Relevant Tones

Podcast and live radio collide in an evening of music inspired by fractals, dynamic systems, feedback loops and nature.

Open G Records and Access Contemporary Music present:

Caroline Mallonee‘s  Butterfly Effect, a string quartet inspired by the idea that a  butterfly flapping its wings in Australia could cause a tornado in  Texas, Chin Ting Chan’s gorgeously abrasive Fractals, Lyudmila German’s nod to organic systems Six Fragments and Four Miniatures, David Glaser’s  haunting Moonset No. 1 and two world premieres written for acclaimed  soprano Sharon Harms and clarinetist Mark Dover of Imani Winds.

Late Night at National Sawdust is a quarterly live taping of Relevant Tones, a contemporary music podcast hosted by Seth  Boustead that will also be broadcast in real time on the nationally  syndicated WFMT Radio Network and on WKCR in New York. Live radio has  never been so intimate.

The broadcast will be preceded by  the Discovery Series, a  process-oriented exploration of musical  creativity led by  composer/pianist Jeremy Gill. The three composers to  be performed,  chosen from a pool of more than five hundred, are Henrique Coe, Adina Dumitrescu and Ryan Homsey.

Cambodian composer Chinary Ung came to the U.S. to study clarinet and  composition but was forced to stay when the Khmer Rouge uprising broke  out in his home country killing millions.

Over the years he has helped many family members and friends escape  that regime and has documented his struggles in music. He talks to  Relevant Tones about his life and music.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Oracle by Chinary Ung

Singing Inside Aura  by Chinary Ung

Grand Spiral: Desert Flowers Bloom by Chinary Ung

We had the distinct pleasure of attending two recent opera premieres, the World Premiere of Heresy in Dublin by Roger Doyle and the Met’s premiere of L’Amour de Loin by acclaimed composer Kaija Saariaho.

Both operas explore universal themes in strikingly different ways,  from  Doyle’s setting of the infamous heresy trial of Giordano Bruno, to   Saariaho’s mythic setting of idealized love.

We’ll hear from Eric Fraad,  the director of Heresy on what it’s like  to adapt to experimental music  and storytelling. We’ll also talk with  both composers and feature music  from the operas.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

At the Court of Elizabeth I Pt. 2 by Roger Doyle

The Divine Sophia by Roger Doyle

L’Amour de Loin Overture by Kaija Saariaho

The Cell – Hallucination by Roger Doyle

L’amour de Loin, Act II by Kaija Saariaho

Death by Fire by Roger Doyle

L’Amour de Loin, Act IV by Kaija Saariaho

L’Amour de Loin, Act V by Kaija Saariaho

With important commissions from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and  the New York Philharmonic among others, and a new and highly praised  album release, James Matheson has established a reputation as a composer  of finely tuned, individualistic music with wide ranging appeal.

We’ll chat with him about his career and play his music.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Chaconne by James Matheson

Caprice by James Matheson

Dance by James Matheson

Taught, Energetic by James Matheson

It’s a format as old as time: two guys sit down to play music and talk about it.

Soundward, a continuing collaboration between Relevant Tones and Q2  Music, features lively conversation, new releases from composers around  the globe and interesting new discoveries.

Hosted by Seth Boustead and Phil Kline

Once relegated solely to the status of folk instrument, the accordion  is being used more and more by composers around the world in a stunning  variety of different musical contexts.

We’ll feature music for this storied instrument and talk to a few of the composers about how it inspired them.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

A Way Through by Jane O’Leary

Slow Motion by Toshio Hosokawa

Gate Keepers by Tomi Raisanen

Glimmer by Richard Warp

Metal Work by Magnus Lindberg

Recall by Per Norgard

For this exciting new series Relevant Tones is teaming up with Open G  Records and Access Contemporary Music to present a quarterly live  broadcast at Brooklyn’s hottest new venue National Sawdust.

Much of the music for this series will be programmed from an international ‘call for scores.’

Squaring the Circle, by J Mark Scearce

Veil, by Seth Boustead

Umber Sepia, by Deirdre McKay

Three by Three, by Eric Nathan

Touching the Fog, by Agnieszka Stulginska

Sleep Now, O Sleep Now, by Alan Theisen

Book of Hours, mvts. 1 & 2, by Jeremy Gill

Performers:

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams, who until very  recently made his home in Alaska, is far from the only composer to be  inspired by winter landscapes.

We’ll celebrate the season with music from around the world by composers inspired by winter.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Der Greise Kopf by Franz Schubert

Schnee by Hans Abrahamsen

Tundra Songs by Derek Charke

Lullaby by Derek Charke

Throat Song by Derek Charke

Winterlicht VIII by In-Sun Cho

Cercle du Nord III by Derek Charke

The Open House movement began in  the 1980’s in London as a  celebration of the city’s justifiably famous architecture but it was so  successful that it soon spread to more than 40 cities around the world.

For the last six years Access Contemporary Music has commissioned  composers to write music inspired by the spaces and put musicians in the  spaces to perform the music.

We’ll feature a wide range of music written for, and performed in, buildings in Chicago, Milwaukee and Barcelona.

For more videos of other ACM performances check out the website here.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the Gaudeamus Muziekwiek  is a powerhouse contemporary music festival showcasing young talent from  around the world.

The second of our two-part series will feature interviews and audio  from the established mentor composers at this year’s festival.

Hosted by Seth Boustead

Yair Klartag

Anthony Vine  

Ruud Roelofsen

Shih-Wei Lo

James O’Callaghan

Seung-Won Oh

Ton de Leeuw

Anthony Vine