Wendy Lewis, lead singer and songwriter for the band Redstart, comes from a musical family. Both her parents are gifted musicians. Her brother Greg and Greg's son Mike are members of Redstart. So it's not surprising Lewis' favorite piece of classical music, "Adagio For Strings" by Samuel Barber, has a familial connection.

MPR’s Chris Roberts presents Open Ears, an ongoing series of audio features that explores how contemporary musicians' listening habits shape their music-making. Each installment features a Twin Cities musician talking about a favorite piece of music from a genre outside his or her own. The series taps musicians' wide-ranging tastes and deep musical knowledge as it explores the surprising and revealing influences that affect today's sounds.