Virtuoso Voices(tm)

Series produced by Listener Directed Productions, Inc.

Series image

Virtuoso Voices is a collection of timely and topical sound bites from classical music's leading performers. Each sound bite (or clip) will bring your listeners an insider's perspective to the classical music they enjoy on your station. Virtuoso Voices offers classical music announcers an additional way to enhance their breaks by using the voice of the artist whose recording they're about to play on their shift.

Virtuoso Voices is an interview clip service for classical music stations, presenting today's most influential classical music performers, conductors and composers talking in 20 to 35 second clips.

These topical and evergreen sound bites will enable announcers to bring an additional insider's perspective to the music they play on their shifts.

For example, an announcer playing Joshua Bell's recent recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto could introduce it by using a clip of Mr. Bell talking about how he tries to bring a fresh sound to this very familiar work. After the clip, the announcer returns and segues into playing the recording.

The Virtuoso Voices service provides you a Suggested Host Intro to effectively set up each clip, and includes a brief Outro to help you segue to the music. Your announcers can use this copy verbatim, or as inspiration to write their own version.

Virtuoso Voices clips are versatile. In addition to music intros, you can also use them to enhance forward promotion, create compelling billboards and create content for your website.

Virtuoso Voices provides stations with a new strategy for presenting classical music on the radio by directly involving the performer in the introduction of the music. These topical and evergreen clips enable announcers to bring an additional insider's perspective to the music they introduce and play on their shifts.

Program content is taken from interviews with internationally recognized classical music performers, such as Gil Shaham, Yo-Yo Ma, Marin Alsop, Lorin Maazel, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn and Michael Tilson Thomas.

As of January 2010, we are offering our Virtuoso Voices Performer Clips to all stations for free. We offer three types of distribution.

-- Downloaded off our ftp site: no charge

-- Downloaded from PRX: (triple PRX points) – requires PRX station membership

-- 10 months a year, receive a CD: $100 flat fee to cover postage and handling for the year.

For more information and to see additional ways to use these clips, please visit our website, www.virtuosovoices.org.

Signing up is easy and free. To receive a short subscription form, please send an email to info (at) listenerdirect.org or call (703) 751-0342.

Virtuoso Voices™ Fundraising Service

Virtuoso Voices(tm) is also Public Radio's primary source for classical music fundraising messages.

Twice a year, we provide your station with three types of fundraising messages, with options enabling you to customize each spot to the specific sound and fundraising terminology of your station. These messages, from performers like Anne-Sophie Mutter, Sarah Chang and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, follow Public Radio's Best Practices for fundraising.

These produced fundraising messages are distributed in February and September in advance of when most stations fundraise, including the nationally coordinated drives. Stations may request custom fundraising scripts read by the performers we interview. We fill these requests whenever possible and in the order in which they are received.

Our Virtuoso Voices fundraising material is offered as a separate subscription, with fees based on market size (as determined by Arbitron) – and cover a portion of the production expenses for Virtuoso Voices.

This service includes a (minimum) of 40 fundraising messages – a combination of Custom Station Spots, Straight Read Spots, Produced Funders and Unhosted Produced Funders

-- $500 for stations with a market ranking of 1 to 50;
-- $325 for stations ranked between 51-150;
-- $150 for stations with an Arbitron market ranking of 151 and above.

Please visit the fundraising page of our website for further examples and further information. www.virtuosovoices.org/fundraising.

VIRTUOSO VOICES

"Classical Music's Virtuosos Want a Word with Your Listeners."

Virtuoso Voices is a trademark of Listener Directed Productions, Inc. Hide full description

Virtuoso Voices is an interview clip service for classical music stations, presenting today's most influential classical music performers, conductors and composers talking in 20 to 35 second clips. These topical and evergreen sound bites will enable announcers to bring an additional insider's perspective to the music they play on their shifts. For example, an announcer playing Joshua Bell's recent recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto could introduce it by using a clip of Mr. Bell talking about how he tries to bring a fresh sound to this very familiar work. After the clip, the announcer returns and segues into playing the recording. The Virtuoso Voices service provides you a Suggested Host Intro to effectively set up each clip, and includes a brief Outro to help you segue... Show full description


Additional Files

642 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
Violinist Hilary Hahn has been playing the beautiful "Lark Ascending" Violin Concerto by Ralph Vaughan Williams for most of her career -- some cons...

Bought by WITF, New England Public Media, and KZYX


  • Added: Mar 02, 2007
  • Length: :25
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
Breaking down the barrier between classical music and its audience is a priority for many classical music performers, including the charismatic per...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 02, 2007
  • Length: :26
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Clair de Lune (Moonlight) is one of Claude Debussy's best known works, and it's the perfect introduction to the "Impressionist" school of compositi...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 02, 2007
  • Length: :16
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Yolanda Kondonassis talks about one of classical music's most nurturing and resonating relationships -- the one between French composer Claude Debu...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 02, 2007
  • Length: :31
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
They "contain canons buried in flowers." "Pianist Garrick Ohlsson talks about the mixed messages contained within the Chopin Polonaises for piano....

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :31
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
New music can be complex and difficult to process at first, second and even third hearings. Guitarist David Starobin has spent much of his career ...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :28
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Blue Cathedral is composer Jennifer Higdon's most popular work, receiving more than 200 performances each year. Originally, she had no intention o...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :34
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Audiences are thrilled by young musicians, especially child prodigies who toss off virtuosic phrases with childlike ease and exuberance. Violinist...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
While some might say Beethoven is best known for his 9th Symphony, or the famous first four notes of his Symphony Number 5, pianist Garrick Ohlsson...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Composer Jennifer Higdon maintains a full schedule of commissions and enjoys more than 200 performances of her music a year. "Blue Cathedral" is o...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :27
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Overnight success does happen but it's more myth than reality. Violinist Sarah Chang made her debut when she was 8 years old. Her success that ev...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :18
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
More than a dozen composers have written music based on an engaging melody by Nicolo Paganini. Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini is th...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :29
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
The "People's Favorite": pianist Garrick Ohlsson talks about the universal popularity and mood altering music by Chopin. It's like "dessert" -- wh...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :27
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Why does a composer write music the way they do? Jennifer Higdon says influences come from just about anywhere, and the road to becoming a classic...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :21
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Sarah Chang
How does the musical life of a child prodigy begin? For Sarah Chang, playing the violin was simply a hobby. Use this 24 second clip to introduce ...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :25
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Some composers go unnoticed, or become forgotten for a variety of reasons. Mauro Giuliani composed in Beethoven's shadow, but guitarist David Star...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :32
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Beethoven's 4th Piano Sonata is one of the longest of his 32 sonatas, and pianist Garrick Ohlsson says every minute is rich with melody, musical in...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :23
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 is a joyful ride through all of the melodies and pianistic prizes you associate with Chopin. Its Second Movement, pi...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :22
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Spanish composer Fernando Sor wrote a ton of music for the guitar. On the surface, they're mostly short, sweet and delightful little pieces. Guit...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :28
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Composed while Chopin was still a teenager, Pianist Garrick Ohlsson calls Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2 "as great a masterpiece as anybody has ever ...

Bought by WITF and New England Public Media


  • Added: Mar 28, 2007
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 2