Interlochen Public Radio

09/04/2025

FM listeners to both Classical IPR and IPR News Radio are reporting interference from stations in Wisconsin.

This is due to a phenomenon called tropospheric ducting, which can affect FM signals by strengthening weak signals, interfering with local transmitters and preventing signal return.

During these periods, IPR's FM listeners may hear Wisconsin radio stations that broadcast on the same FM frequencies. The IPR signals may also be weakened significantly.

IPR's broadcast engineer is aware of the interference and monitoring the situation.

Thank you for your patience.

Tropospheric propagation describes electromagnetic propagation in relation to the troposphere. The service area from a VHF or UHF radio transmitter extends to just beyond the optical horizon, at which point signals start to rapidly reduce in strength. Viewers living in such a "deep fringe" reception...

08/29/2025

Fascinating story this morning about a shortage of merchant mariners and efforts in Grand Traverse County to train more, as the federal government seeks a more robust U.S. shipping industry.

The industry is already teetering on the edge of a labor shortage for entry level officers. Will there be enough cadets? We go out on the water at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City.

08/29/2025

Opinion: The push to take away federal funds from NPR was done without realizing or caring how local stations like Classical IPR would be affected.

The singular focus on allegations about NPR’s news reporting during the rescission process meant that the value and utility of other public media services were overlooked.

Intentional or not, it means that classical music stations like IPR are going to suffer consequences that had been intended for NPR’s news reporting.

Case in point: more than 90% of classical music on the radio in the United States is heard on public radio stations.

Read more of IPR music director Amanda Sewell's opinion essay at the link.

The push to take away federal funds from NPR was done without realizing or caring how local stations like Classical IPR would be affected.

08/21/2025

Bobbie Lange has been a musical fixture in Leelanau County for decades. As she prepares for her final public performance with Northport Community Band Michigan, we talked about her journey, her favorite musical memories and what comes next.

Listen to our interview on Classical IPR.

An upcoming concert features pianist Bobbie Lange in a farewell performance honoring her musical service to northern Michigan.

08/15/2025

Will Marsh and The Integration Ensemble - including Crispin Campbell, Patrick Booth & Josh Mellinger - will bring global music sounds to The Alluvion and Oliver Art Center this weekend.

Get a preview and learn a little more about the sitar in this Studio A episode - listen at the link or wherever you get podcasts.

Will Marsh and The Integration Ensemble will bring global music sounds to the Alluvion and Oliver Art Center this weekend.

08/15/2025

A powwow, an art fair and a rubber ducky race. Lots going on this weekend!

A collection of festivals and celebrations across towns in northern Michigan this summer.

08/13/2025

The 2025 Bay View Week Of Handbells is underway, and over 100 ringers from around the country have gathered in northern MI.

Classical IPR spoke with Catherine McMichael, a composer from Saginaw who has been a ringer at Bay View for the last 16 years.

"Everybody has to step into their part and play it," McMichael said. "That's a personality of courage and collaboration that I love."

Hear her complete conversation with IPR, plus lots of handbell music and videos, at the link.

Composer and ringer Catherine McMichael talks about this year's Bay View Week of Handbells and what makes these instruments so special.

08/12/2025

Meet a new rising star pianist from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation every day and hear their performance and interview from IPR's Studio A.

In each episode, listeners will meet one Young Scholar and learn everything from what their hometown is like to what they like to eat for breakfast to just how many different languages they can speak.

This August, meet a new rising star pianist every day and hear their performance and interview from IPR's Studio A.

08/08/2025

We’re used to plugging in our devices and letting them charge. But what would happen if living organisms powered our devices instead?

That’s what Jasmine Lu, a PhD student at The University of Chicago, wanted to know.

On the latest episode of Points North, she tests it out. Listen wherever you find podcasts.

08/02/2025

Superstar pianist Lang Lang - 郎朗 first heard "Rhapsody in Blue" on the radio as a child and refined his performances with help from jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Hear Lang Lang perform it with Interlochen's World Youth Symphony Orchestra this weekend at Interlochen Center for the Arts,

At the link, hear Lang Lang's conversation with Classical IPR about his experience with teaching young musicians, from his classroom initiatives around the world to Interlochen students to his own son.

What does a young classical musician need to succeed in the 21st century?

Ahead of his Interlochen debut, pianist Lang Lang shares his experience with teaching young musicians, from his classroom initiatives around the world to Interlochen students to his own son. What does a young classical musician need to succeed in the 21st century?

08/01/2025

Jasmine Lu holding the smart watch + slime mold petri dish
Caption: A few years ago, Jasmine Lu was just starting her PhD in computer science at the University of Chicago. She worked in a lab that integrated devices with the human body. And she knew she wanted to try and incorporate a living organism into a device.

So Jasmine designed a smartwatch using slime mold as a “living wire.” The only catch? It needed to be fed and watered to work.

It got her wondering, what would happen if our devices were alive? If we needed to feed them to make them work? Would it change the way people care about these pieces of plastic and metal we’re so quick to replace every few years?

Check out the latest episode of Points North to hear more. Listen wherever you find podcasts.

08/01/2025

The 16 students of Interlochen Arts Camp's Advanced String Quartet program recorded music of Beethoven in Studio A.

Meet each quartet and hear them play in this edition of our Studio A podcast.

Interlochen's Advanced High School String Quartets recorded Beethoven's String Quartet op. 18, no. 6 in IPR's Studio A.