Relevant Tones

We commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Robert Black on

Austin Williams speaks with Same Wells and Adam Vidiksis about their recent collaboration with composer Scott Miller.

Through speaking with Adam and Sam, Austin learned that the process used to create the album was rather strange. All of the tracks that are heard on the album are a result of ‘Zoom Jam Sessions’ where the performers in the height of the lockdown figured out a meaningful way to host virtual jams with one another.

The music was compelling enough for them to create an album of what was created. Listen to the interview to find out more details about how this process went and what it meant to the performers in the moment.

Wayne Horvitz is the leader and principal composer for a number of groups including The Snowghost Trio, Sweeter Than the Day, the Gravitas Quartet, and The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble.

He’s also written for groups like the Kronos Quartet, the Seattle Symphony, and he composes music for film. He also owns and operates the club The Royal Room in Seattle’s Columbia City. 

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson spoke with Horvitz last week at his Seattle home about a number of music projects he’s worked on over the years, as well as his musical style and people and collaborators who’ve been with him along the way.

Composer Ian Wilson's ten-movement piece Orpheus Down is inspired by the story of Orpheus’ journey to the Underworld to bring his lover Eurydice back from the dead.

The myth and its themes of deep and dark inspire fascinating music on a new release featuring bass clarinettist Gareth Davis and double-bassist Dario Calderone, for whom the piece was written.

Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J./producer Gene Pritsker has written over 900 compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles.

He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc and he is also the co-director of Composers Concordance, a new music presenting organization with a 30-year history of producing concerts in NYC.  

Gene talks with host Seth Boustead about his new album Gene and the Strings coming out August 2nd of this year.

Saad Haddad is a composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and electroacoustic music who achieves a “remarkable fusion of idioms” (New York Times), most notably in his work exploring the disparate qualities inherent in Western art music and Middle Eastern musical tradition

His music delves into that relationship by transferring the performance techniques of traditional Arabic instruments to Western symphonic instruments, while extending their capabilities through the advancement of technology.

Host Lisa Dell talks with Haddad about his music and recent projects.

Composer, performer, producer Ben Lumsdaine does it all! Austin and Ben had a lovely chat about their album Murmurations Without End.

While Ben has a strong background in straight ahead jazz playing with some heavy hitters such as John Raymond and Dustin Laurenzi he has invited the cast to develop some compelling minimalistic works.

Austin and Ben end up talking shop for a bit about gear but ultimately it all comes back to the music. Watch out for whatever Ben touches, it's going to be gold!

Host Austin Gray Williams and Sarah Belle Reid dig into Sarah’s multidisciplinary practices of being a composer, improviser, educator, and active member of the modular synthesis community.

While discussing these topics Austin gains insight into what goes on for Sarah’s preparations on improvising a set. Her affinity for deep listening and how that sculpts her way through with improvising and composing.

Sarah is also deeply passionate about education and making electronic music as accessible possible for anyone who is interested. If you’re curious about Sarah and her works find her on BandCamp, here and her website https://www.sarahbellereid.com/ for more info!

Multidisciplinary artist and composer ess whiteley sheds some insight on their works and the process they engaged with for the compositions. ess is particularly interested in topics such as memory and the post-internet world we currently live in, often belnding topics togethe to create compelling works of media. ess had some lovely comments about process and the variety of ways it can afflict a work. ess is curently finishing up their PhD at UCSD.

On this episode of On the Radar join Austin and Matt as they discuss some music that has been on their listening for the past couple months!

Matt shares a compelling work by a collective of Greek composers demonstrating noisy yet formally organized music.

Austin speaks largely about the composer Ted Moore his ability to effectively write concert music while also maintaining the ability to improvise in other projects.

Have a suggestion or would like to share some music you have been listening to? Drop us a line! We’d love to hear from out listeners and what is on their radar.”