Essential Classics Weekend is back! It’s a long-standing tradition for CPR Classical. On both Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, it’s wall-to-wall essentials starting Thursday at 3 p.m. and running through Monday. The requests are in! Listen during the long weekend, starting Thursday afternoon through Memorial Day.

Violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill has been part of the University of Colorado Boulder’s long-standing ensemble-in-residence, the Takacs Quartet, since 2020. Just a year after he joined, O’Neill brought home a Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo Performance. O’Neill’s fame extends far beyond the borders of Colorado.

Can you separate art from its racist past?

Yi Zhao is assistant concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony, but you may have heard her in Salida or Colorado Springs or Broomfield. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Colorado. She’s played Carnegie Hall and performed as part of summer festivals like Tanglewood and the Sun Festival in Singapore.

Cantabile aims to use its voices to connect people through choral music. The featured piece of the concert is based on a Chickasaw Garfish Dance song and is sung in the Chickasaw language.

Tune in to CPR Classical to capture international broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera — Saturdays at 11 a.m.