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Born To Conduct: Meet Maestro Curry

When he was only 14 years old, William Henry Curry's music teacher handed him a small wooden baton and said, "I think you'd make a good conductor."

But Curry already knew he was born to be a conductor. In the more than four decades since, he has conducted more than 40 orchestras and some of the world's most renowned symphonies. 

  Host Frank Stasio talks with Curry about his career, facing racial challenges, the difficulties of composing orchestral music and his 19 years conducting the North Carolina Symphony. 

Maestro Curry compiled a playlist of music he considers essential. Hear those songs in a playlist on our Facebook page.

Hady Mawajdeh is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. He listened to Fresh Air growing up and fell in love with public radio. He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication at Texas State University and specialized in electronic media. He worked at NPR affiliate stations KUT and KUTX in Austin, Texas as an intern, producer, social media coordinator, and a late-night deejay.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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