Classical Classroom

"When somebody shows you who they are, believe them."

That's one of cellist Amanda Gookin's favorite quotes. And through the Forward Music Project, she's decided to show people who she is, and who women and girls are. Learn Amanda's story (which includes many digressions from, and returns to, the classical music world), and learn why she decided to aim all of her disparate passions at one target. Hear the innovate pieces that she's commissioned in what she calls a "giving project," which seeks not only to bring awareness to causes that benefit women and girls, but to donate money to those causes.

Music in this episode (all from the Forward Music Project):

• "For Edna," by Leila Adu
• "Stray Sods," by Amanda Feery
• "Swerve," by Jessica Meyer
• "Memories lie dormant: they are reviled before they are revealed," by Morgan Krauss

Audio production by Todd "Take 5" Hulslander with pick up sticks by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio. Thanks much to George Heathco for the use of his music in our intro!

Happy birthday, Rachmaninov!

Because Rachmaninov's birthday and our Spring Break lined up so nicely, it's obviously the perfect opportunity to repeat this episode. Back next week with more of the usual (i.e., heavy metal car racing stories with lots of explosions).

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein's gives an introduction to the music of Sergey Rachmaninov. Who was this romantic man, and what makes him different from all the other guys – I mean, composers? Weilerstein walks us through Rachmaninov's Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano. Plus, she talks about her musical relationship with performing partner, pianist Inon Barnatan, and what it's like to be part of a long-term creative duo.

Music in this episode is all from Weilerstein and Barnatan's CD, Chopin and Rachmaninov Cello Sonatas:

• Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Opus 19. Sergey Rachmaninov.

Audio production by Todd "Toight like a toiger" Hulslander with grrrr aargh's from Dacia Clay and editing by Mark DiClaudio.

If you enjoyed this episode with Alisa Weilerstein, check out her other Classical Classroom episode – all about the Aspen Music Festival and playing solo cello.

For starters, this episode was recorded on Groundhog's Day. Which is pretty perfect considering that this is the second time we've had the Cypress String Quartet on the show to talk about a "final" recording. Cypress cellist Jennifer Kloetzel swears that this really is the quartet's final final recording and assures us that this is not just a clever publicity gimmick. (Although for the record, if it was, we would gladly play along.) Kloetzel tells us why, for their final final recording, the group went with a composer they'd never recorded before (Brahms), why they recorded the album live in front of a studio audience, and why they played as a sextet rather than a quartet. Also discussed: whether or not one has to have Jedi training to record at Skywalker Sound, and whether Jennifer and Zuill Bailey had a cello battle in the studio.

All music in this episode from the Cypress String Quartet's Brahms: String Sextets Op.18 and Op.36.

Audio production by Todd "Marmot" Hulslander with shadow-siting by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

It all started because Tom Steenlandreally dug the music of composer Tod Dockstader. He wanted the rest of the world to hear it, too. And so began the (thus far) 25-year DIY project born out of Steenland's passion for innovative sound that is Starkland Records, a label that specializes in experimental music, alternative classical, and the avant-garde. Since the label started in 1991 (AKA, the Year Punk Broke), Steenland has almost single-handedly propelled Starkland's motor, doing the bulk of the work for the label himself, including the minutiae like graphic design. And, to top all of that, Starkland is a non-profit label and has worked directly with nearly 100 composers. Learn about this unicorn among labels in our Classical Classroom MusicWorks story.

Music in this episode from Starkland, including music by Tod Dockstader, Phillip Bimstein, and more.

Audio production by Todd "Dockstader" Hulslander with robot sounds from Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio. Thanks muchly to composer George Heathco for the use of his music in our MusicWorks intro!

Collaborative pianist Madeline Slettedahl came to the Classical Classroom to describe the nuances of her trade. What's it like to play one instrument that's sometimes a stand-in for a whole orchestra? How is playing piano with a vocalist different than playing with an instrumentalist? Doesn't she like the glory of playing solo piano better? And why can't we call her an "accompanist" anymore? Madeline graciously answers all of our ridiculous questions and more. Also included: lots of fun and lots of made up words.

By the way, Madeline and baritone Ben Lowe recently won the The Music Academy of the West's 2016 Marilyn Horne Song Competition. As part of their winnings, they're kicking off a nationwide tour that starts in March and includes Houston! Stay tuned to our social media for more information.

Audio production by Todd "Toxic" Hulslander with hungry eyes from Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

All of us have heard spirituals before – those sometimes jubilant, sometimes sorrowful songs created by African American slaves. But have you really heardthem? As it turns out, these deceptively simple songs sometimes carried hidden messages, signals, and directions. Dr. Jason Oby, artistic director of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, teaches all about this ingenious and soulful musical invention that was born out of oppression and necessity. He also talks about the spiritual's connection to classical music, and the music of Roland Carter, who, among many things, arranges spirituals.

Music in this episode:

• "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," feat. Jason Oby and Moses Hogan (piano)
• "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," feat. Jessye Norman
• "Lift Every Voice and Sing," arranged by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, feat. Roland Carter
• "Hold Fast to Dreams," by Roland Carter

Audio production by Todd "Telekinesis" Hulslander with levitation from Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

To learn more about the Houston Ebony Opera Guild and their performances – including their upcoming Annual African American Music Gala celebrating the work (and birthday!) of Maestro Roland Carter – check out their website.

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Spoon boy: There is no spoon.

Neo: There is no spoon?

Spoon boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends; it is only yourself.

– from The Matrix

Dr. George E. Lewis is the Neo of the classical music Matrix. He doesn't have a great deal of use for preconceived notions of genre and form and he doesn't have a lot of time to worry about definitions. That's because he's pretty darn busy making music and art. In addition to chairing the Composition Area at Columbia University, he's a composer, an electronic performer, an installation artist, a trombone player and a scholar. In this episode of Classical Classroom, Dr. Lewis pauses for a moment to talk about his experimental classical music, and about what he's been doing at Rice University with the James Turrell Sky Space using the things Houston is best known for: its crazy weather and its diverse people.

Music in this episode :

• "Anthem" performed by Wet Ink Ensemble from Relay, by George Lewis
• "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" by James Brown from Sex Machine (live at Bell Auditorium, Augusta, Georgia)

Audio production by Todd "Typical Todd" Hulslander with digitization by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

By the way, in this episode, Dr. Lewis talks about an art installation that he worked on with artist Carroll Parrott Blue for the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston called Whispering Bayou. Among the many cool things about this piece, in it, Lewis and Blue used recordings of Houstonians representing many of the 145 languages that are spoken in the city. Learn more here in this short video from Houston Public Media's Arts InSight.

Liszt's Transcendental Études are such popular pieces that pianists Kirill Gerstein and Daniil Trifonov put out recordings of them within a month of each other during 2016. Which made Classical Classroom ask, "What's with the étude, dude?" In this episode, Gerstein teaches what an étude is, and why Liszt's are "transcendental," using lots of skiing metaphors. Also included: a piano smackdown.

All music in this episode from Kirill Gerstein's recording, Liszt: Transcendental Études, S. 139.

Audio production by Todd "Twilight" Hulslander with full moon transformation by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

It's entirely possible that cellist Matt Haimovitz has forgotten that composers other than Bach exist. On his last visit to Classical Classroom, he talked about Anna Magdalena's (Bach's second wife's) transcriptions of Bach's Cello Suites. On the visit before that, Matt and Christopher O'Riley talked… oh wait – that was about Beethoven. But still! The guy's obsessed! And we're glad he is. In this episode, Haimovitz talks about his CD Overtures to Bach, on which he commissioned 6 contemporary composers to essentially build an aural bridge from our time to Bach's. Learn about Bach and hear amazing new music in this episode.

All music in this episode from Matt Haimovitz's Overtures to Bach.

Audio production by Todd "Mr. Robot" Hulslander with poorly executed fake hacking sequences by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.

Late last year, composer and Shepherd School of Music professor Shih-Hui Chen helped bring something called "nanguan" music to Houston. Specifically, she and Asia Society Texas brought the Lâm-hun-koh/Gang-a-Tsui Nanguan Music and Theater Troupe to perform this special kind of traditional Chinese music. We somehow squeezed all of the members of the troupe into our studio, including musician and ethnomusicologist Katie Chen, for this episode. Katie and Shih-Hui talk about nanguan music and some of Shih-Hui's contemporary pieces that the troupe were to play at their Asia Society performance. We saved this episode for Chinese New Year (shout out to the Year of the Rooster!) which starts on January 28th. You're welcome!

Music in this episode:

• Traditional Nanguan pieces:
  • Traditional piece
  • Pushing Away The Pillow

• Shih-Hui Chen pieces:
  • Returning Souls
  • A Plea to Lady Chang'e

Audio production for this episode by Todd "I'm not Todd" Hulslander with meandering by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.