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On Demand

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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    (freeloosedirt/flickr)

    Record Stores: Live or Let Die?

    More than 1,000 retailers and their loyal customers celebrated record-store culture last week. But music lovers who moved online years ago say physical stores are not worth saving. Today: a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on record stores. Later: Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian joins us to discuss her unconventional career.

Steve Reich Wins Pulitzer Prize

Composer Steve Reich was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, 2004 and 2005. His work called "Double Sextet" finally put him over the top. He joins us to talk about the piece and his Pulitzer.

Steve Reich site
2009 Pulitzer winners and finalists

cd store

Smackdown: Record Stores

Music fans celebrated Record Store Day last week with in-store performances, wallet-draining purchases and odes to independent retailers. But some say physical record stores are not worth saving in the online age. Sue Bryan, general manager at J&R Music and freelance writer Dan Gibson join us for a debate over the future of record stores.

Tell us: Are record stores worth saving? Why or why not?

Dan Gibson's post, "Record Store Day: The Rebuttal" (Idolator)
J&R Music
Soundcheck blog: John Schaefer on record stores

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has devoted much of her career to the folk music of her Armenian ancestors. But she has also appeared on the "Lord of the Rings" soundtrack and had her music set to a techno beat. This month, Bayrakdarian appears at the Metropolitan Opera in Mozart’s "Don Giovanni". She explains what ties it all together.

Isabel Bayrakdarian's Web site

The Swell Season in The Greene Space

Soundcheck

Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

Soundcheck