Q&A: Sounds Classical's LaRob K

Sounds Classical

Fridays at 8:00 pm beginning December 9

Sounds Classical

A New Weekly Series from WFMT Offers Fresh Perspectives on Classical Music Sounds

by KEEGAN MORRIS

is month, WFMT will premiere Sounds Classical – a new Friday evening series. In this innovative and immersive radio program, hosts Kristina Lynn and LaRob K. Rafael will present a range of musical works inclusive of well-known composers and new discoveries alike. e program will feature surprising and personal takes, lean-in interviews, and exciting new works composed and performed, in many cases, by local artists. Along the way, Kristina and LaRob will share lively and insightful commentary, providing context for the listener that makes this beautiful and dynamic art form fresh and accessible. We sat down with them to learn more.

Guide: Talk about the title Sounds Classical. What does that phrase mean to you?

LaRob K. Rafael: I think people listen to WFMT expecting to hear Bach and Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert, Brahms and Wagner. Sounds Classical is a play on that idea. You’ll hear those classical sounds, but what may be di erent is that Kristina and I are trying to take a more conversational approach. You’ll hear Brahms and Schubert, but you’ll hear the discussions Kristina and I have around the pieces. What do they mean to us? How have we been inspired by them? And also, you might not hear as much Brahms and Beethoven and Schubert. Kristina and I will try to present composers that are brand new and relevant to our lives as young classical music lovers. We’ll try to engage longtime WFMT audiences while inviting a newer audience to come and join the conversation about classical music.

Kristina Lynn: Classical music is often Europeanfocused, Western music-focused. While we were discussing the rst episode, we wanted to include other cultures and communities and points of view. But it’s also hard to de ne what classical music is, speci cally.

LaRob: e goal of what we are presenting is not to say that anything and everything is classical music. I think what we are trying to say is that any and everything can in uence classical music.

Of course, there are very culturally speci c musical sounds from hip-hop to Carnatic singing. Obviously, that’s not the same thing as Mozart. But it would be unwise for the person who appreciates the history of Mozart to exclude musical ideas from around the world when we consider how classical music comes to be.

Guide: How does this perspective shape the way you are choosing to host and present music?

Kristina: ere’s this idea that you must be an expert to speak on classical music. I’m learning to put that idea aside – that I don’t need to know everything in order to enjoy and speak on it and share it with people.

LaRob: When people listen to classical music, they’re not thinking: “Oh, this modulation to the fth,” or whatever. When you hear music, your rst reaction to it comes from how it makes you feel. I think that’s what Kristina and I do well on the show. Our priority and expertise come mostly from how we feel about it. We want to present music in this conversational way. It can be a little challenging to t it all within an hour and talk e ectively about it.

Guide: Take us through the first few episodes.

Kristina: In our premiere episode, we’ll explore the idea: “What does sound classical?” We’ll discuss why speci c composers may come to mind and invite other sounds into the genre, into the conversation about classical music.

LaRob: We will explore ideas of what classical music sounds like, what people think classical music is. And how people have been in uenced to create classical music based on their experiences in other areas of their lives.

Kristina: In subsequent weeks, we’ll talk about our rst experiences in classical music and hear about others’ introductions to it. We’re just talking about this music and how it made us feel the rst time we listened to it. e impact it had on us.

LaRob: We also explore our own instruments. Kristina is a fabulous trumpet player who studied trumpet performance. [Chuckling] I’m an okay singer.

Kristina: No! [Laughing]

LaRob: We will share what we love about our respective instruments. I learn a bit about the intricacies of trumpet and share with Kristina something interesting about the voice.

Kristina: A little show and tell. It ties back in with the theme of the expert versus the newcomer. It has been a long journey of studying music and working in music. So, revisiting those rst memories is special. You can expect to hear familiar tunes and composers, and we also want to highlight newer and underrepresented composers and performers. And we branch out from classical music a bit, too. You may hear some jazz, musical theater, and blues. And that’s just in the rst couple of episodes.

Guide: What excites you most about this new show?

LaRob: I’m looking forward to talking about how fun classical music can be. One of the things I love about doing this show is that we listen to the music and our reactions just kind of…happen. If you’re in a concert hall, you’ve got to wait until the end of an entire piece to clap. But sitting in the studio with Kristina, listening to it, you’re getting the head nods, the claps, sometimes singing along.

Kristina: It’s just something you don’t often hear in classical settings. e music ends and we’re laughing. e music ends and we’re singing. If you’re hearing a symphony in a concert hall, maybe you’re thinking, “ is is 55 minutes long, how am I going to get through this?” But when you actually spend time with it, you nd that there is a story being told. Even if a piece is from centuries ago, you can relate to it just as you would relate to Taylor Swift’s new album.

LaRob: This show is a “come as you are” series, whether you’re an expert in classical music or you’ve never heard a classical piece before. We welcome you to the show and to take part in what Kristina and I are experiencing in real time.

Kristina: Speaking to all these types of people has been a challenge, but it’s been a really fun one. Listeners will hear that we’re really enjoying what we’re doing, and we hope they’ll like it, too.

Sounds Classical premieres on Friday, December 9 at 8:00 pm on 98.7WFMT and streams on wfmt.com and the WFMT app. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.