A new week of May-time joy is here on Classical KING! This week, we’re looking forward to celebrating our mothers, baroque and renaissance concerts in the PNW, and a blooming new episode of Second Inversion. On air, online, or on the app, here’s what we’ll hear. 

 

Music Feature: Cinco de Mayo 

Monday, May 5 

This Monday on Classical KING we’re highlighting the composers and rich musical culture of Mexico! Join us to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with dances, symphonic poems, and other musical treats by Mexican composers.  

 

Music Feature: Mother’s Day 

Sunday, May 11 

This Sunday on Classical KING we’re celebrating some of the most special people in our lives – mothers! This Sunday we’re dedicating the playlist to the amazing women that raised us, with extra time dedicated to composers who were moms as well as music about motherhood.   

 

Northwest Focus LIVE 

Friday, May 9 | 7pm 

Host: Nikhil Sarma 

On this week’s Northwest Focus Live, Vashon Opera is bringing selections from their upcoming production of Verdi’s comedic classic, Falstaff, to the Classical KING studios. The story tells of the Caddish knight Sir John Falstaff as he tries to get his hands on some cash by seducing two wealthy wives of Windsor. Nikhil Sarma is your host this Friday at 7pm on Classical KING. 

 

Northwest Focus Concert Calendar 

The Tallis Scholars: Palestrina 500 

Tuesday, May 6 | 7:30pm | St. James Cathedral, Seattle 

The Tallis Scholars have spent 5 decades bringing Renaissance music to a wider audience, and this week they are celebrating the 500th birthday of one of the most influential figures in all of music history – Giovanni Palestrina. 

 

Seattle Bach Festival: Bach Cantatas 

Friday, May 9 | 7:30pm | Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma 

The PNW’s newest professional classical organization, the Seattle Bach Festival, is bringing more masterworks of J.S. Bach to the stage with two of his most beloved cantatas, Awake, Calls the Voice to Us as well as Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life. 

 

Bremerton WestSound Symphony: Gershwin and Blooming Brilliance 

Saturday, May 10 | 3pm | Central Kitsap High School, Silverdale  

The mid-spring annual concert from the Bremerton WestSound Symphony blooms with the talent of their Young Artist Winners competition, as well as selections from Gershwin and his one-time teacher, Maurice Ravel.   

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

 

Metropolitan Opera Broadcast 

Saturday, May 10 | 10am 

The MET opera is bringing Puccini’s most ambitious, yet unfinished, opera to the airwaves this weekend – Turandot. It tells the story of a Chinese princess who sets a fatal challenge of answering three riddles to any would-be suitor. 

 

The Score with Edmund Stone 

Ryuichi Sakamoto Remembered 

Saturday, May 10 | 4pm 

Composer, performer and activist Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote his first film score in 1983 and his final 40 years later in 2023, the year he died. Saturday, guest host Warren Black surveys Sakamoto’s four decades of music for big-budget films like The Last Emperor and The Revenant, as well as his music for television, anime and video games.   

 

MacGuffins 

Sunday, May 11 | 4pm 

Join Edmund Stone of The Score as he delves into one of cinema’s favorite hooks: the MacGuffin. These people or objects are central to the theme of the movie although they don’t play a big role. Unravel the quirks of these plot devices such as the Walkman in Guardians of the Galaxy, the Holy Grail in Excalibur, The Heart of the Ocean in Titanic and more. 

 

Second Inversion 

Music for Meditation 

Saturday, May 10 | 9pm 

Host: Maggie Molloy 

This Saturday on Second Inversion: Garden Variety! Music of flowers, fauna, and garden enchantments. We stroll through the traditional gardens of Japan, visit a place where lost souls return as flowers, and receive a bit of advice from a caterpillar (smoking hookah on a mushroom). 

 

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!