Welcome to Shift, where Tom Allen takes you on a daily musical journey from the stalwarts of Classical music to the cutting edge of Contemporary tunes. Join us here on CBC music for a round-up of the stories of the day, some videos of music (or maybe just videos interesting to music fans) and a place to speak your voice.
Today, Katherine Duncan is sitting in for Tom Allen.
From now on you'll be able to stream SHIFT at your convenience in its entirety. Click on the AUDIO tab on this blog to listen.
Milestone Birthdays sometimes need monumental celebrations. Most people can't just sit at home on their 30th birthday and treat it like any other day. Canadian violinist James Ehnes is no different. He found out he shared a birthday with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and when Mozart would have turned 250, James turned 30. For the occassion, he rounded up an all-star line-up for his orchestra, and they recorded a beautiful tribute to Mozart. What will your musical contribution be on your next birthday?
Next time you're heading out on a jog, or off to the gym, don't reach for the standard pop or rock tunes. New research has shown that classical music can be more beneficial for your workout for a number of reasons. Things even get as complex as something called "perceived exertion," but maybe you can just trust us. Try this music out:
(our on-air broadcast featured the first movement of this piece being performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra)
If you've been enjoying the music on today's program, you may like the Classical Easter stteam here at CBC Music. Over on the right side of this page, you should see it amongst the other streams (below CBC Radio 3 and above All Number 1s). Perfect for your late March listening.
Just a couple weeks back, CBC Music took a night train in honour of the great Oscar Peterson. Dave Young, Robi Botos, and Alvin Queen took the train from Toronto to Montreal so they could play a concert featuring the music from Night Train. We've got videos and plenty more from the unique celebration.
On the program today, you'll hear an incredible cover of the Beatles' "Julia". This time, Bill Frisell got his talented hands on it. In fact, he released an entire album in tribute of John Lennon called All We Are Saying. Check out how he made it below:
Heathers are a family band from across the ocean. Twin sisters and a brother, amongst other band members, plus an infectious poppy sound, make this kind of like an Irish Tegan and Sara:
You can contact us at Shift with your ideas, questions or anything else by sending us a message on our Facebook page. Through email, you can reach show producers Alison Howard alison.howard@cbc.ca, Alex Redekop alex.redekop@cbc.ca or Pete Morey peter.morey@cbc.ca