CBC Music is pleased to report that Paolo Pietropaolo's Orchestral Tales has won silver at the prestigious New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards.

"The Viola's Tale," the third episode of the series, was recognized in the craft/best writing category.

Orchestral Tales is the third season of Paolo Pietropaolo's award-winning Signature Series heard on CBC Radio 2's In Concert and online here on CBC Music.

Each episode offers a vivid character inspired by an instrument of the orchestra, presented with Pietropaolo's trademark combination of storytelling and classical music mash-ups — the instruments of the orchestra, brought to life.

"Writing these short stories was a thrill but also a challenge," says Pietropaolo, reacting to the news. "I had to tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, with the fewest possible words — and the challenge was to make it all work with the music. I loved trying to figure out what kind of character each instrument was and creating these miniature stories."

The New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards recognize radio programming in all lengths and formats from stations, networks and independent producers from around the world.

Other winning CBC programs include Radio 2 Drive, In Concert, q, Ideas, The Current, The Sunday Edition and more. Find the full list here.

Listen to "The Viola's Tale":

To hear the other episodes of Orchestral Tales, visit our Signature Series page.

Explore more:

Listen to CBC Music's Orchestral stream

Watch Timothy Chooi play Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

Animated interview: how a gas mask helped Glenn Gould record Beethoven