Classical Music on KPR

Weekdays from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Enter to win classical music giveaways »About the Host: Cordelia BrownCordelia and music are long-entwined. Her dad was a jazz fanatic and her mom was especially keen on 20th century opera. Cordelia chose violin and piano as the first things she could do well that also interested her, after reading or being outside.Aside from music teaching, directing and accompanying at Bishop Seabury Academy, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Eudora High School and various Johnson County music stores, Cordelia has always been in radio. She started programming and announcing classical music at age 18 when Radio Kansas in Hutchinson first went on the air in 1979.She hosted KANU’s Music by Candlelight in the early 1980s before she left for classical KXTR-FM in Kansas City and later WITF TV/FM in Harrisburg, Penn. She returned to KANU in 1991 and has been here for most of that time since.“Every good piece of classical music tells a story. I hope I can help KPR listeners find those stories or meanings within the pieces, which can vary so much depending on the person, the hearing or the performance. And above all, classical music is for everybody, regardless of how much you know or how good your stereo is. It’s just like books or movies or artwork; you just like what you like, and there’s always so much more you can discover.”

Weekdays from 12 - 3 p.m.Enter to win classical music giveaways »About the Host: Jeff Watson Jeff began in public radio announcing in Garden City at KANZ-KZNA as the Sunday host of All Things Considered and other shows.Jeff came to KU in 1997. He earned a degree in film studies and a minor in English and is working on a political science degree. Hired by KPR in 2001 as a part-time announcer for ATC and classical music, Jeff took over evening classical music in fall 2004.An enthusiast of film soundtracks, particularly American films of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Jeff enjoys his colleagues and meeting listeners. "It was a thrill for me to meet George Harter. I really enjoy A Night on the Town. It is also an enduring pleasure for me to go out in Lawrence and meet strangers who tell me that they recognize my voice from the radio."Currently at work on a 520-page epic poem entitled "Anthony Perkins: Unsung" to be completed just as soon as he can find the right word to rhyme with Hitchcock, Jeff is a real team player.

Weekdays from 7 - 9 p.m. Enter to win classical music giveaways »About the Host: Destiny Ann MermagenKansas City violinist Destiny Ann Mermagen, also known as the Classical Cowgirl, joined the KPR staff as host of Evening Classical in November of 2022.As the winner of international competitions and performance awards, Destiny has appeared as violin soloist and chamber musician in many prestigious venues across the United States, in Russia, Prague, and elsewhere in Europe. Regional performance concert halls include Kennedy Center stages, Strathmore Hall, and New York City's Carnegie Hall. Throughout the last two decades, Destiny has been involved in various musical and educational productions around the world, including those with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and many more.In 2015, Destiny received the Live Positive award given for acts of kindness. She donated the $10,000 cash prize to Washington, D.C.'s Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where she volunteered her time giving musical performances. As a current resident of Prairie Village, Kansas, Destiny now volunteers at the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Missouri.

Classics Live brings you exclusive performances from throughout the KPR listening area. Our microphones travel to the Sunflower Music Festival, the Lied Center, the Ruel Joyce Recital series, the Great Spaces Music and Arts series, as well as performances recorded in Kansas Public Radio's live studio. Performers include the Emerson String Quartet, the Zoco Duo, Ensemble Iberica, and members of the Kansas City Symphony, among others. The series producer is KPR's Cordelia Brown, with recording engineer Chuck Smith. Darrell Brogdon hosts the program. Thursdays at 7 p.m. Upcoming ShowsClassics Live 204: Three Members of the NewEar Ensemble // September 5Flutist Christina Webster, cellist Sascha Groschang, and pianist Charles Dickinson present a Ruel Joyce recital of new music starting with Silver Dagger by Stacy Garrop, and including a “Toccata Grottesca” and a Mongol Sonata.Classics Live 205: A Great Spaces concert with The Concordia Choir // Sept 12Last year the Concordia Choir from Moorhead Minnesota included Topeka on their busy tour list across the country. KPR recorded their creative concert at Grace Cathedral with great choral music by Mendelssohn, Bach, Stephen Paulus and more.Classics Live 206: Ruel Joyce Recital of Two Grieg Sonatas // Sept 19Chiafei Lin is a First Violinist with the Kansas City Symphony. Karen Savage is a Juilliard-trained pianist. These fine Kansas City musicians bring us a sweet and clear concert of two sonatas by Edvard Grieg for violin and piano to contrast and compare.Classics Live 207: “On a Whim” with sax, piano, flute and oboe // Sept 26Dr Kyle Blake Jones, saxophonist, brings beautiful and unknown chamber music to the Polsky Theater stage. Trio, Fantasie, Elegy, Dawn to Dusk and Whimsical Sketches of Fanciful Birds are the names of the pieces.

Classical recordings from the KPR Live Performance Studio. Production credit: sound engineers Chuck Smith and Jason Slote.