Classical KUCO, Edmond, OK (2025)

04/04/2025

For 59 years, Classical KUCO—Central Oklahoma’s Radio for the Performing Arts—has brought classical music, cultural programming, and community connection to listeners across the region. As we mark this milestone, we thank our supporters—past and present—for making it all possible.

01/29/2025

A Day To Remember, January 29, 1861.

Kansas and Nebraska were organized as US territories in 1854. After much debate between pro- and anti-slavery factions in Congress, the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the doctrine of “popular sovereignty,” allowing the people who lived in the territories to vote on whether they should be slave or free. In Nebraska, this wasn’t an issue. It was populated largely by settlers from Midwestern free states. But Kansas shared a long border with the slave state of Missouri.

Hundreds of Missourians poured into the territory, hoping to create a pro-slavery Constitution. Likewise, “free staters” came from the North. The new territory was seen as critical to both sides that sought to shift the balance of political and economic power.

The first legislature saw a pro-slavery majority. The second election brought a pro-free state majority. Eventually, separate pro- and anti-slavery legislatures were set up. Two different Constitutions were passed. Soon, violence erupted, and the territory was called “Bleeding Kansas.”

By 1859 the anti-slavery population outnumbered slavery supporters. That fall a “free state” Constitution was approved by a wide margin and sent to Congress. That debate lasted another year and a half. On the day of the final vote, most Southern Congressmen walked out of the House chamber in protest. On January 29, 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union, as a free state.

By the time of Kansas statehood, six Southern slave states had seceded from the Union. Five more followed. Less than three months later, the American Civil War began…a conflict that many historians maintain actually began far from Fort Sumter…on the plains of Kansas.

01/28/2025

A Day To Remember, January 28, 1896.

The late 19th century in Great Britain saw the arrival of horseless carriages, or automobiles, on public roadways. Speed limits were enacted and motorists were required to have a man walk in front of their vehicle, waving a red flag to alert pedestrians and equestrians of the auto’s approach.

On the morning of January 28, 1896, the police constable on duty in Paddock Wood, County Kent, was riding his bicycle when an automobile zoomed past him, clearly going several times the speed limit—AND with no flagman ahead. The constable, whose name is lost to history, chased the car for five miles before the driver pulled over.

The driver of the imported Benz motorcar was Walter Arnold, one of the first horseless carriage dealers in Britain. The constable issued Arnold a citation, with a summons to appear in court.

There was a total of four citations—or “informations,” as they were then known—including the charge of “using a carriage without a locomotive horse.” Arnold’s lawyer argued that such ordinances were outdated and should not apply to automobiles. As to the speeding, that wasn’t contested. There was no question that Arnold had been driving too fast.

He was fined one shilling for the speeding offense. But the publicity around the landmark case led to increased business for the dealer, who went on to manufacture his own automobiles.

Later that year, the speed limits in Britain were increased, and the requirement for a flagman was abolished.

Walter Arnold had received the first…speeding ticket…in history. After all, his speed was estimated at four times the legal limit…the speed limit at the time being…TWO…miles per hour.

Photo: Walter Arnold with his Benz motorcar (National Motor Museum).

01/13/2025

Concert Hall Classics Playlist January 13 to Jan. 16, 2025

Jan. 13 – Organ Music of JS Bach, Louis Vierne and Charles-Marie Widor

Part 1: JS Bach: Selections from The Great Eighteen Choral Preludes, BWV 651-668
Marie-Claire Alain plays the Schnitger organ at the St. Laurenkirk of Alkmaar, North Holland Part 2: Louis Vierne: Low Mass for the Deceased, op. 62; Three Improvisations
Ben van Ooosten plays the Cavaille-Coll Organ, Saint-Antoine des Quinze-Vingts church, Paris
Part 3: Charles-Marie Widor: Organ Symphony No. 3, Op. 13 No. 3;
Organ Symphony No. 6, Op. 42 No. 2
David M. Patrick plays the Harrison and Harrison organ of Coventry Cathedral

Jan. 14 - Program 2: Conducting Artistry of Ernest Ansermet – The Russians 1

Part 1: Alexander Glazunov: Stenka Razin, op. 13
Anatoly Lyadov, Baba-Yaga, Op. 56; Kikamora, Op. 63;
Eight Russian folksongs for orchestra, Op. 58
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: May Night Overture; Tale of Tsar Saltan suite, Op. 57
Part 2: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35
Part 3: Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36;
Christmas Eve Suite; The Snow Maiden Suite
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet

Jan. 15 - Program 3: Conducting Artistry of Ernest Ansermet - The Russians 2

Part 1: Modest Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition
Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances Nos. 8 and 17;
In the Steppes of Central Asia
Part 2: Igor Stravinsky: Suites 1 and 2 for small orchestra; Four Etudes for Orchestra;
Petrouchka (1911 ballet music)
Part 3: Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25;
Cinderella, Op. 87 (ballet music suite)
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet

Jan. 16 - Program 4: Conducting Artistry of Ernest Ansermet - The Russians 3

Part 1: Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird (ballet music 1919 suite);
Chant du Rossingnol (Song of the Nightingale, 1917)
Part 2: Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring, 1913);
Pulcinella (ballet music, 1920)
Part 3: Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op.64 (Ballet Music Suite No. 2)
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet

01/09/2025

Join us tomorrow morning at 9:30am for a new episode of Rising Melodies. We are featuring the Deer Creek Bands program. We sit down with senior flautist and drum major, Jacob, along with their band director, Mr. Darby Cassaday. Also available streaming at classicalkuco.org and on Spotify podcasts.

01/09/2025

Join us this morning for Spotlight on the arts at 9. We sit down with Alexandria Velders, Executive Director of OK City Opera. They are presenting their first program of the 2025 calendar year on Friday, January 17 at 8pm at OK Cider Co. titled 'Nothin Betta Than Operetta.' Also available at classicalkuco.org and on Apple and Spotify podcasts.

01/06/2025

Concert Hall Classics Playlist January 6 to Jan. 9, 2025
3-hour programs

Jan. 6 - Program 1: Conducting Artistry of Evgeny Svetlanov

Mily Balakirev: Symphony No. 1 in C
Peter Iliych Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in e minor, Op. 64
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 6 in a minor
USSR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov

Jan. 7 - Program 2: Conducting artistry of Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Felix Mendelssohn: Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), Op. 52, later published as Symphony No. 2
Karina Gauvin and Regula Mühlemann, sopranos, Daniel Behle, tenor
RIAS Kammerchor; Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 2 in C minor (Haas composite edition, based on the 1877 version) Orchestre Métropolitain of Montréal conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60
London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Jan. 8 - Program 3: Choral and instrumental music of Italian Baroque composer Domenico Zipoli

Part 1: Vespers of Saint Ignatio
Coro De Niños Cantores de Cordoba; Ensemble Elyma directed by Gabriel Garrido
Part 2: Shorter choral and organ works - Misa brevis, interspersed with several organ pieces; Dixit Dominus
Ensemble Elyma, Affetti Musical of Buenos Aires, Coro de Niños Cantores de Cordoba, Cristina Garcia Banegos, organist, led by Gabriel Garrido
Part 3: Solo vocal cantatas: Dell’offese a vendicarme; Mia bella;
Works for keyboard under the title of Intavoluntura sonatas
Soloists, members of Ensemble Elyma, Dominique Ferran, organist led by Gabriel Garrido

Jan. 9 - Program 4: Russian choral music from the Classical era to the 20th Century

Part 1: Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky: Choral Concerti: Blessed Is The Lord, Why art thou lamentable, O my soul, Sing Unto The Lord a new song, He that dwelleth in the secret place, O come let us rejoice, It is a good thing to give thanks
Sung in Church Slavonic by the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir conducted by Valerie Polyansky
Part 2: Sergei Rachmaninoff, selections form the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 37 and The All Night Vigil, Op. 37; The Tartar Captivity from Two Choruses, Op. 18 of Rimsky-Korsakov; two choruses from 12 Choruses to words of Polonsky, Op. 27, by Sergei Taneyev; three choral works of Peter Tchaikovsky; Winter Road, Op. 43 No. 3 by 20th century composer Vissarion Shebalin; The 9th of January, Op. 88, No. 9 of Dmitri Shostakovich
The Moscow Conservatory Students Choir conducted by Boris Tevlin
Part 3: Sergei Prokofiev: Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution, for two choruses, orchestra, military band, accordians and percussion
(historic 1966 recording)
RSFSR Russian Chorus, the Frunze Academy Band and Accordian Ensemble and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kiril Kondrashin

12/30/2024

Dec. 30 - Program 1: Special End of Year 2024 Presentation: Music of JS Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio (Weihnachtsoratorium) BWV 248
(New Release) Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists conducted by John Elliot Gardner Recorded for DGG at St. Martin in the Fields in London December 2022 Johann Sebastian Bach: Gottlob! nun geht das Jahr zu Ende BWV 28 (Praise God! Now the year comes to an end) (historic 1976 analog recording)
Arleen Auger, soprano, Gabriele Schreckenbach, alto, Adalbert Kraus, tenor, Walter Heldwein, bass, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart conducted by Helmut Rilling

Jan. 2 - Program 1: Music of Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn: Hör mein Bitten for soprano solo, choir and organ
Greta de Reyghere, soprano, vocal ensembles La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale, John Huys, organist, conducted by Philippe Herrewehge
Felix Mendelssohn: St. Paul, Op. 36 (first recording of the Carus-Verlag critical edition)
Susan Roberts, soprano, Ruby Philogene, mezzo-soprano, Glenn Siebert, tenor, Mark Beesley, bass, Royal Scottish National Chorus, Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein

12/23/2024

Dec. 23 - Program 1: Three-part concert of music celebrating the end of Advent and the beginning of Christmastide

Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi: Selections from Il Primo Libro delle Canzoni (1628-1634)
Musica Fiata, Köln, directed by Roland Wilson Heinrich Schütz: Christmas Story (Weihnachtshistorie), SWV 435
Soloists, Concerto Vocale, period instrument ensemble led by René Jacobs
Heinrich Schütz/Giovanni Gabrieli, Matthias Weckmann and Francesco Usper: choral motets dialogues, sonatas and canzonas
The Choir and Orchestra of The Academy of Ancient Music conducted by Paul Goodwin

Dec. 26 - Program 1: Rare Oratorios of George Frederic Handel Apollo and Daphne, HWV 122 (secular cantata sung in Italian, 1709–10)

Olga Pasichnyk, soprano, Robert Pomakov, bass, The European Union Baroque Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman Nabal (oratorio pastiche assembled by John Christopher Smith 1764)
Stephen McLeod, as Nabal, Maya Boog as Abigail, Knut Schoch as David,
Francine van de Heijden as Asaph, Linda Perillo as the Shepherd, Junge Kantorei
Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra conducted by Joachm Caros Martini

12/20/2024

Join us tomorrow morning at 9 for Performance Oklahoma. We are featuring Canterbury Voices and their concert from Sunday, December 8 at 7pm at the Civic Center Music Hall titled 'Sing We Now of Christmas.' Encore broadcast at it's new time, Sunday evening at 7.

Photo Credit: Performing Arts Photography

12/20/2024

Join us tomorrow at noon. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024-25 season of Saturday matinee radio broadcasts continues with a seasonal treat for listeners of all ages: Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The Met’s holiday version of this delightful fairy tale is under two hours long and sung in English. It stars Duke Kim and Emily Pogorelc as the brave Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina; Sean Michael Plumb as the lovable birdcatcher Papageno; Kathryn Lewek as the fearsome Queen of the Night; and Peixin Chen as the noble priest Sarastro. J. David Jackson conducts this beloved score.

12/18/2024

Join us for Performance Oklahoma Saturday morning at 9 and at it's new time, Sunday evening at 7. We have a special Christmas episode of Performance Oklahoma. We are featuring Canterbury Voices from their program on Sunday, December 8 at 7pm in the Civic Center Music Hall titled 'Sing We Now of Christmas.' Also available streaming at classicalkuco.org and on the Classical KUCO app.

Photo Credit: Performing Arts Photography

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