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Connections

Coming Up On Connections: Monday, October 24th

First hour: Debating the greatest TV shows of all time, and the medium's future

Second hour: Exploring the often underappreciated local orchestra scene

Was Seinfeld better than Breaking Bad? Was Cheers better than The Simpsons? And is binge watching going to permanently alter the quality and impact of great shows? A new book from two of the top critics in the country runs down the greatest shows, and why. It's called TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time. One of the co-authors, Matt Zoller Seitz, won the Pultizer Prize for Criticism. He's coming to Western New York this week, but he joins us first:

  • Matt Zoller Seitz, television critic and author
  • Eric Grode, regular contributor to the New York Times culture section and director of the Goldring Arts Journalism Program at Syracuse University

In our second hour: The New York Times says Upstate New York is "unusually rich" in community orchestras. We're not talking about the RPO here; we're talking about Penfield and Finger Lakes and Brockport and Greece and more. How do they all co-exist? How do their missions differ? We'll have some fun, listen to some music, and explore the often underappreciated scene. Our guests:

  • David Harman, music director for the Penfield Symphony Orchestra
  • Dan Griswold, president of the Penfield Symphony Orchestra
  • Shade Zajac, music director and conductor for the Genesee Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor for the Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra
  • Jonathan Allentoff, founding music director of the Brockport Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Greece Community Orchestra, and associate conductor and principal arranger for the Brighton Symphony Orchestra
Connections
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.