Contemporary Classical Music Podcast
Esteemed composer Bernard Rands has passed away, a huge loss to our musical community. We honor his memory by re-airing this interview with host Seth Boustead from September 2017. Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Bernard Rands reflects on a remarkable career spanning more than a hundred published works and recordings. In this conversation with Relevant Tones, he … Continue reading In Memorium: Bernard Rands
Host Austin Williams and composer guest Neil Quigley chat about Neil’s music and its relationship to speculative history. Neil explains how his relationship to the Kilkenny Electroacoustic Research Laboratory is largely based in that practice. Among many other projects Neil created this love letter to his hometown and lans to wrap up the anthology in the … Continue reading #471 Neil Quigley
Chiayu Hsu is an active composer of contemporary concert music and associate professor of composition at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Born in Banciao, Taiwan, Chiayu frequently explores ideas of cultural fusion. She derives inspiration from places, poems, myths, and images. Particularly, the combination of Chinese elements and western techniques is a hallmark of her … Continue reading #465 Chiayu Hsu
Yuval Noah Harari’s breathtakingly expansive book Sapiens is a monumental achievement that comprehensively summarizes human history, behavior and thought from primordial times to today. The book is also the inspiration for a 50-minute piano work by composer Sean Hickey recorded by pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev on Sono Luminus records and available on March 14, 2025. Host … Continue reading #458 Sean Hickey – sapiens
Shara Nova is a composer, vocalist, and producer currently creating from Detroit, Michigan. Shara has released six albums under the moniker My Brightest Diamond and has composed works for The Crossing, Conspirare, yMusic, Brooklyn Rider, Roomful of Teeth, Aarhus Symfoni, and American Composers Orchestra among many others. In 2024 she starred in the Tony Award … Continue reading #457 Shara nova
Tobias Picker is a celebrated American composer of operas and orchestral music called by BBC magazine "one of the most consistently interesting among the present generation of US theatre composers." Seth Boustead talks with him about three of his seminal operas, Awakenings, Lili Elbe and Fantastic Mr. Fox. MUSIC Awakenings Act 1 Scene 2 - … Continue reading #448 Tobias picker
Host Austin Williams speaks with composer and theorist Reiko Futing about his latest album brokenSong. Austin and Dr. Futing had some pointed conversation regarding post modern thought and the use of existing materials. You may even hear Austin's brain expanding as Dr. Futing imbues some incredibly powerful knowledge regarding his process and compositions. Congrats to … Continue reading #446 Reiko futing
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. Crowell follows a contemplative first movement with an … Continue reading #442 David Crowell
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 … Continue reading #441 Erin Rogers
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. Elori speaks about their time on Madeline Island, an island in the middle of Lake Superior and the juxtaposition of being … Continue reading #440 Elori saxl