". Between 2009 and 2013, Axelrod was music director of l'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, based in Nantes and Angers, France; and from 2009 to 2011, Axelrod served as music director of "Hollywood In Vienna" Gala Concerts with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna. He has also served as music director and Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2009, and from 2001 to 2009 as Principal Guest Conductor of Sinfonietta Cracovia.
Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) . Additional conducting outreach includes guest conductor of the Platteville Chorale Summer Music Festival 1978–1988 Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine , and the TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) Symphony Orchestra in 2003 Video on YouTube Video on YouTube Video on YouTube; and Music Director of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies 1980–1981. Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine {{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) . He has also contributed a number of features to Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, including programs on Debussy Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine (which also aired on the BBC ) and Stravinsky Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine , and an interview with James Levine on the opera Wozzeck Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine . McGlaughlin also co-hosted, with Joseph Horowitz, a two-hour radio special, The Orchestra: An American Specialty, in 2005.Biography
Interviews
Compositions
Writing