August 9, 2005 - Chris Silver, former member of bluegrass band Stoney Lonesome, and now frontman for The Chris Silver Band, says he spends many of his waking hours listening to a broad range of music. Lately, he's been pretty fixated on jazz…in particular, Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing.”
August 2, 2005 - Nirmala Rajasekar has been performing ancient south Indian classical music for most of her life. She's an accomplished player of the veena, a traditional Indian stringed instrument. Rajasekar also happens to be a huge fan of the American musical…”The Sound of Music”
July 27, 2005 - Wendy Lewis, lead singer and songwriter for the band Redstart, comes from a musical family. Both her parents are gifted musicians. Her brother Greg and Greg's son Mike are members of Redstart. So it's not surprising Lewis' favorite piece of classical music, "Adagio For Strings" by Samuel Barber, has a familial connection.
July 19, 2005 - The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Steven Copes usually turns on the CD player in the car or when he's cooking a meal for friends at home. He's drawn to music that has a lot of rhythm, and artists with very distinctive voices, including blues artist Sun House.
July 13, 2005 - Heather Barringer of Zeitgeist has a not-so-secret confession…she is a headbanger, and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” holds a special place in her heart.
July 5, 2005 - Libby Larsen is one of Minnesota's best known composers. It turns out that for the last 10 years, Larsen has been listening to a lot of "electronica," including rave, turntable, and re-mix music.
June 28, 2005 - Minneapolis rocker Adam Levy of the Honeydogs says his favorite piece of classical music is the Prelude from J.S. Bach's Cello Suite #1 in G major.
June 17, 2005 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the second annual Heliotrope Festival, a local underground music event. Roberts interviews co-founders Eric Wivinus and Rich Barlow about the festival creation and the unique acts that perform.
May 16, 2005 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on a new instrument, called a cleophone. Minneapolis inventor, Dave Krejci, talks about design of his new creation and the unique sounds it emits.
March 15, 2005 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles Minnesota music veteran Barry Thomas Goldberg. Roberts interviews Goldberg about his album “American Grotesque” and his anti-war stance on the Iraq conflict.