This week: the second of our two April broadcasts from Texas, live from the magnificently restored Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, which was submerged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Singer and songwriter Stephanie Davis joins us, a fourth generation Montanan now making her home in a fixer-upper the Lone Star State; and literary mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera will sing her notable roles from The Barber of Seville and Mozart. Plus: The Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell and Fred Newman, find Dusty and Lefty engaged in the tourist trade; music director and pianist Rich Dworsky guides the band (drummer Bernie Dresel, Larry Kohut on the bass, Richard Kriehn on the mandolin and fiddle, and guitarist Chris Siebold) through stomping opera bits and Gulf Coast melodies; and an update from the host on the latest News from a rapidly greening Lake Wobegon.
  • Stephanie Davis

    From possums to pico de gallo, Western swing to Whataburger, singer-songwriter Stephanie Davis finds much to love about her new home in the Texas Hill Country. After happily donating her snow shovel to Goodwill, the former Montanan now spends her days in shorts and flip-flops, often strumming a guitar and scribbling song ideas beneath her very own fig tree. Her recordings include Crocus in the Snow and Western Bling, both on Recluse Records.
  • Jennifer Rivera

    Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera has sung leading roles in opera companies worldwide. The two-time Grammy nominee recently won Australia's Helpmann Award. In 2001, she was named Debut Artist of Year at New York City Opera, where she began her career and performed over 70 performances during eight seasons. Career highlights include Rosina in The Barber of Seville at Berlin Staatsoper, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito at Teatro Regio di Torino, and Faramondo in Faramondo with Brisbane Baroque. A California native, she makes her home in New York. At the piano: Nyle Matsuoka.
  • Garrison Keillor

    Garrison Keillor was born in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota. He went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, he hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. He is the host of The Writer's Almanac and the editor of the Good Poems series of anthologies from Viking.
  • Rich Dworsky and the band - April 30, 2016

    Richard Dworsky Keyboardist, composer, and arranger Richard Dworsky is APHC's music director. He leads the band, composes themes, improvises script underscores, and collaborates with such diverse guests as Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, Kristin Chenoweth, and Sheryl Crow. He has provided music for documentaries on HBO and PBS, and has released many recordings of original material, including his latest, All In Due Time. Bernie Dresel Bernie Dresel has been in the percussion game since he got his first drum kit at the age of two. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, he headed to Los Angeles. He's worked with countless artists, from Chaka Khan and Maynard Ferguson to David Byrne and Brian Wilson, and spent 15 years with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. He currently plays with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band and heads up his own 12-piece funk band, BERN. Larry Kohut Bassist Larry Kohut has played on dozens of albums and many film scores, as well as performing with jazz artists such as Patricia Barber, Mel Torme, Vincent Colaiuta, and Tony Bennett. In addition, he is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches acoustic and electric bass. Richard Kriehn When Richard Kriehn turned 10, his mom bought him a mandolin; at 19, he'd won the Buck White International Mandolin Contest. He went on to play with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and bluegrass group 1946. On the classical side, he has performed with numerous orchestras and was principal second violin for the Washington/Idaho Symphony. Chris Siebold Bluegrass to big band jazz, Chris Siebold knows his way around a guitar - or a bunch of other instruments, for that matter. Based in Chicago, he draws from a deep well of influences and styles, and has put his talents to work in ensembles such as Howard Levy's Acoustic Express and Kick the Cat. In 2010, he formed the band Psycles, whose album Live at Martyrs' was released the following year.
  • Tim Russell

    One minute he's mild-mannered Tim Russell; the next he's George Bush or Julia Child or Barack Obama. We've yet to stump this man of many voices. Says fellow APHC actor Sue Scott, "He does a better Ira Glass than Ira Glass." A well-known Twin Cities radio personality and voice actor, Tim appeared in the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion and the Coen brothers' A Serious Man. Tim has also been reviewing films professionally for over 10 years.
  • Fred Newman

    Sound effects man Fred Newman is an actor, writer, musician, and sound designer for film and TV. Turns out, no one is more surprised than Fred that he's made a career out of doing what he used to do behind the teacher's back -crossing his eyes, making sounds, and doing voices. He readily admits that, growing up, he was unceremoniously removed from several classrooms, "once by my bottom lip."