Surprise!

I’ll be filling in for David Osenberg this Thursday afternoon on The Classical Network, which means we’ll have three more hours together in which to enjoy some of our personal favorites.

These are pieces drawn from the 88 playlists submitted for last week’s “Play It Again” membership campaign. Naturally, we couldn’t get to everything – we still won’t – but maybe some of your favorites will turn up alongside those of other WWFM listeners. Of course, we hope that we strike upon some of your favorites every day of the year and perhaps introduce you to some new ones.

Your contributions have allowed us to discover new worlds and share music of fantastic beauty for the past 35. If you donated last week or at any time over the last twelve months (or, for that matter, within the entire existence of the station), you’re the best. If you have not donated, please consider doing so. It may seem like a bottomless pit, but if we’re to think of it that way, so is food shopping, a trip to the gas station, or putting a new roof on the house. And those things aren’t even fun! If not for the generosity of listeners like you, there would be no WWFM. I offer this as a gentle reminder that your contributions are always gratefully accepted at wwfm.org.

We’ll begin today by sampling the artistry of LaShir, the Jewish Community Choir of Princeton. The choir’s director, Marsha Bryan Edelman, will be along to tell us all about the history of the organization – the oldest Jewish choir in Central Jersey that does not serve the liturgical needs of a synagogue – and its upcoming spring concert, which will take place at Westminster Choir College’s Hillman Hall this Sunday at 2 p.m. The program, which will be made up of repertoire sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and English, will be offered free and open to the public.

In addition, we’ll be sure to celebrate the birthdays today of two fabulous conductors, George Szell and Neeme Järvi. I venture to guess there will be a little something for everyone, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.