Relevant Tones

Bonnie Whiting is a percussionist, composer, and educator based in Seattle. She's the Chair of Percussion Studies at the University of Washington and the Co-Artistic Director of the Seattle Modern Orchestra. In her work, she seeks out projects involving the speaking percussionist, non-traditional notation, improvisation, and interdisciplinary performance.

Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Bonnie at her studio at the University of Washington. They talk about pieces from her speaking percussionist repertoire, the music of John Cage, narratology in music, her project Through the Eye(s), and more!

Established in New York City in 1998, the string quartet ETHEL has been described as “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times), “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker). Composer performers—Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin)—fuse uptown panache with downtown genre mashup. ETHEL has performed across the United States and worldwide; released 10 feature albums; guested on 50+ recordings; won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt Elling; and toured with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson. ETHEL champions the art and music of today, forging human connections across sound and style.

Access Contemporary Music's Thirsty Ears Festival is Chicago's only classical music street festival. For two days we close Wilson Ave. in front of our music school for stellar music performances, craft beer and wine, food trucks and community vendors. We feature a small sample of the contemporary music performed on this year's festival.

Composer, improviser, and producer David Crowell speaks with host Austin Williams about their new album Point/Cloud. This post minimalist gem explores collaborations with a variety of arts that David has worked with previously. "...the work’s pointillistic texture and thick counterpoint, amassing over time into “clouds” of sound.

Erin Rogers is a saxophonist, composer, and improviser dedicated to new and experimental music. Her “decidedly future-oriented” music has been described as “whimsical, theatrical” (Brooklyn Vegan), “radical and refreshing” (Vital Weekly) and “a richly expressive display of stentorian brilliance” (The Wire Magazine).

Her work ranges from chamber music performance to solo experimental improvisation to individual and collaborative compositions that incorporate live electronics, theatre, and text. Host Seth Boustead talks with Rogers and features an array of her wonderful music.

Austin and Elori speak about Elori’s recently release Drifts and Surfaces. This sparks a lively conversation about signal processing, compositional process and the majestic and powerful force that is the Northern Shore of Minnesota.

It’s part two of our coverage of SPLICE institute 10. Host Austin Williams chats with a number of organizers about the festival and it’s history along with some featured guest artists and regular faculty.

Enjoy recordings and performances from a number of these organizers and faculty as well. We hope you enjoyed this two part series on SPLICE. It was truly a joy and pleasure to get to know and understand the organization just a little more intimately. We hope you enjoyed as well!

Join host Austin Gray Williams on this deep dive into the people, music, and culture that create the SPLICE Institute. SPLICE is a week long intensive focusing on electroacoustic concert music.

There are a number of Electroacoustic music festivals and conferences that composers have participated in the past, namely SEAMUS and EMM. SPLICE is here to shake things up. From the beginning with composer Christopher Biggs and Composer/Performer Keith Kirchoff, there was a huge emphasis on education and community.

Both organization founders felt compelled to create a program to support performers and composers of Electroacoustic music and create successful collaborations between them. Through a variety of conversations and interviews we find out how the last 10 years has created a community and relationships that expand well beyond the SPLICE institute and into artistic careers.

In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 2 covers the 1960’s through the 2000's.

In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 1 covers the 1910's through the 1940's.

Matthew Dosland interviews composer, performer, and teacher Vijay Iyer. They discuss Iyer's early work in music cognition, his courses and teaching methods, as well as his most recent album Trouble.

The conversation also covers the cross-genre nature of Iyer's work and how that has influenced his output through the years.

We commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Robert Black on Relevant Tones. Robert Black was an absolute force in the Double Bass repertoire and new music. Through interviews with his previous students and cohorts, Christie Echols, Sean Rubin, Caroline Doane, and Evan Runyon,  we find out he was so much more than a bass player. Robert was first and foremost a creative, and surrounded himself with other creative individuals. Robert was enthusiastic about artistic projects and would use every resource and effort to make sure projects were done to the best of his ability. Robert thought of himself as a grain in the sand amongst so many other grains, never allowing his ego or status to dictate what or who he worked with. His students enlightened host Austin Williams of all of these aspects about Robert through stories. Please enjoy these stories shared about Robert Black and his legacy.

Austin Williams speaks with Same Wells and Adam Vidiksis about their recent collaboration with composer Scott Miller.

Through speaking with Adam and Sam, Austin learned that the process used to create the album was rather strange. All of the tracks that are heard on the album are a result of ‘Zoom Jam Sessions’ where the performers in the height of the lockdown figured out a meaningful way to host virtual jams with one another.

The music was compelling enough for them to create an album of what was created. Listen to the interview to find out more details about how this process went and what it meant to the performers in the moment.

Wayne Horvitz is the leader and principal composer for a number of groups including The Snowghost Trio, Sweeter Than the Day, the Gravitas Quartet, and The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble.

He’s also written for groups like the Kronos Quartet, the Seattle Symphony, and he composes music for film. He also owns and operates the club The Royal Room in Seattle’s Columbia City. 

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson spoke with Horvitz last week at his Seattle home about a number of music projects he’s worked on over the years, as well as his musical style and people and collaborators who’ve been with him along the way.

Composer Ian Wilson's ten-movement piece Orpheus Down is inspired by the story of Orpheus’ journey to the Underworld to bring his lover Eurydice back from the dead.

The myth and its themes of deep and dark inspire fascinating music on a new release featuring bass clarinettist Gareth Davis and double-bassist Dario Calderone, for whom the piece was written.

Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J./producer Gene Pritsker has written over 900 compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles.

He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc and he is also the co-director of Composers Concordance, a new music presenting organization with a 30-year history of producing concerts in NYC.  

Gene talks with host Seth Boustead about his new album Gene and the Strings coming out August 2nd of this year.

Saad Haddad is a composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and electroacoustic music who achieves a “remarkable fusion of idioms” (New York Times), most notably in his work exploring the disparate qualities inherent in Western art music and Middle Eastern musical tradition

His music delves into that relationship by transferring the performance techniques of traditional Arabic instruments to Western symphonic instruments, while extending their capabilities through the advancement of technology.

Host Lisa Dell talks with Haddad about his music and recent projects.

Composer, performer, producer Ben Lumsdaine does it all! Austin and Ben had a lovely chat about their album Murmurations Without End.

While Ben has a strong background in straight ahead jazz playing with some heavy hitters such as John Raymond and Dustin Laurenzi he has invited the cast to develop some compelling minimalistic works.

Austin and Ben end up talking shop for a bit about gear but ultimately it all comes back to the music. Watch out for whatever Ben touches, it's going to be gold!

Host Austin Gray Williams and Sarah Belle Reid dig into Sarah’s multidisciplinary practices of being a composer, improviser, educator, and active member of the modular synthesis community.

While discussing these topics Austin gains insight into what goes on for Sarah’s preparations on improvising a set. Her affinity for deep listening and how that sculpts her way through with improvising and composing.

Sarah is also deeply passionate about education and making electronic music as accessible possible for anyone who is interested. If you’re curious about Sarah and her works find her on BandCamp, here and her website https://www.sarahbellereid.com/ for more info!

Multidisciplinary artist and composer ess whiteley sheds some insight on their works and the process they engaged with for the compositions. ess is particularly interested in topics such as memory and the post-internet world we currently live in, often belnding topics togethe to create compelling works of media. ess had some lovely comments about process and the variety of ways it can afflict a work. ess is curently finishing up their PhD at UCSD.

On this episode of On the Radar join Austin and Matt as they discuss some music that has been on their listening for the past couple months!

Matt shares a compelling work by a collective of Greek composers demonstrating noisy yet formally organized music.

Austin speaks largely about the composer Ted Moore his ability to effectively write concert music while also maintaining the ability to improvise in other projects.

Have a suggestion or would like to share some music you have been listening to? Drop us a line! We’d love to hear from out listeners and what is on their radar.”

Host Austin Williams speaks with composer and sound artist Joo Won Park on a variety of topics related to performance and composition aesthetics and the intersection between them.

Joo Won is an electronic music composer, performer, and programmer. We talk about what makes a laptop orchestra unique and necessary to perform certain types of music.

Joo Won is just as passionate about pedagogy and teaching as he is about composing and performing.

Please check out more of his works and projects at https://joowonpark.net/

Originally from New Zealand, Tessa Brinckman is an interdisciplinary flutist/composer who has been praised for her “chameleon-like gifts” and “virtuoso elegance” (Gramophone).

Now based in New York City since 2022, she enjoys creating and performing unique work that honors synesthesia, dialect, innate meter and collaboration, often on geo-political themes in a surrealist spirit.

She talks with host Seth Boustead about her latest release Take Wing, Roll Back, now out on New Focus Recordings.

National Haiku Poetry Day is April 17 and we celebrate it early with a selection of music by composers inspired by this transcendent poetic tradition. Hosted and curated by Stephen Anthony Rawson and Seth Boustead.

Music by Paul Chihara, Libby Larsen, Ursula Mamlok, Lisa Neher, James Falzone, Stephen Melillo, Dai Fujikura, John Cage, Toru Takemitsu

Called “the quintessential modern composer” by the London Independent, Austin, Texas based composer-bandleader-improviser Graham Reynolds records and performs music for film, theater, dance, television, rock clubs, and concert halls with collaborators across a multitude of disciplines.Host Seth Boustead talks with Reynolds about, and features music from, two recent releases: Insectum and Music From Prophet.

Published 50 years ago this year, Studs Terkel’s seminal book Working (The New Press) is, then and now, a compelling look into the world of jobs and the people who do them.

Relevant Tones celebrated this landmark with a unique evening of new music commissioned by ACM and inspired by Studs alongside a fascinating conversation about how work has changed since his time and where it might be going next.

Speaking guests include Dr. Anna Tavis (Humans at Work, Kogan Page), Erik Loomis (A History of America in Ten Strikes, The New Press) , Tod Lippy (Esopus Foundation, Ltd)

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Music Performed by:
Black Oak Ensemble
Alicia Walter

Multi instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Erik Fratzke blurs the line between jazz, avant grade, classical, and a variety of influences to create an absolute plethora of original musical groups and tunes.

While he plays with heavy hitters such as Dave King, he also has solid roots in the improvised and experimental music of the Minneapolis scene. Erik is always making new projects with a variety of folks in the local scene and they always seem to be nothing short of stellar.

Please check out some samples of his works on https://erikfratzke.bandcamp.com , You will not be disappointed!

Founded in 2010, Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) is the only large ensemble in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Led by co-artistic directors Julia Tai and Jérémy Jolley, SMO commissions and premieres new works from an international lineup of composers, in addition to presenting important pieces from the contemporary repertoire that are rarely if ever heard by Seattle audiences.

The ensemble “operates at that exciting cusp between old and new, between tradition and innovation” (Vanguard Seattle) curating new sounds and experiences for concert goers in the region.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Jérémy and Julia to discuss the collaborative relationship they’ve forged together, the formation and history of Seattle Modern Orchestra, their bold and barrier-breaking strategies in reaching new audiences and performers, and some of their favorite concerts from the past 14 years. 

This week host Matthew Dosland talks with composer and teacher Osnat Netzer who has just released her first album Dot : Line : Sigh with New Focus Recordings.

From the liner notes of the album: “Though the pieces differ in musical language and aesthetics, they all share the tropes of a punctuated sustain (Dot-Line) and many forms of pitch bends, glissandi, and stylized portamenti (Sigh).”

Join Matthew and Osnat as they discuss how she went about choosing the music from her catalogue for this album, her inspirations in teaching and composing, and how moving to Chicago and the collaborations that has led to have influenced her music.

Frank Horvat is "one of the most inventive songwriters to come out of the contemporary scene in Canada." (WholeNote Magazine) This award-winning composer’s music is emotional and intense and explores a wide array of themes from love to the environment, mental health and social justice issues. Hosted by Matthew Dosland.

Join host Austin Williams as he speaks with composer Noah Jenkins about his most recent album release in collaboration with Riley Leitch Without Persistent Environments.

Noah speaks about the importance of space and how it shaped his compositional process for the record. He also speaks deeply about the importance of collaboration and how giving music time to marinade with a performer is terribly important when trying to imagine what it is in its entirety.

Grammy-nominated Haitian-American composer, singer and flutist Nathalie Joachim’s work centers an authentic commitment to storytelling and human connectivity while advocating for social change and cultural awareness.

Her latest album Ki moun ou ye, is out now on Nonesuch and New Amsterdam Records. The original songs on this album ponder its title’s question: “Who are you?”

Host Seth Boustead talks with Joachim about the new album and her musical journey.

Clarinetist, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer.

Falzone performs throughout North America and Europe, appears regularly on Downbeat magazine’s Critics’ and Readers’ Polls, and was nominated as the 2011 Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association.

He is also a respected educator and scholar and has been on the faculty of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Deep Springs College, North Central College, and was a fellow at The Center for Black Music Research.

At present Falzone is the Dean of Music at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.

Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Falzone at Cornish’s historic Kerry Hall, where John Cage first began to experiment with the prepared piano, and where Cage met his life partner, renowned dancer Merce Cunningham. They talk about Falzone's life in music, the “crooked line” he’s walked as an artist, bringing to balance the Already and the Not Yet in music-making, Wayfaring’s new album, Intermezzo, and a whole lot more. 

The latest in our recurring feature On the Radar features new music currently top of mind for hosts Austin Williams, Neve Jahn, Stephen Rawson and Matthew Dosland.3

Carrie Frey is a New York City-based violist, improviser, and composer who “conjures an inviting warmth that leaves her virtuosity on the margins, placing the focus on her humanity (Bandcamp Daily).”

Frey is the violist of the Rhythm Method and a founding member of string trio Chartreuse and string quartet Desdemona. She has performed with many of New York City’s notable contemporary ensembles, including Wet Ink Large Ensemble, AMOC*, Talea Ensemble, and Cantata Profana.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Carrie to talk about her new album, Seagrass: Works for Solo Viola. They take a dive into the music and composers featured on the album, as well as the science fiction writings of Arkady Martine, and the violist’s need for a bigger wardrobe.

The 'Paris Chapters' project is centered around new commissions based on works by Irish writers who lived in Paris (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, W.B Yeats etc.) for voice, saxophone and piano.

Host Seth Boustead talks with saxophonist Robert Finegan and soprano Clara Barbier Serrano about this fascinating project which also features pianist Tia Ling.

Music by Rhona Clarke, Lise Borel, Denise Ondishko and Kenneth Edge.

We feature a small selection of the many incredible albums released this year. Hosted by Seth Boustead, Matthew Dosland, Stephen Anthony Rawson and Austin Williams.

The California Festival was a two-week statewide festival celebrating the most innovative and compelling music composed around the world in the last five years.

The festival was spearheaded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony but also included 100 organizations, 140 composers and 180 new works.

Host Lisa Dell talks with Meghan Umber, AJ Benson and Phillippa Cole from each of the lead organizations about this incredibly ambitious festival.

Doug Bielmeier's recent release Music For Billionaires is full of irony and brings accessibility to the front of the question for new classical music. Host Austin Williams speaks with Doug about the relationship between privilege and accessibility to be able to create art and what that means as an artist. Along the way Doug and Austin also find interesting conversation on the use of contemporary compositional techniques and how they have made their way into a lot of new classical music that is being released today.

Sophia Jani is currently the Composer in Residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons, the 2023 Musical Artist in Residence at the Arvo Pärt Center, and last year released her first album, Music as a Mirror.

Matthew and Sophia sit down to talk about her upcoming work in Dallas, how a venue is chosen for a new music series, and what it was like to spend four weeks with access to Arvo Pärt's library.

Over the past century, verbal notation has been embraced as a means of composition with abundant possibilities. Varying from the most precise performance instructions to structured social meditation, composers have found unique and highly accessible ways to share their music with words.

Join co-hosts Austin Williams and Stephen Anthony Rawson as they survey a variety of music featuring verbal notation.

Jackson Greenberg is an accomplished film composer in LA who has recently released two substantial works of his own artistic volition this past October. Austin and Jackson speak about the process of these works and a little bit of the history behind them and what they mean to him and his past.

Virtuosic flutist Robin Meiksins has a unique series called Beers and Flutes that she has curated over the past couple years. Austin and Robin chat about the series and how it came about. Both individuals are involved in the craft beer community in Chicago and love to showcase the craft and care that a lot of these brewers place in their products.

Robin showcases this appreciation by offering her talents and a flute performer and improviser creating brief but memorable improvisations about the beverage. Robin speaks about how it is not just the physical experience of the beverage but the memories and context in which they exist in our heads.

Violist Michael Hall, described by the New Music Connoisseur as “utterly masterful,” and Chamber Music Today as having “superb technique" is a major champion for new music who has commissioned hundreds of composers over the years.

In addition to global concertizing, he's also the Co-Artistic Director and the Director of Educational Programs with the Bandung Philharmonic. Simply put, Michael Hall is the best friend a composer could have. Austin Williams talks with him about his life in music and features a sample of pieces written for him.

What is art worth and who determines its value?

Join host Seth Boustead and special guests composer Douglas J. Cuomo (operatic adaptation of Doubt; Sex and the City theme), art curator Tod Lippy (Esopus magazine) and filmmaker Juliet Ellis (The Virtues) for a lively discussion of this pertinent topic.

The music performed includes Cuomo's piece A Far Playground for cello and piano, Commercial Etudes by Will Rowe and Nivea Hair Care Styling Mousse by Jacob TV.

We celebrate our 400th episode by revisiting some of our favorite interviews to include new material that didn't make it into the original show. Music and conversation from Annie Gosfield, Felipe Perez Santiago, Mario Lavista, David Harrington and Nick Zoulek.

Viva Relevant Tones!

Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov left her native Serbia for San Francisco in 1995 where she was soon commissioned by the Kronos Quartet with whom she has formed a long and fruitful collaboration. Her music ranges from concert music to opera and modern dance and music for film.

She has been commissioned and performed by some of the most innovative musicians working today and her music is energetic, highly personal, multi-faceted and always irresistible. Host Seth Boustead talks with her and features a wide range of pieces.

Holding to the belief that creativity is an elemental part of human nature, composer Rain Worthington has followed her own instinctive path. Self-taught and cross-disciplinary, her creative impulses include concert music and sculptural concepts in search of new spaces for attentive reflection. Host Matthew Dosland talks with her about her fascinating musical journey.

A one page score is where a composer imparts all of the musical information the performers need on a single page. One-page pieces often incorporate graphic elements, written instructions and improvisation from the players. Enjoy this program of one-page pieces curated by Sam Alvarez.

Called a composer of “uncompromising brilliance” by the Washington Post, Michael Hersch is considered among the most gifted composers of his generation whose work has been described by The New York Times as “viscerally gripping and emotionally transformative music ... claustrophobic and exhilarating at once, with moments of sublime beauty nestled inside thickets of dark virtuosity.” 

Host Matthew Dosland talks with him about his music and current projects

The iconic, groundbreaking Kronos Quartet celebrates an incredible 50-year run this year. Host Matthew Dosland talks with founding violinist and Artistic Director David Harrington about the quartet's history and their most recent project 50 For the Future, an unprecedented initiative to commission 50 new works and distribute materials—including scores, recordings, and coaching materials—online for free.

It’s another On the Radar Episode! Austin and Matt take the listeners through some of their recent finds with tunes they have been interested in lately. We have a variety of works ranging from purely electronic to chamber music with some Toy Piano even sprinkled in there. Please enjoy this musical dialogue we have created!

Host Austin Williams talks with Cassie Wieland about the intersection of her classically informed compositional techniques and her newest endeavor into singer songwriter material. Her latest album ‘Birthday Party’under the moniker Vines is a collaboration with the saxophone quartet ~nois.

We discuss this collaboration and how there are a lot of similarities between standard classical composition in the collaboration but the format changed drastically once the recording session began.

We met violist Nathan Sherman at the New Music Dublin festival in April and were excited to learn that he had not one but two albums featuring commissioned music written as companion pieces to works by Luciano Berio.

Host Seth Boustead talks with Sherman and features music from the albums Folk Songs featuring Michelle O'Rourke and Ficino Ensemble and Totemic featuring the Sherman Petcu Duo.

Bassoonist Dana Jessen and composer Taylor Brook team up for a collaborative album length electro-acoustic work, Set, that combines through composed (Songs) and improvised sections.

Much attention in the the composed sections is devoted to an exploration of a range of extended techniques on the bassoon that Jessen has cultivated.

The improvised sections are framed by guidelines and rules that Brook provided and computer improvisation that accompanies the instrumental soloist. In these ways, the boundaries between composer and performer is blurred.

In its 9th year, Texas New Music Ensemble goes big with its inaugural week-long summer music festival (July 10-16). Held at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston: MATCH, the Texas New Music Festival 2023 featured 6 concerts, a film screening, 10 lectures, and included 20 composer participants.

Relevant Tones co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson attended the festival, and had the opportunity to speak with many of the contributing artists. In this two-part episode, we feature their music and insights into new music performance, community building, wellness, and much more.
In this second installment, we will feature Martín Quiroga Jr, executive director of Texas New Music Festival, guest composer Rob Smith, guest conductor Felipe Tristán, and student competition winner Mojgan Misaghi.

Host Austin Williams had the opportunity to travel to Kalamazoo Michigan to be a participant at the Splice festival at the end of June. The program offered a plethora of seminars on a variety of topics dealing with electronic and electroacoustic music.

While attending Austin interviewed other participants that had their works premiered at the festival. This is merely a snapshot of the depth and creative/artistic level that was offered at the festival.

Please check out more at Splicemusic.org. Enjoy!

9th year, Texas New Music Ensemble goes big with its inaugural week-long summer music festival, held at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston: MATCH.

Relevant Tones co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson attended the festival, and had the opportunity to speak with many of the contributing artists.
Part 1 of this episode highlights Chad Robinson, composer and artistic director of Texas New Music Festival and guest performer artist Meg Griffith.

Expanding on our recent live show Overlooked No More, we are featuring the music of Tui St. George Tucker, a composer who absolutely deserves to be better known. Host Seth Boustead talks with Roger Tréfousse and Robert Jurgrau, both of whom knew Tucker in person, about her life and music.

Raíces Imaginadas (Imagined Roots) presents four works written by Tomás Koljatic, Igor Marques, Felipe Pinto d’Aguiar, and Vicente Atria, performed by the Nuevo Mundo Baroque Orchestra (Chile). The idea was to frame writing for historical instruments in contemporary perspectives; its title alludes to this notion and suggests a music that is speculative, nonexistent, or historically and hypothetically possible, bound to the past by its instrumentation and timbre.

Host Seth Boustead talks with the four composers about this fascinating project and features the music.

Happy Juneteenth! Relevant Tones would like to extend a warm celebration for this day. We are featuring a plethora of new music that has been composed by a variety of Black American composers.

As always, we are excited to share the depth and variety that these different artists and composers bring to their audiences. We hope this setlist is a nice accompaniment to your holiday, please enjoy!

Tina Davidson creates music that stands out for its emotional depth and lyricism. She has been acclaimed for her authentic voice, her “vivid ear for harmony and colors” (New York Times) and her works of “transfigured beauty” (OperaNews).

Join co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson and Tina Davidson as they discuss her music and new memoir Let Your Heart Be Broken: Life and Music from a Classical Composer.

Kaija Saariaho was a force to be reckoned with in the new classical music world: an innovator in so many ways while maintaining the highest musical integrity.

From her early work at IRCAM to her operas and the many works she wrote for ensembles large and small, Saariaho developed a distinctly individual voice that was instantly recognizable.

We mourn her premature death as it is truly a loss to the musical community. May she rest well now and may we remember her through her art. 

Join host Austin Williams as we go through selected modern works for the Organ. The organ has  large history in the context of western classical music and the tradition continues with living composers. The instrument offers a vast range of different colors and textures for a composer to explore.

In this episode we have examples ranging from traditional, extended techniques, adjustments of intonation, and the use of electronic accompaniment for the instrument. This is a wide topic that we hope to continue to explore as we learn about more works that have been written for this instrument.

Join host Austin Williams with guest’s Chris Windle (Artistic Director of Williams Ferris Chorale) and composer Kile Smith as they break down Kile’s newly commissioned work by the ensemble. Kile has a lot to say about the fugal nature of his work and how he approaches this older technique to a modern context. Kile worked with a unique text that heavily juxtaposes the topics of life and death.

He explains in the interview how this was a large inspiration for the use of fugue. A large chunk of the program from this concert is also featured on this episode. Please enjoy what the William Ferris Chorale has to offer us and their dedication to new choral music.

Join Austin Williams and Angelica Olstad as they talk about her fourth debut album American. In this album Olstad explores what it means to be an American as a mixed race Chinese individual that grew up in rural Colorado in the 90’s and now lives in New York City.

This album touches on topics ranging from racial discrimination, old music tastes that continue to influence her works, gun violence in America and so much more.

Olstad slaps the listeners in the face with nostalgia by using old recordings from her youth including some of the very first recordings of her playing piano. Angelica Olstad opens the conversation for other AAPI individuals for them to have a piece to identify and relate with.

The New York Times’ Overlooked series was introduced on March 8, 2018 for International Women's Day, when they published fifteen obituaries of "overlooked" women, and has since become a hugely successful bi-weekly feature in the paper.

As part Relevant Tones: Live, Access Contemporary Music has commissioned five composers to write musical portraits of the lives in the series, including surrealist painter and mystic Remedios Varo, singer-songwriter Judee Sill, journalist, teacher and political activist Jovita Idár, food inventor and war heroine Maria Orosa and the first African-American registered nurse in the United States, Mary Eliza Mahoney.

Each new string quartet was performed live by The Overlook, and host Seth Boustead talked with special guests Amy Padnani, creator of the Overlooked series, filmmaker Vanessa Gould and obituary writer Jacques Kelley in between each performance.

Live from Symphony Space in Manhattan.

As the William Ferris Chorale enters their 50th Anniversary season, they celebrate the idea of movement. Movement, as an idea, exists throughout music in a myriad of ways: momentum, tempo, change, renewal, phrasing.

This season, the celebrated chorus will celebrate this idea of patterns, of detail, of movement – the vision of contemporary vocal music and living composers in Chicago for the last 50 years.

Join Austin Williams and Chris Windle, Artistic and Music Director of the William Ferris Chorale, as they chat about the ensemble, the music they champion, and this strange intersection that seems to occur between early vocal music and modern, new vocal music.

We celebrate the upcoming Record Store Day by visiting local record stores in Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago and New York to see what's in their contemporary classical and avant garde bins. A lot of great music as it turns out.

Hosted by Seth Boustead, Matt Dotson, Stephen Anthony Rawson and Austin Williams.

Access Contemporary Music has produced a new video series for PBS that explores the intersection of music and architecture. ACM has commissioned ten pieces inspired by culturally and historically relevant buildings and filmed a performance of the piece in the space that inspired it.

They provide context for the performance through interviews that tell the history of the building and how it inspired the composer. Now airing on PBS stations around the country. We feature a sample of this great music.

Ben Roidl-Ward is a bassoonist interested in expanding the repertoire and possibilities of his instrument through collaboration, improvisation, and the exploration of unusual instrumental pairings. 

Ben’s dedication to working with and advocating for composers of his generation has led him to commission and premiere numerous works featuring the bassoon with the goal of broadening the repertoire and expanding the possibilities of the instrument.

Called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times, the “irresistible” (San Francisco Chronicle) music of Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong (b. 1990) has been commissioned and performed on six continents.

In his music Cuong enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. 

Host Matthew Dotson chats with him and features an eclectic mix of music.

Since their founding in 2007 New Music Detroit has produced an annual marathon of new music called Strange Beautiful Music, commissioned new works, presented concerts in major institutions and off-the-beaten path venues alike and generally been an all-around force in adventurous music.

Seth Boustead talks with pianist and Creative Director Justin Snyder, co-founder and saxophonist Erik Rönmark, soprano Jocelyn Zelansko and cellist Una O'Riordan.

Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, DMA is a soprano, improviser, composer, and organizer specializing in contemporary classical music. She is the founder of Quince Ensemble, an all-women contemporary vocal group, and Hasco Duo, an experimental improvisation and songwriting project.

She is also a member of and program curator for Ensemble Dal Niente, a Chicago-based chamber orchestra that commissions and performs the music of living composers. The Bones Still Glow is a series of emotional ballads and intimate portraits written and collected over the past 16 years.

Bartlett says, "they traveled along with me as a young, touring classical musician, helped me reach back home when I needed it, or get lost in space when I needed that, chronicled my transformation into motherhood, and were a source of comfort during chaotic times."

Set against Afghanistan’s volatile history, A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the breathtaking story of Mariam and Laila, two Afghan women. Brought together under the brutal Taliban rule, the bond between Laila and Mariam leads to unthinkable sacrifices, and ultimately, one family’s survival. 

Based on Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel, this story has captured the hearts of millions including American composer Sheila Silver and librettist Stephen Kitsakos who adapted the novel for the opera stage.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down to talk with Sheila Silver about her opera, its journey to the Seattle stage, and her musical studies in India with vocalist Pandit Kedar Bodas.

Suzanne Farrin is a composer and performer of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument created by the engineer Maurice Martenot in the 1920s as a response to the simultaneous destruction and technological advances of WWI.

Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times called her first opera, dolce la morte, a work of “shattering honesty.” Her debut recording, Corpo di Terra, was described in Timeout Chicago, “like field recordings from inside the cerebral cortex.”

Her works are frequently performed at festivals around the world and she has performed in a wide range of film scores, and appeared as herself in an episode of Mozart in the Jungle.  Matthew Dotson talks with her about several exciting upcoming projects.

Chicago musician & composer Raquel Gonzalez has spent the last five years as a studio and live musician for various bands throughout the Midwest, often involved in the composing and arranging process. Their composition series, Sonic Creations with a Lyra-8 highlights a synthesized violin sound and duets between the instrument and a Lyra-8 synthesizer.

About the album & its process, Gonzalez says, “Sonic Creations for Violin and Lyra yielded experimentation with my electric violin and a Soma Lyra-8 both separately and together. Side A is mostly standalone Lyra. Straight up, a fair amount of it is harsh noise.

I enjoyed tuning the Lyra, which was an excruciating process, to create resonance and dissonance intentionally. Side B challenged my ability to compose for violin and my ability to improvise. I would plug my electric violin into the Lyra and mess with the LFO or use other pedals. I love exploring how I can make my instrument beautiful in unconventional ways, and this album is exactly that.“

This is Gonzalez’s debut release, where near-industrial soundscapes bump shoulders with radiophonic ambience. “Sonic Creations For Violin And Lyra” is a stunning intro to a beguiling new voice who transcends the “woodshedding” nature of the tracks & elevates them toward a conscious whole.

Host Austin Williams chats with LoadBang ensemble members Andy Kozar and William Lang about their most recent Premieres concert.

This is the 20th volume in this concert series where the ensemble continues to champion new works by composers at all stages of their career.

The unique ensemble instrumentation allows for specific writing to showcase each members ability. Together the ensemble creates a wonderfully cohesive and ubiquitous experience throughout the concert.  Featuring music by Alex Burtzos, Christina J. George and Chen Yi. 

JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a unique talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works, reflecting her multicultural background.  Matthew Dotson talks with her about her upcoming opera and new string quartet projects with the Jasper Quartet.

The country's largest chamber music conference was back this year after a three-year hiatus and Relevant Tones was there. One of the highlights of the conference was two days of incredible ensemble showcases at Drom in lower Manhattan.

We feature audio recorded live at these showcases from Shouthouse, Interwoven, the Beo String Quartet and the Johnston Brothers plus a piece featuring Lucy Shelton, one of the conference honorees.

Featuring music by Gabriela Ortiz, Thomas Osbourne, Liu Tianhua, Chan Yaoxing, Nigel Westlake, Will Healy, Daron Hagen and Paolo Bellinati.

Nina Shekhar is a composer who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and “surprises and delights aplenty” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by numerous leading artists. Since 2021, Shekhar has been the Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down to talk with Nina about the recent performance of her piece Lumina at the Seattle Symphony, exploring identity through remixing and sampling, mental health, and much more.

Clarinetist Thomas Piercy's Tokyo to New York project presents masterpieces from 20th century Japanese avant-garde composers alongside newly commissioned works from New York City composers of today.

The result is a fascinating collision of musical worlds.  All of the music featured was performed live in a recent concert at the Martha Graham Dance Studio in New York City by musicians from Random Access Music.

It's that time again!  Our favorite albums from 2022 include Pripyat by Marina Herlop, A Thousand Butterflies by Aftab Darvishi, Ghost Song by Cécile McLorin Salvant, Evergreen by Caroline Shaw and the Attaca Quartet  and What is American by PUBLIquartet. 

The music has been chosen by Relevant Tones hosts Austin Williams, Matthew Dosland, Stephen Anthony Rawson and Seth Boustead. 

Welcome to part two of our series with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and their work with the Lakota Music Project. Today’s episode will largely be about traditional Lakota vocal techniques and incorporating it in the context of the symphony orchestra.

Jared Tate is a native Chickasaw composer and pianist who approached David Gier about doing a massive work for orchestra and voice which utilizes both traditional native, and western classical vocal techniques. Vocalist Robert Moore was a baritone that was the right person for the job.

Robert Moore was a native American with a background in classical singing. Being knowledgeable in both worlds of music allowed for this unique collaboration to begin.

Relevant Tones has the honor and privilege to present this two part series on the music from South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and their Lakota Music Project. This project is a powerful collaboration between native Lakota music and the symphony orchestra.

Joined on the interview is Music Director Delta David Gier and special soloist Bryan Akipa. Bryan Akipa is a specialist in the natural wood flute which is prominently featured in many of the tracks in this first part.

Please enjoy the music, anecdotes, and friendships that have been developed between the native Lakota population and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and stay tuned for part two!

For over a century, Japanese mandolin orchestras and clubs have been performing and commissioning music, broadening the instrument’s repertoire and genres with diverse artistic voices.

Join host Stephen Anthony Rawson as we listen to a sample of music by Yasuo Kuwahara, Takashi Yoshimatsu, Yoshinao Kobayashi, and more!

Regina Harris Baiocchi is a prolific and highly accomplished composer, poet, author and educator.  At home in seemingly any musical genre, her music has been performed by classical ensembles like the Chicago and Detroit Symphonies, on jazz festivals, sacred music festivals and everywhere in between.

Sandbox percussion partners up with Composer/Performer Matt McBane on an 8-movement virtuosic underwater adventure. Drawing on classical minimalism, electronic production, ASMR Youtube videos, and the diverse landscape of ambient modular synth music, Bathymetry features McBane’s Moog synth with Sandbox Percussion on a mix of found instruments (mixing bowls, ping pong balls, glass bottles, etc.), orchestral percussion (vibraphone, tam tam, etc.), and drum sets.

‘Bathymetry’ is the study of the “beds” or “floors” of water bodies, including the ocean, rivers, streams, and lakes.. McBane began studying bathymetry as an ocean-obsessed teenage surfer. The bathymetry of the ocean floor is a key factor on how waves break. On the album, the bass synthesizer interacts with the treble percussion in ways reminiscent of how the ocean floor shapes the waves passing above.

We celebrate the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos with music written in homage to those who are no longer with us.  Music by Miguel del Aguila, Sandunes and Kyla-Rose Smith, Elliot Carter, Michael Gordon and Gabriela Ortiz.

Golden Hornet's String Quartet Smackdown is a unique event in which a professional string quartet performs music by sixteen finalists letting the audience decide who will advance to the next round and who will ultimately be the Champion of Smackdown.

Submissions are now open for String Quartet Smackdown VIII through December 1st!  More info at www.goldenhornet.org.

Music by Feona Lee Jones, Chidi Obijiaku, Renato Marsiglia, Kennedy Taylor Dixon, Pertti Jalava, Cecilia Muylaert, Melika M. Fitzhugh, Minzuo LU, Juan Sebastian VarMon, Francis Kayali, James Ogburn.

Andrew Trim is a guitarist and composer. He can be found regularly working with some of the most talented and unique musicians in the midwest region and creating everything from mind-altering improvised flights to tightly contained, composed melodies. His instrumental projects - a quartet called Hanami and a trio called Dim Lighting - are the primary vehicles for his expressions.  In Retroreflector Andrew Trim's soaring melodies and psychedelic jazz flurries guide a sonically charged quartet grounded firmly in the Chicago sound. Together their swirling group improvisations explore haunting, timeless musical landscapes with peak immediacy.

Marc Mellits is a composer who creates short visceral works often comprised of contrasting sections. He is influenced by minimalist and rock music and often composes for amplified instruments. Mellits also directs and plays keyboards in his own ensemble, the Mellits Consort.

Since its founding in Milwaukee in 1982, the mission of Present Music has been to commission and perform new concert music with programming that introduces innovative concert formats, embraces a broad diversity of repertoire, and makes the music of our time accessible to audiences with deep expression and serious fun.

Host Austin Williams talks with co-Artistic Director David Bloom about their upcoming 41st season.

The featured music includes works by Ryan Carter, Jonah Elrod, Michael Torke and Kamran Ince.

Access Contemporary Music's latest album features music commissioned as part of their innovative project Composer Alive.  Each piece was composed in short installments and rehearsed and recorded in real time as they were received.  Host Seth Boustead features a sample of this fascinating music.

Sunshowers by Jane O'Leary (mvmts 1 and 2)

De Ánimos y Quebrantos by Gabriela Ortiz

Toy by Alexandre Lunsqui

Dance With My Breath by Agnieszka Stulginska (mvmt 1)

Commercial Etudes by Will Rowe (mvmts 1 and 2)

Micro Moments IX: Hommage a Avicenna by Arshia Samsaminia

Qubit presents an audio(guide) companion to the 2022 Whitney Biennial, "Quiet as It's Kept." Curated by Alec Hall, Loud as It Plays is a listening landscape of contemporary American music arranged around the themes and forces shaping our world over the past two years: breath, time, hope, test, and war.

For a biennial survey of American art should also include a survey of its current sounds. Host Austin Williams brings you a sample of this timely playlist.

Featuring music by:

Deidre Huckabay
Anaïs Maviel
Panayiotis Kokoras
Vanessa Place
Taylor Brook
Anthony Tan
Weston Olencki + Laura Cocks/Zs/Vanessa Place
Daniel Bachman/Alec Hall
David Bird
Id M Theft Able/Sally Decker

Shawn E. Okpebholo is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning composer whose music has been described as “devastatingly beautiful” and “fresh and new and fearless” (The Washington Post), “affecting” (The New York Times), “searing” (The Chicago Tribune), “staggering” (The New Yorker), “lyrical, complex, singular” (The Guardian), and “powerful” (BBC Music Magazine).

Host Stephen Rawson talks with him and features a wide range of his music.

Join Host Austin Williams as he interviews world-class composer Michael Oliva about his upcoming project for various interments playing with Tampura and fixed media.

Michael has been creating various collaborations with a variety of instruments for this project to create a diverse sound world for listeners to experience.

In the interview you will hear about Michael’s use of the Tanpura and how he manipulates and adjusts it to make it truly unique for this project.

Michael will have the chance to premier these works in an installation type event at ColorScape festival. More details and times in this link  https://michaeloliva.net/index.php/colourscape/

The remarkable Da Capo Chamber Ensemble has been going strong for 50 years and they're celebrating this milestone with a series of concerts called Bridges.

Host Austin Williams talks with flutist Patricia Spencer and composer Bruce Adolphe about their incredible run and the featured music in their 50th season.

Castor and Patience is a new opera by composer Gregory Spears and libretto by former poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith. 

The opera takes on the pervasive barriers to land ownership for Black Americans by telling the story of two cousins' struggles to own and keep property long held by their family.

Stephen Rawson attended the premiere and talked with Spears and Smith about the opera. 

Join us as we celebrate and honor the centennial of Charles Mingus! This episode will take a deep dive into his album Mingus Plays the Piano. Charles Mingus was a pioneer of the modern jazz movement and this album speaks to that.

Amongst his vast discography, this album takes a slight departure from his typical music styles. The listener will hear various influences of early 20th c. composers along with Mingus’ own amount of spice.

In the episode we will feature the album along with excerpts from the biography Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Charles Mingus.

Host Austin Williams explores the cross roads of experimental music and Jazz. Many artists featured on today’s show come from the Twin Cities area which has a large free and experimental jazz scene.

Much like one might see in an improvising chamber group or players working from a graphic score, the music you hear is incredibly collaborative and raw in nature. Some groups will directly reference new classical music while others will show it through their practice and aesthetic

Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Hey, isn't that from the "Cheers" theme song?  Yes it is but after the last couple of weeks who can disagree?  Join host Austin Williams for a much-needed musical escape...

Music by Robert Honstein, Cassie Wieland, Wally Gunn.

The former front man of experimental rock band Battles, Tyondai Braxton has since ventured out into composing a wide array of wildly inventive original music.

He has been commissioned to write pieces for ensembles such as The Bang on a Can All Stars, Kronos Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, and Brooklyn Rider.

Host Austin Williams plays a few of his favorites.

Host Austin Williams features a variety of pieces that incorporate spoken word in some way.  Featuring music by Pamela Z, Tori & Ashley, Nina and Redacted Bell.

February 2nd, 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s landmark novel Ulysses.

To celebrate the importance of this milestone, the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland (CMC) teamed up with the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) to present an international celebration across Ireland and Europe from February to June 2022.

Seth Boustead talks to the CMC’s Linda O’Shea Farren from the CMC about this project and features music from the resulting concert and film series.

Classical:NEXT is the global networking and exchange hub dedicated exclusively to classical and art music, for all professionals – artists, managers, presenters, orchestras, labels, educators, press, media, publishers and more.

Seth Boustead traveled to Hannover to cover this extraordinary festival for Relevant Tones. Part 2 features music from the showcases, club nights and project pitches.

Classical:NEXT is the global networking and exchange hub dedicated exclusively to classical and art music, for all professionals – artists, managers, presenters, orchestras, labels, educators, press, media, publishers and more.

Back in person after two years, host Seth Boustead traveled to Hannover to cover this extraordinary festival for Relevant Tones.  Featured music by Flex Ensemble, Kai Schumacher arranging and playing Steve Reich, Asambura Ensemble and Ayana Witter Johnson.

We listen to a lot of music here at Relevant Tones.  Here are a few new pieces currently on the radar for Matt Dotson and Austin Williams. Featured music includes Land by CARM, String Quartet No. 1 by Sophi Jani, For Ennio and Arctic horizon by Wøunds and I Know I'll Never Know by Masaya Ozaki.

Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist who explores corners and colors of the voice frequently deemed to be "untrained" and not "classical."  Described as “unbearably moving” (Gramophone) and “just the right balance between edgy precision and freewheeling exuberance” (The Guardian), her music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice and is communicated through mediums ranging from orchestral and operatic works to unaccompanied folk ballads and unapologetically joyous Dolly Parton covers.

MUSIC

Shy One, Sweet One
- Performed by Annika Socolofsky and Latitude Forty-Nine

I Tell You Me
- Performed by ~Nois and Annika Socolofsky

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: silience
- Performed by the Zöllner-Roche Duo

Turadh
- Performed by Parhelion Ensemble and Annika Socolofsky

Barry Paul Clark is an active composer, bassist and improvising musician and he’s a frequent collaborator with artists of all disciplines nationally and internationally.

Host Austin Williams talks with him and features tracks from Tontine Ensemble’s latest release Dogma Protocols.

MUSIC

Dogma Protocol - Regeneration

Dogma Protocol - Call Signal

Dogma Protocol - Analysis Paralysis

Dogma Protocol - Violence

Milwaukee Ballet collaboration - Affixed

Dogma Protocol - Splatter

Throughout the centuries composers have challenged performers to new heights of manual dexterity by writing études, pieces of music expressly designed to push the boundaries of what is technically possible.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson features a selection of 21st century études. Yannis Kyriakides, Karaoke Etudes has a graphical score element. Check out the video here https://youtu.be/F0T6DVhyedw?t=992

Composers Kelly Sheehan and Chi Wang are finding great creativity in everyday technological objects like Wii remotes.  Host Austin Williams gives us a glimpse into this fascinating musical world.

D-Composed is a Chicago-based chamber music experience that honors Black creativity and culture through the music of Black composers. Since 2017, they have created intimate, out-of-the-box experiences that celebrate a mix of genres and sounds of Black music throughout history.  

Seth Boustead talks with founder and Executive Director Kori Coleman and violist and Artistic Director Yelley Taylor.

New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s widely acclaimed memoir is the source for this extremely moving story of his traumatic youth in Louisiana. 

Composer Terence Blanchard, one of the most influential figures in American jazz, teamed up with librettist Kasi Lemmons, director of such remarkable films as Harriet and Eve’s Bayou to create an opera adaptation of this remarkable story.

The result is an an opera that is timely, moving and powerful, revealing the Black experience in this country as few other operas have done and it's currently at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. 

Stephen Rawson talks with Blanchard and features excerpts from the opera, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera. 

Versatile saxophonist, composer and improviser Nick Zoulek specializes in an innovative technique that allows him to play multiple notes at the same time or use multiple techniques at the same time.

Fluent in a wide range of idioms, Zoulek creates highly charged, often beautifully kinetic music that hits hard.

Hosted by Austin Williams

Dal Niente's latest release on SIDEBAND RECORDS features works by three composers using elements of pop, musique concrète and film music transformed into a contemporary classical music idiom. 

Austin Williams talks with ensemble members Ben Melsky and Emma Hospelhorn about this remarkable recording.

She's the youngest person to win the Pulitzer Prize for music, she toured with Kanye, and the Met Museum's Limor Tomer called her the "future of music." Caroline Shaw is a wildly successful composer, performer and producer who has created an impressive body of distinctly eclectic work.  Matt Dosland talks with her about life, music, oranges and eggs. 

Sarah Cahill’s The Future is Female is a three volume series, which celebrates and highlights women composers from the 17th century to the present day. These recordings feature more than 70 compositions by women around the globe and includes many première recordings.

Austin Williams chats with Sarah ahead of the release of this extraordinary three-volume album on March 4th.

We celebrate Twosday (2/22/22) with antiphonal pieces selected by host Austin Williams.

In 2015 we corresponded with several composers from Ukraine, at that time openly at war, about the challenges they faced. With Ukraine in the news again and the future again uncertain, we feature another small sample of the incredibly vibrant music being created by Ukranian composers today.  Music by Valentin Silvestrov, Bohdana Frolyak, Ludmila Yurina and Virko Baley. 

Eschewing the collection of traditional titles that describe single elements of her body of work, The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker refers to herself as a “New Renaissance Artist” that embraces a constant stream of change and rebirth in practice, which expands into a variety of media, chiefly an exploration of how sonic and spatial worlds can be manipulated to personify a variety of philosophies and principles both tangible as well as intangible.

Austin Williams talks to her about her latest album Remain Calm. 

Award-winning composer Jimmy López Bellido has been performed by leading orchestras and his music has been heard in some of the world’s most prestigious venues.

His opera based on the bestselling novel “Bel Canto” was premiered by Chicago Lyric Opera to great acclaim and he served as the Houston Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence from 2017 until 2020.

Seth Boustead talks with him about his new album Aurora & Ad Astra featuring Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Leticia Moreno, and the Houston Symphony.

Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings by Huang Ruo is inspired by the poems carved into the walls at the detention center at Angel Island Immigration Station during the Chinese Exclusion Act years.

This new work, commissioned by the Del Sol Quartet, takes an unflinching look at discrimination and immigration issues in our nation, past and present.  Host Seth Boustead talks with Huang Ruo and founding violist of the Del Sol Quartet Charlton Lee.

Based on the rap song of the same title by Nas, Undying Love is a tragic love story set in 1960’s Queens, New York.

Stephen Anthony Rawson talks with composer/librettist Steve Wallace and Artistic Director of Hearing in Color LaRob K. Payton about this collaborative project. 

2021 is a wrap!  Matt, Austin, Seth and Stephen choose some of our favorite album releases of the year including music by Pamela Z, Danielle Eva Schwob, Third Coast Percussion, Sergio and Clarice Assad and more!

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo’s Seven Limbs, written for and featuring Nels Cline and the Aizuri Quartet on Sunnyside Records is a ritual in seven movements, based on the Seven Limbs – a fundamental Tibetan Buddhist practice of purification. 

Doug talks about the music and his collaborative experience with host Austin Williams.

Taped live as part of the third night of the 2021 Relevant Tones Festival, this is the album release party for Carla Kihlstedt and Rafael Oses' stunning collaborative project Necessary Monsters. 

Necessary Monsters is a collaboration between composer/musician Carla  Kihlstedt and poet Rafael Osés. It is a contemporary song cycle based on  Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges’ Book of Imaginary Beings — a  collection of fantastical creatures culled from literary and  mythological traditions around the world.

Seth Boustead talks with Carla, Rafael and author Stephen Asma.

A cowboy from Texas, Martín Quiroga's music makes use of traditional compositional techniques and a unique harmonic language in order to honor the musical forms of the past while capturing the harmonic language of the present. 

Stephen Anthony Rawson talks with him about his music and the Space City New Music Festival which he directs. 

Hearing In Color is a Chicago-based organization dedicated to sharing music, stories, and composers, that have been historically excluded from musical spaces, with its community.  Stephen Anthony Rawson talks with Artistic Director LaRob K. Payton and composer Steve Wallace. 

Jonathan Hannau is a Chicago-based composer and pianist devoted to the  surreal, minimal, abstract, and colorful possibilities of music.  Austin Williams talks with him about his new album Pieces I Wrote on a Cold Winter Night. 

Hailed as the "future of chamber music," string quartet Brooklyn Rider is a powerful force for musical creativity. Matt Dosland talks with cellist Michael Nicolas about several recent projects.

Described by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a “rising star”, composer Elijah Daniel Smith is quickly establishing himself as one of today’s leading young composers. 

Longtime friend and fellow composer Austin Williams chats with him about a big new commission from the CSO and his approach to music-making. 

For the second night of the Relevant Tones Tenth Anniversary Festival we were honored to welcome architect Daniel Libeskind and Open House New York's Dorothy Dunn to the stage. 

We screened a special preview of several videos from Access Contemporary Music's upcoming Songs About Buildings and Moods video series exploring the intersection between music and architecture and had a fabulous discussion. 

The opening night of the Relevant Tones Tenth Anniversary Festival featured an exciting multi-media concert of music inspired by Rube Goldberg machines.

We were joined by Rube’s granddaughter Jennifer George who is also the director of the Rube Goldberg Institute, and an all-star roster of musicians for an unforgettable evening.

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces.

Annie  Gosfield, whom the BBC called "A one woman Hadron collider" lives in  New York City and works on the boundaries between notated and improvised  music, electronic and acoustic sounds, refined timbres and noise.

Her music is often inspired by the inherent beauty of found sounds,  such as machines, destroyed pianos, warped 78 rpm records and jammed  radio signals.

Stephen Rawson talks with her about her life in music and features  excerpts of several key works including her opera War of the Worlds.

(photo by Paula Court)

In 1949 a 23-year old composer named Daphne Oram wrote a pioneering new work for two orchestras, live electronics and turntables that was subsequently lost for decades. 

Only vague references survived until composer and archivist James Bulley rediscovered the complete score in 2015. He enlisted composer and turntable artist Shiva Feshareki to help him realize the electronics using the technology that would have been available to Oram.

In 2018 the work was finally premiered at the BBC Proms. It was the first work of its kind and it is a masterpiece.

ACM's Thirsty Ears Festival is Chicago's only classical music street festival combining stellar performances with great craft beer from Empirical Brewing.

We did an intimate live broadcast the night before from the ACM School of Music featuring performances by Michael Hall, the Wurtz-Berger Duo and the Quijote Duo.

Composer inti figgis-vizueta writes "magically real musics through the lens of personal identities, braiding a childhood of overlapping immigrant communities and Black-founded Freedom schools—in Chocolate City (DC)—with direct Andean & Irish heritage and a deep connection to the land." 

Stephen Rawson talks with them about music, poetry, magical realism and more.

We feature three works that recast age-old myths from a woman's perspective. Milica Paranosic's Penelope and the Geese reimagines the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view.  We talk with her about the opera and feature three key scenes.

And Marisa Michelson's Naama's Ark tells the flood myth from the perspective of Noah's wife and Salvatore Sciarrino's La Nuova Euridice lets Orpheus' famous bride tells her own story.

Photo by charis isis

A palimpsest is a manuscript whose original text has been scraped or washed away and overwritten with a new one, often many times over.  The original text is still present but visible only in fragments.

This concept has inspired composers to overlay music in similar ways to fascinating effect. We feature a small sample of musical palimpsests. Music by Kevin Ernste, George Benjamin, Paul Novak and Gabriel Kahane.

Texu Kim writes music that's fun, often humorous yet sophisticated, detailed and connected to his South Korean heritage in fascinating ways.

He's also the only composer we know to offer "major-league cuteness” (Broadway World) while also demonstrating “surprising scope.” (San Diego Story)

Access Contemporary Music's Sonic Walkabout is a fun way to explore a neighborhood and see and hear it as never before.

ACM commissioned composers to write music inspired by historic and cultural sites in Chicago's Wicker Park and Lakeview neighborhoods and combined their musical creations with narrative storytelling. Music by Amy Wurtz, Amos Gillespie, Seth Boustead, Kyle Gregory Price, Trevor Patricia Watkin and Jonathan Hannau.

Trailblazing composer Louis Andriessen was one of the most influential composers of his generation.  Sadly, Andriessen passed away on July 1st of this year.  We talked to him in 2014 about his life in music and featured some of his best-known pieces.

They're on 60 Minutes, they're in the New York Times, they're the subject of an eagerly awaited report to Congress.  UFOs haven't been this hot since the '90's.  We feature music inspired by these celestial mysteries. Music by Michael Daugherty, Katherine Young and Philip Glass.

In honor of Children's Day in the US we feature music written for and by kids of all ages.  Concept and research by Stephen Anthony Rawson, hosted by Seth Boustead.  Music by Karen Tanaka, Meredith Monk, inti figgis-vizueta and Osvaldo Golijov. 

Laura Elise Schwendinger is a composer whose strongly personal style of music is filled with kinetic energy and slow-burning intensity.  Feature music includes High Wire Act, Chiaroscuro Azzurro, Waking Dream and Esprimere for Cello and Orchestra. 

Originally aired December 27, 2014. Produced by Jesse McQuarters

Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” cellist Seth Parker Woods has established a reputation as a versatile artist straddling several genres.

We talk with him and feature several of his collaborative projects.

We commemorate the 135th anniversary of the death of great poet Emily Dickinson by featuring some of our favorite musical settings of her poems as well as music inspired by her. Music by Emily Lau, John Adams, Judith Weir and Lee Hoiby.

Access Contemporary Music presents the 16th annual Sound of Silent Film Festival featuring newly commissioned scores performed live to modern silent films in every genre. We chat with a few of the filmmakers and composers and play some great music.

M Lamar is a composer, artist, operatic countertenor and consummate performer who blends elements of horror, opera, African-American spirituals and B-movie camp to create spectacular, compellingly original music.

We talk to him and feature music from two albums: Funeral Doom Spiritual and Surveillance Punishment and the Black Psyche.

The American Composer's Alliance has been a force in new music for nearly a hundred years. During Covid they found a new way to serve their inspiring mission through a program called Shelter Music which facilitated dozens of creative collaborations.

Since 2004 New Focus Recordings has put out dozens of wildly creative albums by some of the most interesting figures in contemporary classical music every year. 

Part 2 features conversation with label founder Daniel Lippel and music by Taylor Brooks, Colin Hinton, Robert Honstein, Dmitri Tymoczyko and Ryan Streber.

Since 2004 New Focus Recordings has put out dozens of wildly creative albums by some of the most interesting figures in contemporary classical music every year.  We talk with founder Daniel Lippel and feature a small sample of their incredible catalog in the first of a two-part series.

Alex Shapiro is an accomplished composer who has created an impressive body of works in a wide arrange of styles while always staying true to her own personal vision. She is also a mentor to other composers and a tireless champion of new music. We talk with her and feature a small sample of her wonderful music.

Adam Marks is a gifted, sensitive pianist with far-ranging interests and an insatiable appetite for new music. We talk with him about several recent projects including One Page Pieces, a new album of piano music by Alex Shapiro and a virtual program for the Omaha Under the Radar festival.

Music by Jamie Evans, Conrad Tao, Johanne Heraty, Anselm McDonnell, Alex Shapiro, Eleanor Alberga and Philip Glass.

We feature composers writing string quartets inspired by Heavy Metal in all its incarnations from Death Metal, Black Metal, Grindcore, Mathcore to Industrial Metal and more.

Music by Earl Maneein, Gene Pritsker, Maria W. Horn, Nick Vasallo, Aeryn Santallan and Annie Gosfield

Still life paintings encourage us to see everyday objects in a new context but, as applied to music, the still life concept has taken on a life of its own.  We feature several musical interpretations of the still life.

As an ensemble of four composer-performers, The Rhythm Method strives to  reimagine the string quartet in a contemporary, feminist context.  

They are Meaghan Burke, Marina Kifferstein, Leah Asher and Carrie Frey and their most recent album is A Few Concerns.

A new album by New York-based ensemble Founders presents a wildly imaginative interpretation of Olivier Messiaen’s classic chamber work Quartet for the End of Time. The result is a respectful homage to the transcendent beauty of the original work while also incorporating jazz, rock, and other non-classical styles.

We celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Ox with music by composers from countries that celebrate the lunar new year.

For more than twenty years the Tribeca New Music Festival has brought bold new classical music infused with American pop culture to audiences in New York City and, increasingly, to the world.

We talk with composer and Artistic and Executive Director Preston Stahly about their mission, history and creative pivots during the pandemic.

We celebrate a string of palindromic dates - 1/20/21 to 1/29/21 - with music written in palindromic form.  Music by Martha Horst, Ben Johnston, Frank J. Oteri, Andrew Norman, Ted Hearne, Joseph Schwantner and Bela Bartok.

We take a break from our chaotic world to listen to music from composers inspired by utopian visions from Ursula K. LeGuin, Thomas More, Plato, HG Wells, John Milton and Greek myth.

Two exciting commissioning projects were a bright spot during this very dark year. They are Thomas Piercy's Moments in this Time and Los Angeles-based piano duo Hocket's #What2020SoundsLike. 

For each project composers were asked to write short pieces that represent an incredible array of styles and mental states as we all navigate this difficult time. 

We talk with the performers and feature a sample of the 90 - that's right, 90! - commissioned pieces. 

The symphonies of Gloria Coates have been hailed as "the spirit of an expressionistic-apocalyptic-mystical world view" by German musicologist Ludwig Finscher.  Over sixteen symphonies, Coates has created an indelible, absolutely unique and highly personal sound world. 

We talk with her and feature movements from symphonies 1, 4, 7 and 14. 

Begun by composer Stephen Lias in 2012 Composing in the Wilderness is a "shared wilderness experience for adventurous composers at all levels." 

Participants spend two weeks in the wilds of Alaska drawing from that inspiration to write a new piece that will be performed at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. 

Applications for 2021 close on November 1st, 2020. Apply at composinginthewilderness.com 

Clarice Assad is a highly acclaimed composer, pianist, singer and arranger renowned for her musical scope and versatility. 

A prolific Grammy nominated composer, Clarice Assad’s numerous commissions include works for Carnegie Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo, Chicago Sinfonietta, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Youth Orchestra, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Queen Reef Music Festival and the La Jolla Music Festival, to name a few. 

Her compositions have been recorded by some of the most prominent names in the classical music, including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and oboist Liang Wang.

In short, she's a badass and we're thrilled to chat with her and feature a sample of her wonderful music. 

There are a variety of reasons that people decide to leave home for good and settle in another country.

But according to the U.S. State Department there has been a veritable  exodus lately with a 47% spike in expatriation in 2019 over 2014.

We talk with four composers living abroad about their lives and music.

MUSIC
Studies for Player Piano: Prelude by Conlon Nancarrow

A Winter Sketchbook, mvmts I and III by Jane O'Leary

Earthly Chants mvmt I. The Singing Wall; Tools mvmt VIII Telescopic Ladder; Wood Burn by Ned McGowan

When the Waves Crash, mvmt III by Colleen Schmuckal

Among the Asteroids by Gloria Coates (excerpt)

This is a pivotal moment for Hong Kong as it fights for political autonomy and searches for a national identity. Hong Kong has long been a global hub for artists and musicians but the future is uncertain. 

We talk with Antony Dapiran, author of City on Fire: the Fight for Hong Kong, about the protest movement and William Lane, the founder of the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, and we feature the music of several composers active in Hong Kong's burgeoning new music scene. 

Music by Fung Lam, Mei-Fang Lin, Austin Yip, Galison Lau and Hin Yan Austin Leung. 

The great Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges has had an enormous influence on artists, writers, philosophers and thinkers of all kinds and composers are no exception. 

We spoke with renowned Borges scholar Daniel Balderston about the incredible legacy of one of the most influential writers of all time, and with composers Carla Kihlstedt, Diego Vega and Gheorghi Arnaoudov about how this legacy inspired their musical creations. 

New music releases have slowed to a trickle, it's true, but they haven't stopped entirely!

Seth chats with four creative musicians and ensembles who have recently released wildly inventive new music including saxophone quartet Nois, Third Coast Percussion, Sunny Knable and Amy Wurtz.

Features music by Nikki Harlafti, Matthew Arrellin, Ryan Lott, Sunny Knable and Amy Wurtz.

Access Contemporary Music's popular Sound of Silent Film Festival features newly commissioned scores performed live to modern silent films. 

2020 marks the 15th anniversary and they're celebrating with two ambitious programs presented virtually.  Seth talks with several of the filmmakers and composers about their inspiration and process and plays selections of the scores. 

Find out more about the fest at acmusic.org.

Composers and performers are finding incredibly creative ways to continue connecting and making great music in the midst of a global pandemic. Seth talks with composers Suzanne Farrin, Gene Pritsker, Carlos Simon, Liza Sobel and Greg Bartholomew as well as countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and American Composers Orchestra's Artistic Director Derek Bermel. 

MUSIC

Nacht (excerpt) by Suzanne Farrin
    
    Performed by: Suzanne Farrin, ondes Martenot
                               Alice Teyssier, voice
                               Ross Karre, percussion
                               Randall Zigler, bass
                               Nuiko Wadden, harp
                               Ryan Streber, audio engineer

Pandemic Dance #32 and #30 by Gene Pritsker

     Performed by: Carson Cooman, organ
                                Kristof Knoch - bass clarinet
                                Gene Pritsker - electric guitar

Another Rising by Carlos Simon
Presented as part of American Composers Orchestra's Connecting ACO Community 

     Performed by: Anthony Roth Constanzo, counter tenor
                                Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Dianne Berkun Menaker - Founder and Artistic Director
                                Brian Losch, sound editing and mixing

Reverse Forward by Liza Sobel

    Performed by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Ken-David Masur - conductor

Fire and Ice and Prairie Spring by Greg Bartholomew
    Performed by: Matt Curtis

Useless Machines for Thinking, Dreaming, Feeling
mvmt 3 Mind Fire by Seth Boustead

    Performed by Ford Fourqurean - bass clarinet
                               David Keller - cello
                               Henry Zheng - violin

Narrative is an important aspect of both music and storytelling.  Seth talks with composers Nathalie Joachim and David T. Little and writer J. Robert Lennon about how they structure their music and stories.

We’ll hear music performed by cellist Nicholas Photinos and pianist Yasuko Oura and chat with them about their perspectives on narrative  structure in the works they’re performing.

Air Date: May 1, 2020 8:00 EDT 

This program was streamed live to Facebook and YouTube.  Don’t worry, we were all safe at home…

MUSIC
Dam Mwen Yo by Nathalie Joachim
Whitespace by Seth Boustead
Sonnets by Andrew Norman
1) with shifting change
2) to be so tickled
3) my tongue-tied muse
4) so far from variation
5) confounded to decay 

Song of Songs by Karen Tanaka  
and the sky was still there by David T. Little

Narrative is an important aspect of both music and storytelling.  Seth talks with composers Nathalie Joachim and David T. Little and writer J. Robert Lennon about how they structure their music and stories.

We’ll hear music performed by cellist Nicholas Photinos and pianist Yasuko Oura and chat with them about their perspectives on narrative  structure in the works they’re performing.

Air Date: May 1, 2020 8:00 EDT
Location: The comfort of your couch (though we know you’re probably sick of that by now)

This program was streamed live to Facebook and YouTube.  Don’t worry, we were all safe at home…

MUSIC
Dam Mwen Yo by Nathalie Joachim
Whitespace by Seth Boustead
Sonnets by Andrew Norman

1. with shifting change
2. to be so tickled
3. my tongue-tied muse
4. so far from variation
5. confounded to decay
   
   Song of Songs by Karen Tanaka
   and the sky was still there by David T. Little

According to a recent article in the New Yorker, "astrology is currently enjoying a broad cultural acceptance that hasn’t  been seen since the nineteen-seventies. The shift began with the advent  of the personal computer, accelerated with the Internet, and has reached  new speeds through social media."

This live broadcast from Caveat in Manhattan features conversation with celebrity astrologers Rebecca Gordon  (Dr. Oz, Harpers Bazaar) and Sam Reynolds (Bill Nye) about sun signs, the  western zodiac versus Chinese zodiac and what you can do if through no fault of your own you were born under a bad sign and are, consequently, a bit of a jerk.   

Music in Part 2 includes
Run Rabbit Run (excerpts) by Sufjan Stevens

Enjoy Your Rabbit
Year of the Rooster
Year of the Ox
Year of the Horse
Year of the Boar

Performed by the Osso Quartet

According to a recent article in the New Yorker, "astrology is currently enjoying a broad cultural acceptance that hasn’t  been seen since the nineteen-seventies. The shift began with the advent  of the personal computer, accelerated with the Internet, and has reached  new speeds through social media."

This live broadcast from Caveat in Manhattan features conversation with celebrity astrologers Rebecca Gordon  (Dr. Oz, Harpers Bazaar) and Sam Reynolds (Bill Nye) about sun signs, the  western zodiac versus Chinese zodiac and what you can do if through no fault of your own you were born under a bad sign and are, consequently, a bit of a jerk.

Music in Part 1 includes

Sun in Virgo by Peri Mauer
Zodiac by Marc Mellits

Performed by:
Peter Ferry - marimba
Ford Fourqurean - clarinet

Jeremiah Moss’ book, Vanishing New York inspired this live program featuring the music of New York City composers who were an important staple of the ’70’s and ’80’s scene but were taken too soon. We’re honoring Julius Eastman, Arthur Russell, Ben Weber, and Tui St. German Tucker by representing their works and stories.

This program took place at the Lincoln Center Atrium and also featured a pre-concert panel presentation with Jeremiah Moss, Open House New York director Gregory Wessner, author of Country of Cities Vishaan Chakrabarti and composer Frank J. Oteri. 

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Produced by Dan Goldberg

Music

Piano Sonata No. 2 by Tui St. George Tucker

Roger Tréfousse, piano


Three Short Pieces by Arthur Russell

Arranged: Seth Boustead

Caeli Smith viola; James Kim, cello


Lyric Piece by Ben Weber

Adelya Nartadjieva, violin; Suliman Tekali, violin; Caeli Smith, viola; James Kim, cello


Experimental Music for Ezra Pound by Arthur Russell

Arranged: Seth Boustead
Roger Tréfousse, piano; Neil Beckmann, guitar; Sae Hashimoto, percussion; Aaron Wolff, cello/narrator


The Moon’s Silent Modulation by Julius Eastman

Opera on Tap; Suliman Tekalli, violin; Adelya Nartadjieva, violin; Caeli Smith, viola; James Kim, cello; Sam Suggs, bass; Beomjae Kim, flute; Sae Hashimoto, percussion; Erika Dohi, piano; Mika Sasaki, piano; Mila Henry, conductor

Rolling Stone declared Nels Cline as one of the 20 “new guitar gods” and one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.

He  may be best known as the guitarist of rock band Wilco, but he’s also a  talented composer. Seth sits down with Cline to discuss his  compositional and improvisational style, making the bridge to classical,  and his album Lovers.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Dan Goldberg

Music

Introduction: Diaphanous by Nels Cline
Nels Cline Big Band

Hydrofoil by Nels Cline and Devin Sarno
Nels Cline, electric guitar, electric autoharp, effects, loops; Devin Sarno, electric bass guitar, effects

Onan Suite: Amniotica, Lord and Lady, Dreams in the Mirror by Nels Cline
Nels Cline, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, sruti box, autoharp, zither, megamouth, kaossilator, quintronics drum buddy

Harbor Child by Nels Cline
Nels Cline Singers

Dirty Baby- Parts III and IV by Nels Cline
Nels Cline and Friends

Invitation by Nels Cline
Nels Cline Big Band

The Bond by Nels Cline
Nels Cline Big Band

There’s a subsection of contemporary music called ‘Musical  Historicism;’ a genre of music that uses historical elements and revives  them in modern works.

From Minimalism to Totalism, Modernism to Post-Modernism to  Neomodernism; we’re taking a look at pieces that influence contemporary  compositions, either to mimic the past or to be the antithesis.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Dan Goldberg

Music

A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky by Charles Wuorinen
London Sinfonietta; Oliver Knussen, conductor

Concerto for Orchestra by Luciano Berio
Orchestre National de France; New Swingle Singers; Pierre Boulez, conductor

Absolute Jest by John Adams
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Over 60 years of composing, Thea Musgrave is a powerful voice that  demand respect around the world. We’re taking a deep-dive into her  massive library and showcasing her eclectic range including chamber,  orchestral, and electronic works.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Dan Goldberg

Music

Turbulent Landscapes
BBC Symphony Orchestra; Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Concerto for Orchestra
Gervase de Peyer, clarinet; Scottish National Orchestra; Alexander Gibson, conductor

Green
Scottish Ensemble

Impromptu No. 1
Nicolas Daniel, oboe; Emer McDonough, flute

During the LA Philharmonic’s 2018/19 season, they commissioned 50 new  works from artists including Louis Andriessen, Unsuk Chin, Philip  Glass, and Steve Reich, just to name a few.

Composer and curator of the first of the LA Phil’s new music series,  entitled Green Umbrella, Andrew Norman talks about the Southern  Californian composers that he’s presenting.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Omie Wise by Bryce Dessner
Eighth Blackbird

Codex Seraphinianus: Machinery, Anthropology, Games by Marcos Balter
International Contemporary Ensemble

Aheym by Bryce Dessner
Kronos Quartet

Templating Tranquility (excerpt) by Tyshawn Sorey
Tyshawn Sorey Trio

New York Tendaberry by Laura Nyro
Renée Fleming, soprano; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Billy Childs, piano

The Manufacture of Tangled Ivory- Part II by Annie Gosfield
Roger Kleier, electric guitar; Christine Bard and Jim Pugliese, percussion; Annie Gosfield, sampler

Four Rosesby Annie Gosfield
Ted Mook, cello; Annie Gosfield, sampler

Virtuosic violinist Jennifer Koh  is known for her commanding performances and technical assurance.   Although she performs Tchaikovsky and Bach she’s interested in finding  the connection between the arts and music of all eras from traditional  to now.

Jennifer Koh tells us about some of the 60 works that have been  written especially for her including a new work by Kaija Saariaho.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Bedeviled by Phil Kline
Jennifer Koh, violin

Sense by Kaija Saariaho
Jennifer Koh, violin

The Singing Rooms by Jennifer Higdon
Jennifer Koh, violin; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra ; Robert Spano, conductor

Graal théâtre: Delicato and Impetuoso by Kaija Saariaho
Jennifer Koh, violin; Conner Covington, conductor; Curtis 20/21 Ensemble

We live in a charged political environment and though music is often  seen as an escape, many composers have chosen to use their work to make a  statement.

From Ted Hearne’s The Source, based on the story of Chelsea  Manning, the US Army Private who infamously leaked classified military  documents to WikiLeaks in 2010 to David T. Little’s operas about modern  warfare to Bright Sheng’s music about the Cultural Revolution, we  feature several composers who are speaking out.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

We’re opening our doors to Nick  Photinos, David Schrader, and other  Thirsty Ears Street Festival  performers for a preview concert. The  third annual festival kicks off on  Saturday, August 11 and ends on  Sunday, August 12.

You can visit  the festival at Wilson street between Hermitage and Ravenswood; the two  day event will feature fifteen stellar ensembles and soloists performing  music from Beethoven to Shostakovich to Reich and everything in between  on the main stage.

There’s delicious beer from Empirical Brewing, vendor booths, kid friendly activities and food trucks on both days.

$10 suggested donation, all proceeds support the ACM School of Music, a non-profit organization.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Bex Nystedt

Music

Information, from “Artifacts” by Florent Ghys
Nick Photinos, solo cello and electronics

“La” Suite for Flute and Piano by Amy Wurtz
IV. Love
V. Laude
John Wachala, Flute; Amy Wurtz, Piano

Middleground by Shelley Washington
Zafa Collective

Improvisation by David Schrader
David Schrader, piano

Arizona Mirage by Mauricio Arias  
Josephine Yang, piano

On a Windswept Plain by Trevor Patrick Watkin
Trevor Patrick Watkin, flute; Josephine Yang, Piano

Factory and Flowers, from “Artifacts” by Florent Ghys
Nick Photinos, solo cello and electronics

Grammy-winning composer, pianist and conductor, Joan Tower, has been  said to be “one of the most successful women composers of all time” by  The New Yorker.

This year she’s celebrating her 80th birthday and we're celebrating by talking with her about her most memorable works and stories. The Grammy-award  winning Made in America made the cut and you’ll be surprised by Joan’s insight on how the piece came to be.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music
Fanfare No. 1 for the Uncommon Woman
Marin Alsop, Conductor; Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Black Topaz
Laura  Flax, Clarinet; Patricia Spencer, Flute; Deborah Moore, Jonathan Haas,  Percussion; Stephen Gosling, piano; Mike Powell*, trombone; Chris  Gekker, trumpet

Silver Ladders
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor

Petroushskates
Eighth Blackbird

Made in America
Nashville Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, conductor

Chopin, Kreisler, Bach and more have written compositions less than  three minutes in length. This trend is no stranger to contemporary  pieces. We’ll pack as many of these tiny gems as possible as we uncover  why composers enjoy creating these mini masterworks.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music
3 Miniatures  for Violin and Piano by Krzysztof Penderecki
Ida Bieler, violin; Nina Tichman, piano

Petit Quatuor, by André Cormier             
Bozzini Quartet

Free Tango Lessons on Wednesday by Jeff Morton       
Bozzini Quartet

Slanted Birds by Anna Höstman             
Bozzini Quartet

Talking with Strangers by Alex Eddington
Bozzini Quartet

Six Fugitive Memories by Vera Ivanova               
Nadia Shpachenko, piano

Piano Miniatures by Mohammed Fairouz
Katie Reimer, piano

Fractal Miniatures by Roger Zare               
EOS Repertoire Orchestra; Jiao Wang, conductor

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project is widely known as the leading  orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to performing the  20th and 21st century music and its signature record label BMOP/sound  reflects those standards.

In Boston, we’re listening to the newest recordings off BMOP/sound  label and talking to Creative Director and Conductor, Gil Rose.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Symphony IV: III Scherzo: Vivace by Lukas Foss
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, Conductor

Shanti by Peter Child
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, Conductor

Toccata Concertante by Irving Fine
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, Conductor

The Blizzard Voices by Paul Moravec    
NEC Concert Choir; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor

Composers and musicians meet in a “speed dating” style at the New  Music Gathering at Boston Conservatory at Berklee in Boston,  Massachusetts
New Music Gathering is an annual three-day conference  dedicated to the performance, production, promotion, support and  creation of new concert music held at the Boston Conservatory at  Berklee.

This year’s keynote speaker is Helga Davis, host of Q2, who discusses  this year’s conference theme: accessibility. Performances include Matt  Marks, Hub New Music, Sarah Bob, and the Boston-based Firebird Ensemble.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Soul House by Rob Honstein
Hub New Music

She Thinks of Him Adam Tendler
Adam Tendler, electronics and vocal

Penetration Overture by Matt Marks
Matt Marks, performer; Mellissa Hughes, performer

OMG I’m Shot by Matt Marks
Matt Marks, performer; Mellissa Hughes, performer

Dark Flowers; I: Black Baccara by Jonathan Bailey Holland
Christopher Chaffee, flute; Joshua Nemith, piano

Mud Wrestling at the OK Corral by Eric Moe    
Firebird Ensemble; Jeffrey Means, Conductor; Sarah Bob, soloist

(Le) Poisson Rouge (LPR) is a multimedia  art cabaret founded by  musicians on the site of the historic Village Gate in New York City.   We’re here live for an exciting musical  program dedicated to Mexican  composers.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Neuroma de Morton by Felipe Peréz Santiago
Coleman Itzkoff, cello; Beomjae Kim, flute; Mike Sasaki, piano; Caeli Smith, viola; Suliman Tekali, violin

Tres Danzas Seculares by Mario Lavista
Coleman Itzkoff, cello; Mika Sasaki, piano

De Animos y Quebrantos by Gabriela Ortiz
Brandon Ilaw, percussion; Coleman Itzkoff, cello; Beomjae Kim, flute; Caeli Smith, viola; Suliman Tekali, violin

Y Los Oros La Luz by Ana Lara
Bixby Kennedy,clarinet; Coleman Itzkoff, cello; Beomjae Kim, flute; Mika Sasaki, piano; Suliman Tekali, violin

Neurocardiogénico by Felipe Peréz Santiago
Coleman Itzkoff, cello; Beomjae Kim, flute; Mike Sasaki, piano; Caeli Smith, viola; Suliman Tekali, violin

We’re traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Big Ears Festival!  Regarded as one of the  most unique, boundary-defying and eagerly  anticipated cultural  gatherings in the world – “a music festival with a  rare vision” (The New  York Times) Big Ears Festival returns in 2018  with perhaps its most  multi-faceted and diverse line up to date.

Spanning four days –  Thursday, March 22 – Sunday, March 25 – the  festival will feature over  100 performances, including Bang on a Can,  Brooklyn Rider, and  International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), in  venues throughout downtown  Knoxville, Tennessee.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

In the Light of Air by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir
International Contemporary Ensemble

Griff by Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck & Brooklyn Rider

Cheating, Lying, Stealing by David Lang
Bang on a Can All-Stars

Flowers for Prashant by Tyshawn Sorey
Tyshawn Trio

Relevant Tones is proud to partner with  The Look + Listen Festival,  an annual event dedicated to presenting  contemporary music in  contemporary art galleries like Pratt Manhattan Gallery, Brooklyn’s BRIC  House and The Studio Museum in Harlem.

The festival seeks to expand and engage audiences of 20th and 21st  music by  providing a unique opportunity to simultaneously experience  new music  and contemporary visual art.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Spero Lucem by Nina Young
Ensemble Échappé

Springs by Paul Lansky
Sō Percussion

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Žibuoklė Martinaitytė
Yarn/Wire

Tuning Meditation by Pauline Oliveros
Phyllis Chen, piano

Deep Thought Music by Craig Harris
The Saints and Aints Brass Choir

Great music is a game of expertise,  luck, and chance. Seth deals out  a playlist of great music including David Maslanka and discusses why  it’s a winner in this year’s Dealer’s  Choice.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

A Child’s Garden of Dreams by David Maslanka
Illinois State University Wind Symphony; Stephen K. Steele, conductor

Shadow Light by Elena Ruehr
New Orchestra for Washington; Marcus Thompson, viola

The Glass Bead Game;  Mvmt III. The Glass Bead Game (Fantasia)
by Claude Baker
St. Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, conductor

The Shaman by Vincent Ho
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor; Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion

Elastic Band; Mvmt II. Pure Happenchance by Joel Philip Freidman
New Orchestra for Washington

Mexican composer Javier Alvarez uses his  travels to create eclectic  electroacoustic works using influences from  Mexico to Cuba, the  Caribbean to Korea.

Composer John Adams said the  music of Alvarez “reveals influences of  popular cultures that go beyond  the borders of our own time and  place.”

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Jardines con Palmera
I. Jardín de la estela de madera
II. Jardín del sueño de Magali
Florent Jodelet, Orchestre Nationale de France & Didier Benetti

OffrandeI. Mains aux oiseauxIV.
Delfín herido de muerte
Tambuco, ensamble de percusiones, Ricardo Gallardo and Alfredo Bringas

Geometría Foliada
I. De mis días en el campo
II. Otoño pentagonal
III. Puntos en Eje
IV. Un primer hola para un último adiós
V. Memorias futuras.
Cuarteto; José White, José Areán and Orquesta Sinfónica del Palacio de Minería

The  ever-busy New York-based chamber orchestra The Knights has  worked with  some of the top composers and musicians in the world  including Osvaldo  Golijov on a stunning new release of his large scale  symphonic work, Azul.

The piece draws on several world music traditions as do the other   pieces on the album. We talked to founding violinist and composer Colin   Jacobsen about music, world travel and more.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Ascending Bird by Siamak Aghaei & Colin Jacobsen
The Knights

Azul: I. Paz Sulfúrica, II. Silencio by Osvaldo Golijov
The Knights

Azul: III. Transit, IV. Yrushalem by Osvaldo Golijov
The Knights

JUNO-nominated composer Nicole Lizée  creates new music from an  eclectic mix of influences including the  earliest MTV videos,  turntablism, rave culture, Hitchcock, Kubrick,  1960s psychedelia and  1960s modernism.

She is fascinated by the glitches  made by outmoded and well-worn  technology and captures these glitches,  notates them and integrates  them into live performance.

Nicole’s  compositions range from works for orchestra and solo  turntablist,  featuring DJ techniques fully notated and integrated into a  concert  music setting, to other unorthodox instrument combinations  that include  the Atari 2600 video game console, omnichords, and  stylophones just to  name a few.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Bookburners
Stéphane Tétreault, cello; Paolo Kapunan [DJ Love], Turntables

Death to Kosmische*
Kronos Quartet
*Recorded by New York Public Radio’s New Sounds at The Greene Space

White Label Experiment              
Sō Percussion; Nicole Lizée, turntables & omnichord

Hitchcock Études
Megumi Masaki, piano & background vocals

We  invite some of our favorite musical friends to bring a new  recording  into the studio for listening, lively discussion and the joy  of new  discoveries. Seth sits down with violinist Doyle Armbrust and  composers Kyong Mee Choi, Nomi Epstein, and Jeff Kowalkowski.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

In the Light of Air: I. Luminance, by Anna Thorvaldsdottir
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)

In the Arms of Peril, by Scott A. Wyatt
Scott A. Wyatt, electronics

Brocade, by Linda Catlin Smith
Katelyn Clark, harpsichord; Luciane Cardassi, piano

Nonet (1969), by Herbert Brün
University  of Illinois New Music Ensemble feat: David Barford; Darrell Dalton;  John Fonville; William de Fotis; Charles Lipp; Jim Staley; Dana Thomas;  James Thornton

Since his early teens, Thomas Adès has  been a commanding figure in  the world of classical music as a triple  threat pianist, conductor and  composer.

Seth talks with him about his career including his work at, among  others, the Los Angeles  Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, London Symphony  Orchestra, Royal  Concertgebouw, Melbourne and Sydney Symphonies, BBC  Symphony, and City  of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Chamber Symphony
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Thomas Adès, conductor

Living Toys
London Symphonietta

Violin Concerto: Concentric Paths
Anthony Marwood, violin; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Thomas Adès, conductor

Asyla
London Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Adès, conductor

Tevot
Berliner Philharmoniker; Sir Simon Rattle, conductor

Founding cellist of Eighth Blackbird,  Nick Photinos, joins us in  WFMT’s Levin Studio in Chicago to play  pieces from his first solo  album.

Nick worked with an exciting array of  diverse composers on the album  including David T. Little, Angélica  Négrón, Florent Ghys, Andrew  Norman and Bryce Dessner.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Lewisburg, by Bryce Dessner
Nick Photinos, cello

Sit and Dance, by Molly Joyce
Nick Photinos, cello

and the sky was still there, by David T. Little
Nick Photinos, cello

Panorama, by Angélica Negrón
Nick Photinos, cello

Petits Artéfacts, by Florent Ghys
Nick Photinos, cello

The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) holds  arguably the world’s most important contemporary music festival in a  different city each year.  Much like the Olympics, cities bid to be the  host and this year it’s in Vancouver.

In this second program of two, we hear from Canadian composer,  Jennifer Butler, Lituanian composer,  Sabina Ulubeanu, young American  composer, Robert J Coe, and more, all performed by Vancouver’s best  musicians.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Klee Wyck Woman, by Jennifer Butler
Emily Carr Quartet; Marion Newman, mezzo soprano

Tonight My Shadow Sinks Into the Wall, by Vytautas Germanavicius
Müge Buyukcelen, violin

Vox Terminus, by Frederik Gran
NOW  Society Ensemble; JP Carter, trumpet; Joshua Zubot, violin; Lisa Cay Miller, piano; James Meger, bass; Skye Brooks, drums

Gestalt X, by Frederick Neyrinck
Bozzini Quartet

Freycinet, by Robert J Coe
Emily Carr Quartet

Cadenza lirica, by Sabina Ulubeanu
Müge Buyukcelen, violin

Production company Access Contemporary  Music has partnered with the  esteemed Manhattan venue, LPR – (Le)  Poisson Rouge a multimedia art  cabaret founded by musicians on the site  of the historic Village Gate.

Pianist Jenny Lin is taking the stage for  the first in this exciting  new series.  This concert is celebrating  Philip Glass’s 81st birthday  with a live performance of his Piano Etudes  coinciding with her album  release.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Composer Jeremy Gill recently had the  opportunity of a lifetime when  the Boston Modern Orchestra Project  agreed to record not one, not two,  but three of his concertos.

We’ll  talk with Jeremy and clarinet soloist Chris Grymes about this fantastic  new release and play as much of it as we can.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Before the Wresting Tides

Serenada Concertante

Notturno Concertante

Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor

Four-time Grammy winning super group Eighth Blackbird unveils their  newest creative project: “to inspire the next generation of performers  and composers to share in the ensemble’s vision: to champion a  distinctive, dynamic and engaging performance aesthetic.”

We’ll talk to the birds and this year’s participants and bring you into the creative process as the lab comes to life.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Conduit; Mvmt I: Touch; Mvmt II: Pulse by Robert Honstein
eighth blackbird

Duos: Mvmts 21-24 by Jörg Widmann 
Nick Photinos, cello; Michiko Theurer, violin

Cold Mountain: “Listen” by Jennifer Higdon
Justine Aronson, soprano; Jocelyn Zelasko, soprano; Robert Fleitz, piano

Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say by Kate Soper 
Justine Aronson, soprano; Erika Boysen, flutes

Electric Aroma by Viet Cuong  
Michael Maccaferri, clarinet; Dylan Ward, saxophone; Phoebe Wu, piano; Matt Keown, percussion

Dogs by Invoke
Invoke: Zachariah Matteson, violin; Nick Montopoli, violin; Karl Mitze, viola; Geoff Manyin, cello

The International Society for  Contemporary Music (ISCM) holds  arguably the world’s most important  contemporary music festival in a  different city each year.

Much like the Olympics, cities bid to be the host and this year it’s  in  Vancouver.  In this first program of two, we hear from Jordan  Nobles,  Charlotte Bray, Jocelyn Morlock, and Stefan Prins.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Skywriting, by Jordan Nobles
Redshift Vertical Orchestra & Electric Guitar Orchestra

At the Speed of Stillness, by Charlotte Bray
Aldeburgh World Orchestra; Sir Mark Elder, conductor

Lux Antiqua, by Jordan Nobles
The Esoterics; Eric Banks, conductor

My Name is Amanda Todd, by Jocelyn Morlock
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra; Alexander Shelley, conductor

Hände Ohne Orte, by Stefan Prins
Hamburg-based Decoder Ensemble; Carola Schaal, clarinets; Jonathan  Shapiro,  percussion; Andrej Koroliov, piano; and Sonja Lena Schmid,  cello

A special broadcast with Chicago’s Kontras Quartet, a group that has  been blending the line between classical and folk music since 2009.

On this program we’ll hear folk-inspired repertoire from South Africa to Japan back home to the Midwest.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Strum by Jessie Montgomery

String Quartet No. 1 “White Man Sleeps”: Movement I. “First Dance”
by Kevin Volans

Exodus Quartet: I. “A Tale; Generations of Suffering” by Rudy Perrault

Appalachian Polaroids  by Steven Snowden

Japanese Folk Song Suite No. 2: Movement I. Yagibushi  & Movement II. Nambu ushioi otaby Hajime Komatsu –

Komeng by Mokale Koapeng

8 Chinese folk songs: No. 5: Horse Herds Mountain Song & No. 8: Leaving Home by Zhou Long

Shortnin’ Bread by Florence Price

String Quartet No. 3 “Old Time” by Mark O’Connor

Black Bend by Dan Visconti

One  of the most important new developments in contemporary classical  music is part of a wider societal trend of gender fluidity. We talk  with three  composers who have transitioned about their music before and after, and their personal experiences.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Forces Part 1 by Devin Fanslow
Ball  State University Sax quartet: Soprano, Amanda Fratangeli; Alto, Om  Srivastava; Tenor, Ethan Edwards; Baritone, Sean Sumwalt

Rotational Games by Brin Solomon
Brin Solomon, bassoon; Nic Gerpe, piano; Recording by Adam Borecki

Purple Stain by Alex Temple
Julia Holter, Voice; Spektral Quartet

This Changes Everything! by Alex Temple
John Seaton, Soprano Sax

Lake Song by Alex Temple
Jenna Lyle, Voice

Produced by Access Contemporary Music, the Discovery Series is a process-based exploration of musical creativity.

Three pieces are chosen for each program from a pool of more than  seven hundred submissions. These pieces were workshopped at National  Sawdust in Brooklyn and the sessions were led by composer/pianist Jeremy  Gill.

The Discovery Series is an exciting sneak peak into the creative  process, and the process of putting the piece together for the musicians  tasked with bringing the music to life.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Recurrent Stages: Stage II, by Ryan Homsey
Adelya Nartadjieva, violin; Suliman Tekali violin; Andy Lin, viola; Julia Yang, cello

Deux Fois Miro, by Adina Dumitrescu
Mak Dover, clarinet; Andy Lin, viola; Martin Smith, piano

Tune My Heart, by Roger Briggs
Joenne Dumitrascu, violin; Anna Betka, piano

Soundtrack of an Open Road, by Ted King
Maria Hadge, cello

Sonata form is one of the oldest composition structures in classical  music but it’s being rediscovered, and in many cases re-purposed, by  contemporary composers.

What is the lasting appeal? We’ll play music by four composers  looking to the past for formal inspiration.  This episode also features a  tribute to David Maslanka who passed away shortly before the taping.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Piano Quintet, mvt. I by Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès, piano; Arditti Quartet: Irvine Arditti, Ashot Sarkissjan, violin; Ralf Ehlers, viola; Lucas Fels, cello

Camille for Sax and Piano, mvt. I by David Maslanka
Stephen Jordheim, alto saxophone; Christina Dahl, piano

2, by Keeril Makan
Either/Or Ensemble: Jennifer Choi, violin; David Shively, percussion

Piano Quintet by Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès, piano; Arditti Quartet: Irvine Arditti, Ashot Sarkissjan, violin; Ralf Ehlers, viola; Lucas Fels, cello

Composer Mason Bates brings Steve Jobs’ life story to the stage in Santa Fe Opera’s production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.

The opera combines expressive  electronics with electric guitar,  Bates’ signature rich orchestration  and sleek lighting design for a  truly modern experience.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Dark Interlude and Scene 13
Santa Fe Opera

Scene 5
Santa Fe Opera; Sarah Coit; Edward Parks; Wei Wu; Otogawa Garrett Sorenson; Jessica Jones

Scene 3
Santa Fe Opera; Edward Parks; Wei Wu

Prologue (Paul’s aria)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Kelly Markgraf; Robert Tweten; Mason Bates; James Moore

Scene 6 (Chrisann aria)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Jessica Jones at San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Scene 2
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Sarah Coit; Edward Parks

Overture and Scene 1Santa Fe Opera

Scenes 3-4 (Reed College)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Wei Wu

Scene 8 (Stanford)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Edward Parks; Sarah Coit

Scene 16 (Humans are Messy aria)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Edward Parks; Sarah Coit

Scene Walking Interlude
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Pulitzer  Prize winning composer, Bernard Rands shares his thoughts  on his  catalogue of over a hundred published works and recordings.

From his 1963 premiere at Darmstadt to 1986 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award winning orchestral suites Le Tambourin, to his 2011 Chicago Symphony Orchestra commission, Danza Petrificada and beyond.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Tre Espressioni by Bernard Rands
Ursula Oppens, piano

Preludes mvt. IV Elegia, by Bernard Rands
Robert Levin, piano

Canti Lunatici, mvt. I Ed è Subito Sera by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti Lunatici, mvt. IV La Luna Asoma by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti Lunatici, mvt. VIII Mondsand by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti Lunatici, mvt. IX The Moon by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti Lunatici, mvt. XV Finita e la Notte by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Gil Rose, conductor

Preludes, mvt. VI Toccata by Bernard Rands
Robert Levin, piano

Now and Again by Bernard Rands
Network for New Music; Jan Krzywicki, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. I Mattina by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. II The Dawn Verse by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. III The Masque of the Twelve Months by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. IV Soleil et Chair by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. V Portami il girasole by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Canti del Sole, mvt. VI Vision and Prayer by Bernard Rands
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor; Gil Rose, conductor

Relevant  Tones is highlighting the performers and works featured in  the second annual Thirsty Ears Festival: Chicago’s only classical music  street  festival!

This LIVE broadcast is coming straight our broadcast studio on Friday  August 11th featuring several of the exciting ensembles and soloists  taking the stage at the fest.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Puerto  Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón  writes  music for accordions, toys and electronics as well as chamber  ensembles  and orchestras.

Her works Bubblegum Grass Peppermint Field and La Isla Magica are  as whimsical as their names suggest.

Leap into Negron’s mind and music  in the latest installment of our Composers Among Us series.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Ramon Llull was a leading philosopher, logician and writer in  medieval Catalonia and the foundation that today bears his name works to  export Catalonian culture and music throughout the world.

Their most recent project in the U.S. is an exciting weekend of  concerts and workshops in New York and a window into current trends in  Catalonian music.

Relevant Tones travels in the field to feature the music and interviews with the composers.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Aproximación a lo Indivisible by Luis Codera Puzo

Cantiga Vazia by Octavi Rumba

Meta-Morphé by Joan Bagés i Rubi

18by Joan Arnau Pàmies

G-Waves by Mateu Malondra Flaquer

A Memory Palace is a technique for memorizing long lists of names or  places by associating each list item with an object in your imaginary  “memory palace”.

This is derived from the method of loci developed in ancient Greece  and Rome. Many composers have been inspired by this technique and have  written pieces with this title.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Memory Palace by Elizabeth Brown 
Elizabeth Brown, flute; Greg Hesselink, cello; Margaret Kampmeier, piano

Memory Palace by Michael Small
Momenta Quartet

String Quartet in F Major by Maurice Ravel
Parker Quartet

Helix Spirals, mvt. I Loci, Memory Palace by Augusta Read Thomas
Parker Quartet

Memory Palace, mvts. I Harriman and III Foxhurst by Chris Cerrone
Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion; Jennifer Koh, violin; Shai Wosner, piano

It’s a format as old as time: two guys sit down to play music and talk about it.

Soundward, a continuing collaboration between Relevant Tones and Q2  Music, features lively conversation, new releases from composers around  the globe and interesting new discoveries.

Hosted by Seth Boustead and Phil Kline
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis and Hannis Brown

Music

Canticles of the Holy Wind, mvt. I Sky With Four Suns by John Luther Adams
The Crossing chamber choir; Donald Nally, conductor

Crumbling Arches by Vytautas Germanavičius
Trio Kaskados: Albina Šikšniūtė, piano; Rusnė Mataitytė, violin; Edmundas Kulikauskas, cello

A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke: Uncut Emeralds by Vijay Iyer
Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet; Vijay Iyer, piano and electronics

Songlines by Michael Ippolito
Attacca Quartet: Amy Schroeder, violin; Keiko Tokunaga, violin; Nathan Schram, viola; Andrew Yee, cello

Canticles of the Holy Wind, mvt. IV Hour of the Doves by John Luther Adams
The Crossing chamber choir; Donald Nally, conductor

From Mozart and Chopin to Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland the  composer-pianist is easy to trace through time. Now, in the 21st  century, there is a resurgence in the tradition.

Relevant Tones is examining the diverse composer-performer community from Philip Glass to Yiruma.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Loose Changes by Jed Distler
Quattro Mani

Three Landscapes for Peter Wyer by Jed Distler
Margaret Leng Tan, Toy piano

Home Stretch by Timo Andres
Timo Andres, piano; Metropolis Ensemble

Secondhand: Used Poetry by Jessica Krash
Jessica Krash, piano

Four Movements for Piano Trio, mvts. I Eighth Note=54 and II Quarter Note=66 by Bright Sheng
Bright Sheng, piano; Nicholas Tzavaras, cello; Weigang Li, violin

The Dumbarton Quintet by Joan Tower
Blair McMillen, piano; Daedalus Quartet

Though it’s definitely not true of all composers, many have a  facility and fascination with math. We’ll talk to several composers who  use math in their compositions and find out how this affects the  resulting music.

Is it all cerebral? What is the balance between emotional expression and mathematical precision?

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Désintégrations by Tristan Murail

Sudden Light by Mark Bowden

Love Obsession by Mischa Zupko

As The Sunflower Turns on her God by Timothy Takach

Thèses-Antithèse-Synthèse by Ionel Petroi

Diasporas by Ravi Kitappa

Counting Duets by Tom Johnson

Q2 Music’s Phil Kline joins us to chat about music that strikes a  chord. The newest recordings that are certain to become a classic.

Hosted by Seth Boustead and Phil Kline
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Double Happiness by Christopher Cerrone

Duet with Shifting Ground by Meredith Monk

Pavement Steps by Meredith Monk

Dark, Light 2 by Meredith Monk

Expectancy by Marcin Bortnowski

Tassel by Anna Meredith

Symphony No. 2 Innerspace, mvt. IV Fast by Jonathan Leshnoff

Podcast and live radio collide in an evening of music inspired by fractals, dynamic systems, feedback loops and nature.

Open G Records and Access Contemporary Music present:

Caroline Mallonee‘s  Butterfly Effect, a string quartet inspired by the idea that a  butterfly flapping its wings in Australia could cause a tornado in  Texas, Chin Ting Chan’s gorgeously abrasive Fractals, Lyudmila German’s nod to organic systems Six Fragments and Four Miniatures, David Glaser’s  haunting Moonset No. 1 and two world premieres written for acclaimed  soprano Sharon Harms and clarinetist Mark Dover of Imani Winds.

Late Night at National Sawdust is a quarterly live taping of Relevant Tones, a contemporary music podcast hosted by Seth  Boustead that will also be broadcast in real time on the nationally  syndicated WFMT Radio Network and on WKCR in New York. Live radio has  never been so intimate.

The broadcast will be preceded by  the Discovery Series, a  process-oriented exploration of musical  creativity led by  composer/pianist Jeremy Gill. The three composers to  be performed,  chosen from a pool of more than five hundred, are Henrique Coe, Adina Dumitrescu and Ryan Homsey.

Cambodian composer Chinary Ung came to the U.S. to study clarinet and  composition but was forced to stay when the Khmer Rouge uprising broke  out in his home country killing millions.

Over the years he has helped many family members and friends escape  that regime and has documented his struggles in music. He talks to  Relevant Tones about his life and music.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Oracle by Chinary Ung
Da Capo Chamber Players; Lucy Shelton, soprano; Michael Adelson, conductor; William Anderson, guitar

Singing Inside Aura  by Chinary Ung
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Susan Ung, viola and voice

Grand Spiral: Desert Flowers Bloom by Chinary Ung
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor

We had the distinct pleasure of attending two recent opera premieres, the World Premiere of Heresy in Dublin by Roger Doyle and the Met’s premiere of L’Amour de Loin by acclaimed composer Kaija Saariaho.

Both operas explore universal themes in strikingly different ways,  from  Doyle’s setting of the infamous heresy trial of Giordano Bruno, to   Saariaho’s mythic setting of idealized love.

We’ll hear from Eric Fraad,  the director of Heresy on what it’s like  to adapt to experimental music  and storytelling. We’ll also talk with  both composers and feature music  from the operas.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

At the Court of Elizabeth I Pt. 2 by Roger Doyle
Daire Halpin, soprano; Robert Crowe, male soprano

The Divine Sophia by Roger Doyle
Daire Halpin, soprano; Catriona O’Leary, mezzo soprano

L’Amour de Loin Overture by Kaija Saariaho
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Susanna Mälkki, conductor; Eric Owens, bass-baritone

The Cell – Hallucination by Roger Doyle
Iestyn Morris, counter tenor; Ahmad Alkaran, guest tenor; Caitriona O’Leary, mezzo soprano; Alex Smith, boy soprano

L’amour de Loin, Act II by Kaija Saariaho
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Susanna Mälkki, conductor; Susanna Phillips, soprano; Tamara Mumford, mezzo soprano

Death by Fire by Roger Doyle
Morgan Crowley, tenor

L’Amour de Loin, Act IV by Kaija Saariaho
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Susanna Mälkki, conductor; Susanna Phillips, soprano; Eric Owens, bass-baritone

L’Amour de Loin, Act V by Kaija Saariaho
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Susanna Mälkki, conductor; Susanna Phillips, soprano

With important commissions from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and  the New York Philharmonic among others, and a new and highly praised  album release, James Matheson has established a reputation as a composer  of finely tuned, individualistic music with wide ranging appeal.

We’ll chat with him about his career and play his music.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Chaconne by James Matheson

Caprice by James Matheson

Dance by James Matheson

Taught, Energetic by James Matheson

It’s a format as old as time: two guys sit down to play music and talk about it.

Soundward, a continuing collaboration between Relevant Tones and Q2  Music, features lively conversation, new releases from composers around  the globe and interesting new discoveries.

Hosted by Seth Boustead and Phil Kline
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Once relegated solely to the status of folk instrument, the accordion  is being used more and more by composers around the world in a stunning  variety of different musical contexts.

We’ll feature music for this storied instrument and talk to a few of the composers about how it inspired them.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

A Way Through by Jane O’Leary
Dermot Dunne, accordion; Madeleine Staunton, alto flute; Paul Roe, bass clarinet

Slow Motion by Toshio Hosokawa
Teodoro Anzellotti, accordion

Gate Keepers by Tomi Raisanen
Wu Wei, sheng; Pascal Contet, accordion

Glimmer by Richard Warp
Stas Venglevski, accordion

Metal Work by Magnus Lindberg
Sofia Ahjoniemi, accordion; Julien Mégroz, percussion

Recall by Per Norgard
Bjarke Mogensen, accordion; Danish National Chamber Orchestra; Rolf Gupta, conductor

For this exciting new series Relevant Tones is teaming up with Open G  Records and Access Contemporary Music to present a quarterly live  broadcast at Brooklyn’s hottest new venue National Sawdust.

Much of the music for this series will be programmed from an international ‘call for scores.’

Music

Squaring the Circle, by J Mark Scearce

Veil, by Seth Boustead

Umber Sepia, by Deirdre McKay

Three by Three, by Eric Nathan

Touching the Fog, by Agnieszka Stulginska

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now, by Alan Theisen

Book of Hours, mvts. 1 & 2, by Jeremy Gill

Performers:
Chris Grymes, clarinet and bass clarinet
Molly Morkoski, piano
Adelya Nartadjieva, violin
Suliman Tekalli, violin
Matthew Cohen, viola
James Kim, cello

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, who until very  recently made his home in Alaska, is far from the only composer to be  inspired by winter landscapes.

We’ll celebrate the season with music from around the world by composers inspired by winter.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Der Greise Kopf by Franz Schubert

Schnee by Hans Abrahamsen

Tundra Songs by Derek Charke

Lullaby by Derek Charke

Throat Song by Derek Charke

Winterlicht VIII by In-Sun Cho

Cercle du Nord III by Derek Charke

The Open House movement began in  the 1980’s in London as a  celebration of the city’s justifiably famous architecture but it was so  successful that it soon spread to more than 40 cities around the world.

For the last six years Access Contemporary Music has commissioned  composers to write music inspired by the spaces and put musicians in the  spaces to perform the music.

We’ll feature a wide range of music written for, and performed in, buildings in Chicago, Milwaukee and Barcelona.

For more videos of other ACM performances check out the website here.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the Gaudeamus Muziekwiek  is a powerhouse contemporary music festival showcasing young talent from  around the world.

The second of our two-part series will feature interviews and audio  from the established mentor composers at this year’s festival.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Yair Klartag
There’s no lack of void

Anthony Vine  
For Agnes Martin

Ruud Roelofsen
|<örperlich |||

Shih-Wei Lo
Things Hoped For

James O’Callaghan
Pre-Echo (after empties)

Seung-Won Oh
JungGa

Ton de Leeuw
Modal Music

Anthony Vine
Between Blue

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the festival, Gaudeamus  Muziekweek, in the Netherlands is a powerhouse contemporary music  festival showcasing young talent from around the world.

Every year the Gaudeamus Award is granted to a new music pioneer,  this year nominees include Giulio Colangelo, David Bird, James  O’Callaghan, Anthony Vine, and Shih-Wei Lo, all under the age of 30.

In this first of a two-part series we travel to Utrecht to feature music from the young composers chosen to take part this year.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Michel van der Aa
Up Close

David Bird
Drop

Giulio Colangelo
Organismo Aperto no 1

Stefano Scodanibbio
Voyage Started

Shih-Wei Lo
Madhye II

It’s quite common in academia, journalism and literature for two  authors to team up to write an article or book but significantly less so  in music.

Still, it does happen and the results are often fascinating.  Where  does one idea start and the other continue?  How do two composers work  together to write a seamless piece?

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

For more than thirty years, young composers have traveled to Holland  to worship at the altar of Louis Andriessen, perhaps most notably the  three composers from the storied collective Bang on a Can.

As a result Andriessen, and Bang on a Can themselves, have had an outsize influence on the music of our time.

We’ll feature Andriessen’s work and many of the composers who have made the pilgrimage.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Sarah Zwinklis

Music

Louis Andriessen
Workers Union

David Lang
Street

Steve Reich 
Music For 18 Musicians

Louis Andriessen
Hoketus

Oscar Bettison
O Death – Take leave of carnal vain delight

Missy Mazzoli
Cathedral City

Julia Wolfe
Mvmt IV: Flowers

Bryce Dressner
St. Carolyn By The Sea