James Baker
Producer, Host: Classics a la CarteJames first introduced himself to KPAC listeners at midnight on April 8, 1993, presenting Dvorak's 7th Symphony played by the Cleveland Orchestra. Soon after, he became the regular overnight announcer on KPAC.
If pressed to describe himself, James will say he is a musician who hosted classical music. For over 40 years, he has worked as a professional French horn player, holding posts in the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, and Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the oldest orchestra in Mexico.
James also is an avid marathoner. Look for him running the streets of San Antonio with his three rescued border collies.
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On this episode of KPAC's Momentos Musicales, host James Baker recalls early reactions to "West Side Story" through interviews with the late songwriter Stephen Sondheim. -
On this episode of Momentos Musicales: As we consider another entry into the Great Americas Songbook, James Baker listens to Violeta Parra's “Gracias a la vida,” a song which easily crosses borders and dresses easily into any number of different genres. -
On this episode of Momentos Musicales: From Morelia, we learn about Miguel Bernal Jiménez, and see how a beautiful waltz went international with lyrics and a popular rendition by Mario Lanza. -
TPR's James Baker shares how soprano Ailyn Pérez and composer Daniel Catán brought something new to the world of opera, rooted in Latin American sounds. -
This season's offering of Momentos Musicales on KPAC 88.3 FM takes the idea of growing the Great American Songbook into the Great Americas Songbook through songs and melodies from Central and South America that influenced composers in America and elsewhere. -
In part 2 of this interview, TPR's James Baker visits with the Library of Congress's Mark Horowitz about Stephen Sondheim's early years and mentorship under Oscar Hammerstein II. The Library of Congress recently acquired the Stephen Sondheim collection. -
Stephen Sondheim took American musical theater to places it had never gone before through harmonic invention, and of course, in his lyrics. The Library of Congress recently acquired materials from Sondheim's estate—and TPR's James Baker interviewed the man tasked with overseeing the collection, Mark Horowitz. -
The 2024 season of Momentos Musicales comes to an end as the ensemble Inti-Illimani presents “Quiaquenita” and Gabriela Ortiz returns alongside pianist Ana Cervantes with her extraordinary “Estudio No. 3.” Eugenio Toussiant has the honor of the final bars of music with his “Palabras sin Sonida,” words without sound. -
Ana Cervantes shares the story behind her set of commissions from 16 composers, from five countries, for a project called “Canto de la Monarca: Mujeres en Mexico.” The music, old and new, modern and indigenous, tells histories and mythologies. If there are no literary languages, they are surely implied in at times highly dramatic fashion. Gabriela Ortiz was one of the best-known of the composers who answered Ana's call for submissions. -
Today's journey begins with flute music from R. Carlos Nakai, born into the Navajo nation. His song echoes the souls of Nakai's ancestors as they beat out foot paths to the south, establishing trade routes connecting the Navajo nation with the Huichol of northwestern Mexico. Trade continued all the way to the great Aztec city which we know today as Mexico City. Gabriela Ortiz speaks of discovering Huichol chant which she then integrated into her modern orchestral score, “Kauyumari.”
