The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025-26 season of Saturday matinee broadcasts continues on April 4 with a historic broadcast of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, presented in honor of the 150th anniversary of the opera’s premiere, which took place on April 8, 1876. Ponchielli’s score is perhaps best known today for its ballet, ...

From the poignant, introspective music written for Holy Week to the triumphant sounds of hope and renewal at Easter, composers have been inspired for centuries to write some of their most profoundly beautiful music for this period on the Christian calendar. You’ll hear many of these works over the next few days on WQXR, including the highlights below, plus a special Easter ed...

On tonight’s program, host Emi Ferguson features more performances from the Caramoor Center for the Arts’s Evnin Rising Stars. The 2025 Evnin Rising Stars residents are violinists Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, Clara Neubauer, and Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, violists Samuel Rosenthal and Luther Warren, cellists Annie Jacobs-Perkins and Leland Ko, and pianist Evren Ozel. You’ll hear so...

Tune in to WQXR April 1st, 2026 to hear a number of silly or satirical pieces to celebrate April Fool's Day.

With April Fools' Day comes a chance to remind ourselves that classical music isn't all stuffed shirts and furrowed brows. There's long been a penchant for self-effacing humor in classical circles, the best proof of which is the comedy tradition th...

Program notes courtesy of Carnegie Hall.Rising superstar pianist Hayato Sumino is soloist in Gershwin’s blues-infused Piano Concerto, marking his orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall. Known for his quick-witted virtuosity across jazz and classical idioms, Sumino finds an ideal match in the musi...