Thursday, June 6, marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Raymond Jones is host for WHRO FM’s Evening Classics at 9:00 p.m. as we salute this anniversary with an Armed Forces medley; George Antheil’s (ANN-tile) Symphony No. 3 ‘American;’ the ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ Suite by Roylance and Galvin; Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony, based on his Fanfare for the Common Man, a wartime film suite from Vaughan Williams entitled ‘Coastal Command,; and the Symphony No. 5 ;In Memoriam’ written in 1945 by American composer Don Gillis.

This Saturday evening at 8:00 on WHRO FM, Raymond brings you three hours of new classical releases on This Just In. Mathieu Herzog and the Ensemble Appassionato perform Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony and pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho plays the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1. We’ll also have Andre Previn at the keyboard joining violinist Erick Friedman in Debussy’s Sonata in g minor, and from Dutchman Leopold van der Pals comes his Symphony No. 1. Finally, two world premieres: the Harp Concerto by Jennifer Higdon written for our featured performer, Yolanda Kondonassis, and Jonathan Leschoff’s (LESH – hoff) Symphony No. 4 ‘Heichalos” (a Jewish word meaning ‘rooms’ coming from a Jewish mystical text.

On Monday and Tuesday, June 10-11, Raymond will teach a course for Christopher Newport University’s adult learning program. Called ‘Mirthful Mozart and Boisterous Beethoven.’ The course focuses on humor in the deadly serious world of classical music. From Mozart’s Musical Joke to Florence Foster Jenkins, the Guckenheimer Sauerkraut Band, Victor Borge to PDQ Bach, you’ll get more than a few musical chuckles. The class will be taught at CNU’s Yoder Barn in Newport News. Contact Christopher Newport University’s Lifelong Learning Society for more information.