Arts & Culture

Aha! With Alastair

WVPE partners with the South Bend Symphony for the podcast series, "Aha! with Alastair," featuring South Bend Symphony Orchestra Music Director Alastair Willis. In each episode, Maestro Willis discusses pieces the symphony is slated to perform in upcoming concerts."When I was younger, several inspiring conductors helped make music come alive for me, music suddenly became more than scales and black and white notes on the page," says Willis, "and since then one of my favorite things to do is return the favor for others, whether in concert, pre-concert talks, or podcasts!"The title refers to Alastair's "aha" moments about music that he wants to share with listeners.

Aha with Alastair, Ep. 28: Colors with Clyne, Britten, and Dvorak

WVPE 88.1 Elkhart/South Bend | By Alastair Willis

Published March 17, 2026 at 2:16 PM EDT

Hi everyone, Alastair Willis here, Music Director of your South Bend Symphony – welcome to this season’s 4th Aha with Alastair podcast, in which we’re going to explore something I’ve always been fascinated by – color in orchestral music.

So, what is color in music? Is there color in music? Do you see certain colors when you
hear certain sounds or combinations of sounds? We can twist the questions – what does
blue sound like? Is white a brighter sound than yellow? Does red sound romantic, exciting, or angry?

Do composers and musicians think in colors? An orchestra offers composers an infinite
palette of musical colors, shades, tones. Composers use the orchestra similarly to how a
painter uses colors – our three composers for our upcoming concert – especially so: Anna Clyne, Benjamin Britten, and Antonin Dvorak.