The WWNO Classical Network is thrilled to present a new episode of Crescent Classical, featuring several of the cultural organizations that will be participating in this year’s Culture Collision!
Tune in:
- Friday, September 5th at 7 PM 104.9 FM New Orleans | 90.5 FM KTLN Thibodaux-Houma | 89.5 FM WCWD Covington-Mandeville | WWNO HD2 |
- Sunday, September 7th at 12PM 104.9 FM New Orleans | 90.5 FM KTLN Thibodaux-Houma | 89.5 FM WCWD Covington-Mandeville | WWNO HD2 |
- Listen online from anywhere at wwno.org
Culture Collision
Culture Collision was launched by WWNO in 2008. Now in its 15th year, this annual event invites patrons and artists to explore New Orleans’ arts, culture, and humanities nonprofit organizations. Guests can stroll through NOMA and engage with over fifty local nonprofit organizations, from classical arts institutions to contemporary newcomers. The evening will showcase the city's powerful creative energy with free giveaways, exclusive promotions, and live performances. This free event, open to all, will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the New Orleans Museum of Art on Wednesday, September 10th.
Featured Performances
NOLA VOX: "Basin Street Blues," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?"
NOLA Vox is a community arts organization dedicated to bringing high-quality a cappella and barbershop harmony to the heart of New Orleans. Founded in 2023, NOLA Vox is open to singers of all ages and backgrounds, an intentional design, striving to reflect the vibrant diversity of our city—just like a true New Orleans gumbo. Their repertoire spans all genres, with a special focus on the music and artists that define our city's rich musical heritage. NOLA Vox is an official chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Junior Philharmonic Society of New Orleans: Brett Massimi and Jeremy Xu perform Antonin Dvorak’s “Sonatina in G Major for Violin and Piano, Opus 100”
The Junior Philharmonic Society of New Orleans was incorporated as a non-profit, cultural organization in the State of Louisiana in 1948 by Katherine Nolan Kammer. Their mission is to give talented young student instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers an opportunity to perform in a recital held in a professional setting, and to teach music appreciation to children attending the programs. Performers are chosen by audition, and all performances are free and open to the public.
Musaica Chamber Ensemble: Nino Rota’s “Nonet”
Musaica Chamber Ensemble is a non-profit chamber music ensemble founded in the fall of 2006 by eight devoted professional musicians from the Louisiana Philharmonic, several of whom are also faculty members at Loyola and Tulane Universities and the University of New Orleans. Musaica presents a variety of eclectic and entertaining chamber music to audiences throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area. The Musaica concert series presents familiar and accessible works alongside those which are new or less often performed.
OperaCréole: “Arrêtez-vous, Admirez,” from Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert’s Le Spahi
OperaCréole is an award-winning nonprofit, founded in 2011 by the mother-and-daughter team of Givonna Joseph and Aria Mason, dedicated to researching and performing lost or rarely performed works by composers of African descent. The company focuses on works by free 19th-century New Orleans composers of color and also promotes Louisiana's Creole language and culture.
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: “Mars” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is dedicated to maintaining live orchestral music and a full-scale symphonic orchestra as an integral part of the cultural and educational life of the New Orleans area, the entire state of Louisiana, and the Gulf South region. Formed in 1991, the LPO is the oldest full-time musician-governed and collaboratively-operated orchestra in the United States. The LPO offers a full 36-week season with more than 120 performances, including classics, light classics, pops, education, family, park, and community engagement concerts in New Orleans and across multi-parish areas.
Versipel New Music: Marti Epstein’s “Oil & Sugar”
Versipel New Music presents contemporary classical music, New Orleans style. Reflecting the breadth and beauty of the classical concert music scene of today, they perform music of the late 20th and 21st centuries, music inspired by our modern, peripatetic, global and technologically driven lives. Frequently collaborating with living composers both in the U.S. and overseas, our programs span a diversity of styles from fresh European modernism, to U.S. postmodernism, with a heavy dose of technology, improvisation and performer creativity thrown in. At a Versipel show, you’ll see and hear music that is recent and new, fresh from the composer’s pen (or pencil… or computer), pieces that are often being performed for the very first time.
Lyrica Baroque: Mike Mower’s “Sonata Latino”
Lyrica Baroque is a unique gathering of artists who perform and educate as a special kind of chamber ensemble. Established in 2009, Lyrica Baroque is a three-time winner of Best Chamber Music Performance in Gambit Magazine’s Tribute to the Classical Arts. Lyrica Baroque offers a high level of creativity and artistic excellence that is both collaborative and inspiring. Their unmatched versatility, coupled with truly stellar performances offers a new and exciting experience in classical music.
Crescent Classical is made possible thanks to the generous support of local classical music lover, Dr. Bob Watzke.
