Young musicians on the new series, 'In the Key of Z: Classical'

By Evan Dawson,

Published March 5, 2025 at 2:50 PM EST

Five people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man at left foreground has dark curly hair and is wearing glasses, a maroon blazer, white button-down shirt, beige pants and brown shoes; a woman at right foreground has long brown hair and is wearing an orange scarf, green sweater, black pants and black shoes; a man at center has short dark hair and is wearing a navy hooded sweatshirt with white lettering and jeans; a young woman at left background has long dark hair and is wearing a blue shirt; a young woman at right background has curly dark hair and is wearing a grey cardigan sweater. — (foreground) Steve Johnson and Katie Epner, (background) Ashley Park and Helena Dixon on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, March 5, 2025

A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.

"Born after the year 2000, Gen Z takes a new approach to everything by default. But how does this contrast against the long-established canon of music history?"

That question is the focus of a new WXXI digital-first series, "In the Key of Z: Classical," hosted by Classical 91.5 host Steve Johnson. The series explores the insight and celebrates the talent of five area high school students who excel in classical music performance.

This hour, we talk with several of those students about their craft, their take on classical music, and their goals for the future.

Our guests:

Steve Johnson, Ph.D., midday host/announcer for Classical 91.5 and host of "In the Key of Z: Classical"
Katie Epner, creative content producer for WXXI and producer, videographer, and editor of "In the Key of Z: Classical"
Helena Dixon, cellist, junior at Fairport High School, and student at the Hochstein School of Music
Ashley Park, violinist, freshman at Ithaca High School, and student of YooJin Jang