Relevant Tones

Established in New York City in 1998, the string quartet ETHEL has been described as “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times), “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker). Composer performers—Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin)—fuse uptown panache with downtown genre mashup. ETHEL has performed across the United States and worldwide; released 10 feature albums; guested on 50+ recordings; won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt Elling; and toured with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson. ETHEL champions the art and music of today, forging human connections across sound and style.

Access Contemporary Music's Thirsty Ears Festival is Chicago's only classical music street festival. For two days we close Wilson Ave. in front of our music school for stellar music performances, craft beer and wine, food trucks and community vendors. We feature a small sample of the contemporary music performed on this year's festival.

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.

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 and collaborative compositions that incorporate live electronics, theatre, and text. Host Seth Boustead talks with Rogers and features an array of her wonderful music.

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.

It’s part two of our coverage of SPLICE institute 10. Host Austin Williams chats with a number of organizers about the festival and it’s history along with some featured guest artists and regular faculty.

Enjoy recordings and performances from a number of these organizers and faculty as well. We hope you enjoyed this two part series on SPLICE. It was truly a joy and pleasure to get to know and understand the organization just a little more intimately. We hope you enjoyed as well!

Join host Austin Gray Williams on this deep dive into the people, music, and culture that create the SPLICE Institute. SPLICE is a week long intensive focusing on electroacoustic concert music.

There are a number of Electroacoustic music festivals and conferences that composers have participated in the past, namely SEAMUS and EMM. SPLICE is here to shake things up. From the beginning with composer Christopher Biggs and Composer/Performer Keith Kirchoff, there was a huge emphasis on education and community.

Both organization founders felt compelled to create a program to support performers and composers of Electroacoustic music and create successful collaborations between them. Through a variety of conversations and interviews we find out how the last 10 years has created a community and relationships that expand well beyond the SPLICE institute and into artistic careers.

In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 2 covers the 1960’s through the 2000's.

In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 1 covers the 1910's through the 1940's.

Matthew Dosland interviews composer, performer, and teacher Vijay Iyer. They discuss Iyer's early work in music cognition, his courses and teaching methods, as well as his most recent album Trouble.

The conversation also covers the cross-genre nature of Iyer's work and how that has influenced his output through the years.