Virtuoso Voices(tm)

Series produced by Listener Directed Productions, Inc.

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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
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Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata is one of the pillars of Beethoven's piano music. It's also part of the famous trifecta of Piano Sonatas that incl...

  • Added: Feb 29, 2008
  • Length: :22
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There's an old saying that says it's not the destination, but the journey that counts. In the case of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, pianist Ema...

  • Added: Feb 29, 2008
  • Length: :26
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The Bach Cello Suites are the cellist's Holy Grail. The exquisite nature of the music is both a source of inspiration and intimidation. Cellist S...

  • Added: Feb 29, 2008
  • Length: :20
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March is Bach's birthday month - and while there are plenty of sounds to celebrate, pianist Murray Perahia also likes to celebrate the spirit in th...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2008
  • Length: :21
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Use this clip to enhance your introduction of Simone Dinnerstein's recording of the Goldberg Variations by Bach (Telarc 80692).

  • Added: Feb 28, 2008
  • Length: :26
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Although musicians, critics and academics set high benchmarks for performing, most have come to terms with the fact that no performance will ever b...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2008
  • Length: :26
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Although pianist Murray Perahia plays music that's 2 to 3 hundred years old, he'll be the first to tell you listening to classical music isn't alwa...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2008
  • Length: :22
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For some, proper "decorum," is our connection with decency and doing things in a more civilized way. Pianist Emanuel Ax says there's a little too ...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2008
  • Length: :29
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You may know Leopold Stokowski as a conductor and for his role in the Disney classic, Fantasia. He was also an organist on a mission to bring grea...

  • Added: Feb 27, 2008
  • Length: :21
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When it comes to interpreting the Goldberg Variations, many view the 1955 Glenn Gould recording as the gold standard. Pianist Simone Dinnerstein h...

  • Added: Feb 27, 2008
  • Length: :21
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Robert Schumann is universally recognized as a great pianist and composer of piano music. Cellist Steven Isserlis is a big Schumann fan, and he re...

  • Added: Feb 26, 2008
  • Length: :19
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The Bach Suites for Solo Cello are the cellist's bible and yet their existence is shrouded in mystery. Cellist Steven Isserlis is happy to specula...

  • Added: Feb 25, 2008
  • Length: :22
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The Silk Road Tour is cellist Yo-Yo Ma's ongoing quest to discover the cultural connections covering the large swath of land between the Mediterran...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :32
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Finding ways to keep music fresh is a performing musician's ongoing challenge, especially with a work they've played hundreds of times. Cellist Yo...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :28
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It's a long road to establish a career in music, much less going on to become a major player. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma offers these guidelines for what mu...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :27
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It was a busy week in New York for cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He played a big concert in Carnegie Hall, and attended several important meetings the next da...

Bought by WKYU


  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :37
  • Purchases: 1
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Pianist Murray Perahia devoted a number of years to only studying and playing Bach. It was a time of great learning and healing in his life as be ...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :27
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Performing music is probably one of the only professions where the longer you play, the better you get - the harder it gets. It's a phenomenon tha...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :18
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If there were a "supporting musician" category in Mozart's Piano Concertos, it would probably be the wind section, especially the clarinets. When ...

Bought by WHRV


  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :15
  • Purchases: 1
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It's the bane of all musicians whether they play professionally or took lessons as a kid. Practicing, especially those endless and unrewarding sca...

  • Added: Dec 31, 2007
  • Length: :21