music/Maker with Tyler Kline

Content note: This episode briefly touches on suicidal ideation and sexual assault. On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Lillian Yee . San Francisco Bay Area-based Lillian Yee (余慧森) has built a creative practice that resists easy categorization. Her music has been performed internationally across Australia, Finland,...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer, performer, installation artist, and educator Rob Funkhouser . Based in Indianapolis, Rob Funkhouser builds instruments out of metal mixing bowls, copper pipe, plywood, glass rods, and whatever else is at hand — and then writes music for them. His work engages ideas of place, memory, and pattern, and interrogates assum...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer, performer, and educator Brittany J. Green . Brittany's music works to create intimate, collaborative musical spaces at the intersection of sound, video, movement, and text — described by the Washington Post as "a creative force of attention-seizing versatility" and by the Chicago Classical Review as "cinematic in the...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Mendel Lee . New Orleans-based composer, artistic entrepreneur, VCCA Fellow, and NPN Take Notice Fund grantee, Mendel Lee has built a creative practice that moves fluidly between writing music and building the infrastructure to support it. Since leaving his long tenure as Assistant Director of Tulane Bands in 2022, he...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Dai Fujikura . Born in Osaka and based in London since moving to the UK at fifteen, Dai Fujikura is one of the most prolific and wide-ranging composers working today. Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, the Ivor Novello and Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, and the Paul Hindemith Prize, among many others...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Shuying Li . Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as "vivid, dramatic" and described by The Seattle Times as "a real talent," Shuying Li writes bold, emotionally charged music that blends rich colors with compelling storytelling. Originally from China, she began her training at the Shanghai Conservatory before earnin...

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by guitarist and composer Jessica Ackerley. Described by Wire Magazine as "one of the most exciting guitarists to have emerged from the free music scene in recent years," Jessica Ackerley has built a distinctive voice across 25 releases as a bandleader and co-leader, working with labels such as Innova, AKP Recordings, and 577 Reco...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer Nicky Sohn . Nicky's music is jazz-inflected and rhythmically driven, with vivid, colorful orchestration that tends to win over a room. Her work spans orchestral, chamber, ballet, and vocal repertoire, and has been performed by the St. Louis Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Korea, and many...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by Christopher Stark . Christopher’s music is deeply rooted in the landscapes of the American West, shaped by his upbringing in rural Montana and informed by a sensitivity to sound, space, and place. A Guggenheim Fellow and Rome Prize recipient, his work has been performed by ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Alar...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer, performer, vocalist, and producer Anuj Bhutani . Described by PATRON Magazine as “a force multiplier with more talents than time,” Anuj creates music that moves between visceral grooves, meditative textures, narrative depth, and a fluid mix of acoustic and electronic sound. A first-generation Indian American, his wor...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer, violist, and educator Kurt Rohde (they/he). Kurt lives and works in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land. Their practice is animated by the question of how “failure” and “catastrophe” can be folded into the pursuit of beauty. They serve as Artistic Advisor with Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Artistic Director...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer–pianist–choreographer Sugar Vendil , an interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn). Beginning as a classical pianist, Sugar spent nearly a decade honing her voice; today her kinesthetic, improvisatory practice integrates sound, movement, and theater. She writes and performs solo works for piano and elec...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer and avant-folk vocalist Annika Socolofsky . Annika’s music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice, moving between orchestral works, folk ballads, and unabashed Dolly Parton covers. Her “feminist rager-lullabies” reclaim lullaby texts for a new queer era, and she’s written for ensembles including Eighth Blac...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer Michael Frazier . Michael is a Black and Latino composer whose work blends jazz, birdsong, hip-hop, and improvisation into a musical language rich in harmony, gesture, and emotional depth. His music has been performed by ensembles including Strings & Hammers, OSSIA New Music, Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, a...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer and pianist Beyza Yazgan . Beyza is a Turkish pianist, composer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work blends her cultural roots with global influences, improvisation, and visual storytelling. Her 2024 album Human Cocoon was selected as The Guardian’s contemporary album of the month, and she continues to expand her...

On this episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by functional potter, educator, and Atmospheric Artist-in-Residence at Queen City Clay, Sinclaire Marie . A visual artist turned ceramicist, Sinclaire’s practice centers atmospheric firing (wood, soda, raku), functional forms, and a tactile language of texture, intention, and use. Based at Queen City Clay in Norwood, one of the count...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer Charly Daniels . Charly Daniels is a Mexican composer based in Mexico City whose work spans orchestral and chamber music, film, dance, and symphonic band. His music has been performed both nationally and internationally by groups such as the Mexico City Woodwind Quintet, Arizona Woodwind Quintet, Borderlands Ensemble,...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by Italian-Colombian composer and producer Caterina Schembri . Caterina is based in Dublin, Ireland, where her music traverses harmonic exploration, literary inspiration, multidisciplinary intersections, and symbolic meaning. She recently released her debut album Sea Salt & Turpentine on Ergodos, and her works have been perfo...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer Nicolás Lell Benavides . Nicolás is a 2024–25 Guggenheim Fellow whose music has been commissioned by the LA Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, West Edge Opera, and many more. His work spans opera, orchestral, and chamber music, often drawing on cultural history, folk storytelling, and regional memo...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by Canadian-American composer and organist Graeme Shields. Graeme’s work blends elements of the Lutheran music tradition, the avant-garde, and old-world folk influences, often infusing humor, repetition, and audible process into his music. He is also the co-founder of the Vital Organ Project, a nonprofit promoting new music for t...

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by composer and pianist Yue Song . Yue Song is a Chinese composer and pianist based in Dublin, Ireland. Her music spans opera, orchestra, chamber, choral, and electronic works, and has been performed internationally by ensembles such as Crash Ensemble, ConTempo Quartet, Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, and the National Symphony Orchest...

On this edition of music/Maker with Tyler Kline , Tyler is joined by C. Jacqueline Wood. Filmmaker and visual artist C. Jacqueline Wood creates intimate, deeply personal work across moving image, installation, and documentary forms. Her work has screened nationally, including at the Athens International Film and Video Festival, and she was the founder of The Mini Microcinema — a non-profit space d...

On this edition of music/Maker with Tyler Kline : Composer Marc Mellits is one of the most frequently performed living American composers, known for his rhythmically vibrant, vividly orchestrated, and viscerally engaging music. His works have been commissioned by Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and many more, and are performed around the world. In this e...

Season 2 of music/Maker with Tyler Kline kicks off with another solo episode, where Tyler reflects on his own creative practice and artistic journey. This time, he turns the tables on himself and answers the same questions he usually asks his guests: What is your first artistic memory? What are the pillars of your creative practice? What artistic artifacts changed your creative world? Tyler explor...

music/Maker is back for Season 2 — a podcast featuring longform, unfiltered conversations with composers and other artists about how they think, how they work, and how they live. Hosted by composer Tyler Kline, the show dives into the heart of creative practice, exploring craft and process, philosophy and inspiration, and the honest, often messy parts of being an artist — from uncertainty and doub...