Cultural, Community, Information

Airs Monday, July 9 at 8:00 p.m.  Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn’t mean we’re one happy family. Is this kind of cross-species co-habitation an utterly stupid idea? Or might it be our one last hope as more and more humans fill up the planet? This hour of Radiolab: stories of trying to live together. A chimp named Lucy teaches us the ups and downs of growing up human, and a visit to The Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa highlights some of the basics of bonobo culture (be careful, they bite).

Airs Monday, July 9 at 11:00 a.m.  Perched in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Sante Fe is the nation’s oldest capitol city and has become a hotbed of artistic activity. Between the inspiring landscapes, the devotion to art and the city’s own diverse multicultural nature, there is no wonder why Sante Fe calls itself “the city different.” The Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival fits perfectly into this unique atmosphere, offering a six-week season of more than 80 concerts, recitals, master classes, youth concerts and open rehearsals each year. The festival celebrates the city itself in its concert venues, including the historic St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Sante Fe Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Simms Auditiorium at Albuquerque Academy.

Airs, Saturday, July 7 at 1:00 p.m.  The Metropolitan Opera presents the winners of the 2012 National Council Auditions. They are: Janai Brugger, soprano from Darien, IL; Anthony Clark Evans, baritone from Owensboro, KY; Matthew Grills, tenor from Newtown, CT; Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo-soprano from Euclid, OH; and Andrey Nemzer, countertenor from Moscow, Russia. The winners were selected from nine finalists who performed arias with the MET Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis. Each winner receives a cash prize of $15,000, as well as invaluable career exposure: the audience for the auditions includes influential opera executives, artist managers, and music critics, and some of the biggest stars in opera received their first major recognition as National Council Winners.

The Grand Finals Concert is hosted by renowned bass-baritone Eric Owens, a 1996 National Council Auditions winner. During the judges’ deliberations, he gave a special performance of “Ella giammai m’amò,” King Philip’s aria from Verdi’s Don Carlo. The Grand Finals Concert was recorded for broadcast at a later date on public radio stations across the United States.