Acoustic and electric cello on Northwest Focus Live, Xian Zhang conducting the Seattle Symphony, and local concerts galore! Experience it all and more, this week on Classical KING! 

 

Broadcast Concert 

Seattle Symphony: Holst The Planets 

Friday, August 8 | 8pm 

Host: Dave Beck 

Hear Xian Zhang, Seattle Symphony Music Director Designate, conduct celestial majesty and a concerto with a unique soloist, this Friday on Classical KING! Featuring Holst’s iconic suite The Planets and Billy Childs’ saxophone concerto Diaspora (Steven Banks, saxophone). Join your host, Dave Beck, for an extravagant concert experience from the comfort of your home. For more information, visit classicalking.org/show/broadcast-concerts. 

 

Northwest Focus Live 

Sound Salon: Byron Schenkman and Gretchen Yanover 

Friday, August 8 | 7pm 

Host: Michelle Maestas Simonsen 

Cello and piano repertoire – both acoustic and electrified – this Friday on Northwest Focus Live! This program features acoustic works for piano and cello by Saint-Saens, Beethoven, Bologne, Piazzolla, LeBeau, and Zeitlin, plus two Yanover works for electric cello! For more information, visit classicalking.org/show/nw-focus-live 

 

Second Inversion 

Become Ocean 

Saturday, August 9 | 9pm 

Host: Maggie Molloy 

John Luther Adams is a composer who rarely takes selfies—he much prefers landscapes. Even his music has been described as “sonic geography.” For him, it’s all about inviting the listener into something bigger than we are…  This Saturday on Second Inversion, take a deep dive into his music—beginning with his Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Become Ocean, commissioned by the Seattle Symphony in 2013. Immerse yourself in the rhythm of the waves. Plus, John Luther Adams introduces us to the music and poetry of mountains and desert. 

 

The Score with Edmund Stone 

Island Time 

Saturday, August 9 | 4pm 

Escape from the ordinary with Edmund Stone this Saturday as he brings you Island Time. From the famous Treasure Island to the pirates of Cutthroat Island and the dark and stormy secrets of Shutter Island, it’s waves of adventure on The Score. 

 

Talisman

Sunday, August 10 | 4pm 

They ward off evil, they bring you luck, they are imbued with magical powers… they are talismans. People have been using them for millennia, and movies love them. Join Edmund Stone for a Score filled with cinematic mojo of these mysterious charms including the One Ring from Lord of the Rings, the endlessly spinning top in Inception, the Time Stone from Doctor Strange and more. 

 

Northwest Focus Concert Calendar 

Music on the Ridge: Michael Carrol, piano 

Tuesday, August 7 | 7pm | St. John United Lutheran Church, Seattle 

Selected piano works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Scarlatti, Sakamoto, and Joplin in the heart of North Seattle!   

 

Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute 2025 Festival Concert 

Saturday, August 9 | 2pm | Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, Langley 

The next generation of conductos from around the globe conduct the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island, this Saturday! 

 

EUROPA Ensemble play Mendelssohn and Prokofiev 

Sunday, August 10 | 3pm | St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, West Seattle 

Hear a Mendelssohn Piano Trio and Five Melodies by Prokofiev, this Sunday in West Seattle! 

 

Visit the Classical KING Northwest Focus Concert Calendar to learn more about all of these performances and more in your community. 

 

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Stay inspired and enjoy another week of incredible music on Classical KING!