WFIU: Directions in Sound

Every three years, the planet's best choirs vie to perform at the World Choral Symposium. This blue-ribbon choral festival takes place at a new location each time, and in 2005 Japan hosted the eight-day event. Twenty-four choirs from every continent, ethnicity, and language group came to the Kyoto Concert Hall and delivered breathtaking performances. These four programs are a crystallized version of the festival.
The repertoire centers on traditional choral singing that you may find familiar, but each program also holds brief, delightful musical surprises, such as a haunting Islamic song from Turkey, religious chants from Indonesia, or an improvised Norwegian folk tune.
Join us for an event that host Brian Newhouse called, "the highlight of my 26-year public radio career."

Sunday, August 6
"Scott Joplin in Missouri"
Host Max Morath devotes two full programs to the music of pioneer composer Scott Joplin, whose professional life he divides into two periods of near-equal length. This program deals with Joplin's early years in Missouri, his first success with the Maple Leaf Rag, the composition and touring of his first opera (now lost), and the forces that culminated in his popular rediscovery in the score of the 1973 movie "The Sting."

Sunday, August 13
"Scott Joplin in New York"
Scott Joplin left St. Louis for New York in 1907. He published a number of classic rags during his ten years there, but his dream was to complete and produce-fully-staged-his second opera, Treemonisha. Joplin completed the opera, and published a piano score, but died in 1917, never having seen the work on stage. It has since been widely produced, and a Broadway version won for Joplin a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.

Sunday, August 20
"The Ladies and Gentlemen of Ragtime"
Max Morath tells the story of his discovery of the remarkable number of women who composed ragtime mainly for piano during its heyday. The fun of the programming is his presentation, not only of music by female (and male) composers, but the interplay in performance of these rags by leading pianists of today, including Judy Carmichael and Nancy Fierro.

Sunday, August 27
"Broadway Rag"
Ragtime arrives in the musical theater. Broadway producers were still clinging to operettas and foreign imports. But ragtime-here in the broad sense of its Americanization of the musical and the freedoms it granted to slang and idiom-seduced Broadway through the talents of three Broadway giants: George M. Cohan, Bert Williams, and Irving Berlin.

This two-part documentary from BBC's The Changing World explores what land means to the multitudes who do not own it, but who nonetheless require it for their very existence. Introduced by Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.

Part I: Sunday, August 6, 8 p.m.
Host Alex van Wel visits South Africa, where the legacy of apartheid means that 80 percent of agricultural land is owned by whites, who make up only ten percent of the population. In this decade of multi-racial, multi-party democracy, only four percent of that land has been acquired for government redistribution. As the gap between rich and poor widens, resentment, greed, and fear grow. In China, host Tony Cheng reveals that in the past decade, an estimated 66 million farmers have been forced off their land by gangs, hired by a company or by corrupt officials. Because the government often ignores calls for help, farmers are arming themselves against displacement, and the pace of change is slow.

Part II, Sunday, August 13, 8 p.m.
Host Rupa Jha reports from India where 90 percent of the country's coal, 80 percent of other mineral reserves, and 70 percent of forests fall in areas belonging to the "tribal" population. Despite these riches, tribal communities are among India's poorest. As India develops, the rights of tribal communities remain one of the country's most sensitive and least discussed issues. In Brazil, host Babeth Bettencourt shows that while only 3 percent of the population owns two-thirds of the arable land, change may be underway. City slum dwellers are being given legal title to their properties. But nothing is simple: Descendents of slaves have rights over land if they can prove their ancestors lived there. But how?

Mexico: Getting to Know the Neighbors
Sunday, August 20, 8 p.m.

"Poor Mexico! So far from God, so close to the United States." For many Mexicans, the lament of President Porfirio Diaz one century ago still rings true today. In this America Abroad documentary, host Ray Suarez travels to Mexico City to explore Mexican attitudes toward America, and the key issues linking our countries, including immigration, free trade, and the war on drugs. The program also reviews the history of US-Mexico relations, from the raids of Pancho Villa to the signing of NAFTA, and looks back at the controversial Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Join us for an exciting new production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen from the Bayreuth Festival Opera. Broadcast over four Saturdays beginning August 12, these performances come from the stage of the Festspielhaus, the opera house built to Wagner's specifications to obtain the perfect acoustics for his operas. Concertgoers of the renowned Bayreuth Festival have to order tickets years in advance-but all you need to do is sit back, relax, and turn on WFIU for this rare opportunity to hear the Ring cycle in its entirety.

Resolved: that there shall be no "dog days" references in this August's jazz notes. Best to let sleeping puns lie. And best to lie around somewhere cool yourself-with a nice beverage and a radio tuned to WFIU for jazz, as the summer continues with its fiercest weather. What better source of relief can be found than Just You and Me, heard every weekday afternoon from 3:30 to 5 p.m.? Host Joe Bourne has been pulling musical rabbits out of his dapper DJ's hat for so long that we find ourselves wishing one of our local luminaries would pen an old-school tribute to him-"Air Bourne" is this department's suggestion for a title. (What was that about no "sleeping puns"?-Ed.)
Joe is on the air Friday evenings as well, from 9 to 10 p.m., on our long-running swing program The Big Bands. Preceding The Big Bands is Piano Jazz, hosted by the unsinkable Marion McPartland. Marian's illustrious guests this month include singer Tony Bennett, pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist Jimmy Heath, and songwriter Burt Bacharach, who must have made a cool million or more by the time he got to San Jose, given the number of hits he had penned as a maestro of late-20th century American popular song.
Speaking of popular song, stick around after The Big Bands for Afterglow, which airs every Friday evening at 10:05. This month we'll feature two new releases from pianist Brad Mehldau: one a trio album of originals, and the other a collaboration with vocalist Renée Fleming. Other highlighted artists include the Jazz Crusaders (their early 1960s straightahead jazz recordings), guitarists Herb Ellis and Jimmy Raney, and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan (a recent collection of his 1957 recordings, made with trumpeter Chet Baker and singer Annie Ross). Afterglow programs are available as well the Monday after broadcast on the program's Web site, www.afterglow.indiana.edu.
For more jazz on WFIU, catch Night Lights Saturday evenings at 11:05. Programs in the August queue include "It Came From Texas," devoted to a few of the many great jazz artists to come from the Lone Star State; "Hip Parade," taking in the early Decca and Capitol recordings of long-may-he-sing vocalist Mark Murphy; "Ain't He Funky Now," a compendium of guitarist Grant Green's late 1960s/early 1970s work; and, finally, "When Russell Met Baker," a program about the momentous studio encounters between jazz composer/pianist George Russell and Indiana University's own David Baker in the early 1960s. "When Russell Met Baker" airs Saturday, August 12 (not long after the audience will be letting out for a Bloomington performance of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra led by Mr. Baker). Tune in to 103.7 FM, or listen the following Monday via the Internet at www.nightlights.indiana.edu. It's just another way of keeping cool as the autumn approaches.

Selections from each week's featured recording can be heard at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday; 3 p.m. Thursday; and 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

August 1st - 5th
Dowland: Fancyes, Dreams and Spirits (Lute Music, Vol. I) (Naxos 8.557586)
Nigel North, lute

IU Early Music Institute faculty member Nigel North has released a new disc of music for solo lute by Shakespeare contemporary, composer, and lutenist John Dowland. A highlight of the recording is Dowland's set of seven "Fancyes" or "Fantasies" which display the composer's seemingly endless imagination and command of his instrument. North gives these works remarkable readings, and the sound quality is warm and intimate.

August 7th - 12th
Grieg: Norwegian Dances (Virgin Classics 3 44722 2)
Paavo Järvi/Estonian National Sym. Orch.

Paavo Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony follow-up last year's excellent release of Grieg's incidental music to Peer Gynt with this disc dedicated to Grieg's orchestral works. Järvi again shows himself to be a master of this repertoire, drawing a delightfully folksy sound from the orchestra while spurring them along to a series of spirited performances.

August 14th - 19th
Telemann: Sinfonia Melodica (Deutsche Grammophon 00576102)
Rainer Kussmaul/Berlin Baroque Soloists

One of the premiere ensembles performing baroque music on modern instruments, the Berlin Baroque Soloists present a disc dedicated to some lesser known works of prolific German baroque master Georg Phillip Telemann. The disc features particularly fine playing by oboist Albrecht Mayer and excellent sound quality throughout.

August 21st - 26th
Grayston Ives: Listen Sweet Dove (Harmonia Mundi HMU 907420)
Bill Ives/The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford

Grayston Ives (aka Bill Ives) was trained as a boy chorister at Ely Cathedral and later became a Choral Scholar at Cambridge before joining the King's Singers as performer and arranger. Now organist and director of the choir at Magdalen College, Oxford, he leads the choir in a delightful collection of English liturgical music written between 1973 and 2000. The music is accessible without pretension and these performances are excellent.

August 28th - September 2nd
Alessandro Scarlatti: Il Giardino di Rose (Decca 000199702)
Ottavio Dantone/Accademia Bizantia

An interesting collection of music by the prolific Alessandro Scarlatti, which intersperses short harpsichord concertos between sinfonias from a few of his many oratorios. While the concertos are not particularly memorable (the playing of harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone is however worthy of note), the sinfonias are often fascinating, displaying the composer's intense dramatic gift (he made his living as the founder of early Neapolitan opera). The playing is consistently thrilling with notable concertante solos from concertmaster Stefano Montanari

WFIU News Department reporter Nicole Beemsterboer has been chosen by NPR News to work on the afternoon news program All Things Considered for a summer internship. Beemsterboer, who recently graduated IU with an undergraduate degree in journalism and French, was one of two students in the country chosen after a nationwide search. The production internship will take place at NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
WFIU News Director Will Murphy, Nicole's supervisor at the station, said, "This is not your typical 'gopher' internship. Nicole will be responsible for meeting hard deadlines, dealing with reporters from across the country, and editing the audio for stories that will be making headlines."
Nicole is aware of the fast-paced, high-pressure newsroom environment she'll be thrust into, and she's looking forward to it.
"I'll be excited to see how a small team of just twenty-six people can put on a two-hour daily show," she said.
"The energy level must be incredibly high," she added. "I want to learn how to work that efficiently to produce something of high quality that is important to listeners. How does the team present so many different stories that people want to listen to at the end of the day that cover a range of in-depth international and domestic stories?" Nicole expects her duties to include serving as editorial assistant and story researcher.
Since joining WFIU in 2002, Nicole has served as a part-time reporter covering both daily spot news, and longer stories for WFIU's Saturday Feature, for which she has also done audio editing. Her reporting has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio-Television News Directors Association. Her story "My Favorite Things," won the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for best feature in 2005.
Will Murphy recalls hiring Nicole four years ago. "I hired her as a part-time reporter, and within a short time it became quite clear that she had the 'intangibles' that make a great reporter. She is curious, empathetic, diligent, responsible, quick on her feet, creative, gracious, mature, and respectful."
Reflecting on her time at the station, Nicole said, "I am really extremely fortunate to have met the people at WFIU that have supported, encouraged and challenged me. Will Murphy is an incredible mentor who has taught me more than I could possibly convey in a list. He really took a chance on me when I first started, and pushed me all along the way."
Last year Nicole was chosen as one of eight students nationwide to participate in NPR's prestigious Next Generation Radio "boot camp" in Kansas City, Missouri. In the program, promising young journalists are subjected to an intensive week-long training session. The idea behind the initiative is to instill the students with an interest and knowledge in radio that they will pass along to others in their age group. For Nicole, the training had the intended effect.
"The minute Nicole came back from that 'boot camp,' Will Murphy said, "she had many ideas to help train her fellow students (and some of her supervisors). In addition, her new-found knowledge and expertise will help us redefine 'best practices' in our newsroom."
Nicole was also voted as Indiana University On-Campus Student Employee of the Year for 2005-2006. The award, given by the IU Career Development Center and Arts & Sciences Career Services, recognizes students who have been singled out by their employers as one of their most valued student employees.
WFIU Station Manager Christina Kuzmych cites Nicole as an example of the increasing excellence of the WFIU News Department.
"Our mission," she says, "is not only to provide excellence in journalistic broadcasting, but to mentor the next generation of broadcast journalists who truly embrace the concepts of balance and objectivity, and have a commitment to serving the public."
The staff of WFIU wishes Nicole all the best in Washington and looks forward to hearing her filing stories as a full-fledged NPR reporter in the not-too-distant future.

August 6 - Susan Gubar
Susan Gubar is a professor of English and Women's Studies and writes about critical race and gender issues in twentieth-century British and North American cultural contexts. She is the co-author of "The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the 19th-Century Literary Imagination," "The Norton Anthology of Literature of Women," and a critical trilogy "No Man's Land: The Place of the Woman Writer in the Twentieth Century." Her other books include "MotherSongs," a collection of poetry for and about mothers, and a collection of her essays, "Critical Condition: Feminism at the Turn of the Century." Shana Ritter conducted the hour-long interview.

August 13 - Lynne Truss
Lamenting the current state of grammar, journalist and author Lynne Truss wrote the international bestseller "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation," which provided spirited ammunition for the grammar sticklers among us. Her new manifesto is "Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today," a rallying cry for courtesy. Truss is also a fiction writer and editor of several books, and is the former host of the BBC's radio program Cutting a Dash. In conversation with Roy Eisenhardt for City Arts & Lectures.

August 20 - Mimi Zweig
Mimi Zweig is a professor at the IU Jacobs School of music and is director of the Summer String Academy. She was Director of the String Academy of Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Assistant Principal Viola of the Indianapolis Symphony, and a member of the American Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, and the Indianapolis Symphony. For more than three decades she has developed children's string programs across the United States, and she leads master classes and pedagogy workshops throughout the world. Her students, including Joshua Bell, have won numerous competitions and teach and perform worldwide. She spoke with Sarah Stevens.

August 27 - Chris Swanson
Chris Swanson is one of the founders of the Bloomington-based independent recording companies Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, artist-friendly labels known for coupling a fertile artistic environment with ambitious business plans. Swanson works on developing over thirty musical artists, some of which have gone on to international acclaim, such as Antony & the Johnsons, Black Mountain, Magnolia Electric Co., and Okkervil River. In addition to artist development, he co-runs SC Distribution, which exclusively distributes 18 record labels globally, and Bellwether Manufacturing, a media replication company, which works with over 200 record labels. David Brent Johnson conducted the interview.

"The World Made Straight"
by Ron Rash
Begins Monday, August 7
Approx. 20 episodes

Travis Shelton is seventeen the summer he wanders onto a neighbor's property in the woods, discovers a crop of marijuana large enough to make him some serious money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. The owner of the marijuana and the bear trap strikes a deal with Travis, and so begins Travis's confrontation with the insidious evils within his rural world.
Before long, Travis has moved out of his parent's home to live with a former schoolteacher who lost his job and custody of his daughter years ago when he was framed by a vindictive student. The fate of these two outsiders bear down on each of them from every direction, leading to a violent reckoning-not only with the teacher, but with the legacy of a Civil War massacre that, even after a century, continues to divide an Appalachian community.
Vivid, harrowing, yet ultimately hopeful, "The World Made Straight" offers a powerful exploration of the painful conflict between the bonds of home and the desire for independence.

In July we thanked the WFIU staff members and listeners who made donations to the Robert Samels Memorial Fund. This month we would like to thank those people whose names could not be included in last month's guide. To date we have received more than ten thousand dollars in donations. We invite you to join us by making a voluntary contribution. Information on how to contribute to the Fund is on our Web site: wfiu.indiana.edu. Together we can preserve his memory and teach those who, like Robert, come to WFIU to learn the art and craft of public radio.
Miriam Alpert Stephen and Jo Ellen Ham
Rona Hokanson
Margaret Hurdlik
Robert Kaplowitz
Beth and Paul Kirk
Lara Langeneckert
Emilie C. Murray
The Paskash Family
Martie Perry
Gary and Christine Potter
Margaret L. Pruden
Stanley Ritchie

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS-Toccata Marziale; Ray E. Cramer/IU Wind Ens.
Airs: 8/7 at 7 p.m., 8/8 at 10 a.m., 8/11 at 3 p.m.

BRAHMS-Violin Sonata No. 3 in d, Op. 108; Federico Agostini, vln.; Reiko Neriki, p.
Airs: 8/8 at 7 p.m.

BOTTESINI-Grand Duo for Double Bass and Clarinet; James Campbell, cl.; Bruce Bransby, db.; Luba Edlina, p.
Airs: 8/14 at 7 p.m., 8/15 at 10 a.m., 8/18 at 3 p.m.

PONCE-Sonatina Meridional; Ernesto Bitetti, gt.
Airs: 8/16 at 11 a.m.

VIVALDI-Flute Concerto in F, Op. 10, No. 1, RV 433 "La tempesta di mare"; Jennifer Streeter, rec.; Stanley Ritchie/IU Baroque Orch.
Airs: 8/21 at 7 p.m., 8/22 at 10 a.m., 8/25 at 3 p.m.

FREUND-Framing Bitter Sweetness; Kristie Withers, hp.; Dongmin Kim/IU New Music Ens.
Airs: 8/28 at 7 p.m., 8/29 at 10 a.m., 9/1 at 3 p.m.

WEBER-Adagio and Rondo; Bruce Bransby, db.; Evelyne Brancart, p.
Airs: 8/30 at 3 p.m.

BAKER, D.-IMAGES, SHADOWS AND DREAMS: Excerpts; Melanie Mooney, fl.; Daniel Cole, gt.; Luke Gillespie, p.; Bruce Bransby, db.; Bryson Kern, drums; Jan Harrington/IU Univ. Singers
Airs: 8/30 at 7 p.m.

This year Congress is considering a proposal to cut over 200 million dollars in federal support for public broadcasting.
National Public Radio, in association with PBS, has created Tell Them Public Matters, a Web site that makes it possible for listeners to share their thoughts on public broadcasting in the face of proposed budget cuts. To learn about how public broadcasting is funded or to send a message to Congress, visit tellthempublicmatters.org or visit the WFIU Web site: wfiu.indiana.edu.

Radio broadcasting is undergoing rapid change. One of WFIU's missions is to keep up with change, ensuring the best possible service to both our current listeners and listeners of the future.
This future takes us beyond today's broadcasting, into a world where anyone, anywhere will be able to access our programs at any time. These changes require a major investment in technology that go well beyond the resources we generate through our annual membership program that supports our daily operation.
To financially support these new initiatives, we created the WFIU Future Fund. Thoughtful gifts to the Fund have come in many forms-from direct cash gifts of support, to stock, retirement, insurance policies, and estate plans. The Future Fund Charter Donors are listed below, with WFIU's gratitude.
We welcome your participation in helping WFIU stay in the broadcasting forefront. Listeners may support the WFIU Future Fund, or any number of giving and naming opportunities beginning at $1,000 that permit individuals and businesses to become involved beyond an annual membership or underwriting gift.
To learn how you can become involved, contact Judy Witt, WFIU/WTIU Major and Planned Gifts Officer, at jwitt@indiana.edu or 812-855-2935.
We would like to express our gratitude to the 2004-2005 Future Fund Charter Donors:

Becky Cape
Fred and Sandra Churchill
Anna Marie and Matthew Dalle-Ave
Kenneth Gros Louis
Harold and Dorothy Hammel
Diane M. Hawes
Ross Jennings
Stephen and Diane Keucher
Christina Kuzmych
Bob and Allison Lendman
Jeanette Calkins Marchant
Celeste and Mike McGregor
Perry and Nancy Metz
William Murphy
John and Susan Nash
James and Barbara Randall
Frederick Risinger
Marie-Louise and David Smith
Maurice and Linda Smith
Ron and Sally Stephenson
Rex and Nancy Stockton
Mary and Joseph Walker
Lee and Judy Witt
Eva Zogorski