Jersey City’s WFMU Radio Showcases Violas at The Philadelphia International Music Camp & Festival

This week on Why Do We Only Listen to Dead People? — a new classical music show on WFMU, the longest-running freeform radio station in the United States — co-host Carol Gimbel dives into the summer music festival experience, featuring an inside look at the Philadelphia International Music Festival’s brand-new Viola Intensive Program (V.I.P.).

Tune in Sunday, July 20, 2025, from 6–8 PM ET on WFMU 91.9 FM in New Jersey and New York City, or live online at wfmu.org. From practice room to performance, it’s a behind-the-scenes journey into the heart of festival life. Ms. Gimbel, a violist and the current Artist-in-Residence at PIMF, also serves as the facilitator of the V.I.P. program. Co-created by Dr. Alice Lindsay, Director of the Viola Intensive Program, and Sandy Marcucci, Founder and President of PIMF, the initiative elevates young violists — players of this rare and expressive instrument — to become the festival’s Very Important People.

V.I.P. is a one-of-a-kind, inclusive program that inspires violists ages 11 - 19 by equipping them with the tools and necessary foundations to serve them at each respective level of their ongoing and future development.

From July 12–25, 2025, the two-weeks offer viola students two hours of focused daily instruction with Dr. Alice Lindsay, distinguished violist and pedagogue. Dr. Lindsay’s career spans symphonic, solo, and chamber music performance, as well as decades of influential teaching across North America and Europe. She is the former associate principal of the New Jersey Symphony and has taught at institutions including Rutgers, Southern Methodist, Virginia Commonwealth, and Loyola Universities. A key figure in developing youth and festival programs nationwide, her approach to teaching synthesizes the techniques of her mentors, with an ongoing dedication to practical innovation.

The VIP program represents just one part of the Philadelphia International Music Festival, which also focuses on orchestral studies, chamber music, college preparation, piano and solo performance taught by members of the esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra. Founded as a small summer day-camp for strings in Williamstown, NJ, PIMF is now in its 28th season serving students from all over the world for 4 weeks every summer, and at its week-long intensive programs in Florida every winter and starting this summer, in Cremona, Italy!

For more information about The Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) visit: https://philadelphiamusicfestival.org/

“Greetings from Summer Camp” airs Sunday, July 20, 2025, 6-8pm ET on WFMU’s “Why Do We Only Listen to Dead People?”

Tune in online at https://wfmu.org/playlists/WL

91.1 and 91.9 fm in New Jersey & New York City

90.1 and 91.9 fm in the Hudson Valley

About “Why Do We Only Listen to Dead People?”

Tune-in Sundays from 6-8pm ET on WFMU-FM as co-hosts Carol Gimbel and Cullan Bryant explore why we only listen to "dead" people, and what is "alive" in music today. From the most profound classical music recordings ever made, to genres and musical perspectives from around the globe, talk on music, art and recordings that changed our lives and the world around us. Special guests, call-ins welcome.

Website & Show Archives: https://wfmu.org/playlists/WL

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WhyDo...

Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/wdwoltdp/

Chat with co-hosts & listeners live. Click "Playlists & Comments" online at www.wfmu.org, or "chat" on the WFMU iOS app.

Carol Gimbel, co-host, cbgimbel@gmail.com

About WFMU (91.1/Jersey City, NJ; 90.1/Hudson Valley, NY)

WFMU-FM is a listener-supported, non-commercial radio station broadcasting at 91.1 FM in Jersey City, NJ, right across the Hudson from lower Manhattan. It is currently the longest running freeform radio station in the United States.

Rolling Stone Magazine, The Village Voice, CMJ and the New York Press have all at one time or another called WFMU "the best radio station in the country" and the station has also been the subject of feature stories in The New York Times and on the BBC. In recent years the station has gained a large international following online and counts Simpson's creator Matt Groening, film director Jim Jarmusch and Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed, among others, as devoted fans.

About Philadelphia International Music Camp & Festival (PIMF)

The Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) is a resident summer music program directed by Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra, offering student musicians from around the world the unique opportunity of spending up to four weeks immersed in music education and performance training with members of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra.

PIMF offers summer camp programs on Philadelphia’s prestigious Main Line to musicians ages 7 through 19. In-person one-week and two-week sessions at Valley Forge Military Academy and College (just outside Philadelphia, PA) are scheduled every June and July. PIMF Vanoli Cremona is scheduled July 28 – August 7, 2025. PIMF’s winter intensive mini-camp for strings Music in the Mansion in Miami, FL is scheduled December 29, 2025 – January 3, 2026.

The Philadelphia International Music Festival is a program of Sandy Marcucci International Camps, Inc.