Arts & Culture

Paul Jacobs is one of the leading organists of his time, and is passing along that knowledge and skill to the next generation at the Juilliard School. Known for his stunning new music performances, Jacobs is equally mesmerizing in the "standards."

San Antonio audiences can hear Paul play Bach, Mozart, and "a pair of ladies, from France - Nadia Boulanger, known for her teaching generations of composers, in a work for organ." Jacobs also says he is looking forward to spending time in San Antonio.

There are essentially two versions of Don Carlo for Giuseppe Verdi. I don't mean that one is in French and the other Italian. Historians and musicologist are manic about the fact that this is untrue; however, there is a work, Don Carlos (francophone's are insistent on this), originally written in French for the Paris Opera that was so vast (5 hrs and change, they say), and it's richness so prodigal, that it obscured the works greatness.

This month, KPAC is celebrating thirty years of broadcasting. Our hosts are having some fun sharing "30 lists" - artists, music, movies, and recordings you might enjoy, that help shape the sound of your classical oasis.

As the curator of Texas Public Radio’s film series, Cinema Tuesdays, I spend a lot of my free time enjoying movies, and their soundtracks.  Soundtracks make up a small but important section of our library at KPAC. Because we connect to movies on such a personal level, film scores often come with built-in emotional attachment. Below is a list of some of my favorites. While this is by no means a ‘best of’ list, these are the records I enjoy spinning most often on my CD player and iPod. I created a Spotify list, linked below, so you can listen to all of the tracks in a playlist, and in the article, each track is linked to Amazon when available so you can download a song or album for yourself. Have fun listening!

Click here to listen to the list on Spotify.

Carlos Nuñez first heard Irish band The Chieftains at age thirteen, and four years later he was touring the world with them, affectionately known as the seventh member of the band.

Born in Galicia, Spain, he started playing the gaita (Spanish pipes) at the age of eight. His latest album is ‘Discover’ and features collaborations with performers from a variety of genres. Carlos considers recording with other artists to be paramount in introducing the ‘Pipes’ to an array of audiences.