Longevity and chamber music don't often go together. For every Emerson String Quartet that spends decades performing together, there are scores of chamber ensembles calling it quits every year. So when a group like the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) reaches its 40th anniversary, it's a cause for celebration.

Classical music always holds the power to metaphorically transport the listener, helping us to embark upon whatever spiritual or emotional journey we seek. But every year as the calendar turns to summer, it begins transporting us in a very literal way — trading in the urban concert hall for more relaxed, pastoral settings for music-making.

Low voice ensemble Cantus celebrates its 25th Anniversary this summer with a concert and gala at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, MN; marking this milestone belatedly in its 27th season due to a two-year pandemic postponement. One of the nation’s few full-time vocal ensembles, Cantus was founded in 1995 by a group of four undergraduates at St. Olaf College: Brian Arreola, Kjell Stenberg, Albert Jordan, and Erick Lichte. The four were eating dinner after a rehearsal of the Viking Chorus – a choir made up of St. Olaf’s first year tenors and basses that has been in existence since 1935 – and lamenting that their days as a low-voiced vocal ensemble were coming to a close. They pledged to come together in the fall and find enough singers to perform Franz Biebl’s iconic double-male-chorus "Ave Maria.”

“We thought this is the time, it's counterintuitive, but it really felt like the public needed something to come back to the halls.” That is pianist Natalia Kazaryan talking this month about Washington Arts Ensemble, a chamber music organization which she and fellow pianist Christopher Schmitt launched a year ago. The idea of the Ensemble is older, “a few years ago,” Kazaryan mentions, but like so many other things since the end of 2019, its gestation was slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic—it slowed down but didn’t go away.

In the social media age, the life of a classical musician can appear glamorous — a steady stream of concerts across the globe, album releases, residencies, and black-tie receptions. But what are the ups and downs we don't see once the cameras are gone? And what roles can wellness and community play in the life of a performing artist today? Violinist and author Rebecca Fischer joins us on the Classical Post podcast.

The American conductor Ryan Bancroft joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, where we speak about his new appointment as the Chief Conductor Designate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Beginning in the 23/24 season, it’s a very important role at one of Europe’s premier orchestras.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, which was recorded earlier this spring when they were on tour in the US. Right off the heels of winning the German Record Critics' Award, we spoke particularly at a time when many organizations had been grappling with presenting music written by Russian composers due to how their audience views the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Near the end of the episode we dive into this topic.

Born into the warm embrace of a Cuban-American family in sun-drenched Miami, cellist Thomas Mesa was drawn to both the world of sport and the world of music. His decision to pursue the career of a musician has proven to be the profoundly correct one.

Dani Howard is the newly appointed Composer-In-Residence with London Chamber Orchestra for the 2022/23 season. Sarah Baker caught up with her about her plans with the orchestra.

Soprano Laura Strickling joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss her Grammy nominated album, Confessions. Calling the U.S. Virgin Islands home, she tells the story of managing a mammoth commissioning project from the Caribbean while in lockdown.

It’s not everyday you hear about a vibraphonist, but today you will on the Classical Post podcast. Calling in from his home in Luxembourg, I spoke with the fascinating vibraphonist, composer, and producer Pascal Schumacher. He has a new album out on the Neue Meister label called LUNA. We dig into the background of creating this, including the accompanying gorgeous music videos.

The Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet joins us on the Classical Post podcast today to discuss their latest album, UNCOVERED Volume 2, featuring the music of Florence Price. The star pianist Michelle Cann is also on the show as this album was a collaboration with her.

Brittany Lasch is the Principal Trombone at the Detroit Opera Orchestra (formerly Michigan Opera Theatre) at the Detroit Opera House and an Assistant Professor of Trombone at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts in Bowling Green, Ohio. She’s performed as a soloist with the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, and symphonies around the country. A winner of the 2019 S&R Foundation Washington Award, and a skilled trombonist with performances and workshops filling up summer 2022, Lasch finds a still moment to catch up with Classical Post.

Zachary Carrettin and Mina Gajić are the dynamic duo on the podcast today. Zachary is music director of Boulder Bach Festival and Mina is its artistic and executive director. They have just released a chamber music album on the Sono Luminus label — Confluence — featuring a fascinating juxtaposition of Balkan dances and tango. I know tango speaks deeply to me, so I was very intrigued to hear the backstory of how this album came to be — seemingly disparate styles, but dovetailing so cleverly into a strong artistic statement in this album.

Music Kitchen – Food for the Soul commemorates its fifteenth anniversary with Forgotten Voices – a composite song cycle with text created by those experiencing homelessness set to music by fifteen award-winning composers. The full work had its world premiere in March 2022 at Carnegie Hall.

Film director Ted Braun joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss his new documentary ¡Viva Maestro! that chronicles Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel who is famously known as LA Phil’s music director.

There’s music on the page, where it’s preserved for later use, and then there’s music when it’s played, traveling through the air. On each end of that is a body, musician reaching out to listener and touching them via sound. For Augusta Read Thomas too, that’s where the music starts, in the body. Her method of composing—creating new material, shaping it and building it into larger structures and forms—is grounded in the physical sensations of music, especially singing and movement. Sounds from the body become elements in a larger mosaic. That is the subtle, but fundamental connection between her artistry and the subject of her new piece, MAGIC GARDENS, which the Rolston String Quartet will play in its American premiere May 1, at a concert celebrating the bicentennial of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.

Ronaldo Rolim is as sunny as his native Brazil. The pianist positively exudes joy and love for life, especially when talking about music. Trained as a pianist by his mother when he was very young, Rolim would eventually make his way to the United States where he would study with some of the world’s finest pianists. Now he is at the cusp of a brilliant career, performing the European classics and championing the rich musical legacy of Brazil.

For 40 years, innova Recordings, the label of the American Composers Forum, has celebrated new music–whether classical, jazz, world, electronic and other genres, concepts, and approaches. Earlier this year, the label announced its first national call for new artists, which marked what Director of Recordings Chris Campbell has called a “paradigm shift” in how they approach and conduct business with the goals of making the recording process more collaborative, inclusive, equitable, and transparent.

The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut this month led by Anthony Parnther. The concert features Jon Batiste, who just won five Grammys at this year’s ceremony, including the highly-coveted title, “Album of the Year”.