Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Chamber music that’s standard rep but also underrated: Britten SQ 1. So much of the love goes to 2 and 3, but 1 is awesome—especially that opening movement. 050
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 27/05/2026“You know, the podium is a lot like a cockpit…” is about to be the new, “What kind of hair gel do you use?” 010
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026I’m being told to expect an LA Phil MD announcement within the next couple of weeks. I have a name, but not strong enough confirmation to put it out there quite yet. 030
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Two women, both born in Hong Kong, are now the artistic leaders of the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus. Elim Chan, music director Jenny Wong, chorus director What a moment. 0153
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Yuja Wang getting Normal Leblech fired is not something I had on my 2026 bingo card, but I’m very much here for it. 1301
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 19/02/2026I know everyone in #classicalmusic had their hot takes about Tár back when it came out. I didn't really have a strong opinion so I kept quiet. However...it lives rent-free in my head that the creators thought any record company anywhere would greenlight an album of Mahler 5 + Elgar's Cello Concerto. 150
Reposted by Brian LauritzenThe New York Times @nytimes.com · 09/01/2026Breaking News: The Washington National Opera is leaving the Kennedy Center after President Trump’s intervention upset artists and donors. The opera has performed there since 1971.nyti.msWashington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy CenterThe opera, which has performed at the arts center since 1971, was concerned by declines in attendance and donations during President Trump’s second term. 1202195611
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 06/01/2026New year; new project. A philosophical/emotional/narrative exploration of why we LOVE the music we love. There is, of course, not one correct answer to any of the questions I pose in these episodes. However, I do hope you will find this new series compelling. www.kusc.org/why-we-love-... 120
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025It’s a song about a guy who creeps around in public parks befriending kids and, once he gains their trust, leads them into a busy intersection in defiance of law enforcement because, as he explains to the kids, he’s dying anyway. Frosty the Snowman is chaotic evil. 010
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 08/09/2025That thing where your Sunday at home concludes with you and your 14-month-old searching for your belly buttons, turning light switches on and off, and putting underwear on your head. #WeekendWarrior 070
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 06/09/2025Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum Doctor Atomic Doctor Granvil Doctor Miracle “Doctor” Despina The Doctor in Wozzeck…okay, maybe not 050
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 30/08/2025Yup. Yesterday was horrible.latimes.comL.A. classical station KUSC slashes staff after federal funding cuts to public radioThe USC-owned station, known as Classical California, lost $1.1 million that was previously allocated by the Corp. for Public Broadcasting. 73611
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 12/08/2025i see your "on stage naked" anxiety dream and raise you "at the podium realizing you brought the wrong eulogy and don't know anything about the actual dead guy" 1170
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 07/08/2025Y’all. Neither Itzhak Perlman nor Yo-Yo Ma is in the hospital. Can we stop with the fake AI content sharing, please? 061
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 18/07/2025when you discover a secret headphone jack in the studio that revolutionizes the ergonomics of your daily workflow and also the united states senate votes to eliminate your federal funding 280
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 21/06/2025RIP Charles Burrell, WWII Veteran and the first Black musician to sign a contract with an American orchestra, who passed away this week at the age of 104. www.cpr.org/2025/06/17/c...cpr.orgClassical bass legend Charlie Burrell dies at 104The “Jackie Robinson of classical music” and former Denver Symphony Orchestra bassist called Colorado home for much of his life. 060
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 12/06/2025One of the darkest days for Public Media. 020
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025🧵 Everything you've heard until now is just conjecture. But now that the White House has officially delivered its recission bill to Congress, we now have clarity with regard to funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 143
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 12/05/2025Thank you. Always. #InternationalNursesDay 010
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 07/05/2025I suppose it shouldn’t surprise us that a guy who would write a 20-page letter to a woman spelling out how their marriage was gonna work would also be the same guy who wrote massive symphonies, all of which are at least an hour long. Can't imagine what it must've felt like to be Mahlersplained to. 170
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 30/04/2025I am deeply weary of hearing management speak about the need for workers to “acknowledge the seriousness of the financial circumstances confronting our institution.” That’s literally YOUR job, manager dude. www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...sfchronicle.comTensions flare at Michael Tilson Thomas tribute as S.F. Symphony musicians protest contract cutsSan Francisco Symphony musicians handed out leaflets at MTT’s 80th birthday concert, accusing leadership of jeopardizing its artistic legacy. 2276
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 22/04/2025Happy #EarthDay! Here’s Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony in emojis: 🎶🚶🌳🌿🌾🌼😃🏞🕊☺️🎉👏👯👯👯😄☁️🤔🌩😬⛈💨😳🌦🌤☀️🐏😎👍🌈🎶 031
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 10/03/2025I’ve always resonated with @komaniecki.bsky.social’s advocacy for playing with your children (as if that was a thing that needed advocacy), but as a relatively recent new dad (8 mos. in), I have a deepened sense of being simply flabbergasted at the cesspool of the “nah I’m good” folks. 171
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 08/03/2025I have neither the time nor the patience to go thru the replies/quotes to find Microtonal Guy™️, but I guarantee you he’s in there somewhere… 290
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Sitting here on the eve of the first KUSC Pledge Drive since the SoCal wildfires and I hope we all understand that this is immensely difficult for all of us who are on the air and that music is a thing that is inspiring but has its limitations and the point of all of this is community. 183
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 25/02/2025Grumpy Old-Man Brian surfacing here to complain about the iPhone email update. So, some tech bro in Palo Alto gets to decide which emails I am allowed to see? (I know, I know, you can shut it off…and I have…but still.) 120
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 09/02/2025Trombone Shorty just joined Ray Charles at the top of the list of iconic performances of America the Beautiful 060
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Three weeks ago, the #EatonFire was blazing its now infamous paths of destruction, including melting some of the transmission lines for the #KUSC transmitter tower on Mt. Harvard. This morning, here's the view from our tower. 061
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 17/01/2025“Our daily lives have been mangled beyond recognition. There have been deaths, there has been destruction, everybody, everywhere, nobody is keeping score, it’s all bad and it all requires a resilience that was on full, powerful display everywhere last week.” www.latimes.com/sports/story...latimes.comPlaschke: The unbearable guilt of losing nothing — and everything — in the Altadena wildfireL.A. Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke feels equally grateful and guilty that his home in Altadena was spared as wildfire ravaged his neighborhood. 020
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Some KUSC news here, courtesy of our chief engineer—and probably the kindest man in all of public radio—Ron Thompson. www.radioworld.com/news-and-bus...radioworld.comSouthern California Wildfires Test Broadcasters’ Resilience - Radio WorldAs firefighters work to contain the Eaton and Palisades fires, engineers are working to ensure broadcast signals serving greater Los Angeles stay on the air. 030
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 09/01/2025Having been through this multiple times with family and friends who both lost everything in a fire and those who did not…a few thoughts about what they/we need at this time: 2124
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 09/01/2025SoCal: let’s be sad together. Let’s grieve together. Let’s rebuild together. Let’s lift each other up together. Whatever we do, let’s do it together. 160
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 03/01/2025Got LASIK surgery (best money I ever spent) and applied for a job at KUSC (didn’t get it, but got one a year later which changed my life forever). 030
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 02/01/2025Good morning and happy new year. Just getting in some light early morning reading before hitting the day. 🔬 0100
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 29/12/2024TIL that consoling an inconsolable 6-month-old at 4a can be accomplished by telling her stories about Josef Mysliveček’s nose. Thank you, syphilis…? 060
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 24/12/2024❤️💚 First Christmas 💚❤️ 1982 🎄✨ 1983 🎄✨ 2024 🎄✨ 0110
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 23/12/2024If you like G-major scales (ascending or descending, but especially descending), you'll LOVE Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." 0100
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 21/12/2024It doesn’t keep getting darker. The light comes back. #HappySolstice 081
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 01/12/2024Annual reminder: “not a lot for Christmas” = “you” 30 years and counting. #Savage 010
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 21/11/2024This is one beautifully stated reason why I always say: there’s no wrong way to listen to music and what you hear in it is never wrong. 0146
Brian Lauritzen @brianlauritzen.bsky.social · 21/11/2024Ave Verum Corpus is inarguably the most sublime thing Mozart ever wrote, but Laudate Dominum is a very close second. 160