Classical Music with Walter Parker

The season for George Frideric Handel's Messiah is upon us! Although it was actually first performed around Easter, in our time it has become a December holiday tradition.

This year, VPR is again rounding up performances and sing-alongs of Handel's beloved oratio in our area. 

The Opera Company of Middlebury will give 4 fully-staged performances of Puccini's Il Trittico (Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica) June 2-10.  Members of the Company visit VPR's Studio One for a live preview.

World-renowned pianist Simone Dinnerstein performs on the new VPR Steinway concert grand piano, recorded live in VPR’s Studio One in Colchester.

'Tis the season for Handel's Messiah! Nearly 275 years after it was first performed, Messiah has become a holiday season staple. Check out our list of performances and sing-alongs planned for the next few weeks and share with us any we might have missed.

Vermont's Heliand Consort is an ensemble of piano and wind instruments.  They visit the VPR Performance Studio on Thursday to play Francis Poulenc's Sextet for Piano and Winds.

Broadcast Live on Thursday February 11 at noon.  Listen online now.

With the holiday season come performances of Handel's Messiah. 

Know of a Messiah performance or sing-along not listed here?  Tell us about it! 

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein returns to the VPR Performance Studio for a live preview of her recital at Chandler Center for the Arts on Saturday, which will include music of Schumann, Schubert and the premiere of Breugel Suite by Philip Lasser, who will also be present. 

The Opera Company of Middlebury gives us a live preview of their production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

Broadcast Thursday October 15 at noon.  Listen online now.

Well-known Vermont musicians Elizabeth Reid, viola, and Alison Cerutti, piano, visit the VPR Performance Studio to perform the remarkable Viola Sonata of Rebecca Clarke.

Broadcast Wednesday June 3 at noon.

The Camerata New England Piano Trio gives us a live preview of their upcoming concert of music by Mozart and Schumann.

Broadcast Friday May 22 at noon.

The Opera Company of Middlebury gives us a live preview of their upcoming production of Puccini's Turandot.

Broadcast Thursday May 21 at noon.

Vermont Virtuosi return to the VPR Performance Studio for a preview of their concerts in Burlington and Montpelier this weekend titled I Remember.  They feature music for various combinations of flute, harp, cello and voice, including a new piece by Vermont composer Erik Nielsen and a work based on the Diary of Anne Frank.

Broadcast Thursday April 23 at 11 a.m.

With the holiday season approaching, there will be a variety of performances and sing-alongs of Handel's beloved oratorio.

If you know of a Messiah performance or sing-along not listed here, please let us know by contacting us here.'

The new director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Jose Daniel Flores-Caraballo, will NOT be able to join Walter Parker on VPR Classical Friday morning.  He has prepared the Chorus for the VSO's Holiday Pops concerts this weekend in Barre, Burlington and Rutland.

Scrag Mountain Music hosts the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet this weekend.  Double bassist Evan Premo of Scrag Mountain joins the Quartet in the VPR Performance Studio to play Dvorak's String Quintet, Op. 77, which will be on concerts in Burlington, Montpelier and Warren. 

Broadcast Friday November 14 at 3 p.m.

Patricia McCarty is former assistant principal violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and now teaches at the Meadowmount School of Music.  She and pianist Cary Lewis visit the VPR Performance Studio on Friday to preview their Hill and Hollow Music concert on Sunday.

Broadcast Friday November 14 at 11 a.m.  Listen online here.

The Catalyst Quartet forms the core of the Sphinx Virtuosi, "18 of the nation's top Black and Latino classical soloists."  Each fall these alumni of the Sphinx Competition get together to further the Sphinx Organization's mission to bring diversity and new audiences to classical music. 

Chinese-American pianist Tien Hsieh visits the VPR Performance Studio for a live preview of her Lane Series recital featuring music composed by, or transcribed by, Franz Liszt.

Broadcast Friday October 17 at 11 a.m.