Season 3
In this special American Edition of Now Hear This, celebrated violinist and conductor Scott Yoo crosses the country, exploring the diversity of American musicians, cultures and landscapes to discover how our regional and ethnic music has inspired America’s greatest composers: Amy Beach, Florence Price, Aaron Copland and two of today’s masters, Sergio Assad and Reena Esmail.
01. Amy Beach, American Romantic
At his music festival, Scott plays America’s greatest Romantic composer, Amy Beach. In New England, he explores her roots and career. At a time when society looked down on women composers, Beach worked to invent a new American music.
02. Florence Price and the American Migration
Scott explores the newly rediscovered music of Florence Price, to understand how African-American spirituals — a mixture of West African songs and European hymns — influenced her work and nearly all of American popular music.
03. Dean of American Music
Scott spends a month each year teaching students, just as Aaron Copland did during his career. Together they’ll play Copland’s music to learn how he drew from his roots and American folk songs to invent the American sound.
04. New American Voices
Scott meets and plays with modern masters: Sergio Assad shows him how Brazilian music inspires his work, now staples of the classical canon. Reena Esmail draws from traditional Indian rhythms and scales to create her signature sound.