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
Caption: José Serebrier
Conductor Arturo Toscanini was known as the poster child for bad behavior on the podium. Fortunately, the days of the yelling, screaming, raging t...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :25
Caption: Rolf Smedvig
The frequent trumpet solos are literally the high point of the Bach Brandenburg Concerto Number 2. Those sky piercing notes may be exciting and gl...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :22
Caption: José Serebrier
It's surprising, if not shocking, to learn that Bach's music became pretty much unknown after his death. It was Mendelssohn who resurrected his mu...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :23
Caption: Helene Grimaud
Pianist Helene Grimaud took a somewhat uncommon approach to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5. She decided to play one side against the other. Use...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :25
Caption: Helene Grimaud
Bach's music for organ, harpsichord and violin is among the most frequently transcribed and re-adapted music of our time. On pianist Helene Grimau...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :27
Caption: Helene Grimaud
There are many good causes to believe in - and work for. And these days, there are just as many ways to make your voice heard. Pianist Helene Gri...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :17
Caption: Helene Grimaud
What are the secrets of Bach and his music's ability to reach a wide variety of musical tastes? He had all the skills, technique and other musical...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :23
Caption: Helene Grimaud
Although the practice is as old as music itself, taking a piece of music for one instrument and adapting it to another still causes scowls and glar...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :19
Caption: Vadim Repin
Beethoven's music is not always about the DRAMA. You can hear sweetness and joy, emotion and humor, fire and passion, and in the case of the third...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :19
Caption: Vadim Repin
Beethoven was known to be a micro-manager with his music, at times giving the performer note-by-note instructions on how to play. Well, Beethoven ...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :25
Caption: Vadim Repin
Some concertos contain multiple technical and virtuosic challenges. Playing through them all can be an exhausting physical experience, similar to ...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :26
Caption: Vadim Repin
There are a number of ways, all subjective of course, to judge a successful performance of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer". For violini...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :24
Caption: Vadim Repin
Even though online access has brought different parts of the world closer together, there are still distinct continental approaches to playing spec...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :24
Caption: Richard Stoltzman
There's your driver's license, your passport, and if you're clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, your clarinet sound is another proof of I-D. Use this 2...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2008
  • Length: :26
Caption: Richard Stoltzman
"Who were your influences?" That's one of the questions artists and performers from all fields hate to be asked. It may have to do with how many ...

  • Added: Dec 30, 2008
  • Length: :26
Caption: Richard Stoltzman
Debussy's First Rhapsody for Clarinet began as a contest piece for students at the Paris Conservatory. That explains the presence of the virtuoso ...

  • Added: Dec 30, 2008
  • Length: :26
Caption: Richard Stoltzman
Carl Maria von Weber wrote quite a bit of solo music for the clarinet, and much of it is highly dramatic and virtuosic. Weber tended to think of i...

  • Added: Dec 30, 2008
  • Length: :22
Caption: Richard Stoltzman
Among the many colors, sounds or inflections a clarinetist can draw from their instrument is a sense of nostalgia. That makes the Autumn Song by T...

  • Added: Dec 30, 2008
  • Length: :32
Caption: Bernard Haitink
Conductor Bernard Haitink talks about the musical strength and support he gets when he conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition to bei...

  • Added: Dec 04, 2008
  • Length: :22
Caption: The Canadian Brass
For the Canadian Brass, their dream to play in Carnegie Hall came true in part because the players happily did something most musicians avoid, or d...

  • Added: Nov 29, 2008
  • Length: :22