Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Music I Am #17 – Ann Moss, soprano

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

I don’t know if it was a moment so much as an environment — namely the environment I was raised in. My household was musical in every way, and studying an instrument was simply expected of us. Not in a pressure-filled way, more that it was just something we all did. I started piano around the time I was learning to read, so being musical developed for me right alongside other ways of being. I had lots of interests growing up, including languages and literature and art history, which, looking back, I can see were all interwoven and contributed to my becoming a singer. I suppose the moment I knew I was going to devote my energy to being a musician happened later, at Hampshire College, when my advisor called to my attention the fact that I seemed to spend the majority of my time in the music building. (At that point I was pursuing a course of study that would have led to teaching secondary school English and Literature.) My advisor essentially helped me see myself from the outside, and gave me permission to commit outwardly to a path that I was, clearly, already committed to inwardly. I switched my concentration and advisor over to music and the rest, as they say…

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

I cannot stress enough the importance of good writing skills. Very often, our written communications – whether with colleagues, mentors, teachers, institutions of learning, presenting organizations, or fans – precede our in-person interactions and set the tone for how other people perceive and relate to us.

Two ways you stay motivated:

Physical activity (yoga, hiking, weight lifting) keeps me sane and energized, and cooking keeps me inspired and grounded. Creating nourishing meals is how I unwind and find my center when the twists and turns of my career threaten to uproot me.

Latest Project:

Lifeline – an album of modern-day interpretations of chants by 12th century composer Hildegard von Bingen, distilled through the lens of the artist’s experiences in quarantine and crafted remotely through innovative collaborative processes.

What inspired it:

I entered the initial lock-down phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic with a bizarre case of laryngitis that lasted about 7 weeks, accompanied by lingering respiratory challenges that prevented me from walking more than a few blocks at at time. (I most likely had COVID but was unable to get tested at the time.) When I returned to singing, Hildegard was the music I was drawn to. Singing chant in isolation made a lot of sense, but I found myself craving the collaborative process. So I reached out to instrumental colleagues who had the capacity to record themselves at home, and we co-created intricately-layered “drone” environments to serve as backdrops for, or in some cases conversations with, Hildegard’s vocal compositions.

Who’s on it:

  • Matt Berkeley – Fender Rhodes Piano, Synthesizers
  • Sidney Chen – Shruti box
  • Eric Fraser – Bansuri flute
  • Trace Johnson – Cello
  • BZ Lewis – Guitars, Synthesizers
  • Jessie Nucho – Flutes
  • Colm Ó Riain – Violin
  • Justin Ouellet – Violin, Viola
  • Carrie Smith – Guitar
  • Recorded, edited and mixed by Alberto Hernandez
  • Mastering, additional mixing and engineering by BZ Lewis
  • Additional engineering by Jeff Kolhede
  • Remote engineering by Matt Berkeley, Sidney Chen, Eric Fraser, Jeremy Garcia, Trace Johnson, Jessie Nucho and Justin Ouellet
  • Recorded in Berkeley, Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco, CA; Houston, TX; Madison, WI; Claverack, NY
  • Graphic design by Edgar Alanis
  • Album cover photo credit: Tony Nguyen
  • Chants transcribed by Beverly R. Lomer and edited by Barbara Newman
  • Translations by Nathaniel M. Campbell and Ann Moss
  • Produced by Ann Moss and Justin Ouellet

How do you discover new music?

My students, friends, and family turn me on to new music all the time. Also, lately, I’ve been letting YouTube music generate playlists for me which has weirdly reconnected me to a lot of music I used to listen to but had forgotten about.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

LIVING: Kev Choice is a Pianist/M.C./Producer/Composer/Educator/Activist based in Oakland who has been innovating, collaborating, and inspiring the Bay Area (ever so slightly under the radar) for decades. I believe he deserves national attention. Check out his music!

DEAD: I am a huge fan of Heinrich Isaac and I rarely get the chance to sing his stuff. Think Josquin but with more meat on the bone.

Where can we find you online?

www.annmosssoprano.com

Instagram

Twitter

Upcoming Event you’d like to share? 

I’m singing Gérard Grisey’s gorgeous final opus – Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil – with After Everything in San Francisco on Saturday, May 6th.
Details here: https://www.annmosssoprano.com/calendar/2023/5/6/grisey-quatre-chants-with-after-everything

Ann Moss and Steve Bailey at Skywalker Studio

Music I Am #16 – Dale Kavanagh, guitarist composer

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

Amateur or professional?  I began piano lessons at 5. then clarinet, sax, electric guitar, mandolin, classical guitar. So amateur age 5:). professional mid teens

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Being nice 🙂
Organising  skills, patience, and perseverance

Two ways you stay motivated:

Don’t need ways to stay motivated.  Everyday is a joy if I can practice music  and learn

Latest Project:

A CD called “Dale and Friends”. consisting of a group of my duos and a trio.

What inspired it:

I like to compose and want to work with my friends.

Who’s on it:

Thomas Kirchhoff, Laura Young, Sümeyye Ergun, Liying Zhu, Frank Gerstmeier, Zoran Dukic and Aniello Desiderio,  and Margarita Escarpa. Also, my two amazing sound engineers-producers were Hubert Kaeppel and Hans-Werner Huppertz.

How do you discover new music?

Asking friends who is new on the block, going to concerts etc..

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

Michael Torke

Dora Pejačević 1885-1923

Where can we find you online?

www.dalekavanagh.com

www.amadeusduo.com

Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music etc……

Upcoming Event you’d like to share? 

  • 03/03/2023            Bonn (Hardberger Gitarrenkonzerte)
  • 15/04/2023            Augsburg (Gitarrenfestival)
  • 29/04/2023            Kuala Lumpur
  • 01/05/2023            Kuala Lumpur
  • 04/06/2023            Bedburg (Schloss Bedburg)
  • 09/06/2023            Burgwedel (with Duo Gruber & Maklar)
  • 16/06/2023            Stettin/Polen (Baltic Guitar Days)
  • 02/07/2023            Lübbecke (mit Orgel, Hermann Grube)
  • 24/07/2023            Iserlohn (31. Gitarren-Festival)
  • 02/08/2023            Dillington, England
  • 03/08/2023            Dillington, England
  • 14/08/2023            Carrion de los Condes, Spain
  • 16/08/2023            Carrion de los Condes, Spain

Music I Am #15 – Armando Bayolo, composer

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

Not long after starting music lessons at age 12. I sopped all the music I could up like a sponge.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Friendliness. Being pleasant and friendly is incredibly helpful in finding people who want to work with you.

Two ways you stay motivated:

Finding great collaborators. Remembering how much I like having a roof over my head.

Latest Project:

Show Offs! A cycle of four concertos: 1 for harpsichord, 2 for sax quartet, 3 for piano, and 4 for viola.

What inspired it:

Looking at the 6 symphonies I’ve written which are conscious commentaries on an old form made me want to do it for another venerable tradition and try to deconstruct it.

Who’s on it:

Soloists: Michael Delfín, harpsichord; Zzyzx saxophone quartet; Erika Dohi, piano; Michael Hall, viola. Conductors: Chris Hisey, Thomas McCauley, ShawnCrowch Ensembles: Montclair State University Wind Symphony, American Chamber Orchestra, Society for New Music (Syracuse), Ensemble Ibis. (And others may join, especially on the harpsichord and viola pieces).

How do you discover new music?

Mostly through other people who share their stuff. And browsing the web and the occasional used record store.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

Living: Carlos Carrillo. A phenomenal composer who deserves to shine brightly.

Dead: Louise Farrenc. Her music is amazing.

Where can we find you online?

Website (best place to listen to my tunes)
Twitter
Facebook

Upcoming Event you’d like to share?

I have performances at University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign as part of the Festival of Puerto Rican Music, March 30- April 2, with Kristina Bachrach, Winston Choi, and The Victory Players; and a portrait show at Epiphany Center in Chicago with Kristina Bachrach and Winston Choi on April 2.

Music I Am #14 – Alan Fletcher, composer & CEO

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

I was four years old. I have four older siblings, all musical, and my mother was a musician. So, I sat under the piano during their lessons and then tried to reach the keyboard to imitate what they were learning.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Dramatic capacity for focus.

Two ways you stay motivated:

Read new fiction and look at lots of visual art.

Latest album or recording project:

Not focused on recording. The project I’ll highlight is part of a large group commission from Alisa Weilerstein for a series of programs staged theatrically: Fragments

What inspired it:

Alisa Weilerstein asked each composer (of about 20, I think) to create a world for solo cello that would become part of a program paired with one of the Bach suites. But, none of us knew which suite or where in the suite – she would make the choices after receiving all the music. It happened that I was doing a transcription project for Simone Dinnerstein at the same time, working from the Orgelbuchlein. I was saturated in Bach, and, whereas many of my composing colleagues wrote adventuresome, improvisatory things, I wrote a straight-ahead Allemande.

Who’s on it:

Alisa Weilerstein

How do you discover new music?

Music is always new.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

I love Missy Mazzoli’s music; she’s now getting lots of well-deserved attention, though.

Where can we find you online?

Regrettably, I still haven’t made a website.

Upcoming Event you’d like to share? 

Alisa’s project goes worldwide soon.

* Full Disclosure: Alan wrote Lullaby in Three Voices for Aaron’s New Lullaby Project and Aaron recorded it on Nights Transfigured
Listen on SPOTIFY

Music I Am #13 – Lori Laitman, composer

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

Music was always part of my life — but consciously — probably around 6th grade.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Empathy.

Two ways you stay motivated:

A desire to create beauty and a looming deadline.

Latest album or recording project:

“The Ocean of Eternity CD” on the Acis label.

What inspired it:

I’m in a multi-year project to record all of the music I’ve written so this yet another step. The centerpiece of this particular CD is the song cycle “The Ocean of Eternity” — for soprano, soprano saxophone and piano (commissioned by Michael Couper, Yungee Rhie and ChoEun Lee, who are the performers) — which sets the poetry of the late Sri Lankan poet Anne Ranasinghe.

Who’s on it:

Sopranos Nicole Cabell, Alisa Jordheim, Maureen McKay,  Patrice Michaels and Yungee Rhie; mezzo-soprano Katie Hannigan; baritone Daniel Belcher; violinist Tarn Travers; saxophonist Michael Couper; and pianists Lori Laitman, ChoEun Lee, Tze-Wen (Julia) Lin and Andrew Rosenblum.

How do you discover new music?

Mostly by going to concerts.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

dead: Rebecca Clarke.

living: too many to name.

Where can we find you online?

Website
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
www.scarletletteropera.com

Upcoming Event you’d like to share?

Solo Opera’s production of “The Three Feathers,” my fairy tale opera with Dana Gioia. The production will take place Sept 8 and 10, 2023 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA.

The online premiere of my latest Holocaust work, Wertheim Park, was just released:

 

And a short film made from my Sarong Song — 

 

Photo by Karjaka Studios

Music I Am #12 – Frederic Hand, composer-guitarist

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

Attending a Segovia concert in Town Hall, NY., it was magical. As we were leaving the concert hall I told my mother that I was going become a classical guitarist. I was six years old.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

To be secure within yourself so that you can work from a place of authenticity.      

Two ways you stay motivated:

Listening to jazz while cooking dinner and talking to artist friends from different disciplines about the creative process.

Latest album or recording project:

“Across Time”, an album of original compositions spanning forty years, including my most recent works, recordings previously unreleased, and digitally remastered works from the age of vinyl. My wife Lesley joins me to sing three songs.

What inspired it:

A combination of having written new compositions that I wanted put out into the world and older ones that were either never released or were recorded but didn’t make it into the digital age.

Who’s on it:

I play all of the solo guitar works and my wife Lesley joins me in singing three songs.

How do you discover new music?

From friends recommendations, streaming platforms and listening to the radio while driving.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

Branford Marsalis and Ralph Vaughan Williams

Where can we find you online?

frederichand.com 

Instagram

Upcoming Event you’d like to share?

World premier of my new work: Theme, Variations and Finale performed by Benjamin Verdery at the Yale University (free streaming available).

 

Music I Am #11 – Douglas Knehans, composer

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

I was a little kid looking at a record cover of a Brahms disc with a photo of old Brahms on the cover. There was just something about that that I thought “wouldn’t it be cool to be a composer?” Several years passed and I only took up music in my last year of high school but made rapid progress and attended an excellent conservatory at the Australian National University  the following year.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Analysis. Being able to think through problems and solutions with clarity and not with fantasy. It is a difficult one to balance reality with aspiration, but I think clarity of mind is an essential skill no matter what career path one takes.

Two ways you stay motivated:

Break big challenges or problems into a collection of smaller, more easily achievable ones. Stay curious to keep challenging yourself. BONUS one: don’t delay, start today.

Latest album or recording project:

Latest album is CLOUD OSSUARY, which just won its tenth recording award. Next recording project is my second cello concerto BLACK CITY which reflects on the degraded cityscape of rustbelt America as a metaphor for internal challenges and emotions.

What inspired it:

Cloud Ossuary was inspired by a brilliant poem of my daughter’s, who is a writer, called BONES AND ALL. [https://www.katarinaknehans.com/work]

Who’s on it:

For this disc I was so lucky to work with the brilliant Brno Philharmonic and my longtime friend, conductor Mikel Toms. As soloists on the disc I was so fortunate to have Pavel Wallinger as violin soloist, a truly gifted musician, and the young Dutch soprano Judith Weusten who absolutely nailed the very demanding vocal solo.

How do you discover new music?

Through the Grammy community mainly and through listening to the radio when I am driving.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

For a living musician I would say baritone Matthias Goerne. Absolutely one of the most masterful musicians I have ever heard. For a dead one, I would say French/Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, an absolutely wonderful composer.

Where can we find you online?

Website 
Backwards From Winter (opera) 
Spotify

 

Music I Am #10 – Miranda Cuckson, violin

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

There wasn’t a moment but since I was a young kid I always loved playing the violin and music, always was eager to play. And by the time I was 11 or 12, music was clearly a huge part of my life.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Keep learning and keep rethinking (even if you come back to the same)

Two ways you stay motivated:

1) the world is big and life is big, wherever you look from – there is always something else to explore and learn or something to go back to again

2) Stay true to myself and what I want at any given time with my music-making, not behave a certain way so that I’m limited by anyone’s expectations. I want to be a full, complex person with a genuine perspective.

Latest album or recording project:

Világ – Bartók solo violin sonata and new solo pieces by Manfred Stahnke, Aida Shirazi, Franco Donatoni, and Stewart Goodyear.

     

What inspired it:

Bartók and the many cultures of the world and how those cultures are meaningful to people nowadays.

Who’s on it:

me and composers Béla Bartók, Aida Shirazi, Stewart Goodyear, Manfred Stahnke

 

How do you discover new music?

I’ll check out one thing I know about or heard about, then one thing leads to another and another and another…

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

Dead: violinist Erica Morini (she was quite celebrated but seems rarely mentioned now). I don’t love everything she did but she was a major artist. Living: I’ll just say be aware of and listen to NewMusicUSA’s Counterstream radio. They are connected with the community of American music and they play things you might know or not be familiar with.

Where can we find you online?

Website 
Management 
YouTube
Instagram
Twitter

Music I Am #9 – Kathleen Supové, pianist-composer

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

It wasn’t until sophomore year of college. Otherwise, I had thought it would be a lifelong avocation!

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Diplomacy!

Two ways you stay motivated:

Pressure of public events, and the joy they bring! The prospect of discovering a wonderful new piece!

Latest album or recording project:

Latest solo album already released: Eye to Ivory on Starkland. Latest collection Lockdown And Loss, music of Neil Rolnick, on Other Minds Records. Upcoming: Migration project recording, big solo project.

4a.     What inspired it:

It started with my interest in an event in Portland, Oregon, the yearly migration of Vaux’s Swifts, where they think a chimney is an overnight roost. This has become a spectator sport there. But it lead to an interest in migration of animals, peoples, and even plants! It’s hard to read the news today and not be inspired by the migration of fellow humans.

4b.     Who’s on it:

The recordings I mention are of solo projects. I’ve been fortunate to record with the following people in the past year: Neil Rolnick, Tessa Brinckman, Guy Barash, Nick Flynn (poet, reading his work), Frank London, and Ayal Maoz, Gilbert Galindo, Iktus, and the Argus Quartet.

How do you discover new music?

Going to concerts when I can, which isn’t often enough. Word of mouth is extremely powerful, at least towards getting me to check something out. Sometimes, I will listen in an exploratory way at home, I wish that worked better. I’m usually much more clear in evaluating something when I hear it go out live to a room of people.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

Ahhh, so tough to narrow it down: Living: Urmas Sisask Deceased: Horatiu Radulescu

Where can we find you online?

Website 
Youtube
Facebook
FB page
Instagram

Next Concert: 

Feb. 4 at the Longy School of Music

Music I Am #8 – Cellista, performance artist

The moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician:

I was ten. A string quartet performed late Beethovens at my elementary school. I was sitting on the floor by the cellist, who was well over 6’3″ and sported an afro and eye patch. He was the coolest person I’d ever encountered. As he played, I could feel the cello’s vibrations and that was that. I fell in love with cello. It was decided, I’d be a cellist.

An important skill for a career in music that does not have anything to do with an instrument or making music:

Time management and writing skills.

Two ways you stay motivated:

Well, truthfully, my general feeling of inadequacy makes me work hard, and the feeling (since COVID) that everything could be taken away in an instant. Sorry if that was a bit a downer.

Latest album or recording project:

PARIAH – an operetta composed for immersive audio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4a.     What inspired it:

It draws on the narrative threads of previous projects, all of which have something to do with themes of exile, otherness, and serenity.

4b.     Who’s on it:

hahaha! More than thirty collaborators including the rapper DEM ONE, the soprano Carla Canales. Composer Daniel Felsenfeld, wrote the preface to the accompanying book I wrote with my father, the philosopher Frank Seeburger.

How do you discover new music?

Most of the time, it’s from playing or performing in a wide variety of strange shows where you wouldn’t usually find a cellist. I love the noise community, buskers on the streets of the Bay area, burlesque shows, circus act, the list goes on.

One living and one dead musician that deserves more attention:

I refuse to give more attention to dead composers. And ALL living composers deserve more attention and programming, especially composers coming from marginalized communities.

Where can we find you online?

cellista.net | Twitter/IG: @xcellistax | Fb.com/cellista.music

 

Photo: JD Lenzen, 2022