Music

Composer Steve Reich is known as a prominent "minimalist." Reich joins the show to discuss that term, his own career and influences, and whether he is the "safe" avant-garde composer.

Michael Bennett won a Pulitzer Prize for the musical "A Chorus Line," which he conceived, choreographed, and directed. He, himself, began his career as a Broadway dancer before choreographing musicals such as "Promises, Promises," "Company," and "Follies." Bennett's latest show is "Dreamgirls."

Tom and Dick Smothers are known as the "Smothers Brothers," a musical comedy duo that began by satirizing the folk acts of their day. Their popularity in the 1960s led to a Sunday night variety show. The show, with its topical content, often clashed with censors, and in 1969, the brothers were fired. The Smothers Brothers reunited in 1980.

Artie Shaw is a legendary big bandleader and clarinetist. His band was one of the most popular of the 1940s. Since then Shaw has written books, worked as a film producer, and retired from playing. in 1980 he organized a new band to play his works and arrangements.

Charlie Haden is one of the foremost bass players in contemporary jazz. In the 1950s Haden was a part of the first Ornette Coleman Quartet, which was the center of a jazz revolution. He has been involved with both avant-garde and mainstream jazz ever since. In the 1960s he formed the Liberation Music Orchestra, whose pointed political references were controversial. Haden re-formed the Orchestra in 1983 and their latest album is "The Ballad of the Fallen." Haden also plays with the band Old and New Dreams, made-up of Coleman alumni.

Cy Coleman started his career as a jazz pianist and club owner before moving on to writing pop songs that were recorded by artists such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Coleman then started composing Broadway musicals, including "Sweet Charity." Coleman now produces and owns a music publishing company.

Pianist and singer Bobby Short is a master of American popular song, singing classics from the likes of Porter, the Gershwins, Berlin, and Sondheim. He has the been playing at Cafe Carlyle in New York since 1968. He reached a new generation when he was in an ad for Revlon's Charlie perfume.

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology and eschews principles of harmony and melody. Cage is still a radical at 73.

Cynthia Lennon was married to John Lennon from 1962 to 1968, and is the mother of Julian Lennon. Lennon has managed to make her a own career as a designer.

Lyricist Sammy Cahn is one of the last survivors of the Tin Pan Alley tradition. His popular hits include "Bei Mir Bist du Schon," "Come Fly With Me," "Let it Snow," and "Three Coins in a Fountain," among others. Cahn has also worked extensively with Frank Sinatra. He joins the show to discuss his career.

Richard Stoltzman is a clarinet virtuoso. He was the first solo clarinetist to be presented in Carnegie Hall in 1982. Stoltzman is known for his unusual concerts, incorporating jazz and wearing informal clothing. He joins the show to discuss his life and career.

Andre Watts was famous as a piano prodigy by the age of 16. He was born in Germany to a Hungarian mother and an African American father, and moved to Philadelphia at the age of 8. He joins the show to discuss his life and career.

Pete Seeger has dedicated his career to celebrating working people and civil rights. He was blacklisted in the 1950s, which kept him off television for decades. He joins Fresh Air to talk about how he developed his repertoire and honed his craft as a performer.

Soprano Beverly Sills retired from singing in 1980 at the age of fifty, but still works in opera as the director of the New York City Opera. Rather than traveling abroad to hone her craft, she studied and built a career in America.

The singer is one of the foremost interpreters of the American songbook, and he has continued to record classics despite pressure to "give up the old stuff." Bennett joins the show to share and discuss recordings that span his entire career, including discussion of composers such as the Gershwins, Johnny Mercer, Count Basie, and Rodgers and Hart.

Fred Rogers began his popular children's program before becoming a father himself. During his lunch breaks, he attended seminary school and became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. Though faith is central to his personal life, he aims to make his show accessible and welcoming to children of all backgrounds.

Allen grew up in Australia, where he had limited exposure to English and American popular music. After moving to New York, he found success writing songs for other pop stars and with his theatrical concerts.

Composer Peter Schickele invented the fictitious, forgotten son of J.S. Bach and writes music under that name. Schickele believes that a more lighthearted approach to classical music could expand the genre's audience.

In order to develop a sizable repertoire as an orchestral soloist, Soltzman has had to transcribe several classical pieces written for other instruments.

Emergency surgery to remove an aneurysm left jazz guitarist Pat Martino with no memory of his life or how to play his instrument. After years of recovery and practice, he has relearned guitar and returned to the stage.