A conversation over Thanksgiving dinner inspired Portage resident Tony Edwin, known as Tony Ettwein to his friends, to compile the events and milestones of a single year, one day at a time. That year was 1968. Looking back half-a-century later, Edwin says he realized that it was a year like no other. His new book book is 1968 Plus 50: Looking back at the historic, tumultuous year of 1968.

Sandy Pensler says he draws inspiration for his campaign from a Bible passage “feed the hungry and clothe the naked.” But one of two Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Michigan says he believes the best way to do that is by creating jobs.

What does it take to be a professional classical musician while maintaining a private teaching studio of 40-50 students? Trumpeter Keith Geiman addresses that question with WMUK contributor Craig Freeman, performing some of his favorite pieces with his Britton-Geiman Duo partner, pianist Thom Britton. They play arrangements of Clark's Venus Waltz, Gershwin's Summertime, and the Thiele/Weiss tune, What A Wonderful World. In remembrance of influential Western Michigan University performer/educator  Stephen Jones, Geiman plays two verses of Amazing Grace.

Although the great American pianist-composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein died when Michael Brown was three years old, Brown came to know the maestro through his recordings, compositions, and his surviving circle of family and friends. At the Gilmore Keyboard Festival on Friday, May 2, Michael Brown performed a solo piano program of works by members of that circle, by Michael Brown, and by Bernstein himself. Brown spoke about the program with Cara Lieurance.

Nineteen year-old pianist Wei Luo, a 2018 Gilmore Young Artist, will perform Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody On A Theme of Paganini with the Battle Creek Symphony on Saturday as her final concert during the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. In an interview with Cara Lieurance, Luo talks about her experiences this week at the festival, which included solo recitals in South Haven, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. 

As they discuss her upcoming performance of the Rhapsody, Luo talks about the school she's attended for six years, the Curtis Institute of Music. They listen to a recording of her teacher, pianist Gary Graffman, performing the Rhapsody in a 1964 recording with his friend, Leonard Bernstein, conducting the New York Philharmonic. 

Wei Luo will perform the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini on Saturday at 7:30 pm, in W.K. Kellogg Auditorium.

Facebook may have been called to task for fake news and breaches of personal data, but it's the job of all stakeholders in the digital "ecosystem"--from users to advertisers to media companies--to act responsibly in cyberspace, says Garlin Gilchrist II, a headliner at the Kalamazoo Social Media Week Conference starting Monday.