WUIS to air special Jacksonville Symphony programs in August

Public radio WUIS/WIPA will air four programs of "Forty-five Years of Great Music" from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Chorale during August. The programs will be broadcast from 1 to 3 p.m. on four consecutive Fridays beginning August 1; rebroadcasts will be from 10 p.m. to midnight on the following Monday.

Recorded live in historic Rammelkamp Chapel on campus at Illinois College in Jacksonville, the programs will also feature interviews with JSO conductor Garrett Allman. Allman is currently celebrating 27 seasons as the symphony's music director and conductor and is also an associate professor of music at Illinois College, where he conducts the Concert Choir and Brass Ensemble.

The first program, "Operatic Gems," will feature lyric soprano Diane Dietz in an evening of operatic favorites including "Ah! Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. The August 8 presentation will showcase accordionist Maria Merkelo and violinist Dorothy Matirano playing works by Dominick Argento and Johannes Brahms. The third program, on August 15, will feature the Illinois College Concert Choir with "Choral Gems." The August 22 program brings the husband-and-wife duo of Erik and Heidi Harris, members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, to perform the Grand Duo Concertante by Giovanni Bottesini.

WUIS-WIPA is a listener-supported public radio service of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Springfield. WUIS' mission is to satisfy a curious, societally engaged audience through programming and community outreach.

For more information or for the program schedule, visit www.wuis.org or contact WUIS Music Director Karl Scroggin at 217/206-6407.