Contemporary Classical Music Podcast
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 Six Dickinson Poems by Emily Lau - Performed by: Maren Montalbano, mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth Huston, harp and Rebecca Harris, violin Harmonium mvmt II As … Continue reading #299 Homage to Emily Dickinson
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. MUSIC Escape by Trevor Patricia Watkin film by Daniel Lugo The Ephemeral Orphanage by Natasha … Continue reading #298 Sound of Silent Film Festival 2021
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. MUSIC Overseer (Part 2) Carrying Overseer (Part … Continue reading #297 M Lamar
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. MUSIC Otto Luening: First Fantasia for Solo Violin - Performed by Taylor Giorgio, violin Glenn … Continue reading #296 Shelter Music
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. MUSIC El Jardin de Senderos que … Continue reading #295 New Focus Recordings Part II
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. MUSIC Shard by Elliot Carter - Performed … Continue reading #294 New Focus Recordings Part I
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 … Continue reading #293 Alex Shapiro
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 Drift Motes by Jamie Evans … Continue reading #292 Adam Marks
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 Concubine by Converge - arranged by Earl Maneein - Performed by Seven Suns Yama by Earl Maneein - Performed by Seven Suns Uncomfortable Poetics by Gene Pritsker - … Continue reading #291 Heavy Metal String Quartets
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. MUSIC Still Life (mvmt 3) by Elena Kats-Chernin - Performed by Stephen Emmerson, piano and Patricia … Continue reading #290 Still Life