Northwest Focus Live headlines this week on Classical KING, featuring rising artists from the Frances Walton Competition alongside on-air favorites including The Score and a historic Metropolitan Opera broadcast.

---

Northwest Focus Live  

Alexander Agate, Piano & Robbie Darling, Marimba

Ladies Musical Club of Seattle: 2025 Frances Walton Competition

Friday, May 15 | 7pm

Host: Sean MacLean

Northwest Focus Live celebrates exceptional classical artists with ties to the Pacific Northwest, and this week features silver medalists of the 2025 Frances Walton Competition, pianist Alexander Agate and marimbist Robbie Darling. Their performances highlight the next generation of classical talent, bringing fresh artistic voices shaped by competition success and a shared commitment to expanding their instruments’ expressive possibilities.

---

Classical Calm  

Find your moment of calm this May with music designed to help you slow down, reset, and recharge. In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Classical KING’s Classical Calm channel offers a peaceful escape with relaxing classical favorites streaming 24/7, uninterrupted. Whether you’re looking to focus, unwind, or simply take a break from the noise of the day, Classical Calm provides a steady, soothing soundtrack whenever you need it. Tune in on 98.1 HD-2, through the Classical KING mobile app, or online at ClassicalKING.org.

---

Northwest Focus Concert Calendar  

Find local concerts in your community at: https://classicalking.org/nw-focus-concert-calendar  

Seattle Collaborative Orchestra: With Fierce Love

Tuesday, May 12 | 7:30pm | Shorewood Performing Arts Center, Shoreline

Seattle Collaborative Orchestra brings together musicians across generations for With Fierce Love, a program that highlights both emerging and established voices. Featuring student soloists in works by Lowell Liebermann and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich alongside Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, the concert blends contemporary concertos with a powerful symphonic work often associated with themes of resistance and expression. Conducted by Anna Edwards, the performance reflects SCO’s commitment to collaboration, inclusion, and shared artistic experience.

Salish Sea Early Music Festival: Bach & Handel

Thursday, May 14 | 7pm | Faith Lutheran Church, Seattle

Two composers born in the same year, whose music helped define the Baroque era in different ways—this program brings Bach and Handel together in a shared musical conversation. Featuring soprano Maike Albrecht with a small ensemble of baroque flute, viola da gamba, and harpsichord, the concert blends vocal and instrumental works that highlight both the contrasts and connections between these contemporaries. Presented by the Salish Sea Early Music Festival, this intimate performance offers a closer listen to the richness and variety of Baroque music through historically informed performance.

West Seattle Community Orchestras: Our Beautiful World

Friday, May 15 | 7pm | Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium, Seattle

Take a musical journey through nature, place, and perspective as West Seattle Community Orchestras present Our Beautiful World, their season finale. Featuring the Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra, the program brings together works by composers including Dvořák, Julie Giroux, Copland, and Weber, exploring themes connected to landscape, history, and the American experience. This performance highlights the spirit of community music-making while reflecting on the world around us through a diverse and engaging orchestral program.

Seattle Mandolin Orchestra | Present Tense: New Music for Mandolin Orchestra

Saturday, May 16 | 7pm | Bethany Presbyterian Church, Seattle
Sunday, May 17 | 2pm | Art Love Salon, Seattle

Take a fresh look at a historic sound as the Seattle Mandolin Orchestra presents Present Tense, a program that highlights the ensemble as a living, evolving tradition. Featuring contemporary works by composers from around the world (including several premieres) the concert explores new textures and ideas written specifically for the mandolin family. Blending global influences with modern compositional voices, this performance offers a unique opportunity to hear how a tradition rooted in history continues to expand in new and unexpected directions.

Choral Arts Northwest | This Love Between Us: Bach & Esmail

Saturday, May 16 | 7:30pm | Trinity Lutheran Church & Schools, Lynnwood
Sunday, May 17 | 3pm | Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle

Two musical traditions meet in a powerful shared space as Choral Arts Northwest presents This Love Between Us. Pairing Bach’s Magnificat with a contemporary work by Reena Esmail, the program brings together Western and Indian musical traditions through a rich combination of choir, baroque orchestra, sitar, and tabla. Presented with the Seattle Bach Festival Orchestra and guest artists, this performance explores connections across cultures, languages, and time, offering a deeply expressive and collaborative choral experience.

---

The Score with Edmund Stone  

Come on In, the Water’s Fine

Saturday, May 16 | 4pm  

This Saturday Edmund Stone, creator, host and producer of The Score makes a splash with Come On In, The Water’s Fine – a show all about mermaids and mermen. This week it’s a trip to the the sea with music from The Little Mermaid, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Secret of Roan Inish and more musical “tails” this Saturday on The Score.    

Best Opening Scenes Ever 

Sunday, May 17 | 4pm  

Nearly 10,000 movies are made worldwide each year. With that staggering number of choices, for a movie to engage its audience it has to have a riveting opening scene. This Sunday on The Score, Edmund Stone has collected some of the best opening scenes ever. From the non-stop action in the original Indiana Jones opening to the iconic Dawn of Man scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the unforgettable introduction to Saving Private Ryan, it’s attention-grabbing cinema at its best. 

---

Metropolitan Opera 

Verdi: Don Carlo (Listeners’ Choice)

Saturday, May 16 | 10am  

A listener favorite returns in this historic broadcast of Verdi’s Don Carlo, chosen by audience vote. Set in 16th-century Spain, the opera follows a prince torn between love and duty as political pressure, family conflict, and questions of power unfold around him. Starring Jussi Björling in the title role, this 1950 performance brings together a cast of leading voices in a sweeping work that moves between intimate personal struggles and larger historical forces.

---

Explore More on ClassicalKING.org 

Looking for details about what you hear online, on our app, or on 98.1 FM? 

Visit our playlist for comprehensive information on every piece and performer. 

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