WKAR Public Media at Michigan State launches a new limited-run classical music radio show in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Rhythm and Refuge: Classical Music Comes Home to America is a weekly hour-long broadcast beginning June 12, 2026 and continuing through July 4, 2026. In each of four episodes, WKAR’s Linda Kernohan highlights the experiences of musicians who were immigrants to the United States.
Rhythm and Refuge airs on WKAR 90.5 FM Fridays at 11am ET with encore broadcasts Saturdays at 4pm ET. The program also streams live at those times at wkar.org. On-demand listening is not available.
“I’m excited to share these stories of the contributions immigrant musicians have made to our culture,” said Linda Kernhan, WKAR music producer and host. “Classical music is, by nature, an imported tradition, but thanks to these artists, it has taken root and thrived in America. Many of the musicians highlighted in the series came to the U.S. fleeing violence or persecution, and we’re fortunate that they were able to find refuge here.”
The debut episode, Revolution and Reinvention (airing 6/12/26 and 6/13/26), features musicians from Russia and the former Soviet Union, including composers Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, MSU College of Music artist faculty members violinist Dmitri Berlinsky and cellist Suren Bagratuni, and local pianist and Grammy-nominated recording engineer Sergei Kvitko.
Episode 2, Exodus & Liberation (airing 6/19/26 and 6/20/26), features musicians who fled the Third Reich, including composers Arnold Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Kurt Weill, and Ruth Schönthal; pianist and harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, and soprano Lotte Lehmann.
Episode 3, Diaspora & Destiny (airing 6/26/26 and 6/27/26), features musicians from Asia and the Americas, including Teresa Carreno, Tania León, Gustavo Dudamel, Chinary Ung, and MSU artists Ricardo Lorenz, Zhou Tian, Zhihua Tang, and Mingzhe Wang.
Episode 4, Early Arrivals and Inner Movements (airing 7/3/26 and 7/4/26), Kernohan explores mutual influences and American foundations, through the music of Charles Theodore Pachelbel, David Moritz Michael, Antonin Dvorak, Harry Burleigh, Nathaniel Dett, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, William Grant Still, and Florence Price.
Each artist featured forged their own unique path as they sought to capture a piece of the American Dream, weaving their talents and perspectives as vital threads in the fabric of classical music in America.
Rhythm and Refuge: Classical Music Comes Home to America is a WKAR America 250 original production.