Suzanne Bona
Sunday Baroque Host and Executive Producer, WSHU Music DirectorSuzanne Bona is the host and executive producer of Sunday Baroque, a syndicated weekly radio show of Baroque and early music. She originated the program in 1987 on WSHU Public Radio in her hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut. Sunday Baroque has been distributed nationally since 1998, and is currently heard by more than 400,000 listeners every week on approximately 288 public radio stations and networks across the United States.
Suzanne is also a classically trained flutist who earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Connecticut. She performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician, and has especially enjoyed collaborating with some of her musically talented public radio colleagues in performances for listeners in Connecticut and New York, coast to coast in the US, and twice in Guam! Suzanne is a member of the Sylvan Trio, with pianist Greg Kostraba (a radio colleague) and cellist Josh Aerie. Their recordings include the 2020 album, MUSIC FOR FLUTE, CELLO AND PIANO BY WOMEN COMPOSERS, featuring music by Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia, Judith Lang Zaimont, Mel Bonis, and Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee.
When she is not making radio or playing her flute, Suzanne’s hobbies include reading, running, cooking, baking and traveling. She is also passionate about the cause of literacy, and is on the Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers on the Green in New Milford, CT.
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Dancing was an important part of the culture in the baroque era, and the French King in particular loved dancing. One of his court musicians, Jean Baptiste Lully, contributed to a huge collection called CHOREOGRAPHY, and his music is among the highlights on Sunday Baroque this weekend. -
June is the annual celebration of National Rose Month. It’s an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the many varieties of roses, and to explore their beauty and their symbolism of love and friendship, passion and desire, beauty and elegance. -
Eric Milnes is a professional instrumentalist and conductor who is also deeply committed to teaching and to fostering amateur talent. Eric Milnes spoke with Suzanne about his many musical projects. -
In the poem “In Flanders Fields” the poet John McRae describes the poppies that sprang up on the World War 1 Flanders battlefields, where so many soldiers lost their lives. Poppies have become a symbol of Memorial Day, and you’ll hear two different composers’ musical depictions of the flower on Sunday Baroque this Memorial Day Weekend. -
Ease into your Sunday with Sunday Baroque—lively, uplifting music from Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, and their contemporaries. -
19th century minister Henry Ward Beecher said, "The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." For some musicians, the mother’s TALENT was also the child’s classroom. This Mother’s Day weekend you’ll hear performances by some musical moms and their talented offspring. -
Mexico had a vibrant musical scene during the Baroque era. Some composers were born in what was then known as “New Spain,” while others came from Europe and beyond to pursue their craft. -
When viola da gamba player Hille Perl formed her group, THE SIRIUS VIOLS, she wanted to invite her favorite musicians to work with her in a collaborative and flexible ensemble. This weekend you’ll hear a performance of a SPRING SUITE featuring The Sirius Viols. -
There’s been some lovely music composed for Easter, including a brand-new recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Easter Oratorio, which he wrote to celebrate the holiday in Leipzig, Germany, in 1725. You’ll also hear a buoyant double trumpet concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, and a charming bouquet of Scottish spring flowers. It’s on Sunday Baroque this weekend. -
The scope of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio ISRAEL IN EGYPT is the Passover story. Handel premiered it in three sections: The Lamentation of the Israelites for the Death of Joseph, Exodus and Moses’ Song. When it premiered in 1739, it was criticized for being “too solemn for common ears.” But over time, it has come to be regarded as one of Handel’s triumphs. You’ll hear selections from Israel in Egypt on Sunday Baroque.
