Classical Music Happy Hour

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Latest Episodes:

John Adams - not the President Mar 25, 2026

Renowned American composer John Adams joins Manny to discuss his approach to opera composition, the stories behind his intriguingly titled works, and the time he was once mistaken for John Cage. Adams answers listener questions on the evolution of music and the emotional pull of minor keys. He also shares his love of Stravinsky and Handel. For our game segment, Adams puts his knowledge to the test as Manny quizzes him on outrageous performance directions.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music used in today’s episode includes:

Italian Concerto in F Major BWV 971, III: Presto
Bach
András Schiff, Piano
Live Recording at The Greene Space

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 25
Bach
Anne-Catherine Bucher, Harpsichord
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 25
Bach
Simone Dinnerstein, Piano
Live Recording at The Greene Space

Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304
Mozart
Takako Nishizaki,
Violin
Jeno Jando, Piano
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, I. Allegro non troppo
Brahms
Johannes Moser, Cello
Michael Brown, Piano
Liver Recording at The Greene Space

Symphony No. 5, I. Trauermarsch
Mahler
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, IV. Finale–Adagio lamentoso
Tchaikovsky
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Tu Del Ciel
Il Trionfo Del Tempo E Del Disinganno
Handel
Claron McFadden, Elisabeth Scholl, Joachim Carlos Martini, Junge Kantorei, Barockorchester Frankfurt, Nicholas Hariades & Peer Abilgaard
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Gnossienne No. 3
Satie
Klara Kormendi, Piano
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Horn Concert No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 417, III. Rondo Allegro
Mozart
Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Michael Thompson
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.
Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Gabriela Ortiz - Composer and Grammy Gal Mar 18, 2026

Composer Gabriela Ortiz joins Manny to talk about her grandfather’s surprising connection to Mahler, her own compositional process, and her enduring love for works by Debussy and Stravinsky. Listeners call in with tricky questions about folk music’s influence on classical works, new developments in orchestral instruments, and the realities of orchestra cliques. In our game segment, Manny puts Gabriela to the test—can she identify which famous composer was panned by critics?

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music used in today’s episode includes:

Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp minor, IV. Adagietto
Mahler
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Le Sacre du Printemps
Stravinsky
Brussels Philharmonic, Ali Rahbari
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

La Mer, L. 109, II. Jeux de vagues
Debussy
Brussels Philharmonic, Ali Rahbari
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Miroirs, M. 43 Une barque sur l'océan
Ravel
Francois-joel Thiollier, piano
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Estancia, Op. 8, Scene 5: Danza Final. Malambo
Alberto Ginastera
London Symphony Orchestra, Gisele Ben-Dor
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Romanian Folk Dances
Bartok
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Live Recording

Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36
Beethoven
Danish Chamber Orchestra, Ádám Fischer
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Marc-André Hamelin - Rocks Rachmaninoff Mar 11, 2026

Composer and pianist Marc-André Hamelin joins Manny to talk about growing up with a musical father, the mechanics of piano playing, and the influences behind his prolific performing and recording career. He answers listener questions about piano transcriptions and why music is written in so many different keys. In the music segment, Hamelin performs one of his favorite works by Rachmaninoff live in the studio.

The piece performed by Marc-André Hamelin is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Etude-Tableau op39/5 in E-flat minor.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music used in today’s episode includes:

53 Studies on the Chopin Études: No. 12 in G-Flat Major (6th Version)
Leopold Godowsky
Robert Helps, Piano

53 Studies on the Chopin Études: No. 45 in E Major (1st Version)
Leopold Godowsky
Robert Helps, Piano

Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
Modest Mussorgsky
Yutong Sun, Piano

Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
Modest Mussorgsky
Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Serov

Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-Flat Major
Mozart
Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Michael Thompson

Fantasia in C minor, K. 475
Mozart
Péter Nagy, piano

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Yuja Wang - Superstar Pianist Plays Too Many Encores Mar 04, 2026

Superstar pianist Yuja Wang joins Manny Ax to talk about bad pianos, encores, what influences her musical interpretations, and her love for Prokofiev. In our Newly Dead game, Yuja puts her knowledge of composer deaths to the test.

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music used in today’s episode includes:

Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major, Op. 31 No. 3 "La chasse": IV 
Beethoven
Boris Giltburg, Piano

Piano Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31 No. 1: I. Allegro
Beethoven
Boris Giltburg, Piano

Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545 "Sonata facile": I. Allegro
Mozart
Jenő Jandó, Piano

Concerto No. 2 Op 18 II Adagio Sostenuto
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff, piano
Leopold Stokowski, conductor
The Philadelphia Orchestra 1924

Scythian Suite, Op. 20: II. The Enemy of God, III. Night
Prokofiev
Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra
Theodore Kuchar, conductor

Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 6: IV. Marche Funebre
Scriabin
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Konstantin Scherbakov & Igor Golovschin

Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica": II. Marcia funebre
Beethoven
Danish Chamber Orchestra & Ádám Fischer

Symphony No. 44 in E minor Trauer Sinfonie Mourning III Adagio
Haydn
Capella Istropolitana & Barry Wordsworth

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Introducing Classical Music Happy Hour with Manny Ax Feb 25, 2026

Join renowned pianist Emanuel Ax for Classical Music Happy Hour: a new podcast full of music, merriment, and conversation. Manny (Emanuel) talks with special guests about their lives, listens to some of their favorite classical gems, plays music-inspired games, and answers questions from listeners. Grab a cocktail and press play on a podcast celebrating our love of all things classical music! Episode one with guest and pianist Yuja Wang drops next week.

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Our Common Nature Recommends: Classical Music Happy Hour Feb 19, 2026

Hello Our Common Nature fans, Ana González is dropping into the feed to tell you about Classical Music Happy Hour, a new podcast you might be interested in, hosted by Yo-Yo Ma’s friend and pianist Emanuel Ax.

The show is all about the joy in chatting about music with all sorts of people, including some of Manny’s dearest friends like pianist Yuja Wang, composer John Adams, actor David Hyde Pierce, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

In every episode, Manny Ax speaks with a guest about their relationship with music. We’ll hear their favorite music selections–sometimes performed live in the studio! Manny also takes listener questions, and he and his guests play music-inspired games.

To Our Common Nature fans, please join Manny for music, merriment, and conversation. And to give you a taste of what you can expect, here’s just a bit of the episode with guest Yo-Yo Ma.

Follow or subscribe to this show for upcoming episodes of Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Hawai‘i: Yo-Yo Ma and the Whales Nov 19, 2025

Yo-Yo Ma has wanted to use his cello to communicate with whales for half his life. And, in Hawai’i he got a chance. With help from the Polyneisan Voyaging Society and hula master Snowbird Bento, Yo-Yo learns about the ancient art of Hawaiian chant, what one local singer describes to him as their “contribution to the orchestra of the world.” Then Ana and Yo-Yo board a legendary canoe, Hōkūleʻa, with local fishermen, seafaring captains, and marine biologists. The musicians play cello for whales through the hull of the ship, all in the red glow of volcano Mauna Loa’s active eruption.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma and Snowbird Bento

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.
Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell
Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Yo-Yo Ma wants to know: what place do you love most? What reminds you that you are part of the Earth? Snap a photo of your favorite place on the planet and share it on social with the tag #ourcommonnature

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Hawai‘i: Yo-Yo Ma on Moloka‘i Nov 12, 2025

On the island of Molokaʻi in Hawaii, we trace the spiritual power of mana, from a sacred grove to the Kalaupapa colony, where music, story, and Yo-Yo Ma’s performance honor the resilience and memory of those who came before.

Perched on a plateau on the southeast side of the island of Molokaʻi sits a grove of kukui trees. Mikiʻala Pescaia tells us that beneath the roots of these trees are the bones of Hawaiian spiritual leader Lanikaula. It holds his energy and power, his mana, a key concept in Hawaiian culture. On the north side of the same island, on a rugged peninsula called Kalaupapa, we explore the mana left behind by another history. It’s the site of a government-mandated colony for people who contracted Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.

Historian Anwei Law tells us the story of Bernard Punikaiʻa, who came to Kalaupapa as a boy with a disease and created a life of music and community within the bounds of the colony. We reflect on how to memorialize the residents of Kalaupapa as the last remaining living residents listen to Yo-Yo play in one of the peninsula's many cemeteries.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma and Bernard Punikaʻia

Watch a video of Bernard performing “Where Birds Never Fly”

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

West Virginia: Yo-Yo Ma and West Virginia Coal Nov 05, 2025

West Virginia is defined by its beauty and its coal, two things that can work against each other. Yo-Yo Ma felt this as soon as stepped foot in its hills.This episode explores how music and poetry help process the emotions of a community besieged with disaster and held together by pride and duty. We travel down the Coal River with third-generation coal miner Chris Saunders, who tells us how coal has saved and threatened his life. Poet Crystal Good shares her poetry, which channels her rage and love. And musician and granddaughter of West Virginia coal miners, Kathy Mattea, explains the beauty of belting out your home state in a chorus. The end of the episode finds host Ana floating down the New River with help from a group of high schoolers and Yo-Yo Ma.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Dom Flemons, and Kathy Mattea and poetry by Crystal Good.

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings
Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers : Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Alaska: Yo-Yo Ma and the Gwich’in play for the salmon Oct 29, 2025

This episode begins in Fairbanks, AK. Yo-Yo Ma is at a house concert with drag queen environmentalist Pattie Gonia, singer/songwriter Quinn Christopherson and Princess Daazhraii Johnson, a writer and filmmaker from the Gwich’in Nation. They were all performing to help their communities process the negative effects of climate change in Alaska. Salmon have been disappearing for decades, but now there are laws preventing fishing along the Yukon River, an ancestral practice for many Alaska Native people. Host Ana travels up to the 2024 Gwich’in Gathering in Circle, Alaska to learn how the Gwich’in nation uses its centuries-old tools of music and discussion to speak with one voice and bring back the salmon.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Quinn Christopherson and Pattie Gonia, poetry by Princess Johnson, and traditional music by members of the Gwich’in Nation.

Watch Pattie Gonia performing "Won't Give Up" featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Quinn Christopherson (video)
Watch Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach in a birch forest damaged by melting permafrost on Lower Tanana Dene lands near Fairbanks, Alaska
Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings
Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
With editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.
Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies

The Smokies: Mountains and Forgotten Family with Yo-Yo Ma Oct 22, 2025

In the Smoky Mountains, traditions layer and intersect. Yo-Yo Ma believes that story and song can help us grapple with America’s complicated history. This episode highlights two stories of people who are reclaiming their connections to the land. The first brings us to Cherokee, North Carolina, where Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe are working to change the name of the tallest mountain in the range back to its original Cherokee name.

Then, we go to the other side of the mountains, where musician Eric Mingus meets up with some long-lost family, and grapples with the weight of his family’s history. His performance reconnects him to a lineage he never thought he’d find.

Featuring music by Eric Mingus, Rhiannon Giddens and Yo-Yo Ma.

“Grinds My Bones/The Mill” was composed and performed by Eric Mingus.

Flute and vocal performance in this episode by Jarrett Wildcatt. Additional audio recording provided by Taylor MacKay.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
With editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music from Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado

Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

And if you want to listen to more music from this series, you can check out the Our Common Nature EP, featuring Yo-Yo playing with Eric Mingus, Jen Kreisberg and an Icelandic choir, now available on all streaming platforms.

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies.

Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Kentucky: Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra perform in Mammoth Cave Oct 15, 2025

A cave can hold secrets. Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams knows that, which is why he wrote a piece for symphony orchestra to be performed entirely underground. This episode takes us into Mammoth Cave to hear a performance that unlocks a centuries of stories preserved by the caves' seemingly endless walls. One of those is the story of Jerry Bransford, who brought the Bransford name back to Mammoth Cave 80 years after his ancestors were removed from their jobs as cave guides because of their race.

Featuring original music from Louisville Symphony Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams, performed by the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Davóne Tines, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Special thanks to: Mammoth Cave National Park and Louisville Orchestra for their recording of Mammoth used throughout this episode. Find out more about their projects and concerts by visiting louisvilleorchestra.org

To learn more about all the history of enslaved guides at Mammoth Cave, read Making Their Mark: The Signature of Slavery at Mammoth Cave, written by Joy Lyons.

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP.

Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies

Acadia: Yo-Yo Ma and the Wabanaki Play for the Dawn Oct 08, 2025

The series opens with a window into the Yo-Yo universe, one where music and nature work together. Host Ana González guides us into Yo-Yo Ma’s mindset, connecting Bach to leaves, birds, and sunlight. That takes us to a sunrise in Acadia National Park in Maine, where Chris Newell leads Yo-Yo and Wabanaki musicians in a musical performance to welcome the dawn.

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Newell, and Lauren Stevens.

Yo-Yo’s performance of In the Gale by Anna Clyne

Additional audio provided by the Upstander Project. Watch the Upstander Project film about this sunrise performance here: https://www.reciprocity.org/films/weckuwapok

Listen to the Our Common Nature EP here.

Preview more videos on @wnyc Instagram/Facebook

Credits:
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings

Hosted by Ana González
Produced by Alan Goffinski
Editing from Pearl Marvell
Sound design and episode music by by Alan Goffinski
Mixed by Joe Plourde
Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado
Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays.

Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell

Special thanks to Acadia National Park.

This podcast was inspired by a project of the same name, conceived by Yo-Yo Ma and Sound Postings, with creative direction by Sophie Shackleton, in collaboration with partners all over the world.

Our Common Nature is made possible with support from Emerson Collective and Tambourine Philanthropies.

Episode photo by Austin Mann; episode and show art by Tiffany Pai
Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Visit the website at ourcommonnaturepodcast.org

Our Common Nature with Yo-Yo Ma: Coming Soon! Sep 11, 2025

When the world stopped in 2020, cellist Yo-Yo Ma started thinking about how music can reconnect people to nature. In this limited podcast series, Yo-Yo travels around the country to make music and meet people who have deep connections to the earth. Host Ana González joins him to uncover stories of the ways that culture binds us to nature, from Maine to Appalachia and Hawaii.

The result is a seven-episode series that fuses music, personal narratives, and local histories from across the United States. We travel into the world's largest cave to hear the Louisville Orchestra perform. In Hawai‘i, an elder says her “chants are our contribution to the human orchestra of the world.” And the Wabanaki teach us about their duty to welcome the sun each day in Maine. For Yo-Yo Ma, who has spent most of his career indoors, a connection to the natural world is “what doesn’t exist in my life, that I know is missing.” Our Common Nature helps to bridge the gap – for Yo-Yo and for all of us.

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