Beethoven walks into a bar..‪.‬ Kansas City Symphony

Music Director Michael Stern joins Michael Gordon and concertmaster Jun Iwasaki to talk about his upcoming final season with the Kansas City Symphony. We also talk about his recently announced successor, Matthias Pintscher, and how he feels proud to hand over the keys to the hot-rod orchestra he’s helped to build for the last twenty years.

In this episode we talk with Vietnam veteran, voice artist, actor, musician, and longtime host for the Kansas City Symphony’s Memorial Day Celebration at the Station, Jim Birdsall. From his humble beginnings in North Dakota, to the jungles of Vietnam, to the quiet peacefulness of his home recording studio in Kansas City where he records his voice for the likes of CNBC, and NFL Films, Jim is a man who uses his voice like a musical instrument to draw listeners into any story he tells. Today, he’s using that iconic voice to tell his own fascinating story.

As Memorial Day approaches and the KC Symphony prepares for another Celebration at the Station, Beethoven Walks into a Bar revisits our conversation with Tim Donley of the band The Resilient. Tim, Mike, Stephanie, and our pal Jason Seber chat about making music in quarantine, the therapeutic power of art and dirty martinis. Hear Tim and The Resilient live at Celebration at the Station on Sunday, May 28. Visit kcsymphony.org for more information.

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, Mike and Stephanie are joined by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke who is town to sing Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd with the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus. We talk about Sasha's work with former podcast guests Caroline Shaw, Gabe Kahane, Nico Muhly and Joel Thompson on her Grammy award winning album "How do I Find you?" and discuss exploring "new music" vs. "new to you" music. Sasha also shares how finding a good coffee shop can make her feel at home no matter where she is in the world. We also reveal our Top 5 works for solo voice and orchestra. Listen now for all of this and more, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar.
Episode 705 Playlist
ALBUM: Sasha Cooke: "How Do I Find You?"

Teddy Abrams makes his second appearance on Beethoven Walks into a Bar this week, joining Mike and guest hosts Joe LeFevre (tuba) and Jessica Nance (viola). Teddy recently led the orchestra in a program including former podcast guest Caroline Shaw's The Observatory, Holst's The Planets, and Missy Mazzoli's Violin Concerto featuring the dazzling Jenny Koh. Hear how it went, this week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar!

This week on Beethoven Walks into a Bar, Mike and Stephanie chat with maestro, educator and all-around inspiring human Thomas Wilkins. The King of acronyms, he is currently artistic advisor for education and community engagement and the Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts Conductor of the Boston Symphony (AAECEGYFCCBSO) and a winner of the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society (LBLAAFTEOMS). Thomas is in town conducting the Kansas City Symphony in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Coleridge-Taylor's Suite from Hiawatha, and Neielsen's "Inextinguishable" Symphony March 31-April 2 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Episode 703 Playlist