We met violist Nathan Sherman at the New Music Dublin festival in April and were excited to learn that he had not one but two albums featuring commissioned music written as companion pieces to works by Luciano Berio.

Host Seth Boustead talks with Sherman and features music from the albums Folk Songs featuring Michelle O'Rourke and Ficino Ensemble and Totemic featuring the Sherman Petcu Duo.

Bassoonist Dana Jessen and composer Taylor Brook team up for a collaborative album length electro-acoustic work, Set, that combines through composed (Songs) and improvised sections.

Much attention in the the composed sections is devoted to an exploration of a range of extended techniques on the bassoon that Jessen has cultivated.

The improvised sections are framed by guidelines and rules that Brook provided and computer improvisation that accompanies the instrumental soloist. In these ways, the boundaries between composer and performer is blurred.

In its 9th year, Texas New Music Ensemble goes big with its inaugural week-long summer music festival (July 10-16). Held at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston: MATCH, the Texas New Music Festival 2023 featured 6 concerts, a film screening, 10 lectures, and included 20 composer participants.

Relevant Tones co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson attended the festival, and had the opportunity to speak with many of the contributing artists. In this two-part episode, we feature their music and insights into new music performance, community building, wellness, and much more.
In this second installment, we will feature Martín Quiroga Jr, executive director of Texas New Music Festival, guest composer Rob Smith, guest conductor Felipe Tristán, and student competition winner Mojgan Misaghi.

Host Austin Williams had the opportunity to travel to Kalamazoo Michigan to be a participant at the Splice festival at the end of June. The program offered a plethora of seminars on a variety of topics dealing with electronic and electroacoustic music.

While attending Austin interviewed other participants that had their works premiered at the festival. This is merely a snapshot of the depth and creative/artistic level that was offered at the festival.

Please check out more at Splicemusic.org. Enjoy!

9th year, Texas New Music Ensemble goes big with its inaugural week-long summer music festival, held at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston: MATCH.

Relevant Tones co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson attended the festival, and had the opportunity to speak with many of the contributing artists.
Part 1 of this episode highlights Chad Robinson, composer and artistic director of Texas New Music Festival and guest performer artist Meg Griffith.

Expanding on our recent live show Overlooked No More, we are featuring the music of Tui St. George Tucker, a composer who absolutely deserves to be better known. Host Seth Boustead talks with Roger Tréfousse and Robert Jurgrau, both of whom knew Tucker in person, about her life and music.

Raíces Imaginadas (Imagined Roots) presents four works written by Tomás Koljatic, Igor Marques, Felipe Pinto d’Aguiar, and Vicente Atria, performed by the Nuevo Mundo Baroque Orchestra (Chile). The idea was to frame writing for historical instruments in contemporary perspectives; its title alludes to this notion and suggests a music that is speculative, nonexistent, or historically and hypothetically possible, bound to the past by its instrumentation and timbre.

Host Seth Boustead talks with the four composers about this fascinating project and features the music.

Happy Juneteenth! Relevant Tones would like to extend a warm celebration for this day. We are featuring a plethora of new music that has been composed by a variety of Black American composers.

As always, we are excited to share the depth and variety that these different artists and composers bring to their audiences. We hope this setlist is a nice accompaniment to your holiday, please enjoy!

Tina Davidson creates music that stands out for its emotional depth and lyricism. She has been acclaimed for her authentic voice, her “vivid ear for harmony and colors” (New York Times) and her works of “transfigured beauty” (OperaNews).

Join co-host Stephen Anthony Rawson and Tina Davidson as they discuss her music and new memoir Let Your Heart Be Broken: Life and Music from a Classical Composer.

Kaija Saariaho was a force to be reckoned with in the new classical music world: an innovator in so many ways while maintaining the highest musical integrity.

From her early work at IRCAM to her operas and the many works she wrote for ensembles large and small, Saariaho developed a distinctly individual voice that was instantly recognizable.

We mourn her premature death as it is truly a loss to the musical community. May she rest well now and may we remember her through her art.