Quite frequently here at WXXI we are asked what listeners can do with their old pianos.  It seems that in this day when many are downsizing and people don't stay in one place for many years as they used to, few people are interested in having a large instrument in their home; much less one that can't easily be moved. 

It seems that as each new generation comes along, with it there is a renewed focus on the environment, recycling and going green.  The next young generation decides that saving the planet is something they’ll do better than the previous generation. 

I am at the end of the Boomer generation, and in my experience, it was my grandparents’ generation that knew about recycling & reuse. Everything from hand-me-down clothes, to wrapping Christmas presents in cereal boxes and newspaper tied with a rag, to the “button box.”  Every grandmother seemed to have one.

Two young people from different backgrounds meet and fall in love -- and society tears them apart.  You may recognize that as “West Side Story.”

Here’s another story: Two young people from different backgrounds meet and fall in love -- and end up making music together all over the world. 

How does music capture a culture, or a political moment, or a time of change? One of the great musical historians is a WXXI host and contributor, and his new book looks at what he calls “City Songs.”

We sit down with Michael Lasser to discuss how music shaped public perspectives as America developed, and we talk about how to recognize when a song goes from just a song to something more culturally powerful.

Producers of the annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival are inviting people to "take a leap," at one of the premier fringe festivals in the country and the largest multi-art festival in New York State, according to producer Erica Fee.

"We have over 570 performances and events over a 12-day period this year, with really something for everyone," she said.

Fee calls the festival transformative for the community, and this year features some new partnerships. She says it's all about diversity and inclusion, and fringe festivals, in general, are great community connectors.

Updated on Jun. 17 at 11:41 a.m.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) musicians, carrying signs reading "Fair Play for World Class Musicians," have begun picketing in front of their artistic home, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, as the orchestra's management has locked out its players.