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
Composer, improviser, and producer David Crowell speaks with host Austin Williams about their new album Point/Cloud. This post minimalist gem explores collaborations with a variety of arts that David has worked with previously. "...the work’s pointillistic texture and thick counterpoint, amassing over time into “clouds” of sound.
Erin Rogers is a saxophonist, composer, and improviser dedicated to new and experimental music. Her “decidedly future-oriented” music has been described as “whimsical, theatrical” (Brooklyn Vegan), “radical and refreshing” (Vital Weekly) and “a richly expressive display of stentorian brilliance” (The Wire Magazine).
Her work ranges from chamber music performance to solo experimental improvisation to individual and collaborative compositions that incorporate live electronics, theatre, and text. Host Seth Boustead talks with Rogers and features an array of her wonderful music.
Austin and Elori speak about Elori’s recently release Drifts and Surfaces. This sparks a lively conversation about signal processing, compositional process and the majestic and powerful force that is the Northern Shore of Minnesota.
It’s part two of our coverage of SPLICE institute 10. Host Austin Williams chats with a number of organizers about the festival and it’s history along with some featured guest artists and regular faculty.
Enjoy recordings and performances from a number of these organizers and faculty as well. We hope you enjoyed this two part series on SPLICE. It was truly a joy and pleasure to get to know and understand the organization just a little more intimately. We hope you enjoyed as well!
Join host Austin Gray Williams on this deep dive into the people, music, and culture that create the SPLICE Institute. SPLICE is a week long intensive focusing on electroacoustic concert music.
There are a number of Electroacoustic music festivals and conferences that composers have participated in the past, namely SEAMUS and EMM. SPLICE is here to shake things up. From the beginning with composer Christopher Biggs and Composer/Performer Keith Kirchoff, there was a huge emphasis on education and community.
Both organization founders felt compelled to create a program to support performers and composers of Electroacoustic music and create successful collaborations between them. Through a variety of conversations and interviews we find out how the last 10 years has created a community and relationships that expand well beyond the SPLICE institute and into artistic careers.
In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 2 covers the 1960’s through the 2000's.
In a series of ten chamber concerts, the Zafraan Ensemble relates the history of Berlin from the 1910s to today through music. Each concert represents a decade, in which a work that premiered in Berlin anchors a program of music centered in or inspired by that decade. Host Seth Boustead talks with pianist Clemens Hund-Goeschel and cellist Martin Smith about this fascinating project. Part 1 covers the 1910's through the 1940's.
Matthew Dosland interviews composer, performer, and teacher Vijay Iyer. They discuss Iyer's early work in music cognition, his courses and teaching methods, as well as his most recent album Trouble.
The conversation also covers the cross-genre nature of Iyer's work and how that has influenced his output through the years.
We commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Robert Black on Relevant Tones. Robert Black was an absolute force in the Double Bass repertoire and new music. Through interviews with his previous students and cohorts, Christie Echols, Sean Rubin, Caroline Doane, and Evan Runyon, we find out he was so much more than a bass player. Robert was first and foremost a creative, and surrounded himself with other creative individuals. Robert was enthusiastic about artistic projects and would use every resource and effort to make sure projects were done to the best of his ability. Robert thought of himself as a grain in the sand amongst so many other grains, never allowing his ego or status to dictate what or who he worked with. His students enlightened host Austin Williams of all of these aspects about Robert through stories. Please enjoy these stories shared about Robert Black and his legacy.
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.
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