Like so many people.

Radio is just a part of my day.

But classical music was not my go to setting until the pandemic and all the social unrest.

I started to search for something soothing and I found KUSCs “Classical California.

” <music plays> radio: A recording from pianist and composer Connor Chee.

That was his “Navajo Vocable No.

Five.

” Their playlists felt really inclusive.

So I met with show host Jennifer Miller-Hammel to learn more.

Talking about the LA sound, what defines that for you?

Southern California in particular is such a diverse area.

We really wanted to make sure that everything that you hear on the station from the people who are conducting to the people who are the solos is to the people who are writing the music.

This morning I was listening to the radio and I was hearing this song from a Navajo composer, Connor Chee.

Who is an American indigenous composer.

He's of Navajo background.

He draws a lot on his own growing up in in a Navajo family on a lot of the musical traditions in the Navajo people.

So do you go searching for those unknown composers?

When I first started here, there was a name on that playlist, the Chevalier de Saint George and I start reading through his life, and I began to realize that this is one of the most fascinating individuals I've ever discovered.

This is a man that we need to hear more from And and thankfully we have.

Well, we'll learn more about classical music on the next edition of Bonnie Boswell Reports.

For KCET.

I'm Bonnie Boswell.

Bonnie Boswell reports is brought to you by the California Wellness Foundation.