Seth Boustead and producer, Sarah Zwinklis are travelling to Knoxville, Tennessee. Regarded as one of the most unique, boundary-defying and eagerly anticipated cultural gatherings in the world – “a music festival with a rare vision” (The New York Times) – Big Ears Festival returns in 2018 with perhaps its most multi-faceted and diverse line up to date. Spanning four days …
In The Field: Big Ears
In the Field: Big Ears Festival
Seth Boustead and producer, Sarah Zwinklis are traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee. Regarded as one of the most unique, boundary-defying and eagerly anticipated cultural gatherings in the world – “a music festival with a rare vision” (The New York Times) – Big Ears Festival returns in 2018 with perhaps its most multi-faceted and diverse line up to date. Spanning four days …
Playlist
In the Light of Air, by Anna Þorvaldsdóttir
International Contemporary Ensemble
Griff, by Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck & Brooklyn Rider
Cheating, Lying, Stealing, by David Lang
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Flowers for Prashant, by Tyshawn Sorey
Tyshawn Trio
Composer Spotlight: Alvin Singleton
Critic Kyle Gann says “Singleton’s music is soulful, with an understated simplicity that I particularly prize. Despite the studied economy of his means and the set character of his images, the music is never cold … nor abstract. It glows with warmth.” We’ll feature Singleton’s music on our next Composer Spotlight.
Playlist
Jasper Drag
Ted Gurch, clarinet; Helen Hwaya Kim, viloin; Laura Gordy, piano
After Fallen Crumbs
Atlanta Symphony; Louis Lane, conductor
Argoru Va
Ted Burch, bass clarinet
Sweet Charlottle
Doug O’Connor, sax; Angel Hsiao, flute; Julietta Curenton, flute; Harrison Hollingsworth, bassoon; Lionel Cottet, cello
In My Own Skin
Laura Gordy, piano
How food and friendship inspired a Chicago musician to compose again
Longtime friends, musician Frank Orrall (Poi Dog Pondering and Thievery Corporation) and chef John Manion have inspired and shared each other’s passion for music and cooking. And one of their favorite subjects to talk about is the relationship between these two art forms.
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Look + Listen Festival
Relevant Tones is proud to partner with The Look + Listen Festival, an annual event dedicated to presenting contemporary music in contemporary art galleries like Pratt Manhattan Gallery, Brooklyn’s BRIC House and The Studio Museum in Harlem. The festival seeks to expand and engage audiences of 20th and 21st music by providing a unique opportunity to simultaneously experience new music …
Playlist
Spero Lucem, by Nina Young
Ensemble Échappé
Springs, by Paul Lansky
Sō Percussion
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, by Žibuoklė Martinaitytė
Yarn/Wire
Tuning Meditation, by Pauline Oliveros
Phyllis Chen, piano
Deep Thought Music, by Craig Harris
The Saints and Aints Brass Choir
Dealer’s Choice
Great music is a game of expertise, luck, and chance. Seth deals out a playlist of great music including David Maslanka and discusses why it’s a winner in this year’s Dealer’s Choice.
Playlist
A Child’s Garden of Dreams, by David Maslanka
Illinois State University Wind Symphony; Stephen K. Steele, conductor
Shadow Light, by Elena Ruehr
New Orchestra for Washington; Marcus Thompson, viola
The Glass Bead Game; Mvmt III. The Glass Bead Game (Fantasia), by Claude Baker
St. Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
The Shaman, by Vincent Ho
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor; Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion
Elastic Band; Mvmt II. Pure Happenchance, by Joel Philip Freidman
New Orchestra for Washington
Composer Spotlight: Javier Alvarez
Mexican composer Javier Alvarez uses his travels to create eclectic electroacoustic works using influences from Mexico to Cuba, the Caribbean to Korea. Composer John Adams said the music of Alvarez “reveals influences of popular cultures that go beyond the borders of our own time and place.”
Playlist
Jardines con Palmera
I. Jardín de la estela de madera
II. Jardín del sueño de Magali
Florent Jodelet, Orchestre Nationale de France & Didier Benetti
Offrande
I. Mains aux oiseaux
IV. Delfín herido de muerte
Tambuco, ensamble de percusiones, Ricardo Gallardo and Alfredo Bringas
Geometría Foliada
I. De mis días en el campo
II. Otoño pentagonal
III. Puntos en Eje
IV. Un primer hola para un último adiós
V. Memorias futuras. Cuarteto
José White, José Areán and Orquesta Sinfónica del Palacio de Minería
Azul
The ever-busy New York-based chamber orchestra The Knights has worked with some of the top composers and musicians in the world including Osvaldo Golijov on a stunning new release of his large scale symphonic work, Azul. The piece draws on several world music traditions as do the other pieces on the album. We talked to founding violinist and composer Colin …
Playlist
Ascending Bird, by Siamak Aghaei & Colin Jacobsen
The Knights
Azul: I. Paz Sulfúrica, II. Silencio, by Osvaldo Golijov
The Knights
Azul: III. Transit, IV. Yrushalem, by Osvaldo Golijov
The Knights
Shulamit Ran
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran crafts music of an intimately personal nature, making her one of the most often performed composers of her generation. We’ll talk with Shulamit about her music, the Contempo music series, and her legacy at the University of Chicago, where she was a highly regarded professor for many years.
Playlist
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, by Shulamit Ran
BBC Concert Orchestra; Charles Hazlewood, conductor; Ittai Shapiro, violin
Legends, by Shulamit Ran
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
Credo/Ani Ma’amin, by Shulamit Ran
Chanticleer
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, by Shulamit Ran
BBC Concert Orchestra; Charles Hazlewood, conductor; Ittai Shapiro, violin
Mirage, by Shulamit Ran
Da Capo Chamber Player
Composers Among Us: Nicole Lizée
JUNO-nominated composer Nicole Lizée creates new music from an eclectic mix of influences including the earliest MTV videos, turntablism, rave culture, Hitchcock, Kubrick, 1960s psychedelia and 1960s modernism. She is fascinated by the glitches made by outmoded and well-worn technology and captures these glitches, notates them and integrates them into live performance. Nicole’s compositions range from works for orchestra and …
Playlist
All works composed by Nicole Lizée
Bookburners
Stéphane Tétreault, cello; Paolo Kapunan [DJ Love], Turntables
Death to Kosmische*
Kronos Quartet
*Recorded by New York Public Radio’s New Sounds at The Greene Space
White Label Experiment
Sō Percussion; Nicole Lizée, turntables & omnichord
Hitchcock Études
Megumi Masaki, piano & background vocals