WFIU: Directions in Sound

Retracing The Road To Freedom: The 50th Anniversary Of The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Sunday, December 4, 8 p.m.

December 1, 2005, marks the 50th anniversary of a seminal event in America's civil rights history. It was on this date in 1955 in Montgomery that a 42-year-old black seamstress named Rosa Parks defied a municipal segregation law, refusing to give up her seat on a crowded public bus for a white man.
When Rosa Parks was arrested, black leaders organized a mass bus boycott that united communities throughout the South in protest of segregation laws-the beginning of the civil rights movement. This year-long boycott, which ultimately led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, catapulted one of the organizers, a young preacher named Martin Luther King Jr., into the international spotlight.
Join Tavis Smiley for a commemoration of an event that helped change the course of the nation. Smiley's distinguished guests comprise a "who's who" of civil rights leaders, historians, celebrities, and cultural icons, all of whom offer reflections on that pivotal moment in American history. Retracing the Road to Freedom was recorded before a live audience at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery.

He was born John Winston Lennon on October 9, 1940 and died John Ono Lennon on December 8, 1980-twenty-five years ago this December. This program is a memorial and celebration of the musician and the man. NPR's Lynn Neary is the host.
Neary begins the hour with the audio essay, "On Ed Sullivan," about youth and music, which features the Beatles' live performances and 1963-64 fan club Christmas messages.
Other segments in the hour include "All We Are Saying" by one of radio's top producers, Barrett Golding. Through Lennon's own words and music (interviews, albums, outtakes, antics and poetics) he gives his views on peace, family, and art.
In Paul Ingles' "The Day John Lennon Died" members of the generation jolted by Lennon's death recall how they heard the news and how deeply this ex-Beatle's life affected theirs.
"NYC/LA Radio 12/8/1980" and "20th Anniversary Mourners: Imagine 12/8/2000" use "found sound"-from the radio dial recorded the night of Lennon's death, and from recordings of mourners singing in Central Park on the twenty year anniversary of Lennon's death. "Grief" by Kate Sullivan and Vince DeLorca is about Lennon's song "God" as grief counseling, from the radio series Pop Vultures.

This program highlights three case histories, each a turning point in neuroscience that continues to advance cutting-edge developments in frontal lobe damage, memory, and Parkinson's disease.
The most famous patient in the history of memory studies was known by his initials H.M. To relieve his attacks of epilepsy, doctors had removed a part of his cerebral cortex. The unexpected secondary effect of this experiment was spectacular: H.M.'s memories of his youth were intact, but he could not acquire the slightest new long-term memory. This case has informed contemporary research, including the development of memory-enhancing medications.
A breakthrough in determining the cause of Parkinson's disease occurred in the early 1980s when Dr. William Langston noticed that several young heroin addicts had symptoms of advanced Parkinson's. All had taken a tainted batch of the drug MPTP, which caused the symptoms. Langston was then able to construct the first laboratory model of Parkinson's, and subsequently, its symptoms were induced in monkeys by feeding them MPTP.
Railroad worker Phineas Gage became the first patient from whom neuroscientists learned about the relationship between personality and the front parts of the brain. Cage survived a blast in 1848 that caused severe injury to his skull. He recovered physically, but he was a changed man. Formerly dependable and well liked, he was now crude and unpredictable. In 1978, Hanna and Antonio Damasio used computer modeling and brain imaging techniques to determine that the rod had damaged both of Gage's frontal lobes, which explained his personality change. The Damasios have since compiled data on 1,500 specific brain lesions and the learning, memory, and personality changes that accompany them.

Johann Sebastian Bach is among the world's most revered composers, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio presents one of his most beloved works performed by the famed Windsbacher Boy Choir under the direction of Karl-Friedrich Beringer.
This oratorio was first heard in its entirety at Leipzig's St. Thomas Church in 1734. The narrative opens with the Nativity as told in the book of Matthew. Bach artfully shaped the biblical text, selecting the passages in such a way that the age-old story unfolds linearly and logically, which allows the drama to build to its hopeful and comforting end.
Hosted by Michael Rothe, Bach's Christmas Oratorio was recorded in Berlin's Philharmonie. The Windsbacher Boy Choir is joined by the acclaimed Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and four soloists: Ingrid Schmithüsen, soprano, Alison Browner, alto, Marcus Ullmann, tenor, and Dietrich Henschel, bass.

Host Michael Rothe is a native of Germany who began his radio career as a volunteer at a public station in Fort Wayne, Indiana while working as a German and French teacher.

He subsequently spent 12 years as a classical music announcer at WILL-FM in Urbana, IL, before joining WFMT in Chicago as a Beethoven Satellite Network program host in 1995.

A choral singer himself, he has for over a decade hosted concert series and music documentaries from Deutsche Welle Radio.

Jazz Piano Christmas: In Concert at the Kennedy Center
Sunday, December 18, 9 p.m.

Jazz Piano Christmas is a popular NPR holiday classic recorded live in concert at the Kennedy Center. In this program, artists perform their own interpretations of holiday standards. The artists include keyboardists Patrice Rushen, Lynne Arriale, Jason Moran, Arturo O'Farrill; 12-year-old pianist prodigy Matt Savage, chanteuse Karrin Allyson, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and the Bad Plus. Lisa Simeone hosts.

Holiday Pops with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops
Sunday, December 25, 8 p.m.

Founded over three decades ago under the legendary conductor Arthur Fiedler, Holiday Pops is one of the great American traditions of music for the season. Hear the world's most famous orchestra (and one of its most popular conductors) on their "home turf"-Symphony Hall in Boston-in a concert of classics, carols, and medleys for the holidays under the leadership of charismatic conductor Keith Lockhart.

WFIU wishes School of Music Professor Emeritus Thomas Dunn a very happy 80th birthday on December 21st.
Thomas Dunn studied music at the Peabody Conservatory and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and later at Harvard University and the Amsterdam Conservatory. His teachers included such luminary musicians as E. Power Biggs (organ), Robert Shaw (choral conducting), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord), and Anthon van der Horst (orchestral conducting). In 1957 Dunn became music director at the Church of the Incarnation in New York. In 1959, he was appointed music director of the Cantata Singers. He founded the Festival Orchestra of New York, and became known to a wider public through a series of Bach concerts in Carnegie Hall, championing a return to small forces for larger baroque works (Handel's Messiah, Bach's Mass in B-Minor, etc.) and historical performance practices. He was an influential pioneer during the early music revival in the mid 20th century. One collaboration in particular led to the rare opportunity to perform the American premiere of a Haydn's Cello Concerto in C, which was lost to the world until its re-discovery in Prague in 1961. It was performed by cello virtuoso Janos Starker (now one of IU's distinguished professors of music) with the New York Festival Orchestra founded and directed by Thomas Dunn.
From 1967 to 1986, Dunn was music director of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians calls his performances "clean, transparent, rhythmic . . . " We think you'll agree.
Professor Dunn taught at the IU School of Music from 1990. He officially retired from IU in May 1999, but continues to serve as Choral Mentor for the Doctoral Choral Conducting Students.
This month, we'll hear Dunn and the IU Chamber Orchestra perform the music of J.C. Bach, Handel, and Martin. We'll begin with a performance of J.C. Bach's Six Symphonies, Op. 6: No. 6 in g. That will be broadcast Tuesday, December 6th at 10 a.m. and again on Monday, December 26th, at 7:06 p.m.
On Monday, December 12th during Evening Classical Music, we'll enjoy a performance of Handel's Concerto Grosso in a, op. 6, No. 4, HWV 322. George Walker will broadcast it again on the following Tuesday during his morning show at 10 a.m. Our last offering of the month with Thomas Dunn can be heard on Tuesday, December 27th; a recording of Martin's Petite Sinfonie Concertante which features Kirsten Agresta on harp, Donald Livingston on harpsichord, and Jeremy Denk on piano.
Tune in to WFIU and hear what this great musical artist has to offer in music and wisdom.

WFIU is the media sponsor for the following events. Find more information on this and other activities on the calendar page of our Web site: www.wfiu.indiana.edu.

Crazy Quilt of Bloomington Songs
John Waldron Arts Center
Bloomington
Friday, December 2, 8 p.m.

Come enjoy songs of love, of war, of nature and of nonsense. Bloomington composer Lee Chapman sets local poets' creations to music and the Brutal Players will bring it to life in this innovative performance. Recommended for all ages.

Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra
"Holiday Pops!"
Saturday, December 3, 7:30 p.m.
Tilson Auditorium
Larry Bird Avenue and 7th Street

Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" is just one of the many holiday favorites that the THSO will perform under the direction of David Bowden. Buy an extra seat and treat a friend to the festive sounds of the season. www.thso.org

Musical Arts Youth Orchestra Jazz Concert
John Waldron Arts Center
Bloomington
Sunday, December 4, 3:00 p.m.
Tickets 5$; 18 and under admitted free

The MAYO is comprised of outstanding young area musicians directed by Thomas Loewenheim. In this concert members of MAYO jazz combos will play jazz standards in their own inimitable style. www.bloomington.in.us/~mayo

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra
"A Winter Gathering"
Sunday, December 11, 3:00 p.m.
Bloomington High School North Auditorium

Program includes the Festive Overture of Dmitri Shostakovich, Danse Bacchanale by Camille Saint-Säens, "Brindisi" from La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi; Symphony No. 83 "La Poule," and Symphony No. 104 "London" of Josef Haydn. Conducted by Music Director and Conductor Christopher Ludwa.

NPR PEOPLE
Debbie Elliott, New Host of Weekend All Things Considered

In August 2005, correspondent Debbie Elliott became the new host of Weekend All Things Considered. As a correspondent for NPR News, Elliott now covers the Gulf South region for NPR News. From her base near Mobile, Alabama, Elliott travels around the deep South, reporting on a variety of issues and events. Her reports can be heard regularly on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
Since joining NPR News in 1995, Elliott has covered the re-opening of civil-rights-era murder cases, the legal battle over the Ten Commandments at the Alabama Supreme Court, the Elian Gonzales custody dispute from Miami, local homeland security initiatives, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a number of hurricanes. She was a part of NPR series on girls and the juvenile justice system, the 50th anniversary of Brown versus the Board of Education, science and the courts, and homework.
In addition to covering news from around the Southeast, Elliott is NPR's specialist on tobacco litigation. She has covered landmark smoker lawsuits, the tobacco settlement with states, tobacco-control policy, and the latest trends in youth smoking.
Elliott also contributes to NPR's ongoing, in-depth coverage of Southern politics. Elliott was stationed in Tallahassee, Florida, for election night in 2000, and was one of the first national reporters on the scene for the contentious presidential election contest that followed. During the 1998 elections, she traveled up Interstate 65 from Mobile to Indiana for a series of conversations with voters.
For more than 20 years, Elliott has been reporting from her native South, a region rich in cultural and historical significance and teeming with colorful characters. In addition to her work with NPR, Debbie has filed reports internationally for the BBC, the CBC, and the former Monitor Radio. She is an occasional contributor to Alabama Public Television. Her experience includes three years in Montgomery, Alabama, covering state government for the Alabama Radio Network, and several years as a sports reporter and producer at commercial radio stations and networks.
A cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama College of Communication, Elliott first worked in public radio during college. She hosted local news breaks during Morning Edition at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she eventually became news director. She served on the national Board of Public Radio News Directors, Incorporated, and helped coordinate the 1994 Public Radio Journalism Conference that led to publication of "Independence and Integrity: A Guidebook for Public Radio Journalism." She was recognized as the 2000 Outstanding Alumna in Telecommunication and Film from the University of Alabama College of Communication.
Elliott is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She was born in Atlanta, grew up in the Memphis area, and now lives with her husband and two children in Orange Beach, Alabama.

December is a favorite time of the year around the WFIU jazz department. We're always grateful for all the support we've received throughout the November fund drive, and, in addition to our usual musical fare, we look forward to offering you holiday music both old and new.
December also brings us the anniversary of jazz director Joe Bourne's arrival at WFIU. This month Joe begins his twenty-second year as the host of our weekday jazz program Just You and Me. You can also hear Joe Friday nights at 10:10 on Afterglow. Be sure to tune in for Joe's traditional playing of Louis Armstrong's "The Night Before Christmas" on the Friday, December 23rd edition of Afterglow. Along with other holiday favorites, Joe will be featuring a new release from Diana Krall, Christmas Songs, on which the star singer and pianist is backed by the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra. That ensemble includes drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist Bob Hurst, who both studied with David Baker at Indiana University once upon a time.
Speaking of David Baker, you can hear a new CD of David's compositions performed by Indiana's own Buselli Wallarab Orchestra on the Friday, December 2nd edition of The Big Bands. Other Big Bands programs in December will feature the film appearance music of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, a near-Christmas Eve special ("Soon It Will Be Christmas Day"), and "Santa's Big-Band Bag," a December 9th program featuring CD gift recommendations for the swing lover on your holiday shopping list. All of these shows can be heard at any time after the Monday following broadcast on www.thebigbands.indiana.edu.
Another staple of our Friday-night jazz lineup is Marion McPartland's Piano Jazz. This month Marion's guests include trumpeter Jon Faddis, pianist Andrew Hill, saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, singer-songwriter Susan Werner, and pianist Ruth Laredo. Scientists are currently exploring better ways of staying warm on a December Friday night than staying indoors and listening to Piano Jazz on WFIU, but they have yet to yield positive results.
Weekend jazz listeners can also catch a special Yuletide edition of Marion's Piano Jazz on Sunday, December 18th at 9 p.m., with special guests that include singer Karrin Allyson, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and Nashville, Indiana resident Lynne Arriale on piano. Our late Saturday evening program Night Lights will offer its own observation of the holidays with the Christmas Eve broadcast "The Night Before Christmas" and the December 31st "Slim's Jam: New Year's Eve Party," featuring live music from Slim Gaillard and Harry the Hipster Gibson, as well as recordings from June Christy and spoken word performances by Ken Nordine. Earlier December broadcasts will focus on three artists who are emerging, in one way or another, from obscurity: "Another Holiday," about the 1950s recordings of West Coast jazz singer Johnny Holiday; "Now Found," about the return of legendary bassist Henry Grimes, who vanished from the jazz world for more than thirty years (this program includes an interview I did with Grimes when he recently visited WFIU), and "Not Afraid to Live," about Frank Hewitt, a pianist with roots in the bop era who died at the age of 66 in 2002 just before the release of his first CD. These programs can also be heard on our website at www.nightlights.indiana.edu.
Many thanks again for the support you showed for jazz and public radio during our recent fund-drive. Through the years we hope you'll be together here with us on WFIU . . . happy holidays.

In December WFIU is thrilled to feature four noteworthy new releases.
On Thursday, December 1st at 7:06 p.m., join us for Johannes Brahms' Second Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 100 in a performance by violinist Renaud Capuçon and pianist Nicholas Angelich from a new release of the complete violin sonatas of Johannes Brahms on the Virgin Classics label. Also from that disc on Thursday, December 15th also at 7:06 p.m. tune in for Brahms' First Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 78 and on Wednesday, December 28th at 10:12 p.m. we'll conclude with the Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108.
Next, we have a new group of spirited performances of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos from the Naïve Classics label played by the period instrument ensemble Concerto Italiano and led from the harpsichord by their music director Rinaldo Alessandri. We begin with the Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 on Saturday, December 3rd at 12:09 p.m. and will also hear the Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 on Wednesday, December 14th at 10:12 p.m., the Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 the following week on Wednesday, December 21st, also at 10:12 p.m., and the Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 on Wednesday, December 18th at 7:06 p.m.
Also, this month we have a new release on EMI Classics of the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Simon Rattle in a performance of Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà . . . [Illuminations of the Beyond . . .] by French 20th century master Olivier Messiaen. We'll hear that work on Wednesday, December 7th during late night classical music at 10:12 p.m.
And finally, we have a real treat, a new audiophile quality recording of the rarely heard first two symphonies of Camille Saint-Saëns in a new release from Pentatone Classics. The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt performs under the direction of Eliahu Inbal in these recently remastered performances dating back to 1975. We'll hear the First Symphony in E-flat, Op. 2 on Wednesday, December 14th at 10:12 p.m. and then the following week, on Wednesday, December 21st at 7:06 p.m. join us for the Second Symphony in A minor, Op. 55.

December 4 - Jill Taylor
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroscientist and neuroanatomist specializing in the postmortem examination of the cerebral cortex of the human brain. She spent seven years performing brain research at Harvard Medical School in the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry and then, at the age of 37, she had a rare form of stroke that forced her to relearn basic motor and mental skills. She has a sibling diagnosed with schizophrenia and served for three years on the National Board of Directors of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She writes and performs her own songs promoting knowledge about the brain and brain donation, bringing uplifting messages about the brain to families, patients, and professionals. She spoke with Sarah Stevens. (repeat)

December 11 - Alasdair Hutton
Alasdair Hutton worked as a radio journalist for radio in Australia, as a print journalist for The Age newspaper in Melbourne, and then as an announcer for the BBC in his native Scotland. He was a volunteer paratrooper for 32 years with the British Army, and later swapped his parachute for a longbow as a Member of the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, which accompanies the Queen on her public ceremonial duties in Scotland. He left broadcasting to go into politics and was a member of the European Parliament for ten years. He is now narrator of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Convenor of the Scottish Borders Council. Patrick O'Meara is the host. (repeat)

December 18 - Michael Steinberg
Michael Steinberg is a musicologist, teacher, chamber music coach, narrator, and was music critic of The Boston Globe for twelve years. He is the program annotator of the San Francisco Symphony and the New York Philharmonic and is considered the premier writer of program notes for symphony orchestra concerts. His books-"The Symphony," "The Concerto" and "Choral Masterworks"-have been praised for their delightful blend of biography, musical analysis and humor. Peter Jacobi is the host. (repeat)

December 25 - Tom Wolfe
As an astute novelist, hilarious and often satirical social historian, and a razor-sharp cultural critic, Tom Wolfe has been a chronicler of American culture for over thirty-five years. His decade-defining books include "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and "The Right Stuff." His first novel, "The Bonfire of the Vanities," captured the materialism and social isolation of Wall Street and the increasingly complex racial politics of urban American life in the 1980s. In his latest novel, "I Am Charlotte Simmons," Wolfe again peers into America's underbelly, this time uncovering the excesses of modern college life. He spoke with Michael Lewis for City Arts and Lectures. (repeat)

"Skipping Christmas"
by John Grisham
Beginning Monday, December 12
Number of episodes: ten

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences-and isn't half as easy as they had imagined.
Author John Grisham takes a break from the serious action and drama of his legal thrillers to take a frighteningly funny look at the pressure to conform during the holidays. A classic tale for modern times, "Skipping Christmas" offers a hilarious satire of the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.

Listeners to WFIU's fund drive heard three new musical spots this year. A gospel song, a ballad, and a tango were composed and written by local musician Sarah Stevens, who is also a volunteer host of WFIU's locally-produced interview program Profiles.
For Stevens, creating the spots was both easy and difficult.
The easy part was writing the lyrics and music-both come naturally to Stevens, who's been writing songs since she was a little girl.
"I've been making up songs since I was three years old," she says from her Bloomington home. "My mom would write them down for me."
Since then, Stevens has written hundreds of songs in a flash during her thirty years of teaching music at University Elementary School.
"I really just write music and lyrics off the top of my head. It's kind of a joke with my co-authors. I never struggle over it, I just goof around and see what comes out. Some of it works, and some of it doesn't. I call it 'splattering'-or giving co-authors 'something to reject.' I find that the less ego-invested I am in the creative process, the easier it is."
During the recording sessions, which took place in Stevens' home studio, last minute changes were made to the lyrics. The ballad, with vocals by local jazz singer Rachel Caswell, had to have two verses cut to fit it into the sixty second time frame. Stevens took the changes in stride.
"If someone wants it changed, I change it. Got a time limit? Speed it up or chop some off. Pitch too high? Transpose it. Need lyric changes? Substitute this for that."
The gospel song features Jake Woollen, who sounds a lot older than his thirteen years.
"Jake is a wonderful talent," says Stevens, "as a singer and an all-around musician. He's a classical cellist, a jazz pianist, and a vocal stylist. He started studying piano with me only two-and-a-half years ago, and he sounds like he's played since early childhood."
And the difficult part of creating the spots? Producing them.
"It took hours of labor to do the recording," Stevens said. "And then later to get the levels of the vocals and instrumentals balanced. I have a new recording program and I'm always learning when it comes to engineering, so I make lots of mistakes. At some point I'll try to get over my allergy to reading manuals."
Sometimes singers prefer a different key than the one originally selected by Stevens. That was true for Deanna Demes, who had been performing in concert at the Pine Box Theatre in Nashville prior to recording.
To accommodate Demes' register Stevens transposed and re-recorded the instrumentals on the spot. She performed the instruments on a synthesizer. Piano, trumpet, drums, and even a human chorus-were all produced on her Kurzweil 2600 using "sampled" recordings of the real thing.
Stevens had a "great time" making the songs and is already thinking of the kind of songs she'll write for next year. "Perhaps some Gregorian chant? Or country and western? How about a Gilbert and Sullivan style WFIU patter song?"

Congratulations WFIU listeners-you ended fund drive in record time!
During our Saturday morning broadcast of Weekend Edition, our $290,000 dollar goal was met, ending the drive early. It's all because of your fast response.
Next month in Directions in Sound we'll present a complete list of the volunteers, actors, on-air announcers, and local business who helped us reach our goal. Until then, pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

Caption: Members of the Walking Women of Brown County (from l. Mary Perez, Marge Cook, and Rosemary Saurer) give their feet a rest while taking pledges for WFIU.

WFIU
Created and maintained by Michael Toler
Last updated: Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Copyright 2005, The Trustees of
Indiana University