The Pride of Mankato

Continuing the runup to next week's Inside the Classics concerts, we wanted to take some time to introduce you to the guy who will be the star of the show: our violin soloist, Peter McGuire.

One of the tough things about preparing this show has been the realization that there's so much we'll have to leave out - with less than an hour to cover the history of the Tchaikovsky concerto, its reception by press and public, the musical ideas it contains, and the intricacies of performing it, it was inevitable that some things we wanted badly to talk about are even now winding up on the cutting room floor. In particular, we're not going to have a lot of time to chat with Peter onstage about just who he is and how he came to be standing there, which is a great shame, because his is one of the more fascinating life stories in the orchestra.

But for those of you interested in learning more than the program notes will tell you about one of the best violinists this orchestra's ever had (and one of the nicest guys, too, just for the record,) here's your chance. Peter and I sat down to talk over lunch this week, and you can listen in by clicking below...