Black History Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the contributions of African-Americans, and in classical music that contribution is profound. Throughout the month of February, Classical 101 will be highlighting some of those legacies.
Every Friday this month, tune in at noon to hear a profile of an important black artist, from a series produced by WUOL in Louisville. We’ll feature profiles of Leontyne Price, Moses Hogan, James DePreist and Andre Watts on air, and you can listen to the entire series here:
On Friday, Feb. 10, Christopher Purdy will be devoting an entire request show to the divine soprano Leontyne Price, celebrating her 90th birthday. Our listeners sent in so many requests, it will be a challenge to fit them all in! Be listening from 1 to 3 p.m.
Last year, Purdy produced four podcasts about African-American conductors, featuring local conductor Antoine Clark as his co-host. They’re very much worth revisiting, and you can find all four here.
And, of course, we’ll be calling attention to some of the great artists you hear every day in our local programs: Leontyne Price, William Grant Still, Wynton Marsalis, Awadagin Pratt, Stewart Goodyear, Kathleen Battle, Nathaniel Dett … the list goes on!
Be sure to keep an eye on our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed for the latest program updates and artist highlights.