wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

With American symphony orchestras in a state of crisis, the San Francisco Symphony has bucked the downward trend while rising into the ranks of the world's great ensembles. Its celebrated music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, joins John Schaefer today to discuss his innovative views on programming, community relations, education, and more. Also, we continue with Soundcheck’s ongoing discussion about the notion of cultural literacy – those art and entertainment forms that a person feels they should know to be (or appear to be) educated. We look at contemporary music’s place in that rubric with Wall Street Journal music critic Greg Sandow.
Additional Resources: More about the San Francisco Symphony More about Greg Sandow Read Sandow’s latest article on new music in Newmusicbox.org