Relevant Tones

Described by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a “rising star”, composer Elijah Daniel Smith is quickly establishing himself as one of today’s leading young composers. 

Longtime friend and fellow composer Austin Williams chats with him about a big new commission from the CSO and his approach to music-making. 

For the second night of the Relevant Tones Tenth Anniversary Festival we were honored to welcome architect Daniel Libeskind and Open House New York's Dorothy Dunn to the stage. 

We screened a special preview of several videos from Access Contemporary Music's upcoming Songs About Buildings and Moods video series exploring the intersection between music and architecture and had a fabulous discussion. 

The opening night of the Relevant Tones Tenth Anniversary Festival featured an exciting multi-media concert of music inspired by Rube Goldberg machines.

We were joined by Rube’s granddaughter Jennifer George who is also the director of the Rube Goldberg Institute, and an all-star roster of musicians for an unforgettable evening.

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces.

Annie  Gosfield, whom the BBC called "A one woman Hadron collider" lives in  New York City and works on the boundaries between notated and improvised  music, electronic and acoustic sounds, refined timbres and noise.

Her music is often inspired by the inherent beauty of found sounds,  such as machines, destroyed pianos, warped 78 rpm records and jammed  radio signals.

Stephen Rawson talks with her about her life in music and features  excerpts of several key works including her opera War of the Worlds.

(photo by Paula Court)

Annie Gosfield, whom the BBC called "A one woman Hadron collider" lives in New York City and works on the boundaries between notated and improvised music, electronic and acoustic sounds, refined timbres and noise.

Her music is often inspired by the inherent beauty of found sounds, such as machines, destroyed pianos, warped 78 rpm records and jammed radio signals.

Stephen Rawson talks with her about her life in music and features excerpts of several key works including her opera War of the Worlds. 

(photo by Paula Court)

In 1949 a 23-year old composer named Daphne Oram wrote a pioneering new work for two orchestras, live electronics and turntables that was subsequently lost for decades. 

Only vague references survived until composer and archivist James Bulley rediscovered the complete score in 2015. He enlisted composer and turntable artist Shiva Feshareki to help him realize the electronics using the technology that would have been available to Oram.

In 2018 the work was finally premiered at the BBC Proms. It was the first work of its kind and it is a masterpiece.

ACM's Thirsty Ears Festival is Chicago's only classical music street festival combining stellar performances with great craft beer from Empirical Brewing.

We did an intimate live broadcast the night before from the ACM School of Music featuring performances by Michael Hall, the Wurtz-Berger Duo and the Quijote Duo.

Composer inti figgis-vizueta writes "magically real musics through the lens of personal identities, braiding a childhood of overlapping immigrant communities and Black-founded Freedom schools—in Chocolate City (DC)—with direct Andean & Irish heritage and a deep connection to the land." 

Stephen Rawson talks with them about music, poetry, magical realism and more.

We feature three works that recast age-old myths from a woman's perspective. Milica Paranosic's Penelope and the Geese reimagines the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view.  We talk with her about the opera and feature three key scenes.

And Marisa Michelson's Naama's Ark tells the flood myth from the perspective of Noah's wife and Salvatore Sciarrino's La Nuova Euridice lets Orpheus' famous bride tells her own story.

Photo by charis isis