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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Founded in 1973 by a music-loving furniture salesman, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association has grown into the world’s largest chamber music competition. Executive Director Josh Aerie talks about the organization’s mission to support young musicians through competition, education, and outreach. -
April is National Garden Month, and you can stop and smell the MUSICAL flowers as you stroll through a magnificent harmonic garden cultivated by musicians with particularly fertile imaginations and creativity – including some Scottish suites named after seasonal spring flowers. It’s a musical bouquet on Sunday Baroque this week. -
On this Easter weekend, you’ll get to hear a joyful, extroverted Suite for two trumpets … a contemplative violin sonata for Easter … and charming Italian dances by a composer who worked for the Gonzaga family by day, and composed Hebrew language liturgical music by night. It’s on Sunday Baroque this weekend, starting at 7 a.m. on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream. -
Violist and scholar Edward Klorman joins Suzanne Bona to talk about his new book Bach: The Cello Suites and why these seemingly simple works became the “holy grail” for cellists. He explores what makes Bach’s unaccompanied suites so enduring—and why artists like Yo-Yo Ma keep returning to them. -
Music is often said to have healing powers, and music by Johann Sebastian Bach seems to be a particularly effective medicine. Whether we are listening to Bach’s music, or performing it, Bach’s music is good for what ails you. You can immerse yourself in the restorative and uplifting effects of Bach’s on the Sunday Baroque Bach Birthday Bash this week, starting at 7 am on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream. -
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in March 1685 into a family of accomplished musicians. Bach had full-time jobs in music from his teenage years to the end of his life. He was one of the hardest-working musicians of his day. We’ll celebrate his genius and legacy with an all-Bach program on Part 1 of the Sunday Baroque Bach Birthday Bash this week, starting at 7 am on 91.1, 107.5 and our music stream. -
Do you remember the 1988 Bobby McFerrin song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”? The extraordinarily talented and versatile musician’s parents were opera singers – Robert McFerrin Sr. was a regular at the Metropolitan Opera, and his baritone voice was dubbed in for Sidney Poitier in the film version of Porgy and Bess. You can hear Bobby McFerrin Jr. leading the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra while singing one of the cello parts for a Double Concerto by Antonio Vivaldi on Sunday Baroque this week. -
Music Worcester is in the midst of an ambitious 11-year project to present all of the known works of J. S. Bach. Chris Shepherd is Artistic Director. He talks with Suzanne Bona about why it matters, what it reveals, and how it comes to life today. -
If you appreciate all the mind-opening resources your local library has to offer, you’ll be pleased to learn that February is Library Lover’s Month – an annual celebration of school, public, and private libraries of all types. We’ll celebrate Library Lover’s Month this weekend with music by Baroque era composers who not only wrote music, they also wrote BOOKS about their craft. It’s on Sunday Baroque this week, starting at 7 a.m. on 91.1, 107.5 and our music stream. -
We know Braille as a system of writing for the blind, but it was created for music, too.Louis Braille was a musician as well as a scholar, and his system made it possible to read and write music by touch. This weekend on Sunday Baroque, hear music by Baroque-era composers who were blind or visually impaired. Sunday Baroque, starting at 7 a.m. on 91.1, 107.5, and our music stream.
