Conversations and Classical Music

Course Description

This is a course for classical music lovers and for those who are classical. It is not a music theory course, nor is it an academic music appreciation course. The course is based on the radio program “Conversations and Classical Music with Muphen Whitney”, and it is meant to engender a desire to know more about classical music and to present some interesting aspects of this joyous and wondrous genre of music. We will explore the following subjects: 1) Classical Music – What Is It Anyway? 2) The Eras of Classical Music, 3) Orchestras and Orchestral Music, and there will be COOKIES!!! 4) Chamber Music: What It Is...Its History...Its Sounds, 5) Conductors –Past, Present, and Future – and Conducting, and 6) Concertmasters, Principals of the Orchestra, Your Music Picks…Some Surprises….and MORE COOKIES! No previous knowledge of or experience with Classical Music is necessary, nor is knowledge or experience a barrier to enjoying and learning from these classes. Limited to 24 participants Instructor: Muphen Whitney Muphen R. Whitney is a life-long lover of classical music. For the past decade she has provided podcasts for classical music and arts organizations in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. She recently recorded “Conversations and Classical Music with Muphen Whitney”, a 13-program series that aired on WSCL in Salisbury. Miss Whitney is not a musician, nor does she have an academic musical education. Her musical knowledge comes from decades of attending concerts and pre-concert lectures and picking the brains of the musicians, conductors, and composers who are friends and/or who have been guests on her podcasts and radio programs. Her objective for this course is to expose people to interesting aspects of classical music with which they may not be familiar, to present a broad selection of classical music pieces to listen to, and to engage the class in discussions of this ever-fascinating genre of music.