Jim Tevenan

Today, Chris Maccini welcomes the next SCC Hagen Center “Diversity Dialogues” speaker, Luis Rodrigues. Two of Verne Windham’s recent From the Studio guests, Sandpoint Conservatory director Karin Wedemeyer and the Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe offer their observations and strategies for dealing with the current state of pandemic affairs through engagement with music. A particularly sublime moment from a young pianist and some Spokane Symphony sounds complete the aural picture on this edition of NWAR

Polina Beymanov is a junior piano and voice major at Whitworth University, a piano student of Dr Judith Schoeflin and voice student of Scott Miller. She came to our KPBX studio to play her junior recital program, which included music of J. S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Of particular interest were two selections somewhat off the beaten path, Oscar Peterson's arrangement of Richard Rodgers' "Little Girl Blue," and two Bagatelles of William Bolcom.

Today, we continue to celebrate winners of the most recent SpokaneArts grants as Chris Maccini talks with Garfield Elementary School teacher, Samuel Rasmussen. Verne Windham presents reflections by Spokane Poet Laureate Chris Cook on his Poetry in the Neighborhood project. I’ll talk with Gonzaga University’s Matt McCormick about this Friday’s Student Film Festival, and we’ll have music from out studio, courtesy of pianist Melody Puller.

North Idaho pianist  and music educator Melody Puller rejoins us for an hour with Jim Tevenan around the music of one of the greats of the French Baroque, Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Whitworth University senior Piano Pedagogy and Composition major Mikah Turpin plays a reprise of his Graduation Recital for us, with music by Sebastian Bach, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Toru Takemitsu, Ludwig van Beethoven and Jenö Takács.

We recently featured the Grammy-winning Naxos release, The Passion of Yeshua, a contemporary take on a classic form by American composer Richard Danielpour. Assisting us was conductor JoAnn Falletta, who shared with us her insights on the piece. This is the full interview, with brief musical samples.

This week on Northwest Arts Review, Chris Maccini talks Dr. Carlos Gil, the next presenter in SCC’s “Diversity Dialogues” series. Verne Windham welcomes SSO Music Director James Lowe to KPBX after a long COVID separation from both Spokane and his orchestra. And Dan Webster offers his take on a current Netflix documentary. Plus, we have music from cellist Kevin Heckmatpanah and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra.

Elizabeth Hamilton is a Whitworth University junior performance major on both violin and piano.

She is also playing Beethoven’s Concerto No.1-I with the Whitworth Orchestra on May 8.

Elizabeth's Piano Bench selections:

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Sonata Op. 90-I

Lowell Liebermann: Nocturne No. 2

JohannSebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F, WTC II

Fredric Chopin: Ballade in Ab

Henry Mauser is a junior piano performance and biology double major at Gonzga University. He is part of Greg Presley's studio, and presented his junior recital at Gonzaga March 22nd. Henry recorded the program here in our KPBX performance space, and we are pleased to present it now as a Piano Bench broadcast and podcast. Here is Henry's program:

Sonata No. 31 in A♭ Major, op. 110 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo

II. Allegro molto

III. Adagio ma non troppo – Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo

This week on Northwest Arts Review, Chris Maccini reports on the Washington State Poetry out Loud finals, Jim Tevenan checks in with Bozeman Symphony music director Norman Huynh on his first year in the job, and Nathan Weinbender critiques a movie sequel. The Bozeman Symphony provides the music.

We celebrate the latest recording from American violinist, Hilary Hahn. It's called "Paris," and it features Hilary, joining an ensemble she has a long history with,  l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, led by Mikko Franck. Hilary loves Paris, and each of the selections on the album has a connection with that city, including the two serenades by Finnish composer, Einojuhani Rautavaara, dedicated to Hilary Hahn, and here featured as world premiere recordings.

This week on Northwest Arts Review, we celebrate the notorious (and fun) poetic form, the limerick, as well as meet artist Ryker Murdock. Music is from EWU students and their latest Second Tuesday Piano Bench program.

We again welcome Eastern Washington University music major students for a "Second Tuesday" performance on KPBX's Piano Bench program. Jim Tevenan hosts, aided by Dr. Jody Graves of the Eastern music faculty. Music is by Josef Haydn, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann and Claude Debussy. Our musicians are pianists Tonya Ballman, Kathryn Amdahl, Carly Bair and Christian Skok, also violinist Dominic Treis and cellists Grace Ahola and Spencer McConnachie.

This week on Northwest Arts Review, Chris Maccini’s guest is muralist Daniel Lopez. Jim Tevenan talks

again with music therapist Kim McMillin, and Dan Webster is Stayin’ Alive with his review of a new Bee Gees documentary. Music is from Floating Crowbar, the band for our upcoming KPBX Kids’ Concert.

On a special Piano Bench program we welcome Spokane piano technician Ken Eschete and, in California, Charles Metz--historic instrument collector, keyboardist and authority on old instruments, their mechanisms and their various tuning systems. With samples from Charles' new Navona album featuring keyboard music by Elizabethan composers for the virginal, we explore the amazing (and complex) world of historic tuning methods.

This week on Northwest Arts Review, Chris Maccini talks with professor and author Dr. Anu Taranath https://www.anutaranath.com, latest in the series of Hagan Center for the Humanities presenters at SCC. We’ll also welcome Neal Schlindler, co-chair of the Spokane Jewish Cultural Film Festival that begins next week. Dan Webster is by with a movie review and we have a bit of turn-of-the-(twentieth) century music from EWU.

This week on Northwest Arts Review, Chris Maccini welcomes Spokane author, Sharma Shields, I introduce emerging artist Robin Milligan, and Dan Webster has a review a recent HBO offering, The Little Things. In honor of the just past Presidents Day, our music if from the Air National Guard Band of the Northwest.

We again welcome Eastern Washington University student musicians for this week's Piano Bench program. Many thanks for the participation of these EWU students, and for the leadership and  inspiration of their teachers, especially Drs. Jody Graves and John Marshall.

Spokane Symphony Concertmaster Mateusz Wolski visitis the KPBX studio for conversation with Jim Tevenan around music during the pandemic, an upcoming performance with pianist  Archie Chen and more.

Today, Chris Maccini introduces us to poet, Yale University professor, and this year’s Race and Racism lecture presenter, Claudia Rankine. We’ve also got Verne Windham’s chat with Stage Left Theater’s Susan Hardie, director of their current production, An Illiad. I’ve got the latest from the CdA Music Conservatory executive director Julienne Dance. And Nathan Weinbender has a review of a new documentary film, Some Kind of Heaven. Music, in honor of Black History Month, is from composers Florence Price, R.

On this week's Northwest Arts Review, Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe checks in from Scotland and Chris Maccini introduces us to Seattle-based historian and author Dr. Daudi Abe, one of this year’s speakers at Spokane Community College’s “Diversity Dialogues” series. Dan Webster weighs in on a new Netflix romance novel adaptation, and we’ll enjoy a bit of music form the Spokane Piston and Rotary Cl

ub, too.

With today's Piano Bench we begin a series of monthly showcases of Eastern Washington University music students, specifically piano majors in both solo and collaborative roles. With thanks to EWU's Dr. Jody Graves, this is the program:

Preludes, Op. 16-Alexander Scriabin

No 1 in B major: Andante

No 2 in G sharp minor: Allegro

No 3 in G flat major: Andante cantabile

No 4 in E flat minor: Lento

No 5 in F sharp major: Allegretto

Tonya Ballman, piano (Junior, EWU Piano Major)

Minstrels-Claude Debussy

Opus 15 of Music That Matters brings a tribute, produced by Verne Windham, to long-time volnunteer host of Vox Humana's opera edition, Bill Roesch. Bill retired to Sandpoint after a career in theatre in California, and we happily benefitted from his great experience and expertise in his true musical love, opera.