Contemporary Classical Music Podcast
The opening night of the Relevant Tones Tenth Anniversary Festival featured an exciting multi-media concert of music inspired by Rube Goldberg machines. We were joined by Rube's granddaughter Jennifer George who is also the director of the Rube Goldberg Institute, and an all-star roster of musicians for an unforgettable evening. MUSIC Rube G. by Frank … Continue reading #312 Useless Machines
We feature three works that recast age-old myths from a woman's perspective. Milica Paranosic's Penelope and the Geese reimagines the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view. We talk with her about the opera and feature three key scenes. And Marisa Michelson's Naama's Ark tells the flood myth from the perspective of Noah's wife and Salvatore … Continue reading #306 Feminist Retellings of Myth
A palimpsest is a manuscript whose original text has been scraped or washed away and overwritten with a new one, often many times over. The original text is still present but visible only in fragments. This concept has inspired composers to overlay music in similar ways to fascinating effect. We feature a small sample of … Continue reading #305 Palimpsests
Access Contemporary Music's Sonic Walkabout is a fun way to explore a neighborhood and see and hear it as never before. ACM commissioned composers to write music inspired by historic and cultural sites in Chicago's Wicker Park and Lakeview neighborhoods and combined their musical creations with narrative storytelling. MUSIC Fountain by Amy Wurtz Polish Triangle … Continue reading #303 Sonic Walkabout 2021
They're on 60 Minutes, they're in the New York Times, they're the subject of an eagerly awaited report to Congress. UFOs haven't been this hot since the '90's. We feature music inspired by these celestial mysteries. MUSIC UFO by Michael Daugherty Inside UFO 53-32 by Katherine Young Spaceship by Philip Glass
In honor of Children's Day in the US we feature music written for and by kids of all ages. Concept and research by Stephen Anthony Rawson, hosted by Seth Boustead. MUSIC Children of Light by Karen Tanaka mvmts 3,5 and 7 performed by Signe Bakke Three Heavens and Hells by Meredith Monk mvmt 3, Things … Continue reading #301 Songs for Children
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
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