JOIN CHRIS FELCYN FOR "THE LISTENING ROOM" SUNDAYS 10 a.m. - NOON 

If you enjoy The Listening Room, let Chris know by making a contribution now.  We rely on voluntary contributions from listeners like you to keep great classical and jazz music on the radio. Thank you!

The Listening Room - May 23, 2010 - A Tribute to Hank Jones

Chris remembers the late jazz pianist with help from Detroit pianists Charles Boles, Matt Michaels, Dennis Tini and Tad Weed.  Each shares their insights on what made Hank Jones one of the greats, along with some of their favorite examples of his playing.

Part 1

Part 2   

The Listening Room - February 14, 2010 - A Tribute to Tom Saunders 

One of the great Dixieland players of our time, Tommy Saunders, passed away on February 13, 2010.  Chris devotes this edition of The Listening Room to the trumpeter, featuring a December 2003 date at the Firefly Club by Tommy Saunders and his Midwest All Stars. Chris is joined by Midge Ellis, of the Michigan Jazz Festival, Dennis Tini, pianist and professor of music at Wayne State, and Dan McClorey, one of Tom’s biggest fans from way back.

Part 1

Part 2    

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, January 24, 2010

Chris presents a tribute to pianist and composer Earl Wild, who passed away on January 23, 2010. 

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, December 6, 2009 

The Ohio State University Wind Symphony goes "bow to bow" against the Ann Arbor Symphony.  Wow.  You'll also hear music by Praetorius, Rachmaninoff, and many other talented artists.  Enjoy!

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, November 29, 2009 

For your post-Thanksgiving listening pleasure, Chris presents music by Frishberg, Balcom and Bach.  Add appearances by the Paul Keller Orchestra, Wally's Warehouse Waifs and many others, and it's quite a feast! 

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, November 22, 2009 

Chris celbrates St. Cecilia (the Patron Saint of Music) Day and Hoagy Carmichael's birthday with music by Carmichael, Michel Camilo, Art Tatum and much more.  

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, November 15, 2009

Chris presents music by Bach, Sondheim, Mendelsshohn and other great composers. 

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, Novermber 8, 2009

Chris presentsl music featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Joshua Bell, Leslie Uggams and many others.   

Parts 1 & 2 - The Listening Room, October 4, 2009 

Chris presents seasonal music by Haydn, Detroit-flavored music from the Tarter Sauce Traditional Jazz Band, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and other pleasing artists. 

Part 1 & 2 - 9/20/09 - Sharon Isbin (originally broadcast 4/26/09)

Chris spends the entire program with his special guest, guitarist Sharon Isbin.  Hear her magnificent new release, Journey to the New World, featuring duets with vocalist Joan Baez and violinist Mark O'Connor.

Parts 1 & 2 - September 13, 2009

Hear performances by Audra McDonald, Terri Pontremoli, Vladimir Horowitz; music by Ravel and Mahler, and much, much more! 

Parts 1 & 2 - August 30, 2009

Join Chris for a preview of the 2009 Detroit International Jazz Festival and much more.

Parts 1 & 2 - August 23, 2009

Featured on this program is the new recording from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra,which includes a performance of Michael Dougherty's Fire and Blood, under the direction of Neemi Jarvi. 

Parts 1 & 2 - July 26, 2009

Highlights include new releases from Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg’s New Century Chamber Orchestra, guitarist Maya Le Roux, a sneak preview of an upcoming DVD featuring the electrifying boogie pianists Mr. B and Bob Seeley and Antal Dorati’s DSO recording of music from Stravinsky’s Firebird.

Parts 1 & 2 - July 19, 2009

Chris continues his preview of July's Michigan Jazz Festival, which was held at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, with music from area artists including The Tartarsauce Traditional Jazz Band, Johnny Trudell, Bess Bonnier, Alma Smith, Bob Seeley and the World’s Oldest Sax Section.

Also on the program is a new CD by Japanese pianist Fuzjko Hemming and William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 with the Detroit Symphony conducted by Neeme Jarvi.

Parts 1 & 2 - July 12, 2009

Chris previews the Michigan Jazz Festival, Sunday, July 19 at Schoolcraft College in Livonia with music from Paul Keller/Steve Richko, Chris Collins, Jeannine Miller, Ed Nuccilli and Plural Circle, Cliff Monear, Tom Saunders Detroit All Stars and Ron Kischuk’s Masters of Music Big Band.  See you at the Festival!

Parts 1 & 2 - July 5, 2009

Chris celebrates the Fourth of July and Canada Day with music from American and Canadian artists:  Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcum, Diana Krall, Stan Freberg, and Lorne Greene, among others. 

Parts 1 & 2 - June 21, 2009

Hear new music from Mark O'Connor, The Canadian Brass (a tribute to Louis Armstrong) and Detroit's own Paul Keller.  Also featured: music from Timpo Libre's Bach in Havana.

Parts 1 & 2 - 5/31/09 - Benny Goodman

This week’s show honors the centennial of Benny Goodman, born in Chicago on May 30, 1909. Included are vintage recordings from the 1930s with Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa as well as a generous excerpt from the legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Also on the program are performances by Goodman of Leonard Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs and Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto.

Parts 1 & 2 - 5/24/09 - Memorial Day

Join Chris Felcyn for a Memorial Day special, featuring Richard Danielpour’s Elegies with soprano Frederica von Stade based on letters written to her by the father she never met.

Part 1 & 2 - 5/10/09 - Mother's Day

Hear Chris's salute to Moms everywhere with classical and jazz tunes and a timeless comedy sketch from Nichols and May. 

Part 1 & 2 - 4/26/09 - Sharon Isbin

Chris spends the entire program with his special guest, guitarist Sharon Isbin.  Hear her magnificent new release, Journey to the New World, featuring duets with vocalist Joan Baez and violinist Mark O'Connor.

Part 1 & 2 - 03/15/09

Enjoy recent recordings such as Brahams' Violin Concerto performed by Nikolaj Znaider with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of red-hot conductor Valeri Gergiev.  Close to home, hear Brush Fire from Detroit's own Scott Gwinell Jazz Orchestra and The Florentiner, as performed by the Motor City Brass Band led by Craig Strain.

Part 1 & 2 - 03/09/09:  Hear music from such gifted artists as Midori, from her sensational Carnegie Hall debut in 1990, and Detroit pianist Dennis Tini.  We'll also play selections from Rachel Portman’s Academy Award nominated score for Chocolat, and more.

Part 1 & 2 - 02/15/09:  Chris serves up an assortment of musical gems including: jazz harp from Christa Grix; the Beaux Arts Trio playing Antonín Dvorák; a classic recording of Woody Herman with Stan Getz; and much more.  Enjoy!

Part 1 & 2 - 02/08/09:  Enjoy excerpts from John Lanchberry’s score forTales of Beatrix Potter, commissioned by the Royal Ballet; Cyrus Chestnut; Gustav Holst’s cantata King Estmere; Clark Terry and friends live on the QE2 from the 1999 Floating Jazz Festival.

Part 1 & 2 - 01/25/09:  In this edition, Chris plays - among other tasty selections - Bela Fleck, The Detroit Swingtet and a classic recording featuring Arthur Rubinstein on piano, Joshua Heifitz on fiddle and Gregor Pitigorsky on cello.  Magnificent!

Part 1 & 2 - 01/18/09:  Chris serves up an entertaining mix of classical and jazz music, including tunes you are not likely to hear elsewhere, such as cover versions of songs by Fred "Mr." Rogers.  Check it out!

Part 1 & 2 - 12/28/08:  Recently, Alfred Brendel concluded an extraordinary concert career spanning six decades with a gala concert in Vienna. You say you missed it? Never fear. Last March, Chris Felcyn and Jimmy Rhoades hopped the Amtrak Wolverine to Chicago to catch the legendary Austrian pianist’s last Midwest recital. On the way back, fresh from this unforgettable concert, Chris and Jimmy recorded their impressions, complete with Brendel recordings to recreate the experience.

Part 1 & 2 - 12/14/08:  Highlights include Robert Shaw leading the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Gabriel Faure’s Requiem and a new jazz Christmas CD from the Paul Keller Ensemble. In the second hour we sample “desert island picks” of Leonard Slatkin, including Glenn Gould’s Bach, Frank Sinatra and Tchaikowsky’s Piano Trio with Rubenstein, Heifetz and Piatagorsky.

Part 1 & 2 - 11/02/08: Highlights include Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and excerpts from Putumayo's Rumba Flamenco collection. Also featured are The Royal Garden Trio, and pianists Ruth Laredo and George Shearing.

Part 1 & 2 - 10/05/08 The Listening Room - Highlights include: Mozart’s “Vesperae de Dominica,” jazz pianists Matt Michaels and Dennis Tini drop by to talk about their upcoming concert, and “Naughty Limericks” by Rodion Shchedrin.

Part 1 - 9/28/08 The Listening Room - Just two pieces occupy this episode, but what pieces! First we feature Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Maurizio Pollini, which Chris introduces reading hilarious comments from Jeremy Denk’s “Brahms does Jenny Craig.” Then maestro Peter Oundjian joins us to talk about Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, as Peter prepares to take his Toronto Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall.

Part 2 - 9/128/08 The Listening Room

Part 1 - 9/14/08 The Listening Room - Detroit Free Press Music Critic Mark Stryker joins Chris to sample 4 different recordings of J. S. Bach’s landmark Goldberg Variations, made over the span of half a century. Included is a complete performance following the discussion.

Part 2 - 9/14/08 The Listening Room

Part 1 - 9/07/08 The Listening Room - Highlights include Fernando Carulli’s Guitar Concerto with Pepe Romero, Oscar Castro Neves with Paul Winter, Fred Hirsch live at the Village Vanguard, pianists Murray Perahia and Marian McPartland.

Part 2 - 9/07/08 The Listening Room

Part 1 - 8/31/08 The Listening Room - The Jurgen Gothe tribute show; a salute to the popular host of Disc Drive on CBC. one of the best in business and a true radio original.

Part 2 - 8/31/08 The Listening Room

Part 1 - 8/17/08 The Listening Room - Highlights include Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet, Op. 64; Ann Arbor’s Royal Garden Trio, pianists George Shearing and Ruth Laredo.

Part 2 - 8/17/08 The Listening Room