Description

December is here, and with it the nip in the air and the frost in the fields. On this episode we’ll explore some of the best music for the coldest time of year…a wintry mix of works by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, and more, with the help of radio icons Bob Edwards and Tom Hall.

This Episode’s Playlist

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37: XII. December
Stefan Petrov, piano
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Russian Dance, fr. Swan Lake, Op. 20
Max Yiming Mao, violin | Stefan Petrov, piano
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.15.2017

arr. Pablo Casals: Song of The Birds
Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello | Stefan Petrov, piano
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I | Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II | Molly Wise, viola | Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017

Ottorino Respighi: Italiana fr. Ancient Airs & Dances [excerpt]
SoHyun Ko, violin | Minchae Kim, violin | Jerome McCoy, viola | Dilshod Narzaillaev, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2022

Antonio Vivaldi: “Winter” Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297 fr. The Four Seasons
Bob Edwards, narrator | Danny Yehun Jin, solo violin | Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin | Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Zhihao Wu, cello
Kreeger Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12. 17.2018

Robert Frost: Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening
Tom Hall, narrator
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017

Antonin Dvořák, arr. Julia Egan: Silent Woods
Andrew Gonzalez, viola | Robby Brown, guitar
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.02.2019

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in D Major, K. 136
III. Presto
Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I | Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II | Molly Wise, viola | Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017

Robert Schumann: Romance, Op. 28, No. 2 [excerpt]
Lynne Mackey, piano
House concert, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 11.19.2020

Jean Sibelius: Souvenir, Op. 79, No. 1
Kitty Amaral, violin (Elk Creek, VA) | Eshter Lim, piano (New York, NY)
Heifetz Institute Virtual Recording | 07.22.2020

Hanukkah Medley: “Oh Hanukkah,” “Al Hanisim” (Thank You for the Miracles)
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin | Coleman Itzkoff, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2016

Go Deeper

• December also ushers in our annual Heifetz Holiday Tour – two full weeks of public concerts, private musicales, outreach concerts, and radio appearances.  The 2023 Holiday Tour includes performances with the Candlelight Concerts Society in Columbia, MD, The Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC, at the Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, VA, and our Heifetz Holiday Homecoming in our Staunton hometown!
• Tom Hall, (pictured here with Heifetz Holiday Tour artists Matt Cohen, viola, Danny Jin, violin, Robby Brown, guitar, and Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin) is host of the award-winning Midday program on Baltimore NPR News station WYPR.  But lending his voice to this episode is no stretch – for years he was the Music Director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society!
• “In a career that has lasted more than 30 years, Bob Edwards has interviewed nearly 20,000 newsmakers. Born May 15, 1947 in Louisville, Kentucky, Edwards spent the early part of his career as a newscaster for Indiana station WHEL/New Albany, followed by a stint in Korea with Armed Forces Radio and Television….Read the Radio Hall of Fame entry of our featured speaker in this episode.who for 24 years served as host of NPR’s Morning Edition.