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PGM 615: Week of Nov. 24th...

This week we digest the Thanksgiving extravaganza with a program marking our yearly communion of family and friends in the busy days of year's end.

We have elegant chamber music by SECRET GARDEN, BILL DOUGLAS, TIM STORY, THE MARQUIS ENSEMBLE and ALEX CLINE, and solo piano by MICHAEL GETTEL, GEORGE WINSTON and MASAJI WATANABE.

It's a warm acoustic journey to chase the autumn chill called THE CONSTANT FLAME.

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Week of Nov. 17th...

In the waning days of autumn it's time for another special program from our longtime guest producer ELLEN HOLMES. Ellen specializes in rare and unusual choral and vocal music from a broad range of historical traditions. This time she's outdone herself with a program of "choral, vocal and instrumental music for the dark season."

Featured composers are ARVO PÄRT and URMAS SISASK from Estonia, ZBIGNIEW PREISNER from Poland, Russians NIKOLAI KARETNIKOV, VICTOR KALLINIKOV and ALEXANDER KASTALSKY, and Americans GEORGE ROCHBERG and GARRETT FISHER; plus singers SILVIA NAKKACH and the essential SAVINA YANNATOU, and the Canadian contemplative trio SANCTUARY.

Even considering Ellen's high standard, it's an extraordinarily beautiful show.

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Week of Nov. 10th...

The gathering gloom of autumn inspired this program of smoky electronica for Scorpio.

In China and the Americas, smoke was used to send signals across the landscape for centuries. For most of human history, smoke was part of everyday life, but with environmental and health concerns, it looks like we won't be seeing as much of it in this century. Visually, it's too bad —  a smoky autumn makes a romantic haze and really spectacular dawns and sunsets.

We navigate the atmosphere with ethereal songs by TOR LUNDVALL and FALLING YOU, and ambient electronics by TIM STORY, DWIGHT ASHLEY DAN BARRIO, IGNEOUS FLAME, BETWEEN INTERVAL, ROBERT SCOTT THOMPSON and MAX CORBACHO.

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Week of Nov. 3rd...

Cedar is a species of evergreen with a spicy, fragrant, resinous wood. Soft yet strong, it makes excellent flutes with a warm, almost buttery tone. These instruments have been played by Native Americans for thousands of years. It's a sound we like to return to in the fall: wistful, tinged with sadness, earthy and timeless.

Music is by native musicians MARY YOUNGBLOOD, JOHNNY WHITEHORSE, KELVIN MOCKINGBIRD and flutist PETER PHIPPEN, plus ambient composers  RUDY ADRIAN and GARY MALKIN.

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