Dan Margolies

While the exact date of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth in December of 1770 is debated by scholars, what is inarguable was his musical genius. We'll hear the Kansas City Symphony perform his "Coriolan" Overture, Violin Concerto featuring Pinchas Zukerman, and his "Eroica" Symphony No. 3.

Join co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies for a program of fun and dramatic orchestral works. We'll hear Richard Wagner's Overture to "The Flying Dutchman," Max Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy" featuring violinist Stefan Jackiw, Walter Piston's Suite from "The Incredible Flutist" and Antonín Dvořák's sunny Symphony No. 8.

The birthday celebration for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart continues with two of his piano concerti and his profound "Jupiter" symphony. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies explore Mozart's frame of mind during each compositional period and offer insights on performing these great works.

This week, we explore what could have been - and what is - with Franz Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony and a late 20th century sonic exploration of New York City by Aaron Jay Kernis. We'll also hear two of the best loved orchestral showpieces for violin: Max Bruch's Concerto No. 1 featuring a young Benjamin Beilman, and Édouard Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole" featuring Joshua Bell.

Nearly two-hundred years after a twenty year old Frédéric Chopin composed his first piano concerto, the work still delights. This week, we'll hear rising piano star George Li perform the piece, plus the eminent violinist Gil Shaham performs Alban Berg's melancholy concerto. We'll also hear the Kansas City Symphony in a recent performance of Jean Sibelius' swan-inspired Symphony No. 5.

This week, co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies celebrate the birthday of the great French composer Maurice Ravel with works from throughout his career. The Kansas City Symphony's next Music Director, Matthias Pintscher, will lead the orchestra in two works, plus we'll hear Leon Fleisher in a performance of the "Left Hand Concerto," alongside the crowd-pleasing Bolero and the Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé.

This week we'll hear the Kansas City Symphony perform Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 102 and Leonard Bernstein's "Serenade," a work composed for Isaac Stern, the legendary violinist and father of co-host Michael Stern. Also, we'll hear a recent performance of Béla Bartók's "Concerto for Orchestra."

This week we'll hear Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor as arranged by Edward Elgar. The rest of the program is Gustav Mahler's gargantuan Symphony No. 2, known as "The Resurrection." Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor shares what excites and scares her about performing the work. And as always, co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies offer insightful background on each composer and composition.

This week, hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies explore a wonderful variety of works. We'll hear an organ concerto by Handel featuring Jan Kraybill, Adolphus Hailstork's 'Baroque Suite,' alongside works by Ferruccio Busoni and David Diamond. On top of all that great music, we'll hear a recent performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's fourth piano concerto featuring pianist Conrad Tao.

After 19 seasons, Michael Stern is stepping down as music director of the Kansas City Symphony, with Matthias Pintscher taking over at the start of the next season. Classical KC spoke with the outgoing maestro and his longtime friend Yo-Yo Ma about Stern's time at the helm and what’s ahead for the orchestra.