Jim Svejda (born 1947) is a former American music commentator and critic, born and raised in Chicago, on the Los AngelesFM radio station KUSC. He hosted the station's local week-nightly classical series The Evening Program,[1] until retiring on February 18, 2022. From 1983 he hosted the Sunday night syndicatedclassical music program The Record Shelf,.[2][3] He also hosted the now-cancelled series The Opera Box.
He opened with his program with the phrase: "Good evening. This is Jim Svejda." At the end of the The Evening Program, he concludes with the same piece he opened the program with the third movement from Piano Quartet No. 1 by Bohuslav Martinů with: "On behalf of engineers Steve Sivie, Steve Cogill and Mark Hofman, I hoped you enjoyed the last five hours. Tomorrow night, we will conclude a performance of (insert name of work/composer/orchestra/conductor). This is Jim Svejda. Good evening." If the Evening Program is on a Friday, Svejda also announces: On behalf of engineers Steve Sivie, Steve Cogill and Mark Hofman, I hoped you enjoyed the last five hours. This Monday evening, we will conclude a performance of (insert name of work/composer/orchestra/conductor). This is Jim Svejda. Good evening." The Record Shelf featured items such as interviews with classical music notables, surveys of different recordings of a classical music piece, monthly critical surveys of recently released recordings, and noted, often rare historical recordings of great performers of the past. Svejda was praised for his articulate commentaries on these programs. He was nicknamed "A Music Connoisseur" according to listeners.
Svejda is a national treasure whose voice is a non-trivial attraction to his audio. In his published Record Shelf Guide, Svejda himself describes the book as "an irreverent, selective and highly opinionated recordings guide of the best classical CDs and audiocassettes." He often has viewpoints that might be considered divergent from those of many other music critics.[4]
While admitting that they sometimes have turned out excellent recordings, Svejda has been critical of such illustrious musicians as Vladimir Horowitz and Arturo Toscanini, as well as Herbert von Karajan (whom he has excoriated for his Nazi past) and especially Nikolaus Harnoncourt, whom Svejda has called an "incompetent bozo."[4]
Svejda is also an occasional film critic, with his reviews syndicated on the CBS Radio Network. After 43 years at KUSC, Svejda announced his retirement. His last show was Friday, February 18th, 2022. Svejda's replacement, KUSC Resident Artist Lara Downes was announced as his successor on March 18, 2022.
~Notable Segments~ During his time at KUSC, Svejda has hosted numerous segments. These included the KUSC’s Annual Chanukkah Program, New Year's Eve Bash, three selective performances of Handel's Messiah, a performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and more.
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties of the conductor are to interpret the score in a way that reflects the specific indications in that score, set the tempo, ensure correct entries by ensemble members, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate. Conductors communicate with their musicians primarily through hand gestures, usually with the aid of a baton, and may use other gestures or signals such as facial expression and eye contact. A conductor usually supplements their direction with verbal instructions to their musicians in rehearsal.
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart.
Arthur Fiedler was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the United States. Fiedler was sometimes criticized for over-popularizing music, particularly when adapting popular songs or editing portions of the classical repertoire, but he kept performances informal and sometimes self-mocking to attract a bigger audience.
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor, author and composer.
The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shandling, who hosted the ceremony for the third time. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with the orchestra is one of the longest enjoyed by any conductor with any American orchestra. Ormandy made numerous recordings with the orchestra, and as guest conductor with European orchestras, and achieved three gold records and two Grammy Awards. His reputation was as a skilled technician and expert orchestral builder.
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Star's End is a weekly, five-hour-long new-age music radio show broadcast by 88.5 WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania's radio station, in Philadelphia. It is the second longest-running show of its type in the world, after Hearts of Space.
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Classical 24 is a syndicated, satellite-delivered public radio service providing classical music to its carrying stations. It generally airs overnights on many non-commercial and a handful of commercial classical music stations. However, the service is operated 24 hours a day and is used by some stations during the day to augment their schedules. It was co-created by a partnership between Minnesota Public Radio and Public Radio International to fulfill the need for a comprehensive classic music service for stations to supplement their schedules. As part of this partnership, the service is produced by American Public Media and since 2018, is distributed by Public Radio Exchange. It began operation on December 1, 1995.
Ernö Rapée was a Hungarian-born American symphonic conductor in the first half of the 20th century whose prolific career spanned both classical and popular music. His most famous tenure was as the head conductor of the Radio City Symphony Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the Radio City Music Hall, whose music was also heard by millions over the air.
Joanna Elizabeth Simon was an American mezzo-soprano and journalist. The daughter of publisher Richard L. Simon, Joanna was an elder sister of singer and songwriter Carly Simon, singer and musical theatre composer Lucy Simon, and photographer Peter Simon.
The Grand Rapids Symphony is a professional orchestra located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1930, the Symphony celebrated its 90th anniversary season in 2019-20. In 2006, its recording Invention and Alchemy was nominated for Best Classical Crossover Album at the Grammy Awards. The Grands Rapids Symphony presents more than 400 performances throughout Michigan each year, reaching over 200,000 people, and is heard in West Michigan on broadcasts by WBLU-FM (88.9) and WBLV-FM (90.3). The organization also implements 18 educational and access programs that benefit over 80,000 Michigan residents.
WGBH is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and American Public Media (APM). The license-holder is WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns company flagship WGBH-TV and WGBX-TV, along with WGBY-TV in Springfield.
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.
WFMT is a commercial FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a classical music radio format. It is managed by Window to the World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, Chicago's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station. WFMT seeks donations on the air and on its website. The studios and offices are on North Saint Louis Avenue in Chicago.
Music for a Time of War is a 2011 concert program and subsequent album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar. The program consists of four compositions inspired by war: Charles Ives'The Unanswered Question (1906), John Adams'The Wound-Dresser (1989), Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 4 (1935). The program was performed on May 7, 2011, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, and again the following day. Both concerts were recorded for album release. On May 12, the Oregon Symphony repeated the program at the inaugural Spring for Music Festival, at Carnegie Hall. The performance was broadcast live by KQAC and WQXR-FM, the classical radio stations serving Portland and the New York City metropolitan area, respectively. The concerts marked the Oregon Symphony's first performances of The Wound-Dresser as well as guest baritone Sanford Sylvan's debut with the company.
The Oregon Symphony, based in Portland, Oregon, was founded in 1896 as the Portland Symphony Society; it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and claims to be one of the largest arts organizations in the Pacific Northwest. The Symphony has released nineteen studio albums and one compilation album through the record labels Delos, Koch International Classics, Albany and PentaTone Classics. The first recording, Bravura (1987), was released under the artistic leadership of James DePreist. It received favorable reviews and was the first of three released through Delos. The next two recordings were collections of compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Tragic Lovers is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of James DePreist, released by the record label Delos in 2008. It contains three works inspired by tragic love stories in literature: Richard Wagner's Prelude and "Liebestod" from Tristan and Isolde (1865), Hector Berlioz's "Love Scene" from Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Amelia Haygood and Carol Rosenberger served as executive producers of the album; the recording producers were Michael Fine and Adam Stern. The album's creation was financially supported by the Gretchen Brooks Recording Fund, which supported two recording sessions per year for each of DePreist's final five years as music director. Tragic Lovers was the orchestra's final recording with DePreist — who left the Oregon Symphony in April 2003 — as conductor and its final contribution to Delos's "Virtual Reality Recording" series.
Marc Taddei is a conductor based in New Zealand. He is the music director of both Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand since 2007, and San Francisco-based Vallejo Symphony Orchestra since 2016. He is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, and as a recording artist has worked in cinema and television productions, and produced many commercial classical music recordings.
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