91.1FM WTJU Charlottesville, U.Va.

Overture!

Sometimes they are curtain-raisers, sometimes stand-alone compositions. But a well-written classical overture is a great way to kick off a concert -- or even a fund drive. Guaranteed to get your blood pumping and your wallet open.

Passion! Drama! Love! : The World of Latin Music

Beguiling rhythms from Granados, Piazziolla and Liberson

African-American Composers' Presence in Classical Music

There is a rebirth of interest in the contributions of African-American composers to American music.

Piano Trio 

Perhaps the most difficult of musical conversations occurs between piano and strings in a piano trio. Listen to how great composers meet the challenge in this exploration of the Piano Trio.

LIVE in the Studio: The Rotunda Brass Quartet

We showcase our own local talent by introducing you to The Rotunda Brass Quartet, a quartet of undergraduate students at The University of Virginia, who are:
Betsy Graves: Trumpet
Max Friedfeld: Trumpet
Shanna Hoar: French Horn
Maridel Fredericksen: Trombone
In addition to this LIVE performance, we will also celebrate the brilliant sounds of brass through recordings of favorite composers like the Gabriellis, Alan Hovhaness, ancient brass sounds of the Renaissance cornettas, well-known brass ensembles like Canadian Brass, and more.

Vivaldi Concerti

Vivaldi was perhaps the most influential and prolific composer of the Baroque concerto.

Celtic Influence

Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy; John Ireland: Downland Suite; Hamilton Harty: Irish Symphony; Mendelssohn: Scottish Symphony and Hebrides Overture; and others.

Music of Joaquín Rodrigo

Survey of the works of composer Joaquín Rodrigo, emphasizing guitar pieces

18th Century English Popular Music

Songs of the street and the theater

The English Anthem

Gems from the English choral tradition and more on this annual favorite special presentation during our fall fundraiser

The Sounds of Erin

Music, according to Thomas Davis, is "the first faculty of the Irish." Join Francesca as she samples classical music from 19th and 20th century Ireland, showcasing the compositions of Field, Balfe, Wallace, Stanford, and Harty, as well as interpretations of Ireland by such non-native composers as Bax and Martin.

Banded Together: Great Works for Symphonic Band

Who needs strings to make music? Some of the greatest composers of the 19th and 20th centuries have written great works for symphonic band -- and we'll be playing some of the more outstanding examples. For a sizable pledge (I'm talking at least three figures), we may even play some Sousa . . .

Mendelssohn's Elijah

Felix Mendelssohn's 1846 oratorio in its entirety, with a first-rate cast headed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Sweet Sixteen: The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra

For 29 years, Harry Christophers and the Sixteen Choir and Orchestra have been recognized as one of the finest ensembles of its kind. The Sixteen has recorded music in the cathedrals of England, the Sistine Chapel, and venues throughout the world. The range of The Sixteen spans Byrd to Barber, Scarlatti to Stravinsky... great choral music for Saturday evening.

The Art of the Fugue

While J.S. Bach perfected this compositional form, the fugue developed before him and has been used by composers ever since. This show will explore the "art of fugue" from the Renaissance to the present.

Music from the Underworld

Celebrate the spirits of the Halloween season with your host, Andrew Pratt, who presents 2 hours of spooky classics. (Saint-Saëns, Dukas, Dvorak, and others)

Sunday Opera Matinee: William Tell

Gioacchino Rossini's last opera, written in 1829... this performance is complete and sung in the original French. Tune in to the opera at a special time and support classical programming with a pledge!

The King of Instruments

Great Performances of Bach's Master Works for Organ

Just a Few Friends Special: Halloween Spirits

Our exclusive chamber music show will include Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 9 - Black Mass; Peter Warlock's Curlew Song Cycle; Mussorgsky's Baba-Yaga; and Hovhaness' Upon Enchanted Ground.

Second Viennese School

The artistically sublime environment of fin de siécle Vienna gave rise to some of the most breathtaking, innovative, and enduring music of the past century. From the distinctly expressionist, freely atonal pieces of Arnold Schoenberg to the lyrical neo-romanticism of Alban Berg and ethereal colors and textures of Anton Webern, we'll savor the sounds of the 2nd Viennese School.

Haydn Seek

Music of Haydn and music inspired by Haydn, one of the greats of the First Viennese School

Mode Me: Modal Scales

The Modal scales and their uses in Classical Music

The Spirituality of Arvo Pärt

Be transported by the choral music of Arvo Pärt.

Leoš Janáček

Leoš Janáček is generally ranked as one of the most original opera composers of the 20th century. However, along with fellow eastern Europeans Smetana and Dvořák, Janáček composed innovative and moving chamber music. Tune in for two hours of Janáček's chamber and symphonic music as part of WTJU's Classical Marathon.

Early Music Show: French Renaissance Courts and Chapels

Join the Early Music Show crew as we explore the music of the French Renaissance, both sacred music of the cathedral and chapel, and secular works of the court and the streets. French composers, especially those in Burgundy, dominated musical circles in the 15th century, and went on to distinguish themselves in the 16th century and later. We’ll hear motets of Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois and Jean Mouton, chansons and madrigals of artists like Pierre de la Rue and Claude Goudimel, and all with a liberal dose of anonymous French songs and dances. Let us be your guides through the melodies of the French courts and chapels.

Five Star Edition: It Takes Two

A wide-ranging show of duets of all sorts, including double concertos, four-hand piano pieces, baroque vocal duets and even a tango or two

Morton Feldman and Others

A late evening exploration of some of the leading composers of the American School

Special Marathon Edition of La Belle Musique

Tune in for more of the varied programming you've come to expect on La Belle Musique. Cleek and Elizabeth will be offering both new and old music juxtaposed in thoughtful ways. And it's only on WTJU Charlottesville at 91.1 FM and on the Internet at WTJU.net.

Arthur Grumiaux, Baron of Violinists

We feature one of the great violin soloists.

Chompin' with Chopin (et al.)

What could aid lunchtime digestion better than some of the most sublimely beautiful music written for solo piano? We'll enjoy a main course of Chopin, with some side orders of Brahms and Schumann, with perhaps some Mendelssohn for garnish, and little Schubert for dessert.

American Hymnody

Sturdy, soaring melodies for voice and orchestra by Copland, Thomson, and Ives.

Before Red October

Revel in the heightened emotional state of pre-revolutionary Russia as we present some of the last Russian Romantics. (Rachmaninov, Glazunov, Scriabin, etc.)

A Time for Singing: Giacomo Puccini

A sesquicentennial celebration of the great composer's birth begins with some of his lesser-known music, including the Messa di Gloria.

Electric Miles

One man. One horn. Limitless worlds of sound. Get up with it. Down on the corner with Kevin Kellam and Charlie Curtis. Oh yeah... and Vote for Miles.

Gettin’ Rich with Rich

Technique, power, and speed blended together in one man. Buddy Rich was known as “The World’s Greatest Drummer”. Look back at the legendary swing bandleader with Ralph Graves.

Metheny/Mehldau Vol 2

Tune in as the hosts of Left of Cool, Living Time and Anything Goes get together to celebrate a guitar legend and a piano legend in the making. Larry, Gary, and Steve explore the exciting Nonesuch collaborations of the M&M boys.

Oscar

Are you looking for something to stimulate your mind? Are you having those conversation blahs? Then join Jacob Canon for The Oscar Show. Airing every Wednesday at 11:55 AM, this weekly program will focus on research and studies from the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Topics will vary from Physical Sciences to Psychology to Medical Research to Current Events including the Decision to Vote and Motherhood Timing. Stimulate your Mind...Your Friends...Your Life.

Tango and Chango

Take a romantic whirlwind tour of Argentina with Ann Porotti and Bruce Penner as your tour guides. Meet tango legend Chango Spasiuk and his peers on an exotic musical holiday.

Jazz Guitar

Jazz guitarist Royce Campbell and WTJU's John Simonette will spotlight the jazz guitar with selections by such greats as Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Grant Green, Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, and many more.

Alto Saxophone: Because of You

Beginning with Tab Smith's 1953 recording of "Because Of You", Tom Klippstein will play a sampling of our favorite alto saxophonists throughout the decades.

LIVE in the Studio: 'sesshin' featuring James McLaughlin and Josh Walker

The jazz band, sesshin, is smooth in the classic, dark-speakeasy, cigarette-in-mouth, too-cool-for-school way. James McLaughlin plays the drums, laying down the backbeat for some of C-town's finest including Josh Walker (guitar), Darrell Muller (bass), and Grove Miller (keyboards).

Charles Mingus

Better get it in your soul! The best of Charles Mingus with Charlie Curtis & Brian Keena... they'll show you what Mingus means personally and cosmically. Not just great bass, but lots of piano, lyricism, and Mingus' unique style of spontaneous performance... After all, who was more real than Mingus?

Bayou Blues Battle: Sonny Landreth vs. Tab Benoit

Tune in for a battle of two of South Louisiana's greatest contemporary blues guitarists. In one corner, he cut his teeth in the great Clifton Chenier's Red Hot Louisiana Band, it's slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth. In the other corner, mentored by the great Tabby Thomas, on the Fender guitar, it's the 2007 and 2008 Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year award winner, Tab Benoit. You, the listeners, will decide who will win this bayou blues battle.

Great Jazz Artists Worthy of Acclamation

Three hours of Freddy FreeRoamer’s top-rated tunes, both instrumental and vocal. Add your acclaim by voting with your wallet. Little known artists, as well as the famous, all at their best. Be there!

24 Shades of Blue

Can today’s songbirds compare with yesteryear’s ladies of song? This two-hour show will feature comparisons of vocalists past and present performing genuine jazz classics. Grady Lewis is your master of ceremonies.

Western Swing and Country Boogie

Join Pinetop Stephen and Lonesome George for two whole hours of western swing and country boogie from the late ‘40’s to the present day. Country music is never more fun than this!

Bebop and Beyond

Over the last sixty-some years since Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell sent Bebop off to the races, numerous artists have taken the baton and run with it. Michael Gourrier and David Eisenman will hustle to keep up.

Sonny Clark and Kenny Dorham: Bop Masters

Folk & Beyond host Aer Stephen welcomes "jazzocologist" John Piller to take you Beyond. Meet two underrated artists who mastered the bop idiom and blazed their way into record collections worldwide, but never became household names.

LIVE in the Studio: Matt Wilner Blues Band

Robin Tomlin is your co-pilot for this live event. This local guitar-driven blues group doesn’t want to be put in a box, so we’ll keep the studio doors open as they rock the airwaves. Is Thursday too soon to start the weekend? We say no.

Modern Jazz of New Orleans

The historical sounds of the Crescent City may thrill your ears, but the scene is still evolving even now. Join Mare Hunter and David Eisenman as they showcase the vibrant sounds that can be heard on the streets of the Big Easy.

Funk Getting Ready to Roll

Doesnt matter if it’s old school, new school, groovy, hip, righteous, from another country or from another planet. Preston Palisades is going to drop a funk bomb on you so nasty that even your wallet will be on the one. Just ask Cholly, Funk Getting Ready to Roll.

1968: The Women

Back by popular demand, Sandy and Joyce bring you great music from the watershed year of 1968. Aretha Franklin was crowned “Queen of Soul”. Dusty in Memphis, Cheap Thrills and Surrealistic Pillow hit record stores. It was the year of HAIR and “Funny Girl” and the year of Etta James, Nina Simone, and the Marvelettes. What more could you possibly want?? You’ll get that, and more.

Big Band Swingers and Singers

Stephanie Nakasian shines a light on the big voices of American swing. Helen Humes, Joe Williams, Lena Horne and the orchestras that drove the sound will dominate the WTJU airwaves.

Feelin' The Vibe

Join Brian Keena as he celebrates the role of the vibraphone in jazz, from the 1930s to current recordings. It’s a ninety-minute Jazz Messenger Hallowe'en Marathon Extravaganza, featuring the pioneering sounds of Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Cal Tjader and others. Feelin' the Vibe will treat, not trick, you so be sure to tune in and call in your pledge to WTJU!

Hammond B3 Organ Masters

Can't get enough of the dynamic tones of the Hammond B3? Then Join Nick Page, Gerald Watts, and special guest George Melvin for two full hours of some of the best B3 heard in these parts. Hear the likes of Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith and a whole host of others that keep the keys burning and your feet moving. Hear groove at its best!

Miles and Trane

From 1955-1961, Miles Davis and John Coltrane collaborated on some of the coolest jazz ever created with Kind of Blue, Round About Midnight, Milestones (and others) on the Columbia label. Join Aaron (aka, the JazzCzar) for 2 hours of sublime listening, and show your support by calling 434-924-3418.

Paul Butterfield

Meet the man whose blues harmonica influenced rock n’ roll history. Dusty Garwood gets lean and mean with the electric Chicago blues riffs of an underrated American legend. The perfect accompaniment to a cool Friday night. Don’t miss it!

LIVE in the Studio: The Olivarez Trio

On the heels of his CD release of "Adieu, Bienville", gypsy guitarist Rick Olivarez leads his trio in a two-hour live on-air session and schools us on the rollicking musical style. Terry Carpenter hosts.

Louis Jordan: King of the Jukeboxes

Join Peter Welch for timeless classics by Jump Blues/R&B pioneer Louis Jordan. The singer’s comedic delivery couldn’t disguise the rollicking blast of the band. Tune in and don’t miss this American classic.

My Soul Keeps On Burning

Featuring Al Green, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd, Bettye LaVette, and many more greats. Did you ever wonder where those amazing performers have gone? Join Professor Bebop for a showcase of those early classics and hear for yourself how great performers keep soul music burning today.

Early Morning Blues

Better than a cold cup of coffee. Peter Jones and Emmet Boaz will tap into America’s roots with a three-hour exploration of acoustic blues. You can listen in bed, but keep your checkbook handy.

Strut Those Blues Away: Vintage Music with Charles Peale

Dance music from the 1920s and even earlier. Featuring old-time music played with gay abandon by the Roseland Dance Orchestra, the Frisco Jass Band, Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds, and George Olsen's Orchestra with Bill Murray. Charles Peale will play the great songs like Good News, Crazy Blues and Say Arabella (What's a Fella to Do?)

Bobby Womack

WTJU’s British-born Mouth of the South will bring forth all that is Womack. The singer, songwriter, and guitarist started in a gospel group with his brothers, but soon found commercial success with classic tunes like “More than I Can Stand” and “If You Think You’re Lonely Now”. Gritty soul and a dynamite host.

Ray Charles

Rebecca Foster explores the genius of Brother Ray. The pianist and singer was never afraid to take risks in his musical career, producing hits that touched on R&B, jazz, and even country music. Dig in to the back catalog on a Saturday afternoon.

Swamp Boogie

There seems to be a revolution coming, deep from the swamps, hollers and holes of the South. It's the return of the son of Swamp Boogie. Join the Cast of JOTB and CAJ as they spin the muck-covered boogie that oozes into your pores and sticks with you forever. Take Delta Blues, Roots Rock, Country, and that Funky Groove and rub it all together to make your barbeque extra greasy.

McCoy Tyner and Michael Brecker

Join Gerald Watts for two hours of McCoy Tyner and Michael Brecker. Hear these two giants from modern jazz together and with other equally talented artists. Collaboration and improvisation seize the day.

Carla Bley

Now in her seventies, one of jazz and new music's premier composers and arrangers is again expressing herself in the context of a large ensemble. Steve Huff will sample her compositions going back to the 60's as well as listen to selections from the most recent release. Expect to hear Carla's collaborations with Charlie Haden, Gary Burton, and Steve Swallow, along with a few oddities.

Virtuosi of the Jazz Violin

Passionate, bluesy, swinging and lyrical, the violin can convey a world of emotions in the right hands. We’ll listen to some of the original giants like Stephane Grapelli and Stuff Smith, while looking to the genre-bending music of Darol Anger and rising star Jenny Scheinman. Call in a pledge for your favorite fiddler. Violinist Stephen Nachmanovitch will co-host with Gary Funston.

Sun Ra

Kevin Kellam and Tim Beeghly will climb aboard the mother ship and explore the interstellar reaches with the offbeat genius of Sun Ra. Open up your mind and surf on a comet until the wee hours.

The Golden Age of Gospel Quartets

The Dixie Hummingbirds, Pilgrim Travelers, Soul Stirrers, Swan Silvertones and the Blind Boys of Alabama and Mississippi set the sacred stage for secular soul in their Golden Age from 1955–1965. Rus Perry and Rebecca Foster take us back.

Ella Fitzgerald

Frank Testa brings a big, beautiful voice to the airwaves. We'll explore the music and career of Ella Fitzgerald, starting early in her career and featuring many of the great jazz musicians who accompanied her through the years.

Contemporary Big Bands

Jazz orchestras didn’t go out with the end of the swing era. Modern musicians from McCoy Tyner to Maria Schneider have assembled supersized groups that bring the large ensemble into contemporary music. Swing and soar with Eric Angevine.

Jazz Guitar in the 21th Century

This show will focus on the interesting jazz and genre-bending work of folks like Charlie Hunter, Bill Frisell, Gordon Grdina, Joel Harrison, Nels Cline, Kurt Rosenwinkel and others. Sean Grzegorczyk is your guide.

18th & Vine: The Kansas City Function

Although it remains today as a memorial, 18th & Vine once marked the southern border of a thriving cultural arts hub. Big Joe Turner and Charlie Parker were homegrown. Others - like Jay McShann and Count Basie - came and set up camp. You’re invited to join host Michael Shelton for an exploration of all the ‘happnin’s’ and see why it’s said that if jazz was born in New Orleans, it grew up in Kansas City.

Piano Jazz

Fifty Years of Tinklin’, Poundin’, Balladin’ and Boogyin’. There is probably no lineup in jazz that has persisted unabated as have the piano trio and quartet. Piano, bass, and drums, or some variant, continues to provide rooted stability as well as avant-garde experimentation. You’ll hear some familiar artists, and stretch a bit as well! David Lee hosts.

LIVE in the Studio: Mill Street Ramblers

Toe-tapping Dixieland for all to enjoy. Listen to some familiar faces as the Ramblers invade the studio space at FM 91.1 for a couple of hours. John Simonette is in the driver’s seat for this wild ride.

African Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

Join Walkin’ Blues host Bill Adams for a listen to African roots music of the 1950s. We’ll be wrapping up the marathon in style, so if you haven’t pledged by now, let these lilting sounds be your dialing music!