Classical Post

The life of composer Robot Koch is a study in contrasts.

Raised in the same area of Germany as the Brothers Grimm — with its foggy forests and medieval castles — he now lives among the sunny splendor of Los Angeles. And although Koch leads a monk-like spiritual practice of yoga, meditation, and pranayama breathwork, he relies on digital technologies to produce the lush, atmospheric sounds of his electronic music.

That unique perspective — balancing ancient tradition with modern innovation, spirituality with science — lies at the heart of Koch's new album, The Next Billion Years (Foam and Sand Reworks). An ambient reimagining of the orchestral songs Koch originally released in 2020, the album is a testament to Koch's evolution as an artist and the many ways we can engage with music.

"I like to experience all aspects of how sound can be portrayed and presented, and let the audience experience it in different ways," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Be it with eyes closed listening to a Dolby Atmos mix on headphones, or at a planetarium show, or in a philharmonic venue, I think there's not just one way music can be or should be experienced."

Koch's approach to making music is clearly resonating with listeners across the globe. His music has been streamed more than 75 million times and can be heard on numerous films and television shows — including Netflix's hit series You, ABC's How to Get Away With Murder, and Amazon's We Children from Bahnhof Zoo.

In this discussion, we talk more about the new album, and how discovering a speech by the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau on a second-hand cassette tape inspired him to create an album exploring the long-term future of humanity. Plus, Koch shares how his daily meditation practice makes him feel like he gets to live two days in one, his fascination with quantum physics and cosmic consciousness, and his favorite breakfast spot in New York City's East Village.

Listen to The Next Billion Years (Foam and Sand Reworks) on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

Icelandic composer Gabríel Ólafs has become a poster child for the German term wunderkind. At age 14, he wrote the song that landed him his first record deal. At 19, he released his debut album, Absent Minded, which has been streamed millions of times.

Now 23, Ólafs is celebrating two massive achievements. Earlier this year, he co-founded the Reykjavík Recording Orchestra, Iceland's first dedicated studio orchestra, which has recorded music for Netflix, Apple TV, and Deutsche Grammophon. And this summer he released Solon Islandus, his major-label U.S. debut on Decca Records.

With its visual aesthetic inspired by film, fashion, and photography, Solon Islandus brings to mind another German term: Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art." For Ólafs, every project has to consider musical and visual aesthetics in equal measure.

"I take a directorial approach, so as I begin a new project I like to have the visuals from the get-go," Ólafs says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "The visual side, for me personally, is an essential part of the whole project. I don't look at it as, 'I have this music and now I need to take a couple of photos.' It's 50-50."

From the fascinating variety of instrumental colors Ólafs creates, to the album's film-noir cover and the stunning music video for its title track — featuring members of the Iceland Dance Company and fashion from Iris Van Herpen — Solon Islandus is an incredible release that positions Ólafs as one of the most important musicians to watch today.

In this discussion, we talk more about the new album and how his first job in a recording studio sparked his obsession with the recording process. Plus, he shares how daily soaks in a geothermal hot tub stimulate his creativity, and why a perfect day in Reykjavík should involve soup, a soak, lots of licorice, and late-night house music.

Listen to Solon Islandus on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

The idea of preservation is on tenor Timothy Fallon's mind a lot lately. He recently bought a house in New England that dates to 1740 — which, he's quick to point out, means Bach was still alive when the house was built.

And away from the renovations he's managing to preserve the charm of his new abode, Fallon — who will spend the next two seasons as a house singer with Vienna's Volksoper — has been thinking about the role of preservation in music-making. This summer he released Crepuscolo, a new album of art songs by Ottorino Respighi that Fallon recorded with Ammiel Bushakevitz, his longtime recital partner.

Although the Italian composer is popular for big orchestral works like Pines of Rome, performances of his songs are extremely rare. Connecting new listeners with the array of colors and emotions these songs convey appealed greatly to Fallon and Bushakevitz.

"Does the market need another Schubert album from someone who's not so well known?" Fallon says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "We thought this could be a preservation project, because Respighi's songs aren't widely recorded. I found it very inspiring to try to make an album that could be a reference for other people in the future, to go and listen to this music in one place."

In this discussion, we talk more about the new album, the recording process, and how the project served as a musical lifeline for Fallon at the height of the pandemic. Plus, he shares how being a nosy person is a good thing for musicians, why his house always needs a box of Malden sea salt on hand, and his go-to spots for martinis, dumplings, and sesame pancake sandwiches in New York City.

Listen to Crepuscolo on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

When most musicians join me to record the Classical Post podcast, they need a few minutes to settle in. This makes sense — whether they're an instrumentalist, singer, or composer, they're used to communicating through a medium outside of their speaking voice. So it can take some time to shake off the nerves.

But the moment I sat down with pianist Klaudia Kudełko to discuss her stunning debut album, Time, she was fired up and ready to dive into her personal artistic mission: to connect people with classical music.

"It's made such a huge impact on my life, and I would love to share it with more and more people," Kudełko shares at the top of the podcast's latest episode. "Even if they don't know classical music but they're open to it — I'm very happy to introduce them."

In many ways, that desire to connect and make introductions positions Los Angeles as the perfect home for this emerging star of the piano world. It's a cultural powerhouse of a city that thrives on networking and knowing the right people. But Kudełko doesn't want to just introduce people to the likes of Schubert, Chopin, and Grazyna Bacewicz — the three composers she performs on Time — she wants to show people how relevant their music is to the lives we lead today.

Take Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude, which Kudełko recorded as a dramatic music video that's received more than 514,000 views since its release on May 31. Written in 1831 after the bombing of Warsaw by Russian military forces, the blisteringly intense work held many parallels to the conflict in Ukraine when Kudełko filmed the video weeks after the invasion began.

"I felt like it was very important to release that and record it in that moment. Given the circumstances of the new times, we can really interpret it in a relevant way — in this case, very painfully relevant. Even though it's a very popular piece, it still means a lot."

In this discussion, Kudełko and I talk more about the creation of her debut album, the ways ballet and fashion inspire her work, and how yoga has helped her overcome post-performance insomnia. Plus, she shares her favorite spot in Beverly Hills for truffle ravioli and the Tom Ford perfume that can immediately transport her to Italy's Amalfi Coast.

Listen to Time wherever you stream or download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

With composition titles like In the Cause of the Free, Ellis Island: The Dream of America, and Balance of Power, it's easy to tell Peter Boyer has more than a casual interest in American history. In fact, it's something that's inspired him throughout his career.

But the Grammy Award-nominated composer-conductor isn't merely looking to memorialize America's past — he wants his music to connect with people today, and make a meaningful contribution to the musical legacy of the United States.

"There is an American sound in an orchestra that a composer who is American can attempt to deliver," Boyer says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.

"There is a tradition or a legacy that one can hear in the music of composers who preceded me that I think is evident in [my] music. Hopefully there's a tangible connection to that American symphonic tradition that comes through when one hears this music. That is the hope."

Although Boyer speaks with bashful humility about his work, it's clear his desire to connect with today's listeners has become a reality. One of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers, Boyer's music has been performed more than 600 times by 200-plus orchestras around the world. Ellis Island alone has received 250 performances, including a filmed concert broadcast nationwide on PBS's Great Performances series.

And his latest album for Naxos American Classics, Peter Boyer: Balance of Power, represents a new contribution to the American symphonic tradition. Featuring Boyer on the podium leading the London Symphony Orchestra, the album showcases eight of his most recent orchestral works, including Fanfare for Tomorrow, which was commissioned for President Biden's 2021 inauguration.

In this episode, we talk more about the new Naxos album and what it takes for Boyer to put self-criticism aside and send a new work into the world. Plus, he shares his lifelong love for English Breakfast tea, the best place in LA for classic Italian food, and what it was like writing a "humorous symphony" for Henry Kissinger.

Listen to Peter Boyer: Balance of Power wherever you stream or download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

The cover art for most classical albums usually relies on a glamorous studio shot of the artist or a generically tranquil landscape that hardly relates to the music we're about to experience.

But that's not at all the case on the cover of The Strange Highway, the debut album from composer Gity Razaz. A pencil and ink drawing depicting a cloaked figure with an arrow through the heart, whose head is a series of celestial orbs and auras, this artwork from Daniel Martin Diaz not only draws us in — it perfectly captures Razaz's sound world, one inspired by the Surrealism art movement of the early 20th century.

"I am a visual person, and my music has a tendency to be visual," Razaz says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "My current obsession is Remedios Varo — her works unfold over broader, mystical, and metaphysical realms."

And like Varo and her fellow Surrealists, who balanced rational takes on everyday life with fantastical elements rooted in the dreams and nightmares of the subconscious mind, Razaz's compositions find her translating her intellectual and metaphysical curiosities into vivid, incredibly gripping music.

"I usually write visceral music that's dramatically supercharged and energetic, but I also try to balance that with some lyricism and mystery. I feel it's a byproduct of living in our time, where there's this sense of being disconnected from reality. I feel like my music attempts to bring some peace and connection to reality, to the present."

In this conversation, we discuss more about her BIS Records album, which brings together a wide variety of work she's composed over 15 years. Plus, she shares the prebiotic/probiotic powder that helps her jumpstart her mornings, how finding inspiration is as simple as watching her three-year-old daughter at play, and her go-to place for incredible oysters and martinis in New York City.

Listen to The Strange Highway wherever you stream or download music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

The savviest arts administrators know that putting a concert season together is more than programming popular repertoire or bringing big-name soloists to town. For Jeremy Geffen, executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, bringing to life all of the organization's artistic and educational activities — about 80 events per season — centers around ideas of building and serving communities across the Bay Area.

Since arriving on the Berkeley campus in 2019 — and during his 12-year tenure as senior director and artistic adviser of Carnegie Hall — Geffen has worked tirelessly to transform the people he serves through the power of the performing arts. That means, first and foremost, making introductions to emerging artists whose new ideas can spark meaningful conversations.

"Who you choose to present is what defines you as a presenter," Geffen says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "The bigger risk [for presenters], and where one demonstrates the level of connection to one's community, is determining which artists to introduce — artists who are at the beginnings of their careers or may not have had exposure in the Bay Area."

As Geffen points out, even the biggest artists with the longest relationships with Cal Performances — including Yo-Yo Ma, Jordi Savall, and the Mark Morris Dance Group — weren't always stars. When they were just starting out, it was Cal Performances that helped to give them a toehold. And Geffen sees fostering growth in the artistic powerhouses of tomorrow as one of the most gratifying aspects of his role.

"If you demonstrate confidence in someone, more often than not that confidence will be reciprocated and expectations will be exceeded. It gives me great gratification to watch artists I saw something in early on grow into their full potential."

In this conversation, we discuss Cal Performances' upcoming season and how its marquee Illuminations series will explore technology's many roles in creative expression and human communication. Plus, he opens up about why he sees classical music as "a type of regenerative spiritual health," how therapy has helped him tap into the creativity of the subconscious mind, and why he heads to Manhattan's East Village when it's time to celebrate with sake in New York City.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

Some classical musicians choose to follow a specific lane throughout their career, either as an orchestral musician, a chamber player, or a concert soloist. But Stewart Goodyear can't confine his career to one lane — he demands an entire highway.

As a concert pianist, composer, arranger, and improviser, Goodyear has built one of the most multifaceted careers of any musician today. His recitals thoughtfully place works of Debussy and Liszt next to his own compositions and new pieces from Jennifer Higdon and Anthony Davis. And his ever-expanding discography shows incredible depth — from the complete concertos of Beethoven to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Goodyear's transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

This eclectic approach to music-making is the result of an artist who finds inspiration in everything life has to offer. "The more I'm not boxed in, the more there's room to create and think outside that box," Goodyear says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.

In this conversation, we discuss the many exciting projects on the horizon this season — including his second year as the inaugural Artist in Residence at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, the world premiere of his Piano Concerto with the Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto premiere of Callaloo, Goodyear's suite for piano and orchestra that pays homage to his Trinidadian background.

Plus, he shares more about the ways positivity and optimism fuel his wellness routines, the similarities he sees between cooking and orchestration, and how finding a great restaurant in New York City can be as simple as "letting your feet take you where you want to go."

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

Among the countless projects classical music presenters have had to delay over the past two years, perhaps none has been more eagerly anticipated than that of Omar, a new opera from Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels.

Originally slated to premiere in May 2020, Omar finally received its long-awaited opening this summer at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. Based on the life and 1831 autobiography of Omar ibn Said, a Muslim scholar stolen from his homeland of Senegal and twice sold into slavery in the Carolinas, Giddens and Abels' new opera probes largely unexplored truths in modern American discussions of slavery.

For Abels, Omar's history — one of strength, resistance, and religious conviction — is not only timely, given the U.S.'s continued reckoning with its history of slavery, but it also makes for compelling storytelling on the operatic stage.

"This story is great fodder for opera, which tackles social issues, satire, commentary, and irony so well," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.

"It's really a piece about the power of faith to transcend one's physical circumstances and to provide hope in a situation that's otherwise hopeless. How faith can connect people who otherwise would not even see eye to eye ... Whereas we often think of differences in faith as causing friction, it can actually provide a source of commonality and healing."

Abels, who has received incredible accolades for his genre-defying film work — most notably his scores for Jordan Peele's Get Out and Us — brings that same sense of wide musical exploration to Omar, which The New York Times hailed as "an unforced ideal of American sound: expansive and ever-changing."

In this conversation, we discuss more about Omar and Abels' collaboration with Giddens, and take a deep dive into his creative process, in which he strives to be "both a channel and a recipient of ideas." Plus, he shares how architecture inspires his composing, the ways a daily bike ride can be good for the soul and the body, and his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles for traditional Italian cuisine.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.

So much of the way classical musicians perform or even think about music is informed by the work of past generations. But what happens when history books omit certain musicians, often due to their gender, race, or sexuality? How can those gaps in music history — and our shared musical legacy — be restored?

These questions form the foundation of a new album from classical guitarist Berta Rojas, Legado, which means "legacy" in Spanish. On the album, Rojas — one of the world's most acclaimed classical guitarists and professor at Boston's Berklee College of Music — honors the music of two trailblazing women of the guitar who have been long overlooked.

"Legado came out of a question I had," Rojas says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Why is it that when you talk about the history of the guitar, you rarely mention the women who also made the history of the instrument?"

Although the names Ida Presti and María Luisa Anido are unfamiliar to most, their incredible talent and unforgettable performances made them some of the premier figures of 20th-century classical guitar, alongside Andrés Segovia and Julian Bream. However, the fame and recognition they enjoyed evaporated soon after their deaths.

But with her breakthrough recordings, Rojas is working to restore these remarkable women guitarists to their illustrious and influential place in history.

"A way to bring them into the conversation is to play their music, and also the music that was dedicated to them, that they inspired with their artistry. I would love for people to research them, and more women who are part of the history of the guitar."

In this conversation, we discuss more about Rojas's album and why she believes being a great musician means "bathing in the fountains of culture." Plus, she shares how taking long walks with no destination has brought a greater sense of freedom to her life, the ways Paraguayan culture inspires her creativity, and her favorite place to get a carne empanada in New York City.

Listen to Legado on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your music.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can ⁠grow your audience⁠ to make a lasting impact in your community.