Let's Hear It

Ahmed Anzaldúa recently joined Cara Lieurance at WMUK in the Takeda performance studio to play music of one of his favorite composers: Federico Mompou.

Before becoming a pianist, Mr. Anzaldúa was a trumpet player enrolled in medical school in Mexico. He relates the story of how he began to play piano and eventually became a graduate student at Western Michigan University, where he studies piano with Silvia Roederer and conducting with Kimberly Dunn Adams.

A combo of prodigiously talented young jazz musicians who met at Western Michigan University, As The Sea is noted for the close communication between the players themselves and between the players and the audience. One of the group's favorite venues is an intimate house concert, an atmosphere they reproduced in WMUK's Takeda Studio.

On WMUK's Let's Hear It, An Dro's Jim Spalink, Fred Willson, Michele Venegas, and Carolyn Koebel play together and discuss the many influences that come together to forge the band's unique sound. 

Listen for several original tune sets, and the stories behind them - road trips, festivals, and family lore.

  An Dro will appear at the Old Dog Tavern on Saturday, March 1 for the new Michigan Global Roots Music Festival. Hours are 11 am - 2 pm. 

Let's Hear It host Cara Lieurance and Jon Boyd, a senior majoring in music at Western Michigan University, discuss the extraordinary life and career of Joseph Bolougne, Chevalier de Saint-George. Born to a French nobleman and Nanon, a Wolof former slave, he was an esteemed  violinist and swordsman who cut quite a figure in 18th century France. 

Flutist Mira Shifrin, an alumna of Western Michigan University and instructor at the Crescendo Academy, performs music by Bach and Piazzolla in WMUK's Yoshimi Takeda Performance Studio, and speaks with Cara Lieurance about her life as a musician.