Jeff Spurgeon

Here in New York, WQXR, the sister station of our co-producer WNYC is launching something they're calling Bach 360°. It's a proper Bach-a-thon — a ten-day Bach marathon festival that ...

Earlier this week, classical pianist Van Cliburn died at age 78. In a piece written on the day of his death, Soundcheck host John Schaefer described him this way: 

"...one classical pianist was a larger-than-life, rock-star figure on at least two continents. He was a pop-music phenomenon, with a debut album that went triple platinum. Everyone knew who he was."

The pianist, who became a household name by winning the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War in 1958. WNYC's classical sister station, WQXR, recorded Van Cliburn's triumphant post-victory concert at Carnegie Hall that year -- we take a listen with WQXR host Jeff Spurgeon. 

It was 1958. In the midst of the Cold War, the inaugural Tchaikovsky International Competition took place in Moscow. Amid a climate of fear and mutual suspicion between Americans and ...

Beyoncé sang at the presidential inauguration on Monday, though many people are saying that she actually lip-synched her performance. Commenting on Beyoncé's potential lip-synching ar...

If Handel's Messiah is the quarterback of holiday music, Bach's Christmas Oratorio is the second-string walk-on. But today, Bach's underplayed work gets a starting spot in the lineup.

For the past two days, a battery-powered radio has been the only connection to the outside world for many New Yorkers. And for many of them, music, particularly classical music, offer...

There we were in Central Park, watching the rehearsal for that evening’s concert broadcast, when in the distance was a children’s choir, writes Jeff Spurgeon. See what happens next.

The New York Philharmonic offered some big sounds in its season-ending program, and served them up on a really big plate: the Drill Hall at the New York Armory. Jeff Spurgeon reports.

Every day, the piano manufacturers at Steinway & Sons face an essential question: How to balance craftsmanship with making a profitable instrument. See how it happens in this video tour.

On Monday, the French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard spoke with WQXR’s Jeff Spurgeon about programming and the distractions a performer sometimes endures.

For Disney fans, the world may seem a little smaller today. Jeff Spurgeon of WQXR joins us to discuss the legacy of the late Disney songwriter Robert Sherman.

"When I hear recordings by pianist Rudolf Firkušny, whose was born on February 11, 1912, the word that comes to mind every time is 'warmth,'" writes Jeff Spurgeon.

The radio microphones were present at a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert at an extraordinary moment in American history.

The flamboyant organist Cameron Carpenter offers us another example of his remarkable technical and musical skills in a new recording and video of “Sleigh Ride.”

From 1936 to 1958, composer Carl Stalling wrote about 600 musical scores for Merrie Melodies and Looney Toons shorts. The arsenal at his command was impressive, including a 60-piece orchestra and his own encyclopedic knowledge of music history. Cartoons – and kids – were never the same. We discuss Stalling’s life and legacy with conductor George Daugherty of the “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” concerts. Plus: WQXR host Jeff Spurgeon highlights classical moments in Stalling’s work.