Don't miss these featured WFMT programs and events for the month of March, 2008

Live from Quebec City: Mahler’s 8th Symphony "des Milles" with 1,000 Performers!
Saturday, March 15 at 6:30 – 8:30 pm CDT

For a schedule of re-broadcasts of this performance, click here.

In celebration of Quebec City's quadricentennial, WFMT will broadcast a historic performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony, La Symphonie des Mille, featuring the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.  Hosted by Lisa Flynn and produced by station manager Steve Robinson and program director Peter Whorf, this historic event will be broadcast live on 98.7WFMT in Chicago and will be offered for live and taped broadcast to the stations in the  WFMT Radio Network.  This broadcast will also provide an in-depth and definitive portrait of the 100-year old Quebec Symphony Orchestra along with the rich history and culture of Quebec City and its people.

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner
Friday at 11:00 am

The distinguished British conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in Chicago this week to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will be Lisa Flynn’s special guest on Friday, March 7, at 11:00 am. Sir John’s concerts with the CSO spotlight Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony, and Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with soloist Robert Levin. Both soloist and conductor are experts on music of the Baroque and Classical eras. Sir John’s recordings include an ongoing Bach cantata cycle.

Congratulations to Rich Warren!

Please join everyone at WFMT and The WFMT Radio Network in celebrating the news that Rich Warren, host of The Midnight Special and Folkstage, was named Broadcaster of the Year by the International Folk Alliance Conference. Congratulations, Rich!

Here's the information released by the Folk Alliance this morning:

Music and Inspiration were tangible last night as the Folk Alliance held their Third Annual Folk Awards Show meriting excellence by artists and businesses in the folk music industry. Held in Memphis, Tenn, the Folk Awards Show was broadcast live on XM Satellite Radio.

Kicking off the 20th International Folk Alliance Conference Wednesday, The Folk Awards were presented to honor merit and achievement within the field. The award winners received their trophies amongst inspired performances and presentations of The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards to Mavis Staples, Tommy Jarrell, and Rounder Records at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis.

The 2008 Folk Alliance Award Winners are:

Song of the Year: Who's Gonna Build Your Wall? - Tom Russell
Album of the Year: Waterloo, Tennessee - Uncle Earl
Legacy Recording: The Live Wire - Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949
Traditional Artist: Levon Helm
Contemporary Artist: Susan Werner
World Music Recording: Loreena McKennitt
Emerging Artist: Carolina Chocolate Drops
Booking Agency: The Roots Agency
Broadcaster: Rich Warren, WFMT
Small Folk Venue: Café Lena and The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse (tie)
Large Folk Venue: The Ark
Folk Festival: Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

The Folk Awards Show was hosted by Folk Alliance Board President Dan Navarro with appearances by Janet Reno, Kathy Mattea, Tom Russell, Eilen Jewell, Twilight Hotel, and Anthony DaCosta.

After the FA Awards Show the amazing film, PBS MASTERS SERIES Pete Seeger: The Power Of Song was screened.

Folk Alliance Mission: The North American Folk Music And Dance Alliance exists to foster and promote traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, dance, and related performing arts in North America. The Folk Alliance seeks to strengthen organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.

For more information about The Folk Alliance please go to www.Folk.org.