Clef Notes

The Nutcracker—it’s as synonymous with the holiday season as twinkling lights, candy canes, and fir trees. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet is performed by virtually every ballet company during the month of December. But it may surprise you to learn that it wasn’t always a holiday staple. In fact, the ballet bombed at its premiere. In this article, we’ll take a look at the history behind The Nutcracker to see how it came to be the cherished Christmas tradition we know it as today.

Premiering November 16 is Ken Burns’s highly anticipated documentary, "The American Revolution," a new six-part docuseries that explores the country’s founding struggle and its eight-year War for Independence. The series explores the Revolution’s influence across the world using the first-person voices of nearly 200 individual historic figures to tell the story. But what about the music that came out of the Revolutionary period? In advance of this new documentary, we investigate the role music played in the fight for independence.

Tune into WILL-TV Sunday–Friday, November 16–21, for "The American Revolution," or stream all six episodes on the PBS App starting November 16.

The Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH) kick off their 29th season on Sunday, November 16, with a program entitled “Back-to-Back Bach,” featuring two of J. S. Bach’s choral masterworks—his Magnificat in D, BWV 243, and Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191. The concert is given in honor of the 275th anniversary of the composer’s death. Read on for our interview with BACH’s music director, Dr. Sarah Riskind, to learn more about the program.

On Wednesday, November 12, Sinfonia da Camera will mark the exact 50th anniversary of Music Director Ian Hobson’s first piano recital in Urbana with a special benefit concert of solo piano music. The program will feature some of Hobson’s favorite solo piano repertoire, including one piece from his 1975 recital. The proceeds from the concert will benefit Sinfonia da Camera, the chamber orchestra he founded in 1984. Read our interview with Hobson to learn more about the program.

Composer Caroline Shaw was recently nominated for an Emmy Award for her score for Ken Burns’s Leonardo da Vinci docuseries, which aired last fall on PBS. Read on to learn more about Shaw’s score and how it aids Burns in shedding new light on the fifteenth-century polymath. Can’t wait for the next Ken Burns documentary? You’re in luck. Tune in November 16 for The American Revolution, airing on WILL-TV and streaming on the PBS App.

October 25 marks the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss Jr. Known as “The Waltz King,” Strauss is most remembered for his light dance music. His output of over 500 compositions includes ballets, polkas, marches, quadrilles, mazurkas, operettas, and—of course—150 waltzes. He cemented the waltz as the height of sophistication and elegance, and his music came to symbolize Vienna’s cultural golden age before the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Read on to learn more about the influential composer and to hear some of his most beloved works.

The Jupiter String Quartet has announced that first violinist Nelson Lee will be departing the group after their concert at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on September 26, 2025. As a founding member, Lee has performed as part of the Jupiter Quartet for 24 years. Now, he moves on to a position at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. The quartet has also announced that French violinist Mélanie Clapiès will be joining the group as Lee’s successor. Read on to learn more about Lee’s final concert and for remembrances and well-wishes from his colleagues.  

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt turns 90 years old on September 11. Pärt’s unique compositional voice grew out of his interest in Renaissance, Medieval, and Eastern Orthodox sacred music, which he leverages within a minimalist but highly structured framework. To celebrate his birthday, we’ve selected a few of our favorite works from his output and explain how they fit into his biography.

Mathematician and musical satirist Tom Lehrer passed away on July 26 at the age of 97. Although he spent most of his life out of the limelight, preferring to teach rather than perform, he is beloved for his darkly humorous lyrics, often on political or social topics, set to incongruously cheerful melodies. Read on for a brief biography and a selection of some of his best songs.

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has announced its 2025/26 season, and we’re happy to report there’s lots on offer for classical music lovers, from baroque to ultra-contemporary and everything in between! Now that tickets are on sale for the general public, we’re highlighting our top pick for each month of the concert season. Of course, we’ll continue to keep you posted on all the classical goings-on in the listening area in our monthly Classical Calendar (subscribe to Clef Notes for access), but we wanted to give our readers a heads up for events of particular note.