Welcome to the series of online classical music programs mixing the musically interesting with the sublime. There are two programs planned annually; one will be offered each Winter (posted on the Winter Solstice), the other during the Summer (posted on the Summer Solstice).

This site is intended to provide a different atmosphere and experience from the typical concert or recital hall. The online environment is easily accessible, it is remarkably suited to the use of interrelated media, and a perfect vehicle for deepening one’s musical appetite with an assortment of tastes. In future programs, we plan to invite video artists, photographers, writers, and others to collaborate with the music .

In this online setting, you can move through the program at your own pace, read a Complementary Text that precedes the music, and select each of the musical offerings in order. And you can go back and listen to something again. Or you can listen to the Podcast from beginning to end without interruption.

Surprisingly, reading the complementary texts may change the way you listen to the music. The pairing of text and music is not arbitrary, but is intended to heighten the listening experience by connecting the music with a related idea. In ‘live’ performances, I have often read aloud a complementary text immediately preceding a piece of music.

Current Program Notes are available in the right sidebar. And please enjoy our ‘refreshments’ during the intermission. I highly recommend the Full Intermission option located just below the Program Notes.

After a program has been replaced by a new one, the Program Notes,  Full Intermission, and Podcast will be added to the old program. All old programs are available in the All Programs (archives) menu.

MP3’s on this site are intended for online playback only and are not available for download.

The music can be played on all desktop computers, smart phones, and notepads.

“This site, The Chocolate Ear, is an online recital, not a webpage. Intriguing. Are there others like this out there?” – Andrew Druckenbrod, Music Critic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

J. H.