Arts Conversations

Hear comments by those who make the arts so vibrant in Hampton Roads - conductors, musicians, singers, actors, teachers, visual artists. Learn about performances and get insight into the creative process from the artists themselves.

A Night at the Symphony with Laufey: Interview with conductor Ross Jamie Collins

Jana Lee Ross speaks with Finnish-British conductor Ross Jamie Collins, who will conduct singer-songwriter Laufey’s upcoming concerts with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

07-25
00:07

Interview with Rob Fisher

Jana Lee Ross speaks with Rob Fisher, Goode Family Artistic Advisor for Musical Theater and American Songbook with the Virginia Arts Festival, about an upcoming performance featuring Broadway star Kelli O’Hara with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Along with Broadway favorites, the program includes a new work by American composer Libby Larsen, setting poems by former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.

05-16
07:15

Interview with Edgar Meyer, Tessa Lark, and Joshua Roman

Raymond Jones speaks with a trio of innovative string players ahead of their Virginia Arts Festival performance. Legendary bassist Edgar Meyer is known for his adventurous collaborations with artists of all genres. His newest adventure includes the extraordinary classical violinist and Kentucky fiddler Tessa Lark and cellist/composer Joshua Roman.

05-06
09:15

Interview with Samantha Ege

Raymond Jones speaks with musicologist and pianist Dr. Samantha Ege about her new album Maestra, which features the first commercial recording of the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in Two Uninterrupted Speeds by Julia Perry, plus the Concerto for Piano and Strings by pioneering film composer Doreen Carwithen.

03-25
00:12

Vienna Boys' Choir

Jana Lee Ross speaks with Dr. Tina Breckwoldt, historian and dramaturge for the famed Vienna Boys' Choir, as we anticipate their upcoming holiday performances here in Hampton Roads.

12-09
09:18

The Art of Musical Storytelling: Chris Thile and Eric Jacobsen

Jana Lee Ross speaks with Virginia Symphony Music Director Eric Jacobsen and mandolinist/composer Chris Thile about musical storytelling, and their upcoming Virginia Arts Festival performances of Thile's new work ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra.

06-11
08:00

Ellington 125 at the Virginia Arts Festival

Raymond Jones speaks with Todd Stoll, who directs the Attucks Jazz Orchestra in Virginia Arts Festival's celebration of the 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth, with a program that goes well beyond the greatest hits.

05-17
07:45

Interview with Jorge Parodi of Opera in Williamsburg

Raymond Jones speaks with Music Director Jorge Parodi about Opera in Williamsburg's upcoming production of Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman.

05-16
07:45

Interview with pianist Lara Downes

Raymond Jones speaks with pianist Lara Downes about her upcoming performances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, which will feature a new piano concerto by local composer Adolphus Hailstork.

05-13
08:48

The Neighboring Village: a new work for the Virginia Chorale

Composer Gregory Spears speaks with Raymond Jones about his new work The Neighboring Village (inspired by a Kafka story), which was commissioned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Virginia Chorale.

04-17
09:30

Olga Kern on the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Festival

Raymond Jones talks with pianist Olga Kern about her upcoming performances of the complete cycle of Rachmaninoff concertos with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

10-18
12:35

Eric Jacobsen on the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Festival

Dwight Davis talks with Virginia Symphony Orchestra Music Director Eric Jacobsen about the upcoming Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Festival with Olga Kern.

10-13
07:30

Interview with Julia Bullock

Wayla talks with classical singer Julia Bullock about her upcoming Virginia Arts Festival performance of Jessie Montgomery's Five Freedom Songs.

06-12
09:30

Interview with Elizabeth Blackney

Rebecca Weinstein spoke with Elizabeth Blackney, Executive Director of the Cook Foundation, about the 2023 Gloucester Arts Festival.

06-02
08:15

The Emerson Quartet and Beethoven

Dwight Davis talks with violists Lawrence Dutton

05-16
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Rachmaninoff at 150

Dwight Davis talks with pianist Olga Kern about her VAF recital

05-05
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Interview with Rob Fisher

Rebecca Weinstein talks with Broadway music director Rob Fisher about Virginia Arts Festival's upcoming performance of Chicago the Musical - in Concert, with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

05-03
05:30

Interview with violinist Randall Goosby

Raymond Jones speaks with Randall Goosby about his upcoming Virginia Arts Festival performance at the Attucks Theatre, recent recording projects, and the original dedicatee of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata.

03-12
07:30

Interview with Chuck Woodward, Artistic Director of the Virginia Chorale

The Virginia Chorale will perform a concert called “Lift Every Voice: Music of Black Women Composers" on February 4 and 5. Rebecca Weinstein spoke with Artistic Director Chuck Woodward about the program and what inspired him to put it together.

02-03
04:36

Interview with Floriana Frassetto of Mummenschanz

Virginia Arts Festival presents the Swiss ensemble Mummenschanz on Saturday, October 29 at Chrysler Hall. Rebecca spoke with Artistic Director and Founding Member Floriana Frassetto.

10-27
03:10

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