CRB Classical

08/07/2026

Sunday at 7pm, Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab joins Yo-Yo Ma in John Tavener’s Mahámátar, followed by Kayhan Kalhor’s "Venus in the Mirror" with cellist Karen Ouzounian, and Osvaldo Golijov’s "Azul" with Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Christine Lee.

Listen on-air, on our app, or online:

In the final part of a three-concert series curated by Yo-Yo Ma, Grammy-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab joins Ma in John Tavener’s Mahámátar, followed by Kayhan Kalhor’s Venus in the Mirror with the composer and cellist Karen Ouzounian, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Azul with BSO cellist Christine Lee.

08/06/2026

Saturday at 8pm, in the second of three Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts curated by Yo-Yo Ma, Ma explores the vibrancy of American music with roots musicians Aoife O'Donovan and Jennifer Kreisberg.

Listen on-air, on our app, or online:

In the second of three BSO concerts curated by Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist explores the vibrancy of American music and its reflection of the triumphs, tragedies, and vitality of our country with roots musicians Aoife O'Donovan and Jennifer Kreisberg.

08/05/2026

"I feel that 'We the People' could be, should be, and is right here. And so we're celebrating that. It's our nation for, by the people, and that's what we're doing: the music by the people, for the people."

Ahead of his week-long festival curated for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma spoke with WCRB's Brian McCreath. Hear their full conversation here:

Ahead of "We The People," a week-long festival he curated for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma speaks about the power of practicing gratitude, music's role in restoring the spirit, and what we can learn from Johannes Brahms.

08/05/2026

Friday at 8pm, Yo-Yo Ma and Renaud Capuçon are the soloists in the Double Concerto by Brahms in the first of three Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts curated by Yo-Yo Ma himself!

Tune in on-air, on our app, or online:

In the first of three BSO concerts curated by Yo-Yo Ma, he and violinist Renaud Capuçon are the soloists in the Double Concerto by Brahms, part of a program led by Samy Rachid.

08/04/2026

After 250 years, it’s safe to say that America has found its footing when it comes to classical music. Take a tour of all 50, nifty states through 50, nifty classical pieces:

After 250 years, it’s safe to say that America has found its footing when it comes to classical music. From the earliest colonial-era fife and drum tunes, to full length contemporary operas, here are 50 pieces of classical music specifically associated with each of America's 50 United States.

08/03/2026

For this week's Focus at 4, we're celebrating the summer harvest! August is a major month for harvesting summer crops like tomatoes, peaches, corn, and beans. Tune in weekdays at 4pm with Greg Ferrisi to hear this delicious spread:

Monday, 8/3 - Viet Cuong's "Next Week's Trees," with David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony

Tuesday, 8/4 - "All in a Garden Green," with The Broadside Band

Wednesday, 8/5 - Virgil Thomson's "The Plow That Broke the Plains Suite," with Neville Marriner and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Thursday, 8/6 - Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons: August Harvest Song" with Mikhail Pletnev

Friday, 8/7 - Aaron Copland's "The Tenderland: The Promise of Living," with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

08/03/2026

On this week's episode of The Bach Hour with Brian McCreath, Rudolf Lutz conducts Bach's Cantata 168, in which fearsome metaphors from the natural world are answered by allusions to eternity. Listen here: https://bit.ly/4eTprAc

On The Bach Hour, Rudolf Lutz conducts the composer's Cantata 168, in which fearsome metaphors from the natural world are answered by allusions to eternity.

08/01/2026

Do you feel that? That's a hopeful, catchy, summer's breeze, brought to you by this month's Instant Replay! Listen here:

A hopeful, catchy, summer's breeze in this month's Instant Replay.

07/31/2026

Sunday at 7pm, longtime BSO collaborator Joshua Bell returns to the Tanglewood Music Festival!

Bell is the soloist in Max Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy,” and Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s "Marmoris."

Tune in on-air, on our app, or online:

Longtime BSO-collaborator Bell returns to Tanglewood as the violin soloist in Max Bruch’s virtuosic “Scottish Fantasy,” and Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony and Sarah Kirkland Snider’s "Marmoris."

07/30/2026

Saturday at 8pm, opera comes to the Tanglewood Music Festival!

Soprano Nikola Hillebrand is Susanna and baritone Michael Sumuel is Figaro as the Boston Symphony Orchestra performs Mozart’s "The Marriage of Figaro."

Listen on-air, on our app, or online:

Soprano Nikola Hillebrand is Susanna and baritone Michael Sumuel is Figaro as the Boston Symphony and Music Director Andris Nelsons perform one of Mozart’s most endearingly captivating operas.