Relevant Tones

Grammy-nominated Haitian-American composer, singer and flutist Nathalie Joachim’s work centers an authentic commitment to storytelling and human connectivity while advocating for social change and cultural awareness.

Her latest album Ki moun ou ye, is out now on Nonesuch and New Amsterdam Records. The original songs on this album ponder its title’s question: “Who are you?”

Host Seth Boustead talks with Joachim about the new album and her musical journey.

Clarinetist, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer.

Falzone performs throughout North America and Europe, appears regularly on Downbeat magazine’s Critics’ and Readers’ Polls, and was nominated as the 2011 Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association.

He is also a respected educator and scholar and has been on the faculty of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Deep Springs College, North Central College, and was a fellow at The Center for Black Music Research.

At present Falzone is the Dean of Music at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.

Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Falzone at Cornish’s historic Kerry Hall, where John Cage first began to experiment with the prepared piano, and where Cage met his life partner, renowned dancer Merce Cunningham. They talk about Falzone's life in music, the “crooked line” he’s walked as an artist, bringing to balance the Already and the Not Yet in music-making, Wayfaring’s new album, Intermezzo, and a whole lot more. 

The latest in our recurring feature On the Radar features new music currently top of mind for hosts Austin Williams, Neve Jahn, Stephen Rawson and Matthew Dosland.3

Carrie Frey is a New York City-based violist, improviser, and composer who “conjures an inviting warmth that leaves her virtuosity on the margins, placing the focus on her humanity (Bandcamp Daily).”

Frey is the violist of the Rhythm Method and a founding member of string trio Chartreuse and string quartet Desdemona. She has performed with many of New York City’s notable contemporary ensembles, including Wet Ink Large Ensemble, AMOC*, Talea Ensemble, and Cantata Profana.

Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down with Carrie to talk about her new album, Seagrass: Works for Solo Viola. They take a dive into the music and composers featured on the album, as well as the science fiction writings of Arkady Martine, and the violist’s need for a bigger wardrobe.

The 'Paris Chapters' project is centered around new commissions based on works by Irish writers who lived in Paris (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, W.B Yeats etc.) for voice, saxophone and piano.

Host Seth Boustead talks with saxophonist Robert Finegan and soprano Clara Barbier Serrano about this fascinating project which also features pianist Tia Ling.

Music by Rhona Clarke, Lise Borel, Denise Ondishko and Kenneth Edge.

We feature a small selection of the many incredible albums released this year. Hosted by Seth Boustead, Matthew Dosland, Stephen Anthony Rawson and Austin Williams.

The California Festival was a two-week statewide festival celebrating the most innovative and compelling music composed around the world in the last five years.

The festival was spearheaded by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony but also included 100 organizations, 140 composers and 180 new works.

Host Lisa Dell talks with Meghan Umber, AJ Benson and Phillippa Cole from each of the lead organizations about this incredibly ambitious festival.

Doug Bielmeier's recent release Music For Billionaires is full of irony and brings accessibility to the front of the question for new classical music. Host Austin Williams speaks with Doug about the relationship between privilege and accessibility to be able to create art and what that means as an artist. Along the way Doug and Austin also find interesting conversation on the use of contemporary compositional techniques and how they have made their way into a lot of new classical music that is being released today.

Sophia Jani is currently the Composer in Residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons, the 2023 Musical Artist in Residence at the Arvo Pärt Center, and last year released her first album, Music as a Mirror.

Matthew and Sophia sit down to talk about her upcoming work in Dallas, how a venue is chosen for a new music series, and what it was like to spend four weeks with access to Arvo Pärt's library.

Over the past century, verbal notation has been embraced as a means of composition with abundant possibilities. Varying from the most precise performance instructions to structured social meditation, composers have found unique and highly accessible ways to share their music with words.

Join co-hosts Austin Williams and Stephen Anthony Rawson as they survey a variety of music featuring verbal notation.