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In the final episode of this season of The Open Ears Project, Janna Levin uses the music of Mozart to venture into the world of perfect circles, spacetime, and the drive to reach a platonic ideal. She muses on the benefits of limitations and rules, and how they have led to some of the most revolutionary scientific discoveries and works of art, from Einstein’s theory of relativity to Mozart’s unfinished Requiem Mass. 

This recording of Mozart’s Requiem was provided courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.

In this episode, Gaifman shares why Bach’s Sarabande from the English Suite No. 5 reminds her of her late cousin, Zuzana Růžičková, who survived the Terezin concentration camp during World War II and went on to become an acclaimed harpsichordist.

In this episode, you'll hear a performance of the Sarabande on the piano by András Schiff from his 1988 Decca recording of the Bach English Suites, as well as performance on the harpsichord by Zuzana Růžičková, courtesy of Arie-Gaifman.

With all her acclaim today, it is hard to imagine that Shaw was once just a kid at band camp. In this episode of the Open Ears Project, Shaw recalls performing Felix Mendelssohn’s “Octet for Strings” as a teenager at summer camp, an experience which sparked her lifelong love of chamber music.  

This recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-Flat Major was performed by the Gringolts Quartet and Meta4 from the 2020 Bis record, “Octets.”

In this episode, Ferrone shares his love for Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” and explains why he thinks it gets a bad rap for being too funereal. He describes the beauty he hears in the music and reflects on how it accompanied him through his child’s heart surgery.

This episode features Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1: “Larghetto”, as performed by Maria João Pires from her 1996 Deutsche Grammophon recording “Chopin — The Nocturnes.”

In this episode, Lane Fox reflects on her journey of recovery after a car accident in Morocco and explains how the “Prisoners’ Chorus” from Beethoven’s “Fidelio” informs her passion for prison reform.

This Deutsche Grammophon recording of Beethoven’s “Prisoners’ Chorus” from Fidelio is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Chorus under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.

In this episode, Reich recalls the first time he heard the music of French medieval composer Pérotin, without whose influence some of his music “never would have happened,” and he reflects on why early music sounds so fresh to contemporary ears. 

The recording of “Viderunt Omnes” featured on this episode was performed by The Hilliard Ensemble on the 1989 ECM New Series album, “Perotin.”

This episode features recordings of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” performed by Daniil Trifonov on the 2022 Deutsche Grammophon album, “BACH: The Art of Life;” and by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge on the 1998 Decca album “The King’s Collection.”

In this episode, Ólafsson reflects on some of his earliest musical memories, what it was like to grow up amid the harsh and unpredictable beauty of Iceland, and how discovering the keyboard music of Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau changed his life.

To learn more about Víkingur Ólafsson and his latest recording, J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, visit his website at www.vikingurolafsson.com. 

This episode of The Open Ears Project had additional production assistance from Curtis Macdonald. The recording of “Le Rappel des Oiseaux” featured was performed by Víkingur Ólafsson on the 2020 Deutsche Grammophon album, “Debussy · Rameau.”

In this episode, Greenwell recalls his introduction to music and meditates on his identity as a gay man growing up in rural Kentucky. A high school choir teacher gave Greenwell his first vocal lessons and directed him to the music of Benjamin Britten as performed by Britten’s partner, Peter Pears. Despite the grim themes of their song cycle “Winter Words,” Greenwell listened to this music over and over again, finding within it his first example of queer love. 

Greenwell writes about books, music, and more at his substack To A Green Thought.

This episode contains a discussion of sexuality-based discrimination and a quote of a homophobic slur. Listener discretion is advised.

This recording of Benjamin Britten’s Winter Words is performed by tenor Peter Pears in the 1972 Decca album “Britten, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten – Winter Words / Seven Sonnets Of Michelangelo.”

They say that one of the best ways to become a good writer is to read, but in this episode, Egan demonstrates what writers can learn from other art forms. For her, the music of Chopin exemplifies how “surprise, inevitability, variability [and] multiple fronts of action” can craft an unforgettable narrative — even without words.

The performance of Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23 featured in this episode is by Krystian Zimerman and comes from his 1988  Deutsche Grammophon record, "Chopin - 4 Balladen - Barcarolle - Fantasie." 

In the years since Williams first heard Bach’s Cello Suites as a college student, he has returned to them again and again. In this episode, Williams explores the connection between music and joy, and explains how listening to Bach feels similar to religious contemplation.

This recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite for Cello Solo No. 1 in G featured on this episode comes from Jian Wang’s 2005 Deutsche Grammophon record, “Bach: The Cello Suites.”

In this episode, Filkins recalls how Ravel’s music gave him respite during his “nightmare years” covering the war in Iraq. He explains how Ravel, who served as an ambulance driver during World War I, balances suffering and hope in the second movement of his Piano Concerto in G Major.  

The performance of Ravel’s "Adagio" from his Concerto for Piano in G Major featured on this episode comes from the 1998 Deutsche Grammophon album "Ravel: Piano Concertos; Valses nobles et sentimentales," featuring pianist Krystian Zimerman as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Pierre Boulez.

In this episode, Alsop talks about her deep admiration for Beethoven and why, despite being one of the most performed classical pieces ever and written 200 years ago, his Symphony No. 9 (the “Ode to Joy”) remains fresh to modern ears. For her, Beethoven is not just a model musician — but also a model for “living on the planet as a human being.”

The performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 featured in this episode was provided courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.

In this episode, Joachim recalls a formative experience with the music of Brahms, connecting her attraction to his music with the rhythmically inventive music of her family’s native Haiti.

The performance of Brahms Symphony No. 3 used in this episode features the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert. Recording provided courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.

From the disappointment of a Valentine's Day gone awry to the devastating loss of a former partner, Day has turned to the depths of beauty and pain evoked by this music and continually relied upon it to help her feel understood amidst the tumult of grief.

If you’d like to hear a full performance of this work, you can find it on the Warner Classics Website.

This performance of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor features soloist Jacqueline Du Pré from the Warner Classics record “The Great Concertos. Elgar, Saint-Saëns, Haydn, Dvořák, Haydn.”

In this episode, Sneed reflects on how playing Liszt’s Étude No 3, “Un Sospiro,” for both his biological and adoptive mothers allowed him to finally loosen his grip around ideas of adoption, rejection and acceptance.

This performance of Franz Liszt’s “Concert Etude No. 3” is by André Watts from his EMI record, “André Watts Plays Liszt - Album 2." The performance of “The Will of God” is by Karen Clarke Sheard and Kierra Sheard from the Island Black Music record “Finally Karen."

In this episode, White reflects on her upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness and shares a story about the first time she saw a performance of Mozart’s opera “Così fan tutte.” On the train home from the performance, she shared a serendipitous encounter with a stranger that could have been lifted from an opera plot. To this day, when White listens to “Soave si il vento” — a trio from the opera meaning “may the wind be gentle” — it evokes for her “the longing and the loss for all the loves that might have been.” 

This performance of “Soave sia il vento” comes from the 1997 EMI recording of “Così fan tutte” by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Riccardo Muti.

For the debut episode of the long-awaited second season of "The Open Ears Project," Hiddleston recalls a powerful memory from those days. While driving to a hiking spot, Arvo Pärt’s "Spiegel im Spiegel" played on the radio, synchronizing with the landscape to evoke a sense of the eternal and the power of art to remind us of our humanity.

The performance of "Spiegel im Spiegel" featured in this  episode is by violinist Nicola Benedetti and pianist Alexi Grynyuk, from Benedetti's 2009 album, "Fantasie."

This season’s guests include a wide range of voices – many in creative fields – including actors, authors, and journalists, as well classical and genre-busting musicians and conductors about the music that inspires their journey. 

Part mixtape, part sonic love letter, each episode creates a moment to reflect on the question, what if we made a habit of opening our ears — to classical music and to each other? Whether listeners are seeking an introduction to new pieces or encounters with powerful storytelling, listeners will enjoy brief but enduring meditations with artistic works and soulful stories spanning the range of the human experience. 

The Open Ears Project was created by Clemency Burton-Hill. This season will be hosted by Terrance McKnight. New episodes drop every Monday so listeners can start their week on the right note.

She describes with great tenderness the way music connects her to her mother, a survivor of the Holocaust, and how this piece transports her to something akin to a religious experience.

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The Open Ears Project is produced by WQXR and WNYC Studios. You can follow the project starting on day 1 by subscribing to our newsletter and following #OpenEarsProject on Instagram and Twitter.