Voice of the Arts

Slippery Rock University recently hosted their 11th annual Honors Flute Ensemble on February 21st-22nd. Dr. Cassandra Eisenreich, composer Greg Lutz, and SRU sophomore Ben Bellomo joined Jim Cunningham live on the QED Morning Show to give a recap of the concert.

Cassandra talks about the Honors Flute Ensemble, which brought high school students to SRU for two days of rehearsals, workshops, and the concert. Greg, who was commissione...

Third Presbyterian Church's Spring 2026 Music at Third series continues with "Ché Bandonéon!" Music Director Lenny Young joined QED's Anna Singer live to talk about the program.

The bandonéon is the instrument of the tango, a concertina instrument which resembles the accordion. "Ché Bandonéon!" will be a solo recital featuring Argentinian bandonéon player Rodolfo Zanetti. On the program are traditional Argentinian songs, as well as ...

Running at Contemporary Craft right now is Peregrination, the art of Chinese Canadian artist Xiaojing Yan. Contemporary Craft’s Director of Visual Engagement Yu-San Cheng spoke with QED’s Melissa Black about the exhibition.

Born in Jiangsu, China, Xiaojing moved to Toronto to further her education and career, and she received her master’s degree in sculpture from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Yu-San talks about Xiaojing’s jour...

Can business be creative? WQED producer Nick Zaller sat down with owner and Creative Director of The Boredom Set Coffee Company, Q, to chat about how much artistic expression is involved in running a coffee business.

Q talks about the message behind Boredom Set, “create to spite boredom,” and how owning his own business has allowed for creative freedom and artistic expression. Q also tells Nick about his coffee journey, learning to ...

The Pittsburgh Symphony plays Bruckner's Eighth Symphony this weekend! Music Director Manfred Honeck joined Jim Cunningham live on the QED Morning Show to talk about the program.

Maestro Honeck discusses the questions surrounding death that Bruckner was fixated on. The Eighth Symphony, nicknamed The Apocalyptic, especially looks beyond life, reflecting the paths and conflict of the human journey in each of its movements. The symphon...

Chatham Baroque has an upcoming concert which features “Lisette quitté la plaine,” the oldest known song text in early Haitian Creole. Baritone Jean Bernard Cerin, who serves as the Director of the Voice Program at Cornell University, joined QED's Anna Singer over the phone to talk about the program.

Jean-Bernard speaks about his research on Haitian classical music and how he came across the Lisette poem. The text was traditionally ...

The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony have a concert this Sunday, February 15th! Music Director Jacob Joyce joined Jim Cunningham live on the QED Morning Show to talk about the program.

The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 31 “Paris Symphony,” Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, and concludes with Richard Strauss’s epic tone poem Don Juan. The concert also features PYSO violinist Karin Hoppo, the winner of PYSO's 2025-26 season Concer...

The Frick Pittsburgh's upcoming exhibition is Lewis Hine Pictures America! QED's Melissa Black spoke with Lauryn Smith, Assistant Curator, and Kelsie Paul, Director of Learning and Visitor Experience, about the exhibition.

Lauryn gives an overview of who Lewis Hine was and his work photographing industrial America, immigrants at Ellis Island, and his participation in the Pittsburgh Survey, which helped bring about the first child la...

The next installment in the Bach Choir's Cirque du Cinéma series is a program called Never Silenced, which pairs the music of J.S. Bach with the revolutionary silent films of Charlie Chaplin. Artistic Director Thomas Douglas joined Anna Singer live to talk about the concert.

Thomas explains the method behind this pairing, bridging the gap between two artistic eras and genres. The films Caught in a Cabaret and A Night in the Show wil...

Artistic Director of Academy Concerts Warren Davidson's newest project is HaydnBurgh: an ambitious concert series featuring all of Haydn's string quartets! Warren spoke with Jim Cunningham about the project.

Warren talks about how special Haydn is as a composer, and the variety of emotions his pieces evoke. His string quartets were not intended for concert halls, but rather "rooms" in private homes, and it wasn't until later in Hayd...

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2026-2027 season! Vice President of Artistic Planning Mary Persin joined Jim Cunningham live on the morning of the announcement for an exclusive preview.

This exciting season includes artist, composer, and conductor debuts, world premieres, and new PSO commissions. The symphony will also celebrate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death in March 2027, and an all-Mozart weekend i...