The Wisconsin Public Radio broadcast I thought I was doing — during my visit to Milwaukee, to talk about Brahms for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra— fell through. But I had a lively time on Milwaukee’s classical station, WFMR. I was talking to Steve Murphy, the station’s program director, and Samantha George, the associate concertmaster of the orchestra, on a weekly show they do called MSO Backstage Pass. I couldn’t imagine two better people to talk to. Samantha asked most of the questions, and I loved, really loved, talking about music as one musician to another. They keep these shows archived on their website for a couple of weeks. Soon you’ll be able to hear http://www.wfmr.com/onDemand.asp this one, either as streaming audio or a downloadable podcast.
Samantha, by the way, is clearly one of those classical musicians who can build a bridge from classical music to the rest of the world. She has a show, she tells me, Monday mornings at 10:30 on an alternative rock station, WMSC. She talks about classical music, and says she gets a terrific response. And why not? As she and I agreed, there’s nobody with more genuine interest in all kinds of music than people who like alternative rock. And to judge from my own conversation with her, I’d guess she’s irresistible. I’m going to listen to her show (and you might want to, too) on the station’s website.