Cultural, Community, Information

Airs Saturday, June 30 at 12:00 noon.  Here it is—the granddaddy of grand-opera spectacle—complete with pyramids and potentates, priestesses and dancing girls, plus armies of soldiers and slaves! At its heart, a treacherous love triangle and a relationship that was never meant to be. Aida, the enslaved Ethiopian princess, and Radames, leader of the Egyptian army that conquered her homeland, long to be together forever. But someone else wants Radames, too—it’s Amneris, the jealous daughter of the Pharaoh himself! Impassioned arias, surging choruses, and exhilarating orchestral music show us Verdi at the peak of his powers–masterfully balancing pomp and pageantry with a deeply moving personal tragedy.

Airs Sunday, July 1 at 7:00 p.m. Life By the Drop is a close look at the state of water and drought in Texas, looking both to the past and the future for answers on how the state can manage a growing population amid a shrinking water supply. This report is a collaboration of KUT Austin, StateImpact Texas, and Texas Monthly.

Look at this photo spread from The Big Picture.

Airs Monday, July 2 at 11:00 a.m.  Classical music takes the plunge with the Rockport Music Festival each summer. The seaside village of Rockport, Massachusetts boasts one of the most beautiful settings for classical music ever, the Shalin Liu Performance Center. This recently built concert hall features enormous floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean onstage, so one can see and hear all the beauty that Rockport has to offer. The festival features classical concerts, as well as jazz, world and pop performances throughout the summer series.