Dozens of Pittsburgh Symphony musicians, the Mendelssohn Choir, CMU students, pianist Henry Spinelli and many more will help the Pittsburgh Symphony Association with their most significant fundraising event of the year taking place away from Heinz Hall, "Symphony Splendor," a holiday home tour at Virginia manor in Mount Lebanon on Sunday November 19, 2017 from 11am to 5pm. With why you should go it’s Chris Thompson, Committee Chair of Music Acquisition and Diane Unkovic, Co Chair of the event and Association Board member. Chris Thompson is the wife of Thomas Thompson fifty year Pittsburgh Symphony veteran clarinetist and she sings as a member of the Mendelssohn Choir. Diane Unkovic has served in numerous civic capacities including serving as a staff member for Senator John Heinz and she is the wife of Dennis Unkovic of the law firm Meyer Unkovic and Scott.  

Manfred Honeck stops by the QED Morning Show to talk about this weekend's concerts with "Larghetto for Orchestra" by James MacMillan, the Beethoven Symphony No. 3, and the Schumann Cello Concerto with soloist Alisa Weilerstein.

Violinist Ray Chen with Taiwanese ancestry grew up in Australia and now makes his debut playing the Bruch G minor Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Here is everything you need to know about Bruch’s greatest hit and what Ray is up to with You tube and social media where he has done comedy and profiled his heroes in addition to playing at the Nobel Prize ceremonies.

Krzystof Urbanski, the Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Guest of the NDR Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg Germany conducts the Shostakovich Symphony No 5 , Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and the Bruch g minor Violin Concerto with Ray Chen in his Heinz Hall debut. He agrees that Shostakovich was rejoicing under pressure in the 5th and haunted by terror from his own government.

Pittsburgh Sympony Utility Trombone James Nova presents Novadub for Music 101 October 11 at 12:30 in the Dorothy Porter Simmons Regency Rooms at Heinz Hall. He gives us a preview  discussing his new recording which started with his dubbing of multiple parts creating a cathedral of trombone sound in scores by John Williams. Those arrangements including the Star Wars love theme have now been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times from Soundcloud. Jim also reveals his favorite trombone players of all time from the orchestral and jazz world.

Musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony fanned out all over the city  to present a Day of Music on Tuesday October 10, 2017. It started at WQED-FM with the Clarion Quartet. They played live in the studio with Aria and Capriccio by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Marta Krechkovsky and Jennifer Orcahrd violins with Bronwyn Banerdt, cello and Tatjana Mead Chamis viola.

Christoph Konig discusses his Pittsburgh Symphony concert with Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony and the Heinz Hall premiere of the Scherzo in B flat by Mussorgsky. He tells us he recently made his Grafenegg Festival debut as a singer and opened the season with his Orchestra in Luxembourg.  Plus, he  shares his thoughts about Manfred Honeck’s 10th year with the Pittsburgh Symphony along with highlights of his upcoming season in London and around the globe.  

Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Flute Lorna McGhee joins the chair of the effort to Save Our Symphony, Ali Gelormino now retired after teaching in Shaler Township for three decades, to talk over the plan for a benefit concert called "Starry Starry Night" at Rodef Shalom Temple on October 7th, 7pm at Levy Hall with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Lorna fills us in on the program which includes Claude Bolling and Vivaldi.

Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Conductor Andres Franco fills us in on the plans for his free concert celebrating Regional Asset Days October 3rd  at Heinz Hall and his latest concerts.  

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck stopped by the QED Morning Show to talk about this weekend's Season Opening concerts with Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony, the Brahms Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff, and a new piece to honor Manfred Honeck's 10th Anniversary as Music Director by Boris Pigovat.  Manfred also gives his feedback as to the authenticity of a Swiss folk music recording Jim plays for him!