Music Crush with FNMC

Polish flutist Alicia Molitorys speaks with us today about how she got interested in new music despite the lack of early support, the amazing and unique perspective of growing up in Poland and then studying in the West as a young adult, and fills us in a little bit on one of her latest projects, “Dark Sky” with composer Allison Ogden. We got interested in Alicja’s work after she applied to perform...

In the lead-up to FNMC’s New Music Festival, we caught up with composer Brandon Nelson , whose music for Triage Woodwinds will be featured in a concert there. He discusses the wealth of opportunities that can result from growing up in a small town, the adventure of learning how to play recorder as an adult, and the very modern experience of meeting collaborators on Twitter. Living in an isolated p...

Elizabeth and Nicole are getting ready for FNMC’s New Music Festival! Today they talk about how proposals were selected for this festival, and perhaps it’ll provide a new perspective for people who propose in the future, and to other conferences/festivals as well. So if you’ve ever been rejected from a festival, we’ve been there too, and we’ve got some tips! Elizabeth’s hair looks great, by the wa...

 Self-proclaimed “all-purpose nerd” Linda Antas is a composer, arts technologist, flutist, and educator on the faculty at Montana State University. Her current research involves audiovisual works, real-time signal processing, sonification, and physical computing. Today, she shares her thoughts on walking in the woods, meditation, and keeping your hands on your instrument whether or not you’re perf...

This one’s not about new music, folks. Nicole is processing the hard truths on Katherine Needleman’s Facebook and confronting her own accidental complicity in the past, while Elizabeth reminds us of some various cultural phenomena proving that the 90s wasn’t as great for women as we thought back then. And yes, a certain flutist fellow does come up. What do you do, as the grown-up in the room, when...

Composer and author Dale Trumbore discusses her book, Staying Composed: Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Doubt Within a Creative Life and shares some of her philosophies, including seeing the music she writes as a memoir, embracing the suckitude in the creative process, vaccinating yourself against meanness, and applying the Girl Scout motto to her work. We adored our time with her and know you will to...

Picking up from our previous conversation, Elizabeth opens with a story about her feminist radicalization (just kidding–there is no such thing) and small world, Alex was there too! Alex explains how she left the rat race of SoCal for a tiny island off Washington state, describes composition as improvising in slow motion and reminds us that it’s always worth being kind. Enter some shared wise words...

Celebrated composer and author Alex Shapiro and Nicole trip down memory lane recalling Alex’s residency at University of Wyoming, and Nicole asks “what do you get out of it?” Alex describes being an extroverted introvert, the “warm fuzzies” she gets from her composer community. Nicole mentions the weirdness of being a woman. Elizabeth, Alex, and Nicole also deconstruct bro culture and conclude tha...

Jacob Thiede is a composer and saxophonist from Murray, Kentucky, where the smell of tobacco barns and honeysuckle fill the air. He holds a PhD in Music Composition from the University of North Texas and currently finds himself as a financial advisor for TIAA. Today, Jake chats about his compositional experiments with white noise, the relationship between music and light, and his application of ri...

College freshman Christian Yom , winner of FNMC’s 2023 Composition Competition for his chamber piece Sansori , was kind enough to talk to these two middle-aged ladies today about his love for Korean food and traditional music, Ravel, and lifelong learning. He encouraged us to dream big, take risks, and appreciate rejection as a part of the learning process.  https://www.christianyom.com/ Sansori:...

Kian Ravaei , winner of the 2023 FNMC Composition Competition with his EDM-inspired flute + electronics piece, Ecstasies , chats with us today about his composer warm-ups, a delightful-sounding rejection letter group chat, and his latest project combining traditional Persian and Jewish musics, plus a primer on DJ life and the many iterations of EDM. Kian Ravaei .com  Kayhan Kalhor: kayhankalhor.ne...

Today, Elizabeth and Nicole are having cocktails with composer Joseph Hallman, who is splitting his time between his hometown of Philadelphia and Miami these days. Between sips, he catches us up on how he survived the pandemic, explores his extensive catalog of compositional gifts, and shares some very generous thoughts on dealing with anxiety and growing older and wiser. http://www.josephhallman....

Get to know Zara Lawler , aka The Flute on Its Feet, in this amazing chat featuring tales of serendipity, the porousness of her artistic boundaries, and a mini-history of the dancing flutist! With projects ranging from farm concerts in rural Massachusetts to choreographing the Bach B minor Suite in New York City, this fascinating conversation will provide you with the most perfect, midweek creativ...

Flutist-composer Tim Hagen discusses the personal “sonic encyclopedia” that guides his performance style, explains why all performers should compose, and encourages us to explore our “why” in a carefully crafted mission statement. We think his dream collaborations will surprise and inspire you, and there’s a great sneak peek at his upcoming projects (oh so many!) along with his favorite advice fro...

Today, Elizabeth and Nicole get some much-needed, soul-searching inspiration from composer Carter Pann . We talk about the value of not being perfect in your youth, the complicated beauty of embracing identity in your work, and Carter shares some great advice about ways to stay curious for adventurers of all ages. Trigger warning: we may or may not dunk on social media.  https://www.carterpann.com...

Composer KEVIN DAY is a winner of the BMI Student Composer Award, a three-time finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, and was shortlisted for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize, and he’s not yet 30. Today the young professor and composer-about-town talks about his family musical legacy, juggling the beginning of an academic career while finishing his student days with a bang (his DMA disse...

Ever wonder how FNMC’s Composition Competition came into existence? Today Nicole talks with Elizabeth, who runs the competition, about how we determine categories, choose finalists, and the elements of the competition that perhaps make it most uniquely FNMC: our commitment to repeatedly programming winning pieces, and the membership vote that drives the whole shebang. Composers looking to learn mo...

Composer and University of Florida professor Paul Richards likes a big canvas! Today he chats with Elizabeth and Nicole about the limitlessness of the recording studio, reimaging his classical works as prog rock music for his album, Rough Translations , and elaborates on one of his guiding principles as an artist: “The world doesn’t need more beautiful things, but rather an expanded concept of wha...

Elizabeth and Nicole discuss their experiences attending new music festivals (with heavy–and admiring–emphasis on New Music Gathering) and explain their own process in programming FNMC’s New Music Festival. There are some great tips here for developing winning proposals, as well as a reveal of our upcoming NMF dates!

This conversation with flutist, composer, and educator MELISSA KEELING is like your daily dose of OM. Today, she chats with Nicole and Elizabeth about her world-altering move from the South to New York City to study with Robert Dick, the value of establishing authentic relationships in the business (saying it louder for the people in the back), and she encourages us to embrace the F Word (FUN)! Li...

Deep Listening® Facilitator, flutist, composer, and scholar JANE RIGLER joins us today to walk us through a Deep listening session, share the fascinations of living abroad, and drop some sneaky advice on making yourself indispensable in the workplace. Jane calls herself a storyteller and a connector; we would like to humbly add brilliant philosopher to that list. Referenced inspirations: Pauline O...

Trailer for Season 2

ANNE GUZZO, composer and creator/director of The Wyoming Festival: New Music in the Mountains, talks with us today about creating music to teach us about our responsibilities to the planet, making art music meaningful through the personal, and breaking down barriers in the classical arts. She also shares some insights on her recent break with academia and explores her experiences as a woman, and a...

MEGAN IHNEN , a genuine American treasure, joins us today and we all marvel over the magic of internet relationships, namely the coaching she’s done with Elizabeth! Megan has some sage advice that she’s developed from her years as a career coach and an admirable ability to juggle coaching, commissioning, and performing. Elizabeth takes us through her coaching experience with Megan (a bit of a coac...

JENNIFER PIAZZA-PICK is currently Assistant Professor of Music (Voice) at Queens University of Charlotte. She regularly performs vocal chamber music and co-founded the chamber ensemble Whistling Hens, a soprano-clarinet duo which champions music by women composers. Their first album, Reacting to the Landscape, features the works of 7 living American women composers. Today Jennifer shares her later...