Terrance McKnight

For this special podcast, Terrance McKnight sits down with three experts from across the musical spectrum and asks them to rank the 10 greatest classical composers of all time.

On this Martin Luther King Day, highlights from yesterday's event at the Brooklyn Museum hosted by Brian Lehrer, Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Perry, and WQXR's Terrance McKnight and featuring panelists Roy Innis, Obery Hendricks, Christine Yvette Lewis, Jeanne Theoharis, Peniel Joseph, and Natalia Aristizabal-Betancur.

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There was a time when musicians were considered peons on the social ladder and great composers remained anonymous. Both performer and composer were servants to aristocrats or the church. Applauding their craft was radical and perhaps even sacrilege. These days, audiences heartily applaud great performances across sacred and secular mediums. While I enjoy hearing live music and applauding inspired performances, some music is just better without applause.

"I hate 'classical' music" is how New Yorker music critic Alex Ross begins his most recent book Listen to This. Alex will be my guest on my new program All Ears this Saturday at 10 pm.

What I enjoy most about this time of year is the tradition of season. But until now I never seriously thought about how my indulging in these sacred traditions could be an affront to someone else.

Is For Colored Girls still relevant? Let us know by posting a comment here!

What do you think about iPads as instruments? A few months ago the pianist Lang Lang came to our studio and played Flight of the Bumblebee on one. That's possible because of a three-dollar application that simulates a keyboard. Now there is an app that simulates the violin.

My elementary school required that its students sing in the school choir or play an instrument. I chose trumpet. It was loud, shiny and, I thought, how difficult could it be?

Up until a few weeks ago, you'd hear a generous amount of recordings from pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. But now that Pletnev is under investigation for child rape in Thailand his voice has been silenced in concert halls and on the radio – in the U.S. and U.K that is. But back home in Russia, and elsewhere his beat marches on. Pletnev founded the Russian National Orchestra 20 years ago and its season kicked off this month as planned with Pletnev on the podium. 

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is one of the nation's top orchestras. It has been facing financial problems in recent years, with corporate contributions and ticket sales down and an operating deficit that could reach $5 million this year. Now they are negotiating with the orchestra's musicians over a new contract. 

If you ever want to hear a piano laugh, listen to Bud Powell. And when you want to hear that same piano get deeply sentimental or sound like its catching fire, stick with Bud Powell.

An acquaintance recently said to me, "Terrance, I think you might be too square for her" (referring to a friend of hers). That comment got me thinking about the degree to which one's personality is shaped by vocation.