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 1999, and is currently heard by nearly a half million listeners every week on more than 300 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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Seattle-based oboist Bhavani Kotha wanted to create more opportunities for women in classical music. So she founded Unbound Symphony, a professional women's orchestra. She talks with Suzanne Bona about the challenges women face in the orchestral world and her vision for changing it. -
Navajo pianist and composer Connor Chee draws on his cultural heritage to create music inspired by traditional chants and songs. He talks with Suzanne Bona about his musical journey and his latest album, Sandpaintings, a solo piano work inspired by the traditional art of Navajo sandpainting. -
In honor of International Coffee Day, Sunday Baroque has music for everyone who takes their coffee seriously. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Coffee Cantata tells the story of a young woman who loves coffee so much, she refuses to give it up.Pour yourself a cup and hear selections from Bach’s Coffee Cantata this Sunday. Listen from 7 am to 1 pm on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream. -
The days are getting shorter, the air is turning cooler, and the colors of the season are beginning to show. For centuries, composers have found inspiration in autumn… from the bustle of the harvest to the beauty of a changing landscape.Welcome the new season with Sunday Baroque, Sunday morning from 7 to 1 on 91.1, 107.5 and the WSHU classical stream. -
Violinist Stanley Ritchie was a gifted instrumentalist, music scholar, author, and early music expert, and an esteemed teacher and mentor. As a professor of violin at Indiana University, he trained countless top performers who play in ensembles all over the world. We are celebrating the remarkable life and legacy of violinist Stanley Ritchie on Sunday Baroque, from 7 am to 1 pm on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream. -
For 34 years, Reynard Burns helped young musicians find their voice. Now, the Long Island educator, composer and performer is sharing another passion: bringing greater attention to classical composers of African descent. Suzanne Bona talks with Burns about a life shaped by music, teaching and discovery. -
August 15th is the annual celebration of National Relaxation Day – what a great idea! A special day to ease up, calm down, smooth out a few of those rough edges. So sit back and be soothed and uplifted by music that will help you relax on your day off, including RECREATIONAL French chamber music. It’s on Sunday Baroque this weekend, from 7 am to 1pm on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream. -
What inspires a composer to turn history into music? Sarah Kirkland Snider talks with Suzanne about Forward Into Light, an orchestral work inspired by the American women's suffrage movement, and the storytelling at the heart of her music. -
July 14th is Bastille Day in France – the anniversary of the storming of the bastille in 1789. This weekend Sunday Baroque will feature some of the musicians who were making music in pre-revolution France. That includes a composer who wrote a theatrical work based on Chateau Fontainebleau, where the French royalty liked to go for feasts and hunting … and a musician who wrote a loving musical tribute to the tolling bells at a Paris church dedicated to the city’s Patron Saint. It’s on Sunday Baroque this weekend. -
The summer solstice is on Sunday, June 21st – so this will be the first Sunday of Summer AND Father’s Day! You’ll hear Antonio Vivaldi’s peppy SUMMER CONCERTO from the Four Seasons played by an ensemble that includes Dutch keyboard player and two of his talented children on Sunday Baroque this weekend, Sunday starting at 7 a.m. on 91.1, 107.5 and our music stream.
