More from KUSC. Instead of narrowing its playlist and pandering to casual listeners, KUSC continues to be broadminded, even to the extent of playing new music. Producer Brian Lauritzen writes about a new series beginning tomorrow:
KUSC is adding the solo recital series Piano Spheres to its broadcast schedule. The full-length concert broadcasts will air at 10:00 pm the first Saturday of each month, beginning in November, as part of KUSC’s contemporary music program Modern Times. Each broadcast features an interview with the artist at the piano.
Piano Spheres is one of the most forward-looking concert series in Southern California: a group of annual solo recitals by four of LA’s leading pianists: Gloria Cheng, Vicki Ray, Mark Robson, and Susan Svercek, and sometimes, in addition, a prominent guest pianist from Europe or elsewhere. The series was founded in 1994 by the late pianist and music scholar Leonard Stein, a student of Arnold Schoenberg’s at UCLA in the 1930s and later the director of the Schoenberg Institute at USC from 1975 to 1991.
I didn’t find the program listings online, though you can certainly listen online. Here’s the program for tomorrow’s show:
- Saturday, November 1, 10:00 pm
- Gloria Cheng, piano
- Luciano Berio: Sequenza IV
- Elliott Carter: Intermittences
- Dante De Silva: Piano Sonata No. 1, Arcata (world premiere)
- Olivier Messiaen: Cantéyodjayâ
- Toru Takemitsu: Litany, in Memory of Michael Vyner
- Iannis Xenakis: Evryali
Subscribe Via Email
Enter your email address to subscribe to Scanning the Dial and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
It is very satisfying to me to know that KUSC is beginning to bring more contemporary works into their programming. During the whole time of my membership there (After 9/11 when WNYC abandoned daytime music until the advent of wnyc2), I lobbied hard for late 20th century works. But that was in the C.P.R.N days of lowest common denominator music.
And, this is in the period of Esa-Peka Salonen, possibly the most hip mind in contemporary music, at the L.A. Philharmonic.
We did get Alan Chapman’s program “Modern Masterpieces”, but at 10:00PM Saturday nights, when all of the literate folks in L.A. are out at comedy clubs.
So, it is great to now see something begin to happen.
Glad to hear that Rich Capparela (and other hosts with humor, originality and personality) is back at KUSC!
With KCSN and K-Mozart now out of the classical format their uptick in L.A. audience numbers is no surprise–but I’m glad they’re doing it in great, post-CPRN style.