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: Gerard Schwarz
How do performers and conductors choose the way they shape the music they play? It's different for each performer. Some look to history or academ...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :19
Caption: Simone Dinnerstein
When Beethoven wrote his last piano sonata, we can say with near certainty he was completely deaf. The Sonata is filled with surprises. Pianist S...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :24
Caption: Gerard Schwarz
How does one interpret music? How do performers and conductors decide how to shape and craft the music they play? Conductor Gerard Schwarz likes ...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :20
Caption: Ivan Fischer
Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is known as the "Resurrection" Symphony. It's a religious work of sorts, but conductor Ivan Fischer says Mahler wasn't rea...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :25
Caption: Gerard Schwarz
American composer David Diamond wrote in what can comfortably be called the "romantic" tradition. He enjoyed getting rich, full-bodied sounds from...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :24
Caption: Ivan Fischer
Every orchestra has a trademark - it can be their overall sound, an instrumental section within the orchestra like the Chicago Symphony Brass, or i...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :29
Caption: Gerard Schwarz
Conductor Gerard Schwarz makes several connections with Mahler's First Symphony, especially the music’s Viennese and Eastern European flavors. He a...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :25
Caption: Ivan Fischer
Dvorak's "New World" Symphony is at the top of nearly everyone's "Hit Parade" - and his other big symphonies and the Cello Concerto are not far beh...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :26
Caption: Gerard Schwarz
Alan Hovhaness is an American composer of Armenian heritage with a fascination for the Far East. He's best known for his symphony, "Mysterious Mou...

  • Added: Mar 31, 2009
  • Length: :21
Caption: Yefim Bronfman
The Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 is a part of nearly every pianist's concert repertoire, and for many Russian pianists, it's often the first ma...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :26
Caption: Yefim Bronfman
Pianist Yefim Bronfman performs the solo and concerto repertoire around the world, and he plays music written for two pianos with his Manhattan nei...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :23
Caption: Yefim Bronfman
There are a couple of myths about Russian piano players – one of them is that they only play Russian music. Yefim Bronfman was born in Tashkent, U...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :17
Caption: Yefim Bronfman
There are two views when it comes to the most popular pieces in the standard repertoire, sometimes referred to as "warhorses." The Tchaikovsky Pia...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :12
Caption: J.S. Bach
Three Bach playing pianists talk about a possible spiritual presence in music by Bach. Use this 59 second "Mix" for Bach's Birthday (March 21) or ...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :44
Caption: Yefim Bronfman
One of Brahms best known orchestral works is his "Variations on a Theme by Haydn." Although it's best known in its orchestral version, Brahms firs...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :21
Caption: Julia Fischer
Violinist Julia Fischer's relationship with Bach goes well beyond playing his music in concerts and on recordings. Use this 21 second clip to intr...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :21
Caption: Matt Haimovitz, Credit: Copley
About ten years ago, cellist Matt Haimovitz took the Bach Cello Suites out of the concert hall and started playing them in bars and night clubs. T...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :26
Caption: Julia Fischer
When violinist Julia Fischer performs with other musicians, she likes that opportunity to make personal connections on stage. When she plays the S...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :26
Caption: José Serebrier
You may have heard that the future of the recording industry is somewhat up in the air as new technologies make it possible to access music in new ...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :22
Caption: José Serebrier
There are a few things you might want to know about Russian composer Alexander Glazunov: he was a child prodigy, and like Mozart, could compose an...

  • Added: Mar 02, 2009
  • Length: :23