Updated
Updated · WHRO · Jun 30
WHRO-FM Launches 3-Program Classical Series for America’s 250th Anniversary
Updated
Updated · WHRO · Jun 30

WHRO-FM Launches 3-Program Classical Series for America’s 250th Anniversary

1 articles · Updated · WHRO · Jun 30

Summary

  • Three special broadcasts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday anchor WHRO-FM’s week-long classical tribute to America’s 250th anniversary, spanning Revolutionary-era music, early American composition and new releases.
  • Wednesday’s 9 p.m. program, “A Local Touch,” centers on Virginia connections, pairing patriotic medleys and Colonial Williamsburg battlefield tunes with works built on the words of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson.
  • Friday’s 6 p.m. hour, “Vienna in the Wilderness,” traces early U.S. classical roots through Moravian composers including John Antes and Johann Friedrich Peter, whose music figured in a July 4, 1783 independence celebration.
  • Saturday’s 8 p.m. edition of “This Just In” runs 3 hours with an American theme, featuring George Walker, Dvořák’s “New World,” Carlos Simon, Branford Marsalis and Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3.
  • WHRO-FM said the series is designed to explore the nation’s history, spirit and musical legacy through European, African American and folk influences as listeners mark the Fourth of July.

Insights

How is America's 250th anniversary reshaping the definition of its patriotic and classical music?
Did Dvořák's 'New World' Symphony ultimately help or hinder the creation of an authentic American sound?