Thank you

APM’s pricing season and fiscal year closed on June 30th. Thank you for choosing APM. We are grateful for your loyal support of our programming and look forward to serving you and your audiences in FY25!

APM Presents July Specials

We are making two of our specials from the spring available again for the summer. Folk Classics Across the Globe features newly recorded classical pieces inspired by folk songs from cultures typically on the fringes of the classical canon.

Fur, Feathers and Flutes is a light-hearted look into the relationship between our pets and music. Visit our APM Presents webpage for more information on these specials perfect for the summer!

• Folk Classics Across the Globe (Encore)
  Available now – September 30, 2024
• Fur, Feathers and Flutes (Encore)
  Available now – September 30, 2024

BBC Proms 2024

Check you inboxes next week for a stand-alone BBC Proms announcement but, in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:

• Classical 24: C24’s programming will air BBC Proms selections every weekday at 10 am and 10 pm starting on August 19 and running through September 27th. Some hours will contain multiple selections from either the same program or different programs, depending on timing and programmatic elements. We’re delighted to share this much anticipated event with your listeners!
• SymphonyCast: Beginning with the August 5th program and ending with The Last Night of the Proms on the September 30th program, Symphonycast will once again broadcast the BBC Proms. A full list with dates and details is available here. These programs are available to ALL APM affiliates regardless of your Symphonycast subscription status. We hope you’ll take advantage of this much-anticipated annual gift to your listeners.
• Pipedreams: The August 19th program of Pipedreams will feature a BBC broadcast from London’s Royal Albert Hall featuring acclaimed Manchester organist Jonathan Scott.
• BBC World Service: Highlights from the 2024 BBC Proms will be broadcast on the 24/7 BBC World Service stream on Saturday at 2pm ET with a repeat on Sunday at 7am ET on the following dates:
  • Aug 3 -Beethoven’s Fifth
  • Aug 10 – The Sound of Disco
  • Aug 17 – Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Brahms
  • Aug 24 – Dances with the Kanneh-Masons

SymphonyCast

Coming up on SymphonyCast in July, we’ll share a concert featuring the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields as we join them in celebrating the 100th birthday of their founder, Sir Neville Marriner. Also in July, Sir Stephen Hough offers a fiery performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and violinist Inmo Yang shines in Prokofiev’s dream-like Violin Concerto No. 1.

Performance Today

Performance Today will wrap up their Young Artists in Residence program in July with Najee Greenlee and Daniel Dastoor. Congratulations to all the amazing young artists featured this year:

• Sarah Ma, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
• Jane Yoo, Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University
• Avery Gagliano, Curtis Institute of Music
• Daniel Dastoor, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
• Najee Greenlee, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University

Pipedreams

On July 21-25, Michael Barone will participate in the 2024 Organ Historical Society Convention in Baltimore. Baltimore was a 19th century hub of American organ building with Roosevelt, Stein, Erben, Pomplitz workshops and one of perhaps the least known American organ builders, Henry Niemann. For an introduction to the organs in Baltimore, and this event, check out Historic Baltimore on Pipedreams.

Welcome Additions

• KWSU (Pullman, WA) – Classical 24

This is the Classical APM Monthly. Classical updates are also included in the APM Weekly newsletter each Thursday. Forward-promote what listeners can anticipate on APM classical programs and on C24. Subscribe to the APM Weekly here.

Spring Fundraisers

Spring fundraisers are up and ready on Content Depot! Follow the links below:

• Classical 24
• Performance Today
• Pipedreams
• SymphonyCast

New and Upcoming

Pipedreams celebrates Women’s History and International Women’s Day
This week’s Pipedreams program #2410, celebrates Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day and is devoted entirely to works by women composers…Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Gwyneth Walker, Sharon J. Willis, Barbara Dennerlein, Margie Griebling-Haigh, Margaret Sandresky, Theophania Cecil, Pamela Decker, Rachel Laurin, and Wang Jie, whose new score for organ and string quartet, “The Night When You See Again,” will be heard in its world premiere performance.

On Saturday, March 23rd, Michael Barone will co-host with Tyrone Whiting Philadelphia Orchestra’s Organ Day, a family-friendly event with lively performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Paul Jacobs, the Lucas Brown Trio, the Philadelphia Ballet, Dr. Jay Fluellen, John Walthausen, and much more. This event features the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, the largest mechanical-action concert hall organ in the United States with 6,938 pipes, four blowers, 300 levels of memory, 111 stops, and a total weight of approximately 32 tons!

SymphonyCast
Coming up on SymphonyCast in March, listen for a dazzling program from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra with Michael Tilson Thomas on the podium, including a Liszt piano concerto featuring Yuja Wang, and Mahler’s titanic symphonic debut. Later this spring, we’ll hear Andy Akiho and his steel pan concerto, Beneath Lighted Coffers, backed by the Oregon Symphony.

Performance Today
Performance Today’s 2024 class of Young Artists in Residence opened with Sarah Ma, a violinist recently graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Sarah’s interview with Fred will air in March, with four more artists lined up to complete their residencies by June. The Young Artists in Residence program has hosted a number of young talents over the years and we are proud of its alumni. Most have gone on to successful music careers. Scroll through the pages here to see past and present Young Artists.

Performance Today will also choose their 2024 Classical Woman of the Year- the winner will be announced on air and online on March 29th.

Performance Today: Request for Music

If you have a strong partnership with your local orchestra, please encourage them to submit their concerts to us- If you have a contact who’d like to start (or continue) submitting to PT, please put them in touch with kslusher@mpr.org for guidelines and a submission account.

APM Presents: March Specials
Check out our special featuring harpist Ashley Jackson.

Take Me to the Water
Available now – March 31, 2024

For more upcoming specials visit our website.

Take Me to the Water—behind the scenes
“Take Me to the Water,” from American Public Media, explores the profound meaning of water across different cultures and different religions, led by Vernon Neal and harpist Ashley Jackson. The program explores water’s historical significance in Black culture, the symbolism in spirituals, and the ripple effect of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. It culminates in a powerful performance of “Take Me to the Water” by Ashley and Twin Cities youth choir, KNOWN MPLS.

Julie Amacher shared, “Vernon and I had a fabulous time getting to know Ashley during these recording sessions. She stretches the limits of her instrument in such a powerful, and beautiful way. Her playing is so fluid, which makes her style a perfect fit for this program. This is the first time we brought an artist into the studios to create a national special with them – creating content exclusively for us to share with stations.”

To learn more about the show, learn more about Ashley Jackson’s music, and watch videos of Ashley performing this music in our St. Paul studio, go to YourClassical.org.

Welcome Additions

• WFCR (Springfield, MA) – Rhapsody in Black

October 2023

Reminders

This is the Classical APM Monthly. If you’re looking for updates on our News/Talk programming please, subscribe to our News/Talk APM Monthly here. You will also find past News/Talk programming updates on our blog.

Watch for Classical updates in the APM Weekly newsletter each Thursday. Forward-promote what listeners can anticipate on APM classical programs and on C24. Subscribe to the APM Weekly here. These updates are also posted to our blog.

Content Conference

It was great to see so many of you at the PRPD Content Conference in Philadelphia! Thank you for swinging by the APM booth and for sharing your experiences and ideas in 1:1s and hallway conversations. While it is especially nice to connect in person, we are always happy to continue the conversation (or start a new one!), answer your questions or coordinate a meeting with our classical content partners. Reach out to your rep anytime.

In the meantime, the Conference Archive is posted on the PRPD website. There, you can revisit the general sessions, including the BBC’s Jatin Aythora’s The Rise of AI and What it Means for Public Media.

Programming News

C24 2023 Holiday Programming

C24 has lots of celebrating planned for the 2023 holiday season, beginning with Halloween and continuing through the end of December:

• Halloween, October 31st – Creepy Classics on C24
  • Steve Seel hosts music for your Halloween (8-11pm CT)
• November 8-22nd: YourClassical’s Top Carols (working title, new name coming)
  • Give your listeners a say by asking them to rank their favorite Christmas songs. We’ll tally the results and reveal them in our national broadcast special “as voted by you!” Voting details to be shared soon.
• Thanksgiving Eve and Day, November 22 & 23
  • Festive music to celebrate family, feasting and the harvest
• Chanukah 2023 December 7-15
  • From 3pm CT Thursday, December 7th through the 15th, Classical 24 celebrates Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, with a bit of special music on each day of the 8-day holiday.
• December 23rd – Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet with Mindy Ratner (4-6pm CT)
• Christmas Eve, December 24th – The Night Before Christmas
  • Listen for this classic tale, complete with classical music and sound effects, narrated by C24 host, Lynne Warfel, at 6:01pm CT, and 9:01 pm CT (inside the news windows).

As in the past, Classical 24 will gradually increase Christmas programming following Thanksgiving. Here’s what you can expect:

• November 24 – December 3: 3-5 minutes of Christmas music per hour
• Week of December 4: 5-10 minutes of Christmas music per hour
• Week of December 11: 10-15 minutes of Christmas music per hour
• December 18 – 21: 50% Christmas programming
• December 22 – 25: Wall-to-wall Christmas music

More Holiday Programming from C24

Round out your holiday programming at no additional cost by taking advantage of these C24 bonus hours. Reach out to your Station Relations Representative for more information.

• Additional Holiday Programming included in your C24 affiliation
  • C24 offers 8 additional hours of pre-recorded Christmas music hosted by Mindy Ratner. You may use these hours to best suit your needs. They will be posted on Content Depot Dec. 1, 2023.
  • C24 affiliate stations airing any daypart of C24 are entitled to 20 additional C24 hours per quarter without charge. Many stations use this C24 bonus to supplement their holiday programming and offer staff time off during the holidays.
• Additional Holiday Programming available with your APM affiliation
  • As a holiday gift to classical stations, C24 is available to all APM affiliates (regardless of whether you carry C24 or not) during the following periods:
    • November 23-26th
    • December 22-25th (100% holiday music)

October Classical Specials

Music for the Days of Awe: An Observance of the Jewish High Holidays
Available now – October 31, 2023

Reclaiming the Sound Waves: with Connor Chee – Encore
Available October 1 – November 30, 2023

My Journey, Yours: A Cantus Immigration Special
Available October 1 – November 30, 2023

Check out the full list of specials on our APM Distribution website.  Sneak Peak

C24 recently invited harpist Ashley Jackson into the Maud Moon Weyerhauser recording studio to perform her arrangements of spirituals centered on the hopeful and healing energy of water. “Take me to the Water,” will be an APM special offered in 2024. In the meantime, you and your listeners can listen for these exclusive performances on the C24 stream.Pipedreams 40th Anniversary Concert

Last month, Pipedreams fans gathered at Benson Great Hall on the campus of Bethel University in Arden Hills, MN, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pipedreams. Guests listened as host Michael Barone, alongside organists Aaron David Miller, Brenda Sevcik and Stephen Self, performed a festive concert of music for organ and orchestra, led by conductor William Eddins, featuring the hall’s 67-rank Blackinton pipe organ.

SymphonyCast

Coming up in the last few months of 2023,SymphonyCast will highlight performances by the Oslo Philharmonic with cellist Sol Gabetta, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with violinist Randall Goosby, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.