Relevant Tones

There is perhaps no more intimate connection in music than when a   composer writes a solo piece specifically for a gifted performer,  crafting the piece for the player’s specific strengths and musical   tastes. We’ll talk with several performers about solos that have been   written for them and feature performances of the pieces recorded live in  our studio...

The second in our two-part series featuring composers and performers from Seoul, South Korea. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Eunwa Lee: Roadsound (excerpt) Sun-in Jung, piano Shinuh Lee: Chorale Fantasy No. 3 Hyojung Huh, piano Dong-Il Sheen: Fantasy on a Korean Fisherman’s Song for Korean traditional ensemble, violin, cello and piano Ensemble/Dong-il Sheen Cheonwook Kim: Des...

Relevant Tones goes in the field to this hotbed of contemporary   classical music- Seoul, South Korea- to discover emerging and   established composers. In part I we’ll chat with the composers and   showcase the dynamic music scene there. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Sue Hye Kim: Rendezvous I for Gayageum and Violoncello (excerpt) Hee Jung Kim,...

Our popular series profiling composers continues with Laura   Elise Schwendinger, an artist whose strongly personal style of music is filled with kinetic energy and slow-burning intensity. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Laura Elise Schwendinger: High Wire Act, V & IV Brightmusic Laura Elise Schwendinger: Chiaroscuro Azzurro for Violin and Chamber Orchestra Madis...

Large-scale sacred works might not be the first thing that comes to   mind when you think of contemporary music, but a number of important   composers are creating expansive works inspired by their concept of a   higher power. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters John Adams : When Herod Heard fr. El Niño Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Nagano; The...

More music from the vibrant inferno of creative energy that  is the  Mizzou International Composers Festival, featuring Alarm Will  Sound,  exciting works by faculty composers and a bundle of premieres,  concerts  and workshops. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Stephanie Berg : Ravish and Mayhem Alarm Will Sound Michael Lee Schachter : Five – Six –...

Fast becoming the go-to summer music festival in the Midwest, the   concerts and workshops at the University of Missouri’s International   Composers Festival are a sure-fire place to hear imaginative new music   from emerging composers. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters José Guillermo Martínez : Danzas Tórridas Alarm Will Sound/Alan Pierson Charlie...

One of the first composers to graduate from the Beijing Conservatory   upon its reopening after the Cultural Revolution and the winner of the   2011 Pulitzer Prize for his opera Madame White Snake, Zhou Long creates   thoughtful, spiritually-infused music that has resonated with  audiences  across the globe. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarte...

Percussionist Payton MacDonald calls Super Marimba the nexus point of   all of his artistic activities. Featuring influences from jazz and   classical to Hindustani and improvisational music, this is the marimba  as you’ve never heard it before. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Ravi Shankar: Raga Bhimpalasi Shankar, sitar Payton MacDonald: Jor Shawn Mat...

We had the fantastic opportunity to travel to  Wrocław, Poland to  attend the storied World Music Days festival, where we met a wealth of  Polish composers who are part of the living legacy of this vibrant  cultural mecca. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Krzysztof Penderecki: Violin Concerto No. 2, Metamorphosen, V (excerpt) London Symphony Orchestra/Pender...

We had the fantastic opportunity to travel to  Wrocław, Poland to  attend the storied World Music Days festival, where we met a wealth of  Polish composers who are part of the living legacy of this vibrant  cultural mecca. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Jacek Sotomski: beautiful to me. ah (excerpt) NFOM Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum/Ernst Kovacic; Rafał Łu...

We’re having a ball trying to keep up with our ever-expanding musical collection as composers and performers around the world joyously   overwhelm us with their creations. We’re consistently amazed by their  level of talent and artistry, and are thrilled this week to share it  with our listeners. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Greg Bowers: String Quartet N...

Legendary composer George Crumb created a unique, haunting sound   world that leaves an indelible impression upon anyone who hears it.  The   master turns 85 in October and we’ll celebrate with an entire show   dedicated to his music. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters George Crumb: Vox Balanae, I (excerpt) & finale eighth blackbird Crumb: “...

It takes fine craftsmanship to achieve a perfect partnership between   text and music in which neither element overshadows the other.  This   week, we’ll listen to a fascinating array of spoken word and music by   composers striving to achieve this symmetry. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Scott Johnson: How it Happens (The Voice of I.F. Ston...

Originally a German musical creation, Wandelweiser is a kind of   extreme minimalism that is fast becoming popular with composers around   the world.  We talk with two of its creators, Jürg Frey and Eva-Maria  Houben, about the phenomenal growth of this movement. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Jürg Frey: More or Less Normal a.pe.ri.od.ic Frey: 60...

Mystical Minimalist Arvo Pärt is one of the most significant  composers in the 20th and 21st centuries, and in this program we’ll  travel across the Baltic to Estonia to visit his musical homeland and  talk with those curating his music. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel (rehearsal excerpt + concert performance) Johannes Peeter Sarapu...

The ultimate instrumental showcase, the concerto has inspired  composers to torture performers for hundreds of years, relentlessly  pushing their physical capabilities. Now that performers have virtually  no limits on their technique, how are composers innovating this storied  form? Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Kimmo Hakola: Concerto for Clarinet and Orc...

A big trend in the 2000’s saw contemporary music ensembles   commissioning composers not to write new pieces for them but to arrange   music by pop artists. We’ll listen to music from two such collaborations: Alarm Will Sound  performing arrangements of electronic musician Aphex Twin and Osso  Quartet’s arrangements of indie pop superstar Sufjan Stevens. Hosted by Set...

Part II of our field trip to Finland features more interviews and   performances of music by leading and emerging composers from this   incredible musical hotbed. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Magnus Lindberg : Kraft (excerpt) Toimii Ensemble/Esa-Pekka Salonen Sebastian Fagerlund : Isola, II Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Dima Slobodeniouk Juhani Nuorvala...

The latest installment of In the Field brings us to a country that  has  exported a dizzying list of big name composers and conductors in  the  last couple of decades: Finland. We’ll talk with established composers  and rising stars about their music and the lasting influence of the  Sibelius Academy. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Kaija Saariaho...

For many years the composer-in-residence with the NY Philharmonic, Christopher Rouse combines neoromanticism with hard driving, rock-inspired rhythms to create a fascinating musical style all his own. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Christopher Rouse: Iscariot Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert Rouse: Phaethon Houston Symphony Orchestra/Eschenbach Rouse: Symphony No. 4...

The Contemporary Music Centre in Ireland is one of the world’s   foremost models of government support for composers, with dozens of   composers receiving financial support, commissions and travel grants. We   plunge into the incredible wealth of music created by this program. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters PLAYLIST Donnacha Dennehy: “He Wishes H...

One of the world’s most famous new music festivals has been held in   Darmstadt since 1946. We’ll trace the festival from its beginnings   through modern times and feature some of the seminal works that were   premiered there. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters PLAYLIST Stockhausen: Kreuzspiel (excerpt) Alfred Schweinfurter, oboe; Wolfgang Marx, bass...

One of America’s most acclaimed and versatile contemporary music   pianists, performance artist and keyboardist Kathleen Supové is known  for breaking boundaries between audience and performer and for her   multimedia performances as the “Exploding Piano.” Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Jesse McQuarters Randall Woolf: Adrenalin Revival, III & II Kathleen Supové, p...

John Adams : 5 Pages from John’s Book of Alleged Dances I- Judah to Ocean Yousif Sheronick , percussion; Lark Quartet , strings (Deborah Buck, Violin 1; Basia Danilow, Violin 2; Kathryn Lockwood, Viola; Caroline Stinson, Cello) Ronald Roxbury : Goodbye My Fancy Patrick Mason , baritone; Susan Palma , flute; David Starobin , guitar Shulamit Ran : Mirage The Da Capo Chamber Players : Patricia Spence...