by Kile Smith | Nov 30, 2015 | Jazz, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk, 30 Nov 2015.] December 6th is Dave Brubeck’s birthday, and WRTI’s Kile Smith looks at the secret behind the legacy of this giant of jazz. Dave Brubeck may be the most unlikely of jazz pianists. He almost was tossed from...
by Kile Smith | Nov 23, 2015 | American music, WRTI Arts Desk
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk 23 Nov 2015.] This week we celebrate Scott Joplin’s birthday, which many believe was on November 24th, 1868. WRTI’s Kile Smith looks at a facet of his life that may have led to that unique contribution he made to American...
by Kile Smith | Nov 22, 2015 | Choral music, Lutheran, new music
What a stupendous concert with Vespers and The Choristers! They are the first non-professional, non-university choir to perform the entire Vespers, and it came off brilliantly at Saturday night’s concert in the beautiful Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pa....
by Kile Smith | Nov 18, 2015 | Broad Street Review, Children's Music, Choral music, new music
[First published in Broad Street Review, 17 Nov 2015; printed here by permission.] On 9/11, on that Tuesday in 2001, the first thing I did was to put up the American flag. I went into the coat closet, fetched it, went out on the porch, put the staff into the holder,...
by Kile Smith | Nov 13, 2015 | American music, new music, Now is the Time, Radio, WRTI
The spirit of Copland looks over Now Is the Time, Saturday, November 14th at 9 pm. It would be the 115th birthday of the son of Lithuanian immigrants, the son of Brooklyn, who, more than any other composer, defined what is “American” in American music. We...
