WUSF is now airing the hugely successful Concierto radio program on its 24-hour all-classical music station WSMR. The Concierto program features works by Latin American and Spanish composers and will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Thursday evening on radio, as well as the WSMR mobile app for streaming music.
“We are so pleased to add Concierto to our lineup of handcrafted playlists and special programs on Classical WSMR –which help bring new voices and provide music discovery to the airwaves,” said WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky.
More about Concierto
Concierto joins a series of programs on WSMR that focus on distinct themes in music. Concierto began at WDAV in North Carolina in 2009, primarily reaching the Charlotte audience. By early 2010, the series had been picked up by about 10 stations from Boston to San Diego, and today, Concierto is heard on close to 50 stations in the United States, from San Juan to California.
“This series recognizes that diversity in classical music is not a trend of the moment, but actually part of its history,” said show creator and WDAV General Manager Frank Dominguez. “Some of the first symphonies, concertos, operas and sacred choral works in the New World were written by composers from the Spanish colonies in Central and South America, and the tradition has continued to grow.”
Additionally, Dominguez said the show showcases Hispanic and LatinX musicians that have blended their traditions with those of European classical music, “and it demonstrates that there is more to Latino culture than mariachi and mambo – wonderful as those forms are.”
In the coming months, the show will feature essential works of the classical music canon conducted by great maestros such as:
- Gustavo Dudamel from Venezuela
- Costa Rica’s Giancarlo Guerrero
- Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla
- Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer from Cuba, Tanja Leon
Concierto will also include performances by world-class orchestras such as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico, and internationally renowned ensembles such as the Harlem and Catalyst String Quartets as well as the Sphinx Virtuosi.