Stay ConnectedA podcast about the most fascinating time in classical music history: right now.
Relevant Tones features interviews with and music by some of the most creative figures in contemporary classical music, themed shows exploring new trends in classical music and frequent live streamed shows featuring conversations and music performances.
Hosted and produced by Seth Boustead, Austin Williams, Stephen Anthony Rawson and Matt Dotson.
Copyright: © Seth Boustead
Today we leave the world of equal-temperament behind and explore various contemporary pieces written for instruments in just intonation.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Terry Riley: The Harp of New Albion– Premonition Rag (excerpt), Terry Riley, p.
Michael Harrison: Just Ancient Loops, II, Maya Beiser, vc.
Terry Riley: The Harp of New Albion– Cadence on the Wind (excerpt), Terry Riley, p.
Lou Harrison: Serenade for Guitar– Air, David Tannenbaum, guitar
John Adams: Dharma at Big Sur– A New Day
BBC Symphony Orchestra/John Adams, conductor, Tracy Silverman, electric violin
Ben Johnston: Trio, Trio Amici
Kyle Gann: Fugitive Objects, Gann, piano
Martin Bresnick: Everything Must Go, II, Prism Saxophone Quartet
Seth previews some of the fantastic upcoming performances from Chicago new music groups, including CUBE, Access Contemporary Music, Dal Niente, and more.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Chinary Ung: Laughter Passes Over the Earth & Flying Mirrors fr. Seven Mirrors
– Ensemble Dal Niente
Sebastian Currier: Ethereal & Charged from Static
Access Contemporary Music
Jimmy López: Avec Swing
– CUBE
Stacy Garrop: Thunderwalker, II
– Chicago Composers Orchestra
James Dillon: Soadie Waste (excerpt)
– Spektral Quartet
Amy Wurtz: La (excerpt)
Pierre Boulez: Dérive 1
John Cage: Fourteen (excerpt)
– Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble
In anticipation of John Cage’s 100th Birthday, Relevant Tones examines his life and music. Two members of Chicago-based ensemble Third Coast Percussion, Robert Dillon and David Skidmore, join us in the studio to share anecdotes about their experiences playing Cage’s works.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
CSO composer-in-residence Anna Clyne comes to our studio to talk to us about her new compositions and the artists who inspired them.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
This week’s Relevant Tones focuses on composers who have tried to step outside the box, redefine their definitions of music, and start over without limitations. We’ll be examining the works of Alvin Lucier, Chris Preissing, James Tenney, Lou Harrison, and more.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Alvin Lucier: I am sitting in a room (excerpt)
James Tenney: Cellogram, William Jason Raynovich, Cello
Lou Harrison: Cornish Lancaran, Musicians of the Gamelan Si Betty, Berkeley Chamber Singers
Colin McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan, Toccata for Orchestra
Eastman/Rochester Symphony Orchestra-Hanson
Harry Partch: Delusion and the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion (excerpt)
Christopher Preissing: Pales
Angela DiOrio, ClarinetLive in WFMT Studio
Steven Mackie: Indigenous instruments
Eighth Blackbird
Join us this week for the third part of our foray into the Bang on a Can Marathons. We’ll be focusing on Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe, two of the co-founders of the Bang on a Can organization.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Gordon: Timber, Mvt. 1 (excerpt), Slagwerk Den Haag
Gordon: For Madeline, Bang on a Can All-Stars
Wolfe: Lad, Part I From Dark Full Ride, Matthew Welch (Bagpipe)
Wolfe: Dig Deep, Ethel
Frank Zappa: Zombie Woof, Asphalt Orchestra
Seth brings back his findings and experiences from the Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City. The Bang on a Can Marathon is a yearly celebration of new musical styles and ideas, designed to bring diverse performances to a wide public audience.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Louis Andriessen: De Staat (excerpt), Bang on a Can All-Stars
Milton Babbitt: Vision and Prayer (excerpt), Bethany Beardslee, soprano
Steve Reich: Four Organs (excerpt),
Steve Chambers, Phillip Glass, Arthur Murphy, Steve Reich, organs, John Gibson, Maracas
Martin Bresnick: String Quartet No. 2 “Bucephalus”, Mvt. III, Alexander String Quartet
Martin Bresnick: Prayers Remain Forever, (Ashley Bathgate, cello and Lisa Moore, Piano)
Ruben Naeff: Bash
David T. Little: Sweet, Light, Crude, Newspeak
This week on Relevant Tones, we’ll delve into the music of Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail, two composers who base their compositions on mathematic spectral analyses of the overtone series. Grisey and Murail’s compositions originated the style of Spectral Music.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Gerard Grisey: Partiels (excerpt), WDR Sinfonieorchester of Cologne; Stefan Asbury
Gerard Grisey: Talea (excerpt), Ensemble RechercheAbout Ensemble Recherche
Gerard Grisey: Vortex Temporum (excerpt), Ensemble Recherche
Tristan Murail: In Memoriam, Olivier Messiaen (excerpt), Marilyn Nonken, Piano
Tristan Murail: Gondwana (excerpt), ORTF National Orchestra; Yves Prin
Tristan Murail: Winter Fragments (excerpt), Argento Chamber Ensemble
This week, we’ll be broadcasting a live performance of the Lincoln Trio, a Chicago-based ensemble featuring Desirée Ruhstrat on violin, David Cunliffe on cello, and Marta Aznavoorian on piano.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Stacy Garrop: Silver Dagger
Lera Auerbach: Trio, for violin, cello, and piano; Prelude
Laura Elise Schwendinger: C’e La Lune Questa Sera
Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio
Pierre Jalbert: Life Cycle
In his Notations, Pierre Boulez composed twelve short piano miniatures that contain a cosmos of sound and potentiality. After decades at the helm of the avant-garde, Boulez has set to work unlocking those inner possibilities through thoughtful orchestration and elaboration.
Hosted by Seth Boustead
Produced by Jesse McQuarters
Olivier Messaien: Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus, Mvt. II, Peter Serkin, Piano
Anton Von Webern: Variations for Piano, Op. 27, Mvt. III, Peter Serkin, Piano
Pierre Boulez: Twelve Notations for Piano, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
Luigi Nono: Il Canto Sospeso
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Klavierstücke, Mvt. III,Herbert Henk, Piano
Boulez: Notations for Orchestra, I-IV Vienna Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, conductor
Boulez: Notations for Orchestra, IV, VIILyon National Orchestra; David Robertson, conductor
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
