This week, Q2 with Terrance McKnight will feature pieces of music written by composers when they were 30 years old.

Celebrating or even acknowledging All Saints and All Souls Day has never been on my to-do list. That's primarily because I wasn't fully aware of these long-standing holidays until I began preparing this show.

Since the first panpipes, musicians have attempted to imitate the human voice in non-vocal music. 

Whenever I travel outside of the U.S., I'm always struck by the presence of American music, particularly our popular music.  You hear it in hotels, clubs, on cruise ships, etc. People around the world respond viscerally to our music even if they're not English speakers. So on this week's Q2, we'll delve into the roots of American music and take a closer look at the movers and shakers that created its innovative sounds.

Long before I took my first piano lesson, I was drawn to music.  Aside from the sound, I was moved by the effect I saw it having on those around me, especially in church.  I was amazed at the gamut of emotions music evoked there, and this curiosity has led to a life-long relationship with music.  To this day, I'm just as thrilled and appreciative when I hear incredible, inspiring music, whether it was written centuries ago or earlier this morning.

Terrance McKnight, host of Evening Music on WNYC, explores the musical legacy of Mary Travers. Mary is best known for her work with the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. She died of leukemia yesterday at the age of 72.

Here's Mary singing with Peter and Paul on the folk classic, "Blowin' in the Wind":

Miles Davis’s seminal jazz album, “Kind of Blue,” turns 50 today. Davis, along with John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, recorded the album – widely considered one of the greatest jazz albums in history – in early 1959, and released it on August 17th, 1959.

Joining The Takeaway to talk about the impact this album has had is WNYC’s Evening Music Host Terrance McKnight.

Mozart: The Complete Collection just got a little bit bigger. Two new pieces of music have now been identified as compositions of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written when he was seven or eight years old. These two pieces of musical history have been in possession of the International Mozarteum Foundation since 1864. Its Research Department Director, Dr. Ulrich Leisinger, who is responsible for identifying these two pieces, joins us from Salzburg, Austria. Also joining us is Terrance McKnight, host of WNYC’s Evening Music.

In this excerpt from Things Fall Apart, readers get a glimpse of Igbo life in Nigeria before the Europeans arrive to establish colonial institutions. Read by WNYC's evening host Terrance McKnight.

After the news of Michael Jackson’s death, his fans went out into the streets and to the places that he was associated with in their cities. Togther, they shared memories, listened to Jackson's music—and sang along.

In New York, people gravitated to the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, where Jackson had his first big break. And in Detroit, people found themselves standing on the steps of the Motown Historical Museum.

Joining us are two people who joined the vigils. Terrance McKnight, WNYC’s Music Host, went out to the Apollo, while Amanda Le Claire , a producer at WDET in Detroit, headed towards Motown.

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This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots - an uprising that gave new visibility to gay and lesbian people. WNYC's Evening Music host Terrance McKnight looks at how gay musicians are affected by the movement for gay liberation.

Fifty years ago this week, virtuoso jazz pianist Thelonious Monk gave a landmark concert at New York City’s Town Hall. It was a coming-out for an underground jazz scene called bebop. Monk’s 1959 concert marked bebop’s shift from New York’s nightclubs to center stage. We celebrate the anniversary of that concert with WNYC music host, Terrance McKnight.

Terrance will broadcast from New York's Town Hall tonight at 8 PM.

The Brian Lehrer Show’s special coverage of the presidential inauguration includes:

From Washington, DC: WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein and Siddhartha Mitter; plus The TakeAway’s Femi Oke; and Todd Zwillich of Capitol News Connection;

From New York City: WNYC’s Beth Fertig, Bob Hennelly, Arun Venugopal, Terrance McKnight, and Allison ...

WNYC culture reporter Siddhartha Mitter and Evening Music host Terrance McKnight talk about the cultural significance of the inauguration live from the National Mall in Washington. Also: WNYC reporter Beth Fertig speaks to us live from the Police Athletic League Harlem Armory where the Democracy Prep Charter School is hosting ...

WNYC's own Terrance McKnight is in Washington, D.C. to witness the Inauguration of Barack Obama. We asked him to craft an essay on the subject of what this Inauguration means to him. Listen to his take on this historic day.

WNYC's own Terrance McKnight, host of Evening Music, talks about the Rev. Dr. King's personal musical journey. He's hosting "A Beautiful Symphony of Brotherhood: The Musical Journey of Martin Luther King, Jr." the evening of Monday, January 19.

It’s a New Year and we’re taking a look back--and a look forward--at a venue at the center of American Music: Carnegie Hall. If 2008 was the year of the symphony at Carnegie, then 2009 is the year of the multimedia hybrid opera. Joining us to explain what that means is WNYC Music Host Terrance McKnight.

Here's the music you heard in this segment:

•Composer John Adams' "Son of a Chamber Symphony"
•Soprano Jessye Norman sings "Ave Maria"
•Composer Laura Karpman's "Not Forgotten."
•The Roots

WNYC’s own Terrance McKnight, host of Evening Music, shares his picks for some great classical Christmas music.

Terrance's album picks include:
"Noel Pianissimo," Duo Campion-Vachon (Analekta)
"A Robert Shaw Christmas: Angels on High," Robert Shaw Chamber Singers (Telarc)
"40 Most Beautiful Christmas Classics" ...