COMING UP ON NPR's WEEKEND PT   JUNE 5 AND JUNE 6, 1999

LISA SIMEONE IS HOST

Saturday, JUNE 5

Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--Conductors: It's hard to imagine
an orchestra concert without a conductor on the podium.  But before the
18th century, the person who ran the show was one of the players.  In this
edition of Milestones of the Millennium, we'll examine how the role of the
conductor has evolved during the last three centuries to fit the music that
was written for orchestra.

Hour 2-- Eschenbach's farewell: Christoph Eschenbach stepped down from
his position as music director of the Houston Symphony last Monday evening.
Dean Dalton of NPR member station KUHF reports on Eschenbach's contribution
to the orchestra.  And we'll hear the evening's grand finale: From Jones
Hall in Houston, Eschenbach conducts the final movement of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony, including the "Ode to Joy."

Sunday, JUNE 6

Hour 1-- Festive happenings: Summer is a traditionally a time for
music festivals.  But some festivals don't wait until June 21st.  The
Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival in central Virginia was a late-May
event, and we'll hear a performance from the opening night concert:
pianist Hung-Kuan Chen and the Shanghai String Quartet play the Piano
Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann.

Hour 2-- Basic Hanson: PT critic Ted Libbey joins Martin Goldsmith for
a trip to the 20th century wing of the PT Basic Record Library.  Today
Ted adds three outstanding recordings of symphonies by American composer
Howard Hanson to the collection..

COMING UP ON NPR's PERFORMANCE TODAY    JUNE 7--JUNE 14, 1999

Monday, JUNE 7

Hour 1-- Early Music from the Bay State: The tenth incarnation of the
Boston Early Music Festival opened yesterday, and Boston Globe critic
Richard Dyer offers a perspective on the importance of this gathering.

Hour 2-- American Orchestras: From a May performance at Kleinhans
Music Hall in Buffalo New York, Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts the Buffalo
Philharmonic in a performance of the Symphony No. 4 by Finnish composer
Jean Sibelius.

Tuesday, JUNE 8

Hour 1-- Fiddling around for a perfect sound: Violins may look alike, but
each one has its own distinct sound.  So how does a violinist choose the
one that's best? Lisa talks to violinist Elmar Oliveira, who should know:
The Tchaikovsky Competition gold medalist tried out more than 30 different
instruments before he found the right one for him.  He'll explain what he
was looking for in a violin, and why he finally selected one made in 1726
by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.

Hour 2-- Coming to Terms with Amateurism: The first Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs opens tomorrow in
Fort Worth, Texas.  In today's edition of Coming to Terms, PT commentator
Miles Hoffman joins Lisa to talk about amateur musicians and competitions,
and how they affect professional musicians.

Wednesday, JUNE 9

Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--the Symphony: The symphony is
considered by many people to be the most important orchestral musical form
of the millennium.  But it's followed a long and winding road from its
beginnings as the 17th-century sinfonia to the large-scale work championed
by Gustav Mahler more than 200 years later.  In today's Milestones of the
Millennium, commentator Michael Steinberg tells us about the evolution of
the symphony and how various composers helped shape it into the form we
know today.

Hour 2-- Concerts around the country: In this hour, we'll feature a
selection of music from recent concert performances across the US.

Thursday, JUNE 10

Hour 1--Ernst Toch remembered: Author Lawrence Weschler is a man with a
mission--to preserve and promote the musical legacy of his grandfather,
Ernst Toch.  Weschler talks with Lisa about Toch, a German-Jewish composer
who fled to the United States in 1933.  And we'll hear some of his music,
from a concert last weekend at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington, DC.

Hour 2-- Basic Roussel: PT critic Ted Libbey joins Lisa for a visit to
the PT Basic Record Library.  Throughout 1999, Ted is adding important
20th-century works to the collection, and today he recommends three
recordings of the ballet "Bacchus et Ariane" by Albert Roussel.

Friday, JUNE 11

Hour 1-- Van Cliburn Amateurs: On the third day of the Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, we'll meet
some of the pianists who've gathered in Fort Worth, Texas to go for the
gold--from a casino executive to a meteorologist who chases tornadoes.
They'll tell us why they decided to throw caution--as well as their spare
time--to the wind and enter the event.  And we'll hear a performance from
the first round of the competition.

Hour 2-- ASCAP honors: Today in Chicago, the Louisville Orchestra will
receive an award from ASCAP--the American Society of Composers, Authors,
and Publishers--that recognizes the orchestra's skill and commitment in
programming contemporary music.  Conductor and PT commentator Markand
Thakar considers why new music is often hard to sell to concert-goers,
and tells us why the Louisville Orchestra has succeeded where other
have failed.

MONDAY, JUNE 14

Hour 1-- And the winner is: The first Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs ended Sunday night.  We'll hear who
came out on top, and Lisa will talk to the first-prize winner.

Hour 2-- Pacifica Quartet live in Studio 4A: Lisa welcomes PT's newest
Young Artists in Residence, the Pacifica Quartet, to NPR's Studio 4A for
a week of music and conversation.  Today we'll meet the members of the
group--violinists Simin Ganatra and Kyu-Young Kim, violist Kathryn
Lockwood, and cellist Brandon Vamos--and they'll perform for us.

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