The Radio Hour • Press Coverage
Critical Acclaim
“…a score that gleefully…switches styles, [and] the versatile and game members of the John Alexander Singers sound like they’re having great fun as they sing, croon, chant, laugh, snap, clap and swoop; most listeners will, too.”
Opera News
“Conductor John Alexander and the John Alexander Singers gave the world premiere of a entertaining and enchanting new opera, The Radio Hour, by Jake Heggie on Sunday afternoon at Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall… Heggie has come up with what seems to be a brand new form with The Radio Hour… The 24-voice John Alexander Singers (the professional subset of the chorale) did all the singing, becoming not only the music that comes out of Nora’s radio, but also her inner, self-critical voice, the stream of her consciousness. If this sounds too clever by half, it is brought off with great skill and wit.”
The Orange County Register
“The most innovative aspect of the piece is its dramatic use of the choir. Conductor John Alexander had been hoping to find a new way to make choral musicians less static, and he explained in an interview that he sees contemporary choral music moving toward opera and theater. The choir… occupies a special, magical realm featuring music and commercials from the radio.”
Journal of the Society for American Music
“An experimental mashup of different art forms that sounds quite modern.”
Minnesota Star Tribune