December is here, and with it the nip in the air and the frost in the fields. On this episode we’ll explore some of the best music for the coldest time of year…a wintry mix of works by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, and more, with the help of radio icons Bob Edwards and Tom Hall.
This Episode’s Playlist
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37: XII. December
Stefan Petrov, piano
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Russian Dance, fr. Swan Lake, Op. 20
Max Yiming Mao, violin
Stefan Petrov, piano
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.15.2017
arr. Pablo Casals: Song of The Birds
Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello
Stefan Petrov, piano
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I
Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II
Molly Wise, viola
Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017
Ottorino Respighi: Italiana fr. Ancient Airs & Dances [excerpt]
SoHyun Ko, violin
Minchae Kim, violin
Jerome McCoy, viola
Dilshod Narzaillaev, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2022
Antonio Vivaldi: “Winter” Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297 fr. The Four Seasons
Bob Edwards, narrator
Danny Yehun Jin, solo violin
Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin
Nicholas Kitchen, violin
Matt Cohen, viola
Zhihao Wu, cello
Kreeger Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12. 17.2018
Robert Frost: Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening
Tom Hall, narrator
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017
Antonin Dvořák, arr. Julia Egan: Silent Woods
Andrew Gonzalez, viola
Robby Brown, guitar
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.02.2019
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in D Major, K. 136
III. Presto
Ji-Won Song, Kenneth Naito; violin I
Max Yiming Mao; Noelle Naito, violin II
Molly Wise, viola
Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2017
Robert Schumann: Romance, Op. 28, No. 2 [excerpt]
Lynne Mackey, piano
House concert, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 11.19.2020
Jean Sibelius: Souvenir, Op. 79, No. 1
Kitty Amaral, violin (Elk Creek, VA)
Eshter Lim, piano (New York, NY)
Heifetz Institute Virtual Recording | 07.22.2020
Hanukkah Medley: “Oh Hanukkah,” “Al Hanisim” (Thank You for the Miracles)
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin
Coleman Itzkoff, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2016
Go Deeper
December also ushers in our annual Heifetz Holiday Tour – two full weeks of public concerts, private musicales, outreach concerts, and radio appearances. The 2023 Holiday Tour includes performances with the Candlelight Concerts Society in Columbia, MD, The Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC, at the Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, VA, and our Heifetz Holiday Homecoming in our Staunton hometown!
Tom Hall, (pictured here with Heifetz Holiday Tour artists Matt Cohen, viola, Danny Jin, violin, Robby Brown, guitar, and Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin) is host of the award-winning Midday program on Baltimore NPR News station WYPR. But lending his voice to this episode is no stretch – for years he was the Music Director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society!
“In a career that has lasted more than 30 years, Bob Edwards has interviewed nearly 20,000 newsmakers. Born May 15, 1947 in Louisville, Kentucky, Edwards spent the early part of his career as a newscaster for Indiana station WHEL/New Albany, followed by a stint in Korea with Armed Forces Radio and Television….Read the Radio Hall of Fame entry of our featured speaker in this episode.who for 24 years served as host of NPR’s Morning Edition.