Relevant Tones

By Access Contemporary MusicMusic Music Interviews

Relevant Tones episodes

November 02, 2013 Patricia Morehead
Patricia Morehead, composer and oboist, is one of Chicago’s most prominent and influential composers. Her teaching and compositions have shaped generations of young composers much for the better, including our own Seth Boustead! Listen in this week as she discusses her music with us.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Turbion Galaxy for solo harpsichord- Jory Vinikour, harpsichord

Good News Falls Gently– Jonita Lattimore, soprano; Phillip Morehead, conductor, CUBE Ensemble; poetry by Regina Harris Biachi

Blackhawk Speaks (concert reading)- Vox 3 Singers, Saori Chobi, pianist, Michael McKelvane, conductor
Just Before the Rain– Yang Wei, pipa; Betty Sheng, erhu; Christie Miller, clarinet

Cityscape– Robert Winston, conductor; Symphony Orchestra of Kiev

Ladders of Anxiety– Caroline Pittman, solo flute; James Bauer, guitar; members of the Avalon Quartet; Blase Magniere, violin; Anthony De Vroy, viola; Chen How Lee, cello
59 min
October 27, 2013 Return to Older Formats
This week, we look at composers releasing their music on older formats- vinyl and even cassette!
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
MUSIC
Elizabeth Start- Scents Sent (in a Sense)

Olafur Arnalds- Fyrsta

Christopher Bono- Invocation No. 1, Exhaust

The Roots featuring Mos Def- Double Trouble (excerpt)

LJ White- Zin Zin Zin Zin
Spektral QuartetReleased by Parlour Tapes

Tim Corpus- From Spring’s Thaw

Christopher Campbell- Imago

Arvo Pärt- Pro et Contra

Olafur Arnalds- This Place is a Shelter
59 min
October 13, 2013 Phyllis Chen
This week we’ll talk with pianist, toy pianist and composer Phyllis Chen, who is celebrating the release of her third album, Little Things.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Stephen Montague: Mirabella a Tarentella for Toy Piano
John Cage: Suite for Toy Piano, II
Phyllis Chen: Cobwebbed Carousel
Angelica Nagron: The Little Things
Fabian Svensson: Toy Toccata
Karlheinz Essl: Whatever Shall Be
Nathan Davis: Mechanics of Escapement (excerpt)
Andrien Pertout: Pi Obstruction (excerpt)
59 min
September 29, 2013 Rome Prize
Once a year the American Academy in Rome holds a competition, honoring 15 emerging artists as well as 15 scholars from the US with the so-called Rome Prize.
The winners are invited to the Academy, where they can thrive on the presence of cultural heritage as well as the exchange with the fellows from other fields.

We take a look at some of the compositions, that winners in musical composition have composed either while staying in Rome, or based on their experiences there.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Andrew Norman – A Companion Guide to Rome
Performed by the Scharoun Ensemble

Charles Norman Mason – Incantessimi

Steven M. Burke – Over a Moving Landscape
Performed by Paul Hostetter and the Sequitur Ensemble

Michael Hersch – Octet
Performed by members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Pierre Jalbert – Sonata for Solo Marimba
Performed by Makoto Nakura
59 min
September 22, 2013 Musical Moonlighters
Philip Glass is arguably the most famous plumber, mover and cab driver ever to work in New York. While not every example is that extreme, there are quite a few composers with day jobs – multitalented people, that advocate for their fellow composers, write, work in radio or have a Ph.D in neuroscience.
Tune in to listen to their works, and to find out what’s up with the elephants.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
John Duffy – Clarinet Concerto
Performed by JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Arts Festival Wind Ensemble with Patti Ferrell Carlson

Kyle Gann – Sunken City, (mvt. 1, Before)
Performed by Jussi Jaatinen and the Orkest de Volharding with Geoffrey Douglas Madge

Dave Soldier – Little Andre
Performed by Robert Dick

Ed Harsh – Trill
Performed by the Cecilia String Quartet

Frank J. Oteri – Fair and Balanced? (mvt. 1, Remaining Neutral, and mvt. 2, Seeming Partial)
Performed by PRISM Saxophone Quartet

William Susman – I (mvt. 1, Vitality and mvt. 3, triumph)
Performed by Octet

Dan Gilliam – The Trees are Silver
Performed by the Arsenal Trio
55 min
September 13, 2013 Saxophone Quartets
The saxophone quartet has been around a while, with pieces being written for it as early as 1857 (Jean Baptiste Singelee’s op. 53). After the rediscovery for jazz, it has made a comeback to classical music as well. We’re looking at some different takes on how to approach the ensemble.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Jon Raskin and Steve Adams – Radar 11/19/01
Rova Quartet, from the album Totally Spinning

David Maslanka – Recitation Book (mvt. 1, Broken Heart)
Red Line Quartet

Ben Hjertman – The Mares of ’33
Anubis Quartet

Amy Williams – Univocity
H2 Quartet, from the album Groove Machine

John Mackey – Unquiet Spirits
Zzyzx Quartet, from the album Intersections

Jon Raskin and Steve Adams – Preshrunk
Rova Quartet, from the album Totally Spinning

Steven Mackey – Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
PRISM Quartet

Lucie Robert-Diesel – Issos? (mvt. 2)
Premiere Quartet

Joe Duddell – Circle Square (mvt. 1)
Delta Quartet, from the album Facing Death
58 min
September 07, 2013 Invented Instruments
This week we explore modern music performed on recycled materials. From Harry Partch’s “Quadrangularis Reversum,” to Dean Drummonds’ “Zoomoozophone,” many recent composers have forsaken traditional instruments in favor of their own invented apparatuses.
Enjoy an hour of new and unique sounds, reiterating the proverb that one man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Harry Partch – Daphne Of the Dunes
Dean Drummond – Then or Never
David Simons – This Hoary Perch
Skip Laplante – Theme and Variations in 13 equal
Terry Dame – invented gamelan – Garden
Joan LaBarbara – Silent Scroll
Gabriel Prokofiev – Import/Export- Fanta
58 min
August 31, 2013 Ilya Levinson
We sat down with composer, Ilya Levinson, to talk about his story as a composer in Chicago. The program also features live performances of Levinson’s works by cellist, Ian Maksin.
Levinson’s body of work varies stylistically, while still maintaining a sound unique to the composer. You can hear his works performed in the Chicago area, and around the world.

Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Rockin’ Ian Maksin, vc.
In Blue Ian Maksin, vc.
Sevdah Medley Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra: Phil Simmons
Solstice Canyon I Duo Montagnard: Matthew Slotkin, guitar; Joseph Murphy, alto sax
Memory Tango Ian Maksin, vc.; Ani Gogova, p.
Tell-Tale Heart members of the CUBE ensemble: Phil Morehead; David Halloway, baritone
Adventures Civic Orchestra: Cliff Colnot
1 hr
August 23, 2013 Dealer's Choice 2
You send us CDs. Every once in a while we play those CDs on our show. This is the 2013 edition of the CD grab bag! Enjoy this eclectic variety of new music performed by the latest and greatest musicians. This program is straight from our mailbox to your ears.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Derek Johnson – fragments
Motto I. Star Music
Motto II. A song of sorts
Motto III. Blues for Anton
Benjamin Sung, violin; Jihye Chang, piano

Elizabeth Brown – Shinshofukei, or an imagined landscape;
I. Stroll GardenPro Musica Nipponia: Yasushi Inada, conductor

Graham Reynolds – Jabberwocky
Chiaroscuro Trio: Elizabeth Pétillot, Aurélien Pétillot, Yuko Kato

Joseph Pereira – RepoussèIII. ImpastoIV. Monochrome
Los Angeles Percussion Quartet

David Starobin – Berceuse bas de gamme (Cheap Lullaby)
Larry Polansky

Gillberto Mendes – Uma Foz, Uma FalaPoem:
Augusto de Campos, Ensemble Música

Andy Kozar – Invisibility Interlude
Andy Kozar, pianos

Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky – Chang Music III,
TrioXenia Ensemble

Martin Schlumpf – Concerto for solo cello, trumpet obligato, string orchestra and computer
IIMoravian Philharmonic Orchestra: Petr Vronsky, conductor; Petr Nouzovsky, cello; Marek Vajo, trumpet

Elizabeth Brown – Shinshofukei, or an imagined landscape II. Aged Mossy Rock
59 min
August 17, 2013 Dan Trueman and So Percussion
Brooklyn based quartet Sō Percussion (Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting) collaborate with composer Dan Trueman on their newest album, neither Anvil nor Pulley.
They experiment with different ways of creating sound, using a turntable, a laptop and various gadgets like a video game controller. The result is a piece in five acts, composed with, rather than for the quartet.
We have Eric from Sō Percussion and Dan in the studio to talk about their project and some quirky details of the album.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Neither Anvil nor Pulley
Act 1: Another Wallflower [from Long Ago]
Act 2: 120bpm [or, What is zour Metronome Thinking?]
Act 3: A Cow Call [Please oh Please Come Home!]
Act 4: Feedback [in Which a Famous Bach Prelude Becomes Ill-Tempered]
Act 5: Hang Dog Springar [a Slow Dance]
59 min