Sunday June 28, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots around Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn, the night that galvanized the Gay Rights Movement. To mark the occasion, Evening Music celebrates the significant contributions by gay and lesbian composers to classical and contemporary music. And what contributions! The list of composers across the centuries who embraced alternative notions of sexuality is staggering: Franz Schubert, Aaron Copland, Jennifer Higdon, Samuel Barber, Lou Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Ned Rorem and many many more. Host David Garland and special guest host Nadia Sirota share this beautiful music in context from Thursday through the anniversary evening Sunday.

Nico Muhly, Alex Ross and Ann Powers
Thursday June 25, 2009
Nadia's Interview with Nico Muhly
Terrance talks with Alex Ross and Ann Powers
WNYC Overnight Host and omnipresent new music performer Nadia Sirota hosts a special edition of Evening Music, featuring a broad, multi-century selection of music by gay and lesbian composers, including Jennifer Higdon, Franz Schubert, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, and many more. Composer Nico Muhly joins Nadia early in the show to explore coded homosexuality in music, and later on in the evening, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross and LA Times pop music critic Ann Powers discuss homosexuality in classical and pop music.

---

Pauline Oliveros
Friday June 26, 2009
Composer, accordionist and founder of Deep Listening Institute, Pauline Oliveros, joins David Garland in the studio to discuss her life as a musician, the sounds of her childhood, growing up as a teenager in 1940s Houston, Texas, and how her identity as a lesbian composer has evolved over the decades.

---

Gay and Lesbian Composers
Saturday June 27, 2009
Host David Garland explores issues of sexuality in the lives of some of our prominent American composers, as we listen to music from Billy Strayhorn, Lou Harrison, Cole Porter and the complete orchestral suite from Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid.

---

Gretchen Phillips and Kenny Mellman
Sunday June 28, 2009
At 7pm, Legendary lesbian songwriter Gretchen Phillips and musician Kenny Mellman (Herb of the outrageous cabaret duo Kiki and Herb) join David Garland in the studio for a special Stonewall edition of Spinning on Air, on the 40th anniversary of this seminal night for gay rights. They’ll laugh, they’ll cry and they’ll spin some of the music that helped them become aware of and embrace their gay identities. The music continues throughout the evening celebrating works by gay and lesbian composers, including a special edition of the Film Music series at 10pm.