Special Programs: Upcoming Community and Cultural Programs

Airs Saturday, July 14 at 7 p.m. It was in the notoriously opera-critical country of Italy that Joan Sutherland was christened “The Stunning One” after her debut in Venice in 1960.  The previous year, after her “Mad Scene” in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the applause lasted 20 minutes. The next year, in anticipation of her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the same role, the queue for standing room tickets began at 7.30 that morning.

Airs Friday, July 13 at 12:00 noon.  River City Repertory Theatre, the area’s only professional theatre company, presents its 2012 “Overtures & Ovations” concert, recorded live at Riverview Theatre. The concert brings together the Shreveport Symphony and the Shreveport Opera Chorus performing an evening of Broadway overtures and definitive songs with Tony Award winning actress, Donna McKechnie and London’s West End star, Jeremiah James. They will lead the audiences through an evening of show stopping performances and overtures that have set the standard on Broadway.

Airs Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m.  Tune in to this episode to hear one of the most exciting young pianist in jazz, Gerald Clayton, performing with Hareesh Ragovan on bass and Justin Brown on drums at the 2010 Savannah Music Festival. The most common piano trio format in jazz has usually included a pianist, a bassist and a drummer. Communication between these three players is built around the talents they have amassed through extensive training, so that their reflexes are to the point where the music takes over on the bandstand.

Airs Monday, July 9 at 8:00 p.m.  Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn’t mean we’re one happy family. Is this kind of cross-species co-habitation an utterly stupid idea? Or might it be our one last hope as more and more humans fill up the planet? This hour of Radiolab: stories of trying to live together. A chimp named Lucy teaches us the ups and downs of growing up human, and a visit to The Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa highlights some of the basics of bonobo culture (be careful, they bite).

Airs Monday, July 9 at 11:00 a.m.  Perched in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Sante Fe is the nation’s oldest capitol city and has become a hotbed of artistic activity. Between the inspiring landscapes, the devotion to art and the city’s own diverse multicultural nature, there is no wonder why Sante Fe calls itself “the city different.” The Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival fits perfectly into this unique atmosphere, offering a six-week season of more than 80 concerts, recitals, master classes, youth concerts and open rehearsals each year. The festival celebrates the city itself in its concert venues, including the historic St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Sante Fe Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Simms Auditiorium at Albuquerque Academy.