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The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

January 24, 2026, 12:00 pm

Brittany Renee as Bess and Alfred Walker as Porgy in the Gershwins' "Porgy and Bess." (Photo: Richard Termine / Met Opera)

Kwamé Ryan directs one of the landmarks of American opera, which features the farewell performance by Denyce Graves. Alfred Walker and Brittany Renee play the title characters Porgy and Bess. Other members of the all-star cast include Ryan Speedo Green as Crown, Leah Hawkins as Serena, and Vuvu Mpofu as Clara.

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Meet the Host

Debra Lew Harder joined the on-air staff of WRTI in 2016. She hosted and produced a range of programming across WRTI on-air and digital platforms, such as Midday Classics and Saturday Morning Classical Coffeehouse, in addition to serving as an artist interviewer for the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts. She is a concert pianist who has performed with orchestras and in recitals, including at Wigmore Hall in London, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. She has also recorded two solo piano albums.

Lew Harder holds Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Kent State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University. She practiced as an emergency room physician before earning a second doctorate in music from the Ohio State University, where she studied piano with the American virtuoso Earl Wild.

Lew Harder served on the applied music faculty of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, and she is the co-director of Medicine + Music, a co-curricular program at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University that works closely with medical students through coachings, rehearsals, workshops, and performance opportunities to enhance their happiness and development as physicians.

Evening Music

Evening Music

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess