With enthusiasm, expertise, and wit, WFYI's Michael Toulouse shares classical music and information every weeknight on The Classical Connection. He takes listeners on a perpetual expedition through a growing library--which currently holds almost six thousand compact discs--looking for that unforgettable vintage performance, that stunning debut from an emerging artist, or that surprising piece of new music that practically no one has heard.

"I'm constantly surprised by what I hear," says Michael. "There's always something new to consider. On the one hand, we have an expanding collection of completely unique music by seldom-heard composers. On the other, there are many well-known pieces of music that are always receiving fresh, enlightened performances: just consider our two dozen vastly different interpretations of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony."

Although the power of the music alone would make for a fantastic radio program, The Classical Connection is just as compelling when the music stops. Michael explains the most subtle details with ease, relying on communications skills he has honed over fifteen years as a classical music programmer and host. He also frequently welcomes performers and composers for live interviews in the WFYI studios.

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"THE POWDERED WIGS WERE WOBBLING," SAYS CONDUCTOR ANDREW MANZE. He's talking about a concert that happened over two hundred years ago, when people heard Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) for the very first time. Maestro Manze believes it's still possible to capture the revolutionary spirit of the Eroica, and he's proving it on tour with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. Michael talked to him about the orchestra's latest recording.

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CHINESE PIANIST YUNDI LI WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN when he took the Gold Medal at the Frederic Chopin International Competition. He was the youngest competitor ever to win the top prize, and his victory broke a fifteen-year drought of gold medals in Warsaw. But he has gone on to even more impressive achievements, as he explained in this conversation with Michael.

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CELLIST TRULS MØRK'S GRAMMY-WINNING SOLO RECORDING, from a few years ago, features music that Benjamin Britten wrote to fulfill an I.O.U. to the great Russian musician Mstislav Rostropovich. Britten's Suites for Solo Cello have a lot in common with some revered music of a much earlier composer, J.S. Bach. Truls explained the relationship to Michael.

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ALEX ROSS, MUSIC CRITIC FOR THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE, confesses to a kind of obsession with music of the Twentieth Century. In his new book, The Rest Is Noise, Ross presents the first comprehensive survey of a musical period marked by deep controversy and strong passions. He joined Michael on December 3, 2007 for a special live broadcast from the Hilbert Circle Theatre. The evening also featured pianist and composer Becky Archibald, who teamed up with members of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra to perform her own music.

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INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCORED A MAJOR COUP when it persuaded Leonard Slatkin to commit to an annual residency at the Jacobs School of Music. The renowned American conductor will train young potential successors, work with talented student musicians, and lead the IU Philharmonic in regular concerts. Michael caught up with him just before his recent lecture at Butler University.

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THE CAMERATA IRELAND, FOUNDED BY BARRY DOUGLAS, features the leading young musicians from both the northern and southern partitions of the Emerald Isle. The Irish pianist serves as the orchestra's conductor and principal soloist. He recently spoke to Michael about Camerata Ireland's latest recording.

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