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: Hilary Hahn
Violinist Hilary Hahn is one of many musicians who consider Bach’s music to be timeless. She says Bach’s music “doesn’t necessarily belong in one ...

Bought by KUHF


  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :27
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Yuja Wang
In music, and music schools worldwide, the teacher - student relationship can be a somewhat complicated matter. The tradition and traditional view...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :19
Caption: Yuja Wang
The young pianist from China, Yuja Wang is generating considerable excitement for her playing and astounding technical mastery of composers like Ra...

Bought by KUHF


  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :18
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Yuja Wang
Pianist Yuja Wang plays the monumental – some might even call it “larger than life" – Piano Sonata by Liszt on her debut CD. Historically, the Son...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :25
Caption: Hilary Hahn
Although we primarily think of Bach as a composer and the ultimate keyboard player, he also played the violin. Hilary Hahn has been playing Bach t...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :27
Caption: Hilary Hahn
Violinist Hilary Hahn's "Voices and Violin" CD offers mostly sacred arias by Bach that include a prominent role for the violin. At times, she conv...

Bought by 'The Sea'


  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :26
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Zuill Bailey, Credit: Lisa Marie Mazzucco
The Bach Suites for Solo Cello are revered by cellists. Many call them their "Bible." One of those Bach Bible-toting cellists is Zuill Bailey. He...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :21
Caption: Zuill Bailey, Credit: Lisa Marie Mazzucco
(March 21st is Bach's birthday.) There are many ways to celebrate Bach musically. If you're a cellist, you probably thank your lucky stars every ...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :27
Caption: Zuill Bailey, Credit: Lisa Marie Mazzucco
Cellist Zuill Bailey recorded a CD containing the six Suites for Solo Cello by Bach - and recorded them over an eight-day period. That's two CDs, s...

Bought by KUHF


  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :22
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Till Fellner
Small or "soft" are not concepts we normally associate with Beethoven's music, and especially the Beethoven Piano Concertos. Pianist Till Fellner ...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :23
Caption: Till Fellner
If you ever played piano, chances are you played at least one of the Two or Three-Part Inventions by Bach. Pianist Till Fellner says part of their...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :23
Caption: Till Fellner
It's not unusual for performers to devote themselves to a short list of composers. Some have even taken a year off to only study and play one comp...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :23
Caption: Till Fellner
Bach's short keyboard works are just that: short. You have to find the musical character quickly, otherwise the piece is over. When pianist Till...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2010
  • Length: :19
Caption: Piotr Anderszewski
Like most of his countrymen and women, Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski is proud of Chopin's Polish connection, but he says Chopin has other conne...

  • Added: Feb 22, 2010
  • Length: 01:13
Caption: Hilary Hahn
Violinist Hilary Hahn once performed on the Tonight Show and her appearance just happened to coincide with the late night show's little hosting dra...

Bought by Northwest Public Broadcasting and BYUradio/KUMT/KBYU-FM


  • Added: Jan 13, 2010
  • Length: :40
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Hilary Hahn
Violinist Hilary Hahn performed on the Tonight Show in March 2010. Her strategy for playing in front of a huge audience of 100's of thousands is to...

Bought by BYUradio/KUMT/KBYU-FM


  • Added: Jan 13, 2010
  • Length: :37
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Hilary Hahn
Violinist Hilary Hahn performed on the Tonight Show in March 2010. The late night show had been in the news lately with a little hosting drama. D...

Bought by BYUradio/KUMT/KBYU-FM


  • Added: Jan 13, 2010
  • Length: :22
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Robert Spano
Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings has become the American anthem for peace and comfort during times of national sadness and loss. Barber also wro...

Bought by WETS


  • Added: Dec 31, 2009
  • Length: :20
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Olli Mustonen
Olli Mustonen is one of the few pianists who plays Rachmaninoff’s massive Piano Sonata No. 1. It’s typical Rachmaninoff: technically challenging, ...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2009
  • Length: :27
Caption: Manuel Barrueco, Credit: Photo by EMI-David Thompson
When guitarist Manuel Barrueco teamed up with conductor and tenor Placido Domingo to record the famous guitar concertos by Rodrigo, along with some...

Bought by BYUradio/KUMT/KBYU-FM


  • Added: Dec 31, 2009
  • Length: :25
  • Purchases: 1