Wednesday, November 11, 2009

WQXR - The Gratitude Project: Music We’re Grateful For


WQXR - The Gratitude Project: Music We’re Grateful For

The Gratitude Project: Music We’re Grateful For

This Thanksgiving, there's much to be grateful for: family, friends, and even in-laws. There's also music. As we prepare for another Thanksgiving holiday, WQXR reflects on Music We’re Grateful For.

Here's how you can participate: Leave a voice message on our spinvox line at 1-800-543-2543 or email your selections to gratitude@wqxr.org.

Explain why you're grateful for a particular piece of music. Did a Mendelssohn quartet make your wedding complete? Did a Bach partita help you cope with the loss of a loved one? Has Mahler been with you through an interminable air travel delay?

Tell us your story. Give us the full name of the piece, your first name and your neighborhood or city.

We’ll play your choices--and air your voices--all Thanksgiving Weekend.
So call us, write us, and tune in!
Our hosts offer their selections:

Terrance McKnight:
A Flowering Tree is John Adams' latest opera. The story and the music acknowledge and celebrate our multicultural society and our common frailties and humanity. Because of that, future generations will continue to appreciate and identify with the art form. For that I'm grateful.
Midge Woolsey:
Imagine a world full of pianos with no one able to play them! I’m grateful for talented pianists and Vladimir Horowitz was one of my favorites. His performance of Schumann’s Traumerei makes my heart ache with joy.
Elliott Forrest:
I am grateful for Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz. I was moved the first time heard it, was moved when I heard it played by a group of young amateur musicians and moved again when it was used as underscoring in the recent Ken Burns series about National Parks. It is a timeless piece of Americana.