Speaking of the Arts

01/12/2023

Coming up on tonight's Speaking of the Arts at 7pm: A dancer with a national touring resume who is doing pioneering research into how singing can improve mobility for people with Parkinson's Disease; an artist/muralist with an incredibly personal story to tell about art liberating her from an extreme religious upbringing; and a nature/wildlife photographer. All featured Missouri Arts Council artists back in December. Tune in on KOPN 89.5 FM Columbia or check out the podcast from 8pm at bit.ly/SpotifySpeakingArts

12/15/2022

On tonight's Speaking of the Arts, we have a record breaking 10 guests from 9 local arts agencies talking about the work they do, the magical moments they've witnessed, and what they would do with a $100,000 donation. Plus there's tinsel, mince pies, mulled wine, gingerbread cookies, and some spiked egg nog. Thanks to Alex George, Ayako Tsuruta, Corey Dunne, Matt Schacht, Kelsey Hammond, Shawna Johnson, Ed Hanson, Rochara Knight, Emily Edington Andrews, and Dawn Warren. 7-8pm this evening on KOPN 89.5 FM or catch it later at bit.ly/SpotifySpeakingArts. Pairs well with all of the above or a wee dram.

12/08/2022

The following questions will all be answered on tomorrow night's Speaking of the Arts: What did Edna Mae Anderson do on July 13th 1945? What does it take to make it in the performing arts world? And what is the difference between a good conductor and a great conductor? Thanks to The Missouri Symphony - MOSY's Wilbur Lin, Heart of Missouri Chorus' Twilla Duvall and Heather Vuckovic, and Conservatory for the Performing Arts at Stephens College's Lisa Brescia and Nollie Moore. Thursday, 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM. This week's show pairs well with a rum-flavored egg nog and a box of liqueur-filled chocolates.

12/01/2022

This week women who are hard as steel and fragile as magnolias at Columbia Entertainment Company, a wokeness and privilege-challenging comedy satire at Talking Horse Productions, and 20th century masters riff on the theme of love at Sager Reeves Gallery. Thursday, 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM. Thanks Monica Palmer, Ginger Cawley, DeeDee Farris, Mark Baumgartner, Hannah Reeves.

11/23/2022

On this week's thanksgiving edition of Speaking of the Arts we are jaunting around the state to visit the Missouri Arts Council's featured November artists: Randy Bacon - a portrait photographer; Simiya Sudduth - a multi-disciplinary artist and mural painter; Michael McClure - a landscape painter; and Wanda Taylor - a colored pencil artist. It's all coming up after you're full of thanksgiving stuffing tomorrow evening from 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM. (And if it's all too much tomorrow and the football is on the tele, you can find the podcast here on Friday bit.ly/SpotifySpeakingArts)

11/09/2022

Coming up on tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts, a new poetic memoir by Barbara Harris Leonhard and a brand new play by Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and GreenHouse Theatre Project centred on 100-year old love letters from the state archives. 7-8pm, Thursday evenings, on KOPN 89.5 FM and available afterwards as a podcast on Spotify bit.ly/3zZ0XAE

11/02/2022

Coming up on tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts there's a festival that challenges our stubbornly conditioned ears (Dismal Niche's Columbia Experimental Music Festival), a heartwarming musical comedy based on an ACLU case (MU Theatre Department), and a peek at the reality of managing two huge performance venues when the world keeps throwing challenges at you (University Concert Series). 7-8pm, every Thursday, on KOPN 89.5 FM.

10/26/2022

Coming up on tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts there's a No S*x Please trivia quiz with Terry Schoonover and Ginger Drew Cawley from Columbia Entertainment Company, the return of Fall Into Art, why artist Jamie Scheppers is embracing pink, and the connection between W***y Wonka and fantasy surreal painter Mollie Chounard Fine Art. 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

10/19/2022

On tomorrow night's Speaking of the Arts we're off around the state to meet the Missouri Arts Council's featured October artists with Cape Girardeau author Greg Stout, St Louis singer songwriter Miss Molly Simms, artist Nick Gadbois in Kansas City, and Columbia-based painter Cristina Núñez. Tune in to KOPN 89.5 FM and I'll see you on the sofa!

10/06/2022

On tonight's Speaking of the Arts we've got an art show, some dance, an artist who works with an x-acto knife, and a flutist. All coming up at 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM!

09/29/2022

Tonight at 7pm it is the Roots N Blues Festival edition of Speaking of the Arts. There's some behind the festival scenes with owners Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper, and chats with two of the singer songwriters who will be on stage on the 8th & 9th October, from California Missouri, Kassi Ashton, and from St Louis, Jon Norman. 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM

09/21/2022

Sashaying around the state on tomorrow night's show to meet the Missouri Arts Council's featured September artists and find out how one painter addresses the ubiquity of our litter through his work, a wearable art jeweler uses her creativity to navigate her depression and bulimia, an artist who combines blocks of color and delicate drawings, and a poet who seeks to capture the music of thought. Thursday evening 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

09/14/2022

This week we are going to revisit a couple of chats: this year's One Read author, M.O. Walsh, talking about his book 'The Big Door Prize' (first aired on September 1st), and poet Dave Malone chatting about his latest volume of poetry, 'Tornado Drill' (first aired on July 7th). Thursday 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM. And remember, tonight's the night to see visual artist and sculptor, Nick Cave, at Westminster College (7pm in the Champ Auditorium).

09/07/2022

Such a huge week on Speaking of the Arts: an hour-long chat with the world-renowned artist, sculptor, educator, dancer and messenger, Nick Cave! Thursday evening at 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

08/31/2022

From a machine that tells you what you could be in life if you lived your true potential, to a social justice songwriter whose life potential is soaring. This week two chats: with Daniel Boone Regional Library One Read author M.O. Walsh about his book "The Big Door Prize" and Crys Matthews who will be giving a Master Class and performing at The Listening Room at Compass Inc.. It's a good one, Thursday 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM

08/23/2022

This Thursday: A sound that's all their own, how St Louis' Paige Alyssa combines a love of 80's synth pop, new jack swing, and the music of Sonic the Hedgehog, plus their brand-new debut single as Paige Alyssa and The Max; Hamlet under the stars at Maplewood Barn Theatre; and artist Laurel DeFreece on how her art tells the story of the fragility of the natural world and the ravages of climate change. 7-8pm this Thursday on KOPN 89.5 FM!

08/17/2022

This week how sculptor butch Murphy opted to think of the theft of one his artworks as his highest achievement, and how Columbia's Steve Wiegenstein - Author turned his fascination for 19th century Utopian settlements into a series of novels and included the notorious guerilla who murdered his great uncle. Speaking of the Arts, Thursday 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

08/10/2022

This week lovely chats with the community activist and educator who is putting passion and purpose into the Columbia music scene, J. ARTiz; a peek at the next Talking Horse Productions play about a woman who in later life finds love with a much younger man and finds herself, with Kirsten Olson Malinee and Bay; and a journey into the magical realism world of Matthew Stuart Piper Photography. Thursday evening 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

08/03/2022

A board game that became a stage play, by way of a movie and a musical, takes to the stage at Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre; tiny poetry books, and how a rich Italian-American heritage shaped Missouri's 6th Poet Laureate, Maryfrances Wagner; and a series of literary events that center around a book that asks the question: What would you be if you knew what your potential truly was? Find the answers on Speaking of the Arts, Thursday from 7-8pm, on KOPN 89.5 FM!

07/27/2022

We're tripping around Missouri on tomorrow night's Speaking of the Arts to visit with the Missouri Arts Council's featured July artists: a monster maker in Farmington, a mixed media artist in St Charles whose art career restarted with some 'Wear your Mask' postcards, a watercolor artist in Springfield who paints fleeting moments, and a Kansas City photographer who seeks to capture the world beyond the surface. 7-8pm, Thursday evening on KOPN 89.5 FM!

07/20/2022

On tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts we'll be diving into this year's Mizzou International Composer's Festival with chats with guest composer Angélica Negrón, and two of the festival's resident composers, Niko Schroeder and Cassie Wieland. Plus Morgan Dennehy pops in from Maplewood Barn Theatre to talk about the Barn's production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. KOPN 89.5 FM from 7-8pm Thursday evening.

07/06/2022

Keeping it eclectic, this week's show covers a Tornado Drill, the carbon footprint of a baby, and how an abandoned canning factory was the starting point for an lifelong interest in archaeology. So clearly that means you can expect a book of poetry by West Plains post Dave Malone, the play 'Lungs' described as "a bracingly dramatic walk through the thicket of couples communication" (The Washington Post), which GreenHouse Theatre Project opens at Stephens College's Firestone Baars Chapel on July 20th, and an Arrival Interview with the new director of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, Dan Eck. Thursday evening 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

06/29/2022

It's tripping around Missouri week on tomorrow evening's show with a visit to the Missouri Arts Council's four featured June artists: a fast working muralist in Kansas City who can paint a 23ft x 15ft mural in a day; a classical guitarist whose career started with a birthday guitar he wasn't expecting; a printmaker who took IKEA as the starting point for her Masters thesis; and an award-winning encaustic painter who discovered her art thanks to a crafting TV show. Thursday 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

06/22/2022

It is a history-making week at KOPN as we start broadcasting from our new home on Bernadette Drive. Whoo-hoo! And history has a role in each of this week's chats: a trip to ancient Egypt in the Elton John and Tim Rice musical theatre retelling of the classic Verdi opera 'Aida' with the artistic director for the Larry D Clark Summer Repertory Theatre, Dr. Joy Powell; a chat with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Trent Rash and Hot Summer Nights visiting conductor, Wilbur Lin including a look at how modern orchestra's might interpret the music of early composers; and the end of an era at the Daum Gallery of Contemporary Art with the departure of its Director and Curator of 14 years, Tom Piché. Tomorrow night 7-8pm on @89.5FM KOPN Columbia !

06/08/2022

It's a quadruple bill of theatre on tomorrow night's Speaking of the Arts. There's some monsters and succubi courtesy of Maplewood Barn Theatre's 'She Kills Monsters', a rabbit hole dive into MU Theatre Department's 'The Cat in the Hat', a trek to a remote Alaskan cabin with Talking Horse Productions 'Brilliant Traces', and a veritable gallop through the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre's summer season. Thursday night 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM!

06/02/2022

Tonight's Speaking of the Arts is all about this weekend's Art in the Park festival. Diana chats with the Columbia Art League's Executive Director, Kelsey Hammond, about what she is most looking forward to, plus there are chats with two of the visiting artists, painter Michael Steddum, and ceramic artist Kendle Durden, and music from The January Lanterns, who will be performing at the festival. 7pm on KOPN 89.5 FM Columbia!

05/25/2022

We've got a mixture of old and new on tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts. New is a chat with actor, director and music producer, Richard E. Harris Jr., about the August Wilson play 'Jitney' in which he is performing with The Black Rep Theatre of St Louis for just a few more days. In Act II we return to a chat from last year with artist jeweler, Allison Norfleet Bruenger, who returns to Columbia next weekend for the annual Art in the Park Columbia festival. And in Act Three we revisit a chat with vocal performer and actor, Anthony Blatter about his 5 years performing in Columbia. Thursday evening 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM!

05/19/2022

After jetting around Europe on last week's show, this week we are ambling around Missouri to visit with the Missouri Arts Council's featured May artists. We've got stops in Vienna with Mick Byrd a singer songwriter who won a Billboard magazine award with the first song he wrote upon his return to music in his late 30's; Yoro Newson a jewelry and fashion artist in St Louis who caught the eye of the world's biggest pop star; a portrait painter in Kansas City, Benjamin Parks who works way beyond lifesize; and Columbia-based fiber artist, Josephine Stealey who is master of texture and volume. 89.5FM KOPN Columbia, tonight at 7pm.

05/12/2022

Sam Ryder - SPACE MAN - United Kingdom 🇬🇧 - Official Music Video - Eurovision 2022

Ever been curious about the Eurovision Song Contest? Well, even if you haven't, tonight's Speaking of the Arts will either scratch your Eurovision itch or maybe start you on your Eurovision Song Contest curiosity journey! 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM with mid-Missouri's most impassioned Eurovision fan - me, Diana Moxon. After 23 years in the Eurovision Song Contest wilderness, the United Kingdom is back. Whoo-hoo Sam Ryder! Tonight' show will only be available as a podcast for two weeks. If you miss tonight catch it here: https://www.kopn.org/programs/speaking-of-the-arts/

​ Ryder will represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song 'SPACE MAN'.The singer-songwriter will be making the...

05/04/2022

Coming up on tomorrow evening's eclectic arts tour, we'll be diving into a new exhibit at The State Historical Society of Missouri's Center for Missouri Studies called 'MOda 200: Missouri Style Makers, Merchants & Memories' with its curator, Nicole Johnston. On the eve of the launch of the North Village Arts District's first four ArtWalk artworks, artist Shannon Webster and the Art District's President, Tootie Grone Burns, talk about the development of the ArtWalk project. And as Mizzou musical theatre and opera actor Anthony Blatter leaves for new art pastures in Florida, Diana gives him the Arts Exit Interview. 7pm-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM

04/27/2022

It's a scrumptious arts smorgasbord this week with a record 8 guests on the show: there's some Trent Rash revealing who the four finalists are for the The Missouri Symphony - MOSY's conducting job; artists Lisa Braman Bartlett, Amy Denninghoff Stephenson, Jane B Mudd plus art curator Audrey Florey talk about 'For the Love of Locals' portrait show at Boone County History & Culture Center; from Maplewood Barn Theatre director Russell Becker and Sean Dennehy chat about their production of 'You're a Good Man Charlie Brown'; and Kelsey Hammond talks about the Columbia Art League's Pop-Up postcard show. So much in ONE hour!! Thursday 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM.

04/20/2022

It's theatre, theatre, books on tomorrow night's Speaking of the Arts from 7-8pm. There's Alex George talking about this weekend's 6th annual Unbound Book Festival; director Claire Syler chatting about the Lauren Gunderson play 'The Revolutionists' opening at The Rhynsburger theatre next week; and Kathleen Johnson and Mallory Donohue giving us a sneak peek behind the curtains of Talking Horse Productions musical 'Fun Home', which opens Friday night. On your radio at 89.5FM KOPN Columbia and available as a podcast after 8pm at https://speakingofthearts.transistor.fm/

04/13/2022

On tomorrow night's show: a wood sculptor who can texture wood to make it look like pebbles and ripples; a spoken word poet who is described as both a kind and gentle spirit and a gale force wind who wrecks microphones; an abstract painter whose artwork is an attempt to decipher the babble in her brain; and a musician who plays orchestral arrangements of The Great American Songbook on his solo guitar. And they are this month's Missouri Arts Council's featured artists. 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia.

03/30/2022

On this Thursday's show, provocative architectural photos, an Ozarks story-sharer, painting a door, a chair and a giant girl in unexpected places, and letting your ancestors help you find your artistic voice in visits with the Missouri Arts Council's featured March artists. 7-8pm on KOPN 89.5 FM Columbia.

03/23/2022

An art retrospective and the case of a missing mural painted 80 years ago, bronze-sculpted artworks telling the story of the age of technology, and a pitch-black tragicomedy about a dysfunctional family, who seamlessly blend love and cruelty, secrets and truths. So, yeah. Arts: covered. Tomorrow night, 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia.

03/16/2022

This week it's a musical tour of the arts with singer songwriter, Meredith Shaw Music, taking us on her journey into the Nashville music scene and the liberation of pursuing a music career in later life. And, as The Missouri Symphony - MOSY holds its golden jubilee celebrations this weekend, Executive Director, Trent Rash takes us back through the mists of time to talk about the founding of the Missouri Symphony Society and the two people whose love of music, and love for each other, were the bedrock of the organization for half a century. Thursday evening 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia!

03/02/2022

On tomorrow evening's Speaking of the Arts, Diana Moxon chats with two film directors whose films will be at this weekend's True/False Film Fest. Kevin Shaw talks about Let the Little Light Shine Documentary about the threatened closure of a top-performing mostly Black and low income elementary school in Chicago, which the school district wanted to transform into a high school for mostly White and Asian students. And Rita Baghdadi chats about her doc 'Sirens' a coming-of-age story that follows Lebanon's first and only all-women thrash-metal band. Plus fest artistic director, Chloe Trayner, tells Diana what she's excited to be bringing to this year's fest. Thursday 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia

02/24/2022

On tonight's Speaking of the Arts we're off around the state to chat with the Missouri Arts Council's February featured artists: Joseph Puleo the documentary film maker behind 'America's Last Little Italy:The Hill' https://www.facebook.com/TheHillDoc; Linda Hoover a mural artist and fine art watercolor painter in Sedalia; and Joha Bisone an abstract painter inspired by nature in Kansas City. Coming up this evening from 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia.

02/17/2022

On tonight's show we're starting to get into the True/False Film Fest mood, with two visual artists and a singer who will be showing and performing at the Fest, plus African art music. Chatting with Diana from Canada is indie pop singer, Begonia who'll be performing at Rose Music Hall on March 5th; Columbia visual artist and spoken word poet, Askia. Nasir. Bilal. talks about his non-portraits and finding catharsis in his work; geologist Carrie Elliott talks about her installation artwork COMO Sea and her fascination with the intersection of art and science; plus FredO chats Nubian and Warrior Dances. And it all happens in a single hour: 7-8pm tonight on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia.

02/10/2022

It's theatre, theatre, theatre and a book on tonight's Speaking of the Arts from 7-8pm on 89.5FM KOPN Columbia. Quin Gresham previews the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre's 2022 season; Director Brett Olson chats about Ionesco's absurdist anti-play 'The Bald Soprano' on stage at Creative and Performing Arts at Stephens College this weekend; Cara Carter gives her take on 'The Smell of The Kill' which she is directing Talking Horse Productions; and artist Jeru Battle talks about the inspiration behind his illustrated children's book, 'The Indigenous Goat'.