Artist Interviews

The New York Times called Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez “compelling, elegant, and incisive." She performs this weekend with the Fresno Philharmonic, in a concert titled Russian Romantics. She will be the featured soloist performing Rachmaninoff’s  Piano Concerto No. 2. She recently joined us to talk about her career, her upcoming performance and more.

Pianist Barry Douglas has been an star of the international classical music world since 1986, when he won the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.

In addition to a busy touring schedule, Douglas also serves as artistic director of Camerata Ireland, a group which brings together musicians from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to celebrate Irish culture. 

As violinist Elena Urioste tells it, when she was just two years old, she knew she wanted to be a violinist, after seeing Itzhak Perlman perform on a broadcast of Sesame Street. Now as a star artist in her own right, she travels the world sharing her musical gift with thousands, including here in Central California. 

Guest conductor and clarinetist Carl Topilow joins us in-studio to talk about Saturday's "Home for the Holidays" concert with the Fresno Philharmonic. Local theater icon Dan Pessano also joins the conversation as he will perform a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" with the orchestra. 

Two years ago, then 16 year-old violinist Chad Hoopes made his debut with the Fresno Philharmonic and Maestro Theodore Kuchar. Now a senior in high school, the Ohio native returns to the Central Valley to perform with the Fresno Philharmonic this weekend, performing Lalo's Symphonie espagnole.

In our interview, we talk to Chad about his development as an artist over the past two years, Lalo's famous work, his Stradivarius violin, and his upcoming plans after he graduates from high school. 

Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor has received international acclaim performing with the world’s premier orchestras and conductors, premiering exciting new works, and breathing new life into familiar favorites.

Audiences throughout the world know Audra McDonald as a star of both the stage and screen, a three time Tony Award winner, a two time Grammy winner, and until recently a star on the hit ABC television series Private Practice. Her latest project finds her returning to the world of musical theatre, starring in a new production of Porgy and Bess, currently on stage in Cambridge Massachusetts, and scheduled to make its way to Broadway in December.