ASK ALICE: Weekly, from 2003 until 2016/17, Alice McVeigh took on the role of classical music's agony aunt to answer questions on a surprising variety of subjects.
LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY: Béla Hartmann uses his knowledge of Eastern Europe to argue against the banning of all Russian culture following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
American pianist, band arranger and composer Caesar Giovannini was born in Chicago on 26 February 1925, studying piano from the age of five. He studied at Chicago Conservatory of Music and was pianist in the US Navy Band in Washington DC during World War II.
Later he became known through his work as a pianist and music director on various television programmes for NBC and ABC Chicago.
He wrote a series of compositions for concert band, including the popular Overture in B Flat, and played piano for film soundtracks.
Caesar Giovannini died in Arlington Heights, Illinois on 23 September 2017, aged ninety-two.