Ah, summer. We all love summer. Or do we? Sure, as kids we anticipated with glee the last day of school. As adults we still can't wait for summer vacations. Still, I've noticed an interesting phenomenon. As much as we say we love summer, most of us don't love summer heat. Actually, let me revise that: most of you don't love summer heat. Speaking personally, the hotter the better. Triple-digit temps? Couldn't be happier. High humidity? Bring it on. For me, the best kind of summer is one in which each day is like a good, old-fashioned southern pig pickin', with the slow-roasted deep heat of a rotisserie, muscles feeling as though they really might just melt right off the bone. But like it or not, it's just not possible to separate heat from summer. For that reason, and on the occasion of the summer solstice, this Saturday evening's edition of The American Sound will bring its own little musical heat wave. George Antheil's delightful Hot-Time Dance will rub shoulders with Samuel Barber's evocative Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Summerfrom Mark O'Connor's American Seasonsand Matthew Dunne's Appalachian Summer. And just in time for summer road trip season, you'll also enjoy some of Virgil Thomson's music for the ballet Filling Station. So even if the summer heat has you dreaming of ice floes, please join me for hot summer sounds on The American Sound, Saturday at 6 pm on Classical 101.
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.