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.
-
This Sunday, on the eve of Canada’s National Holiday, you’ll hear some brilliant performances by Tafelmusik, Infusion Baroque, and Ensemble Caprice. It’s on Sunday Baroque. -
October 5th is the annual observance of World Teachers Day!! The celebration of the contributions and influences of teachers is the perfect opportunity to listen to music by baroque era composers who were also influential teachers, and the talented students they inspired. -
Pianist Simone Dinnerstein has many loves – her family, her hometown, her musical collaborators, and Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, to name just a few. -
The Basque Country in northern Spain is famous for its fine wines, magnificent art and architecture, and brilliant music! This week on Fiesta!, you'll hear some of the musicians connected to the region. -
Some busy musicians who also made time to write essays or books to communicate their ideas and philosophies about music to other composers and performers. They include a musician whose composition book has been used in the education of generations of musicians, including Mozart and Beethoven. You’ll hear how some musical authors practiced what they preached on Sunday Baroque this Labor Day weekend. -
Harpsichordist Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre was born into a musical family. Her father and her brothers were all church organists, and she was a keyboard prodigy. Violinist Florence Malgoire ALSO grew up in a musical family - her father was an oboist and conductor. She formed her own early music group, you’ll hear them play a sonata by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre on Sunday Baroque this week. -
Arcangelo Corelli was one of the top violinists of his day – the Italian musician was also an influential innovator and role model. -
English musician Maurice Greene lived from 1696 until 1755, and during his lifetime he was a celebrated organist and composer who was a colleague of George Frideric Handel’s and a teacher to William Boyce. You’ll hear some of Maurice Greene’s instrumental music, as well as compositions by other musicians in his inner circle. -
The natural world is a rich source of inspiration for creative minds … including composers! Georg Philipp Telemann composed a piece nicknamed the CRICKET SYMPHONY that features a cacophony of cricket sounds made by the instruments. -
Johann Sebastian Bach’s 2nd orchestral overture usually features the flute. But a few years ago, after extensive research, some musicians proposed their theory that Bach more likely featured the OBOE in his original version of that composition.
