Did you know that September is Celebration of Classical Music Month? We didn't either! But we're happy to discover that it is.

Celebration of Classical Music Month was started in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. His proclamation stated, “Classical music is a celebration of artistic excellence… This month we exalt the many talented composers, conductors, and musicians who bring classical music to our ears… Music is a unifying force in our world, bringing people together across vast cultural and geographical divisions.”

Here are a few of Dr. Vicki's favorite 20th century classical pieces - some with chorus and some not. What are yours?

John Adams - Harmonium - This piece, with text by Emily Dickinson, is a piece I heard on NPR several decades ago and had to stop my car to finish listening to it. I think it is one of the most stunning oratorios of the 20th century.

Arnold Schoenberg - Verklarte Nacht - Schoenberg's music has an underserved reputation as gnarly and unlistenable. This piece, one of the most important of the 20th century, gently leads us toward what will eventually become 12 tone and serial music. It's a bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries, in the way that Wagner's Tristan und Isolde Prelude is.

György Ligeti - Requiem - If you think Verdi's Requiem is harrowing, wait until you hear Ligeti's cry from the depths of the hell of the 20th century, a century of two world wars. When I first heard this in university at CalArts, I was stunned. I didn't know music could sound like this, or that a chorus could create such a terrifying sound.

Leonard Bernstein - Symphony No. 3 "Kaddish" - We often think of Bernstein as the composer of West Side Story or On the Town, and as the first great 20th century interpreter of Mahler. But his classical compositions are just as powerful. I first heard this at Interlochen's summer music program, where my mentor, Marin Alsop, conducted it with the students. She was a student of Bernstein's. The final movement, here with Bernstein conducting and with soloist Barbara Hendricks, is deeply moving.

Joan Tower - Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman #6 - And here is Marin Alsop conducting one of Joan Tower's many Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman. Extremely popular across the globe, the first of these was dedicated to Marin, a trailblazer for women in the orchestral conducting field. Joan Tower was one of the guests at the Colorado Music Festival this past season!