WKCR 89.9FM NY

The Ragas Live Festival, one of radio’s most ambitious events, expands in its fourth year.

Over 60 world-class musicians will perform Indian Classical Music over a period of 24 hours, all broadcast on WKCR. This year it will now be followed by a free concert in Central Park.

Tune in to Late City Edition on Tuesday June 2nd at 9:00 PM to hear AC4 Director, Joshua Fisher, interview Andre Correa d'Almeida regarding his work on sustainable development and the need for a new "practice" paradigm that involves a multi-discipline perspective and conflict resolution intelligence.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music on Monday, June 1st, for an interview with composer and percussionist Lukas Ligeti. Ligeti has established a large body of compositions often combining influences of jazz, contemporary classical, electronic, and world music. His work has been performed by a variety of premier ensembles, such as the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. He will be in our studio to talk about his music and thoughts. Listen!

Columbia University's Baseball Team has been at the NCAA Division I tournament in Florida this weekend. As of Sunday, May 31 at 10:20pm, they won their 4th game taking them into their 5th and last game of the tournament. This final game will be broadcast Monday, June 1 at 6:45pm. Jazz Alternatives will end early and normal programming will begin again with either 'Arts and Answer' or 'Caribe Latino.'

All updates will appear here as well as the @wkcrsports and @wkcrfm Twitter accounts as the information comes in.

Go Lions go!

Thursday's Afternoon Classical will be dedicated exclusively to the renowned German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in celebration of his birthday. Born on May 28, 1925 in Berlin, Germany, the late Fischer-Dieskau would have turned 90 on this day. An incredibly talented, versatile performer, Fischer-Dieskau brought his clear and iconic sound to a wide range of operas, lieder, oratorios, song cycles, and more in a myriad of languages and styles.

Don't miss Gioachino Rossini's massive Guillaume Tell. Other than its beloved overture, Rossini's final score is a monumental achievement that places extraordinary demands on every part of an opera house. This week's recording is a 2010 live performance of the original French edition with Antonio Pappano leading the orchestra and chorus of the Academy of Santa Cecilia. The cast features Gerald Finley in the title role, Malin Bystrom, and John Osborn. Stepan Atamian hosts.

Tune in Wednesday evening from 6-9 PM to hear this week's edition of the Musician's Show, where we will be joined by multiple Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard. Since he embarked on his solo recording career with his eponymous Columbia Records album in 1991, the New Orleans-born and -based artist has traveled many paths musically, including delivering adventurous and provocative acoustic jazz outings of original material, composing over 50 soundtracks and even, in 2013, debuting Champion: An Opera in Jazz.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music, on Monday, May 25th from 3 to 6PM to hear an interview with bassist and composer Mark Dresser. Dresser has played in a variety of jazz and avant-garde contexts, having recorded records with John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, and many others. He has also released a number of records as a leader, as well as several explorations into the limits of solo bass performance. Dresser came in to our station last week to talk about his music and his upcoming residency at the Stone. Listen!

There are many operatic adaptations of episodes from the Oresteia (most famously Richard Strauss's Elektra), but we will explore the work through two lesser-known operas. Vittorio Gnecchi's Cassandra retells the murder of Agamemnon in verismo fashion to be understood within the context of other Italian composers such as Zandonai and Cilea. This work is paired with Johann Christian Haeffner's Electra.

In keeping with the spirit of Memorial Day and with a many-years old tradition, WKCR will be dedicating all Jazz programming this Holiday Weekend exclusively to the Big Band Sound. This glorious event will begin on Saturday at 6pm during Traditions in Swing.

Saturday, May 23:
6-9pm Traditions in Swing

Sunday, May 24:
1-6am Jazz 'til Dawn
2-7pm Jazz Profiles

Tune in tonight on Som do Brasil to listen to an interview with Walson Botelho, founder and director of the Balé Folclórico da Bahia (Folkloric Ballet of Bahia). They will be performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) as part of DanceAfrica 2015.

In honor of Richard Wagner's birthday on May 22nd, Afternoon Classical on Thursday May 21st (3:00-6:00 PM) and Friday May 22nd (3:00-4:30 PM) will be dedicated exclusively to Richard Wagner.

Thursday's Afternoon Classical will feature an unforgettable live 1956 performance of Der Fliegende Holländer from Bayreuth with the legendary George London in the title role, Astrid Varnay as Senta, and Joseph Keilberth conducting. Elisabeth Stam hosts.

WKCR will be celebrating and mourning the illustrious life of the one and only B.B. King from 6am to 6pm on Saturday, May 16. King's music can be heard in the airwaves on 89.9FM NY or online at WKCR.org.

Mitch Goldman and drummer Pheeroan akLaff put Eric Dolphy in Deep Focus tonight, Monday May 11th, during Jazz Alternatives from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Startling rare recordings from the WKCR archives will be brought to light. Please join us.

For the third consecutive year, Columbia Baseball hosts Dartmouth in the Ivy League Championship Series. The Lions seek their third straight Ivy Title and another trip to the NCAA tournament. Coverage begins Saturday at 11:55 a.m. on the MP3 stream for Game 1. Game 2 will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1 and can be heard both online and on 89.9 FM. If necessary, Game 3 would be played on Sunday, with coverage beginning at 12:50 p.m. on 89.9 FM and online. Follow @WKCRsports for further updates.

In honor and celebration of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 175th Birthday, the WKCR Classical Department will be dedicating select Classical programming exclusively to Tchaikovsky's compositions. Please join us in commemorating Tchaikovsky's birthday and his remarkable contributions to classical music by tuning in to the following programs:

Tune in this Saturday as the two-time defending champion Lions face their biggest game of the season. Columbia and Penn both finished tied atop the Lou Gehrig Division with records of 16-4. The winner of Saturday's game will host the Ivy League Championship Series next weekend. Coverage begins with Lions Countdown at 12:50 p.m.

Tune in to Out to Lunch on Tuesday May 5 to hear a live interview with Helen Merrill. She’ll play some of her favorite songs and talk about her recordings with Clifford Brown, her time in Japan, and her collaborations in the 1980’s with British pianist Gordon Beck. Join us in celebrating her illustrious sixty year career.

Tune in this Wednesday at 11:59pm to listen to an interview with Marisa Monte and Arto Lindsay. They will be performing on May 1st and 2nd at the Opera House of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) the show Samba Noise, an exclusive musical project crafted for BAM. Marisa Monte is from Rio de Janeiro and has a unique singing style with influences from samba, pop and experimental music.

Join us on Wednesday, April 29th as we celebrate the 116th anniversary of the birth of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, one of the most significant figures in the history of jazz. His innovations in orchestration and composition have informed much of the development of the music. Originally from Washington DC, he moved to New York City where, in 1927, he began his tenure at the Cotton Club. It was there that he rose to international stardom.

As promised, this week's Saturday Night At The Opera is an electrifying live performance of Giuseppe Verdi's La Forza del Destino. Recorded while the Teatro Alla Scala was on tour in Stuttgart, the performance features a legendary cast in its prime, including: Cesare Siepi; Giuseppe di Stefano; and soprano sfogato Leyla Gencer as Leonora. Stepan Atamian hosts.

For the first studio recording of Vivaldi's sixteenth opera Ercole sul Termodonte, no expense was spared to ensure a spectacular cast of Baroque specialists. Rolando Villazon, in excellent voice, leads an all-star cast including Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Vivica Genaux, Philippe Jaroussky, and Topi Lehtipuu, with Fabio Biondi leading the Europa Galante. Stepan Atamian hosts. Due to the length of La Forza del Destino, it will be broadcast following the conclusion of WKCR's fundraiser.

WKCR Sports will be preempting the MP3 Stream today to bring you coverage of Columbia-Penn baseball. Both teams (14-2) are tied coming into the final weekend of the regular season for the second straight season. Coverage begins at 12:55pm on the mp3 stream. Game two begins 30 minutes after Game One's conclusion. We will resume normal programming in between games. For our regular programming, please tune-in on your FM dial to 89.9!

On Wednesday April 22nd 2015 at 12:00 AM, WKCR will celebrate the birth of one of the great innovators of American music, bassist and composer Charles Mingus. He was able to accomplish what so many of today's musicians strive for: his music was always original, transcending genre boundaries yet always remaining deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. Early in his career, he performed with such greats as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Lionel Hampton.

Tune in for a special edition of the Firing Lion this Wednesday at 9 p.m. as Columbia's new Athletic Director, Peter Pilling, joins the panel live in studio as our special guest. We'll discuss the state of Columbia Athletics and give our normal update on the weekend in Columbia sports. If you have any questions for Pilling, be sure to send us an email!

Tune in Wednesday evening from 6-9 PM to hear this week's edition of the Musician's Show, where we will be joined by guitarist Rez Abbasi. Born in Pakistan, Abbasi moved to Southern California at the age of four with his family. He studied jazz and classical music at the University of Southern California and Manhattan School of Music and Indian classical music with tabla virtuoso, Ustad Alha Rahka, accompanist to Ravi Shankar and father of Zakir Hussain.

Members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) George Lewis, Petr Kotik, and Muhal Richard Abrahms join us to discuss their work with the AACM in light of the tribute to the ensemble's 50th anniversary that will take place on April 28th and 29th at the Bohemian National Hall. With members as diverse as Jack DeJohnette, Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, and Roscoe Mitchell (among many others), the group has maintained their position at the avant garde for the whole of their time together.