Sound Off with Katy Henriksen

Latest Episodes:

Caroline Shaw Dec 16, 2020

Spend time with Caroline Shaw and some of her music in Sound Off's season finale. A composer and multi-instrumentalist, Shaw became the youngest person to ever receive a Pulitzer Prize for music for her "Partita for 8 Voices." She was only 30 at the time. Orange, an album with the Attacca Quartet, garnered a Grammy in 2020. A polymath collaborator, she's involved in creating music with so many notable musicians, including the unexpected Kanye West, whose music rests far outside the realms of contemporary classical music. Join host Katy Henriksen and Shaw in conversation on the creation of Orange, her deep love of the string quartet tradition and what's keeping her going during the pandemic, as well as experience some of Shaw's music.

Oracle Hysterical Dec 03, 2020

Join host Katy Henriksen for insight into the genre-bending world Oracle Hysterical, a music group whose tagline is part rock band part book club that occupies the fluid space between classically inclined song cycle and art rock concept album. Henriksen speaks with baroque bass/viola da gamba member Doug Balliet about the connection between Schumann's classical song cycle "Dichterliebe" to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band, about what it's like to play the Baroque viola da gamba for crowds more attuned to indie rock and how his band turned an issue of a literary journal into a song cycle with the help of chamber ensemble A Far Cry.

Nathalie Joachim Nov 19, 2020

In today's episode of Sound Off I talk with composer, singer and instrumentalist Nathalie Joachim. She's a Julliard-trained flutist, half of the flute & electronics duo Flutronix and creator of the Grammy-nominated Fanm d’Ayiti featuring the Spektral Quartet, an album described by WNYC’s New Sounds host John Schaefer as "a kind of chamber folk electronic celebration of the voices of Haiti.” Learn about how a listening station at Tower Records informs her unclassifiable sounds as much as both her conservatory training and her Haitian grandmother have, as well as spend time with some of her music.

Anthony McGill Nov 05, 2020

In this episode Katy talks to Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. He's the first African-American to hold a principal chair in the orchestra's history. In response to the murder of George Floyd and the protests that erupted surrounding police violence against Black people he launched the #taketwoknees initiative on social media. He’s also in an incredible trio with his brother, flutist Demarre McGill and pianist Michael McHale, as the McGill/McHale Trio. In addition to #taketwoknees, we discuss what it's like to be a symphony musician in the time of Covid-19 and how this time away from the concert hall could reset our ears to make music anew when we're finally able to return.

William Brittelle Oct 22, 2020

William Brittelle is a Brooklyn-based composer who enlisted a rock band, a chamber symphony and a children's chorus to create Spiritual America, an elaborate album that delves deep into his roots of growing up in what he describes as a pretty typical North Carolina home. Raised as a Christian and wanting to date the cheerleader, Brittelle secretly created his own worlds, composing songs and poems in his bedroom studio. In this episode I talk to Bill about how he formed what he describes as his genre-fluid compositional style, what it was like to work with rockers Wye Oak and being drawn equally to the Late Romantic stylings of Chopin piano ballads and over-the-top 1980s hair metal. https://www.williambrittelle.com/

Qasim Naqvi Oct 08, 2020

Qasim Naqvi is a drummer and composer based in Brooklyn. As the drummer for acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, he’s toured with Radiohead. As a film score composer his sounds have been featured on HBO, The Sundance Channel and at art institutions such as The Guggenheim. He composes for contemporary chamber ensembles like yMusic and for symphony orchestras. He’s also an analog synths wizard. In this episode I talk to Qasim about how his lifelong pursuit of music began with a middle school crush, how composing with analog synths is like working with an improvising performer and so much more. Plus! I get to play some full tracks handpicked from his recordings.

Ethel Smyth Sep 24, 2020

Although British composer Ethel Smyth's The Prison, which premiered in 1931, draws comparisons to Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner, this groundbreaking composer saw none of their acclaim, thanks to misogyny. A new--and world premiere--recording of this undefinable work for orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists from James Blachly leading the Experiental Orchestra and Chorus with soloists Sarah Brailey and Dashon Burton, released last month on Chandos, attempts to rectify that wrong.
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205279

Missy Mazzoli / Luna Composition Lab Sep 11, 2020

Missy Mazzoli made history in 2018 when the Metropolitan Opera commissioned her, alongside Jeanine Tesori, as the first ever women composers to write for the organization. As a trailblazing woman composer she’s a founding member of Luna Composition Lab, an organization dedicated to giving women and non-binary composers the professional development and mentorship opportunities they need for success in this highly competitive, and highly male-oriented, field. Mazzoli just released her opera Proving Up on Pentatone.
https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/ftm/luna-lab/
http://www.missymazzoli.com/
http://www.pentatonemusic.com/missy-mazzoli-vavrek-proving-up-opera-omaha-rountree-international-contemporary-ensemble?

Duo Noire Aug 27, 2020

Despite both growing up in Southern California leading somewhat parallel lives, it wasn’t until a classical music festival that Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallet formed Duo Noire. In this episode they speak with Katy about the importance of programming women composers, racial representation in their art form and what it’s like to be black classical guitarists as the U.S. confronts systemic racism.

My Brightest Diamond Aug 13, 2020

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova releases exquisitely produced unclassifiable music as My Brightest Diamond. Depending on the track, her music sounds at home on the dance floor or the concert hall. In this episode she talks to Katy about embracing dance despite growing up Pentecostal, divorce, and navigating her own terrain as a musician that embraces her training as a classical musician and her fascination for electronic sounds.
https://www.mybrightestdiamond.com/
https://www.npr.org/2014/09/16/348766101/shara-worden-on-q2s-spaces

Welcome to Sound Off Jul 25, 2020

Katy Henriksen brings you interviews with musicians who challenge the status quo, who create hybrid sounds that defy categorization. S1 launches August 13th!

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