James Aldrich-Moodie
Fill-in classical host/announcerBorn in South Africa, James Aldrich-Moodie spent some of his childhood in Geneva, NY, and fondly remembers attending concerts at Eastman and with the RPO. He studied piano and flute, but remains strictly an amateur. A passionate lover of classical music, especially opera and vocal music, James hosted a radio show on WYBC as an undergraduate. Later, he wrote a dissertation about transformations in the worlds of opera and literature, and the connections between the two.
By day a mathematics teacher at the Harley School, he can reliably be distracted from the lesson at hand by his students’ asking him to recount the plot of the next opera he is attending. He has also introduced many students to their first opera performance during class trips to New York City.
He will go to almost any lengths to hear a rare piece of music by a favorite composer – to date, he has attended opera performances on four continents. In addition to classical music, James is addicted to puzzles of all sorts, from cryptic crosswords to jigsaws, and enjoys hiking and biking in the summer and reading year-round.
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WXXI Classical's CD spotlight is a "polished and vibrant" recording of a beautiful puzzle of a song cycle, given as a wedding gift from one musician to another. -
Two operas by women from the 19th century are rediscovered and brought back to the stage. -
Well before Bonnie Tyler, baroque composer George Frideric Handel also wrote a song of Total Eclipse. Hear that and more on WXXI Classical CD spotlight featuring tenor Mark Padmore singing arias and scenes by Handel with the English Concert, conducted by Andrew Manze.
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Bel canto star Lawrence Brownlee gives us the gift of newly commissioned music setting Harlem Renaissance poets, sung with "utterly convincing delivery" in his album Rising, chosen as WXXI Classical's CD Spotlight this month. Read more from WXXI announcer James Aldrich-Moodie, aka JAM.
