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Why Music Matters
4:24 pm
Sat July 21, 2012

Fleeing Iran After A Fateful Gig

Credit KEXP
Aria Saadi is an Iranian-born musician and actor, who fled the country several years ago and is currently based in Canada.
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Weekends on All Things Considered continues its "Why Music Matters" series with Aria Saadi, an actor and musician originally from Iran. Saadi now lives and works in Vancouver, Canada, where he escaped after running afoul of the Iranian government.

Saadi says he remembers well one of his first encounters with Iranian authorities. A self-taught keyboard player, he was performing at what most Americans would call a normal party.

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Deceptive Cadence
2:02 pm
Sat July 21, 2012

A Musician And The Audition Of His Life

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Credit Sean Hagwell / Mike Tetreault
To audition for the BSO, percussionist Mike Tetreault was required to prepare musical excerpts from 50 pieces on nine different instruments, including timpani.
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One audition, two open percussion chairs at the Boston Symphony Orchestra: "lightning in a bottle."
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Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 3:18 pm

Earlier this year, classical percussionist Mike Tetreault walked onstage at Symphony Hall in Boston for the audition of a lifetime: The Boston Symphony Orchestra was looking for not just one but two new percussionists.

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The Record
7:03 am
Sat July 21, 2012

Nashville's Love For Lionel Richie Runs Deep

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Credit Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Kenny Chesney (left) performs with Lionel Richie at an April 2 event called Lionel Richie and Friends in Concert in Las Vegas. Other performers at the concert included country stars Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry and Rascal Flatts.
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Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 6:27 pm

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Deceptive Cadence
5:05 am
Sat July 21, 2012

A Grand Soviet Symphony, By Way Of Brazil

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Credit Library of Congress
Sergei Prokofiev (pictured) wrote a Fifth Symphony that has special resonance in Sao Paulo for conductor Marin Alsop.
Credit Naxos
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Originally published on Sat July 21, 2012 8:08 am

People keep asking me why I recorded Sergei Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony for my first CD release in my new post leading the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra. The simple answer is that it just felt right. But in thinking about it, I can now see many parallels — at least for me — between Prokofiev's music, the city of Sao Paulo and the country of Brazil.

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Music Interviews
5:05 am
Sat July 21, 2012

A Tribal Anthem's Author — And A Cult Rock Hero

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Credit Courtesy of the artist
In 1969, Plant and See, a band led by the late Lumbee Indian singer Willie Lowery (second from left), made its only album, a cult classic rereleased this month.
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The reissue by North Carolina indie label Paradise of Bachelors includes much of Plant and See's original artwork.
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Originally published on Sun July 22, 2012 7:39 am

In the 1960s, the late Lumbee Indian singer, composer and activist Willie Lowery led a band called Plant and See — as in, plant the seed in the ground and see what comes up.

The band recorded only one album, Plant and See, which went out of print shortly after it was released in 1969, but psychedelic rock fans have always held it in high esteem.

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