Soundweavers
88 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsA bi-weekly podcast, Soundweavers explores the triumphs and tribulations of the chamber music community through conversations with emerging and established performers, composers, and educators. Through dialogue with guest artists and ensembles, we delve into what it means to present contemporary and traditional classical, jazz, and folk music in today’s ever-shifting gig economy.
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Episodes
3.04 Juliani Ensemble
May 24, 2023 18:18 - 59 minutes - 44.9 MBThis week Rosy chats with members of the Juliani Ensemble - Anita Graef, Julian Graef and Emily Seaberry. They speak about maintaining ensemble longevity, the role of family within the ensemble, and Julian's experience of transforming a barn into a concert hall. Juliani Ensemble is currently preparing the launch of its new chamber music festival, the Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival, for summer 2023. To learn more about the Juliani Ensemble and/or the Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival, pleas...
3.03 Derby City Music Festival
May 10, 2023 13:00 - 49 minutes - 43.8 MBIn this episode, Rosy chats with Nicholas Finch, Artistic Director of Derby City Chamber Music Festival and Principal Cellist of the Louisville Orchestra. Derby City Music Festival 2023 will take place on May 23rd, 25th and 30th at Second Presbyterian Church in Louisville, KY. To reserve tickets or find out more about the festival, visit https://derbycitychamberfest.org/ To learn more about Nicholas Finch, visit http://nicholasfinch.com/
3.02 Arthur Keegan
May 03, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MBIn this episode, Rosy delves into deep conversation with British composer Arthur Keegan. They speak about his new song cycle based on the works of author Thomas Hardy, grad school funding, and the virtues of patience when examining one's own career trajectory. If you would like to support the Hardy project or preorder the album, please visit Arthur’s Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wessexlovesongs/help-us-record-an-album-celebrating-hardys-poetry-and-music
3.01 Icarus Quartet
April 26, 2023 19:00 - 56 minutes - 39.7 MBIn this episode, Rosanna chats with the Icarus Quartet - Larry Weng, Christopher Goodpasture, Matt Keown, and Jeff Stern - about building repertoire, working with composers, maintaining a work-life balance, and the practical realities of recording. To find out more about Icarus Quartet, visit https://icarusquartet.org/ Icarus Quartet’s debut album Big Things can be heard at https://icarusquartet.bandcamp.com/album/big-things
3.00 Season Introduction - What is a "Soundweavers"?
April 19, 2023 22:00 - 22 minutes - 16.8 MBWelcome to Season 3 of the Soundweavers Podcast! In this short introductory episode, host Rosanna Moore, editor Evan Henry and producer Nikolas Jeleniauskas chat about the direction they are hoping to take the show this season. They also discuss the upcoming guests for the next four episodes: Icarus Quartet, Arthur Keegan, Derby City Music Festival and the Juliani Ensemble.
Hiatus Message
November 23, 2022 05:00 - 1 minute - 1.71 MBSoundweavers Podcast will be on hiatus until next year.
3.00 Hiatus Message
November 23, 2022 05:00 - 1 minute - 1.71 MBSoundweavers Podcast will be on hiatus until next year.
2.24 UpBeat Collaboration
August 24, 2022 20:53 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBIn the final Cast Chat and episode of season 2, we are joined by the hosts of UpBeat Podcast (a part of Everything Conducting), John Devlin and Enrico Lopez-Yañez, to discuss the similarities between large and small ensemble musicianship, and our respective approaches when developing podcasts. The transcript for this episode can be found here. For more information about Everything Conducting, John and Enrico, please visit their websites.
2.23 Playing Classical Music on Electric Guitar: DJ Sparr
July 20, 2022 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBGuitarist and composer DJ Sparr joins us to chat about the central role that the relationships built in school play in securing future work. He shares about his experience performing Kenneth Fuch’s Electric Guitar Concerto with JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra and the difference between performing his vs. others’ works. We also talk about the typical day-to-day schedule of a performer-composer, and working this into family life. Electric guitarist and composer D. J. Sparr, w...
2.22 Using Brass Quintet to Promote Female Voices: Calypsus Brass
July 07, 2022 01:55 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBJacquelyn Lankford and Stephanie Ycaza of Calypsus Brass join us to chat about the significance of being an all-female-identifying group in the world of brass ensembles. They speak with us about the workshops, which range from discussions on military and orchestral work to musician wellness. We talk about their involvement with Rising Tide Music Press and how they tackle the challenges associated with funding the commissioning and recording of new works. Founded in 2021, Calypsus Brass is a...
2.21 Giving All Kids a Chance to Play: Music Haven
June 22, 2022 04:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBViolist Annalisa Boerner of Music Haven and the Haven String Quartet joins us to discuss the organization's mission to enhance access to chamber music education for the students of New Haven, Connecticut. We chat about how the organization works to connect the work their students are doing in the studio with the world beyond their practice, and how they work to counter the violence and hostility of society through community-building. We speak about the ways in which the organization is curre...
2.20 Introducing Evan Henry: Cast Chat
June 08, 2022 04:00 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBOur new producer, Evan Henry, joins us to discuss his life as a student and composer and how he found his way into audio engineering as a segment of his professional career. Evan Henry is a composer and music copyist (and now, podcast producer, it seems!) currently living in Eugene, Oregon. His formal musical study began at the Eastman School of Music in 2008 as a jazz trumpet major. After switching focus to composition and piano, he graduated with a BM in composition in 2013, and briefly c...
2.19 Making Music for Silent Films: FRAME Ensemble
May 25, 2022 04:05 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBIrine Røsnes, Trevor Bartlett, and Jonny Best of FRAME Ensemble joins us to discuss their work improvising for silent films, from how they got started working within this genre to their process preparing for each film. They share about their approach to the traditions for performance with silent films and how they approach the various challenges associated with a genre so uniquely situated in a specific moment in time. The transcript for this episode can be found here. For more information...
2.18 Using Music To Explore Identity: Nina Shekhar
May 11, 2022 04:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBComposer Nina Shekhar joins us to chat about her work exploring identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter in her work and her process for exploring such complex aspects of humanity in seemingly mundane experiences, such as the car horns on the streets of India. We talk about how she approaches the business side of a professional career in composition, and how her work as a flutist, saxophonist, and pianist has informed her comfort with a wide array of compositional styles. And we speak abo...
2.17 Enlivening A Cappella Music: Gesualdo Six
April 27, 2022 04:00 - 30 minutes - 28.4 MBOwain Park of Gesualdo Six joins us to discuss the origins of the ensemble. We chat about the many traditions for a vocal consort, from the sacred elements associated with a cappella music to the members' conventional training as pianists and organists and backgrounds working at cathedrals. We talk about their recent pandemic-inspired projects recording Héloïse Werner's Coronasolfège and their new(ish) podcast, G6. We speak a bit about their composition competition, and the typical challenge...
2.16 Managing a Modern Quartet: Attacca Quartet
April 13, 2022 10:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBDomenic Salerni of the Attacca Quartet joins us to chat about what it means to "live in the present…without rejecting the virtues of the past" and how the ensemble approaches breathes new life into traditional projects. We discuss the ins and outs of artist management, and how the ensemble approaches commissions. And, Domenic shares how the quartet searches for a recording label and how up-and-coming artists can develop the skills needed for the recording process. Grammy award-winning Attac...
2.16 Managing a Modern Quartet - Attacca Quartet
April 13, 2022 10:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBDomenic Salerni of the Attacca Quartet joins us to chat about what it means to "live in the present…without rejecting the virtues of the past" and how the ensemble approaches breathes new life into traditional projects. We discuss the ins and outs of artist management, and how the ensemble approaches commissions. And, Domenic shares how the quartet searches for a recording label and how up-and-coming artists can develop the skills needed for the recording process. Grammy award-winning Attac...
2.15 Inside Internships: Cast Chat
March 30, 2022 10:00 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBLydia Becker, former intern with Pegasus Early Music, joins us to discuss the experience of interning for a major arts organization, from the ins-and-outs of everyday business to the more memorable moments that led her toward the work she is doing today. Lydia shares some advice for students looking to intern with major ensembles, and talks about her experience moving from intern to employee for the same institution. Lydia Becker is an innovative violinist who is passionate about building a...
2.14 The Evolution of an Ensemble: Eighth Blackbird
March 19, 2022 13:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBPianist Lisa Kaplan of eighth blackbird joins us to chat about the many evolutions of their organization, from the original ensemble to their many teaching endeavors. We chat about the Chicago Artists Workshop and Blackbird Creative Lab, two of the ways in which they continue to “move music forward” beyond their primarily performance-based projects. Kaplan shares about how the ensemble conceptualizes and puts projects—such as This is my Home—into action. We speak about how the organization i...
2.13 The Magic of Storytelling: Kincaid Rabb
March 02, 2022 11:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBComposer Kincaid Rabb joins us to discuss the consortium model for commissioning new works, how their composition approach does and doesn’t change when composing for a consortium, and the basics on how to put consortia together. They chat with us about their research into the music of theme parks, and how they’ve integrated this research into their composition. We talk about how one approaches the challenges of balancing one’s privileges with one’s identity, and how this manifests in the sma...
2.12 When Brass Join the Party: Riot Jazz
February 16, 2022 11:00 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBSteve Pycroft of Riot Jazz joins us to discuss how their ensemble approaches collaborations, from expanding their core ensemble to working with MC Chunky. He chats about how Riot Jazz navigates the process of procuring the rights to perform, record, and arrange pop tunes. He also shares their approach to making music videos to promote their work, and speaks more broadly about the skills most important for success in a career like his. The 9-strong genre-defining band that hails from the gri...
2.11 Engaging a Screen-Centric Audience: fivebyfive
February 02, 2022 11:00 - 30 minutes - 28.5 MBLaura Lentz, Marc Webster, and Eric Polenik of fivebyfive join us to chat about how they tailor their work to screen-centric audiences, and how their video projects have led to particularly interesting collaborations throughout their existence. They share about their approaches to successful grant writing, and how they've found themselves working not just as grant recipients, but also as grant-writing mentors. We also speak about the role that community plays in their work, and how they cont...
2.10 Reflections on DEIA: Cast Chat
January 19, 2022 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBIn this cast chat, the team continues the discussion on approaches to improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in the small ensemble community. We share several strategies for sustaining these conversations within small ensembles and organizations, collecting and analyzing data, and how to integrate this work into conversations with stakeholders. Soundweavers explores the triumphs and tribulations of the chamber music community through conversations with emerging and established p...
2.9 Founded on Representation: Imani Winds
December 29, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutes - 31.4 MBMonica Ellis from Imani Winds joins the Soundweavers team to chat about their ensemble's origin and the gradual development of their mission over their first several years. She shared about Imani's really interesting experience with having "in-house" composers in the ensemble. We chat about the evolution of their recording process and how they have sought out new ensemble members. And, we speak about the ensemble's new gig as faculty members at the Curtis Institute of Music. Celebrating ove...
2.8 Putting Yourself "Out There" vs. Having Patience - Aquarelle Guitar Quartet
December 15, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBMike Baker and Rory Russell of the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet join the Soundweavers team to discuss their work promoting the guitar quartet through a careful balance of traditional repertoire, arrangements, and commissions. They chat about their relationship with Chandos Records and their recording projects. They speak about their beginnings with Live Music Now and the value that community engagement programs offer both the local audiences and the performers. Recognized as one of the world’s ...
2.8 Putting Yourself "Out There" vs. Having Patience: Aquarelle Guitar Quartet
December 15, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBMike Baker and Rory Russell of the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet join the Soundweavers team to discuss their work promoting the guitar quartet through a careful balance of traditional repertoire, arrangements, and commissions. They chat about their relationship with Chandos Records and their recording projects. They speak about their beginnings with Live Music Now and the value that community engagement programs offer both the local audiences and the performers. Recognized as one of the world’s ...
2.7 Connecting to Her Roots: Reena Esmail
December 01, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBReena Esmail joins us to chat about integrating her Western and Hindustani roots in her composition and throughout her work as artistic director of Shastra. We chat about how she prepares listeners with less experience for musical experiences that are new to them. She speaks about her work as composer-in-residence of Street Symphony, a non-profit organization bringing music to Los Angeles-based homeless and incarcerated populations on Skid Row and beyond. And, we talk about her methods for i...
2.6 Recasting Old Gems in a New Light: Pacific Harp Project
November 17, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBHarpist Megan Bledsoe Ward joins us to chat about how she stumbled into improvisation as a harpist and how her early experiences resulted in the genre-weaving collaboration that Pacific Harp Project has become. We talk about her process for funding and then recording her first album, and how her ensemble approaches marketing. And we discuss how much there is to learn about a work by recasting it in new and interesting ways. Praised for their “engaging jazz...with scintillating plays of ligh...
2.6 Recasting Old Repertoire: Pacific Harp Ensemble
November 17, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBHarpist Megan Bledsoe Ward joins us to chat about how she stumbled into improvisation as a harpist and how her early experiences resulted in the genre-weaving collaboration that Pacific Harp Project has become. We talk about her process for funding and then recording her first album, and how her ensemble approaches marketing. And we discuss how much there is to learn about a work by recasting it in new and interesting ways. Praised for their “engaging jazz...with scintillating plays of ligh...
2.5 3 Essentials of Starting a Project: Cast Chat
November 03, 2021 10:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBIn this cast chat, the team discusses three essential components for launching a new project, from beginning by articulating a vision and a timeframe to human resources and budget development. Soundweavers explores the triumphs and tribulations of the chamber music community through conversations with emerging and established performers, composers, and educators. Through dialogue, trialogue—and sometimes even tetralogue—with guest artists and ensembles, we delve into what it means to presen...
2.4 15 Years of Music-Making With No Real Plan: Yarn/Wire
October 20, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29.4 MBLaura Barger from Yarn/Wire joins the Soundweavers team to chat about what it really means to proceed without a plan, auditioning and integrating new members, and the usefulness of the recording process for musicians. We discuss their collaborative project Be Holding with the poet Ross Gay, composer Tyshawn Sorey, and director Brooke O'Harra, and the first- to twelfth-grade students of Girard College. Laura shares about the ensemble's web series Feedback, in which they focus on the process o...
2.3 Music Education & Building Community: Viet Cuong
October 06, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBComposer Viet Cuong joins us to discuss the role that marching band played in his formative years and the impact it continues to have on his current career. He shares his approach to composing for small ensembles, preparing students to take advantage of new and innovative tools, and the skills vital for success as a freelance musician. We finish with a conversation about what it means to “sound like tomorrow”. Called “alluring” and “wildly inventive” by The New York Times, the “irresistible...
2.2 The Genre-Jumping Saxophonist: Idit Shner
September 22, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBSaxophonist Idit Shner joins us to chat about moving between the classical and jazz worlds, her early love for baroque music as a young recorder player, and her thoughts on providing space for students to experience music-making across genres. Idit talks about the differences in the physical technique and the mental preparation for jazz vs. classical performance, and how this influences her approach to performing and recording. She shares her interest in exploring traditional Jewish and Zimb...
2.1 20 Years of Guiding Chamber Music America: Margaret Lioi
September 08, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBMargaret Lioi, past Chief Executive Officer of Chamber Music America, joins us to discuss the process of developing and realizing her vision for the small ensemble community and supporting this vision through strategic grantmaking and fundraising initiatives. She chats with us about the intersections between jazz and chamber music and how small ensemble genres and styles share more than they seem. We talk about how a person finds themselves deeply involved in arts administration, and about L...
2.1 Margaret Lioi: 20 Years of Guiding Chamber Music America
September 08, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBMargaret Lioi, past Chief Executive Officer of Chamber Music America, joins us to discuss the process of developing and realizing her vision for the small ensemble community and supporting this vision through strategic grantmaking and fundraising initiatives. She chats with us about the intersections between jazz and chamber music and how small ensemble genres and styles share more than they seem. We talk about how a person finds themselves deeply involved in arts administration, and about L...
2.0 What's New in Season 2?
September 01, 2021 10:00 - 6 minutes - 6.01 MBIn our pre-season episode, the Soundweavers team discusses updates to the podcast in this upcoming season, the launch of our new Patreon, and the extra content and new opportunities that come along with it. Soundweavers explores the triumphs and tribulations of the chamber music community through conversations with emerging and established performers, composers, and educators. Through dialogue, trialogue—and sometimes even tetralogue—with guest artists and ensembles, we delve into what it m...
1.25 Cast Chat
August 04, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MBIn the final episode of our first season, the Soundweavers team discusses some of the major themes throughout the season—relationships, adaptability, and self-reflection—and explore how these themes intersected with small ensemble performance and composition; education, community engagement, and social justice; and administrative and life skills. We explore how so many of our guests emphasized the importance of long-term relationship building, flexibility with methods and approaches, and an ...
1.24 Lake George Festival
July 21, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 34.2 MBAlexander Lombard, Roger Kalia, and Barbora Kolarova join us to discuss the founding of the Lake George Music Festival, the inner mechanics of running the festival, and recruiting and selecting musicians that contribute to the close knit community they have built. They share a number of strategies for engaging community members, from housing musicians with avid festival attendees to offering balanced and diverse programming that exposes every listener to music outside their comfort zone. The...
1.23 Miguel del Águila
July 07, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MB.Composer Miguel del Águila joins us to discuss his interest in rhythm and drama and how his nostalgia for home informs his compositional language. He describes his use of transcription as a means of recasting aspects of the same work in a new light. We chat about the differing experiences of functioning as a freelancer and a university professor. And he shares about the continuing impact of colonialism on music—and how the constantly evolving nature of small ensembles provides opportunities...
1.22 I Ketut Gede Asnawa
June 23, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 42 MBBalinese performer and composer I Ketut Gede Asnawa joins us to discuss his work with Balinese gamelan music in Indonesia and the United States. We explore the varieties of gamelan music throughout Indonesia and how gamelan music is integrated throughout Balinese culture through the 5 sacred yadnya. Pak shares with us the central role that community plays in gamelan ensembles and the work that he has done to bring that same sense of community into his classroom at the University of Illinois....
1.21 Eira Lynn Jones
June 09, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBHarpist Eira Lynn Jones joins us to chat about her work with the Juniper Project, a flute and harp duo that performs and records not only the most virtuosic repertoire, but also the approachable repertoire that they enjoy coaching. We speak about Eira’s work as a composer of chamber music, as well as her connection to the Music in Hospitals program. Eira shares some of her background as someone who “did everything backwards”, having gone from a full-time orchestral position to a freelancer’s...
S1. E20 - Cast Chat
May 26, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIn this cast chat, the team amplifies the conversations from the Disruption. Action. Change. series hosted by the Eastman School of Music Institute for Music Leadership and the University of Michigan EXCEL lab. We discuss the politicization of ADEI work, centering human narratives as a way of connecting human experiences, repositioning Black musics as the basis for American music in curricula and programming, investigating the role of capitalism in upholding systems of oppression, self-educa...
1.20 Cast Chat
May 26, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIn this cast chat, the team amplifies the conversations from the Disruption. Action. Change. series hosted by the Eastman School of Music Institute for Music Leadership and the University of Michigan EXCEL lab. We discuss the politicization of ADEI work, centering human narratives as a way of connecting human experiences, repositioning Black musics as the basis for American music in curricula and programming, investigating the role of capitalism in upholding systems of oppression, self-educa...
1.19 Amatis Trio
May 12, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBViolinist Lea Hausmann, cellist Samuel Shepherd, and pianist Mengjie Han of the Amatis Piano Trio join us to chat about scoping out chamber partners at international competitions, navigating multiple nationalities in one small ensemble, using the internet to cultivate and sustain audiences on the way to securing concerts each season, stimulating artistic growth with dialogue between performers and composers, developing innovative cross-genre and interdisciplinary projects, and the importance...
1.18 Akropolis Reed Quintet
April 28, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 45 MBClarinetist and saxophonist Kari and Matt Landry of the Akropolis Reed Quintet join the Soundweavers team to discuss their approach to growing the repertoire for a new ensemble through arrangements and commissions—and their work publishing and sharing this music through their website. Kari and Matt share their excitement about forming collaborations that generate new perspectives, create new sounds, and stretch genres. They talk about teaching composition and premiering students' works throu...
1.18 Akropolis
April 28, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 45 MBClarinetist and saxophonist Kari and Matt Landry of the Akropolis Reed Quintet join the Soundweavers team to discuss their approach to growing the repertoire for a new ensemble through arrangements and commissions—and their work publishing and sharing this music through their website. Kari and Matt share their excitement about forming collaborations that generate new perspectives, create new sounds, and stretch genres. They talk about teaching composition and premiering students' works throu...
1.17 Kalia Vandever
April 14, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBJazz trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever joins us to chat about conceptualizing her album In Bloom, funding this project through touring and crowdsourcing, identifying a recording engineer and studio, and developing her compositional voice throughout the process. We talk about her start in community education through the Herbie Hancock Institute Peer-to-Peer Program and the importance of encouraging students to connect with one another through community engagement initiatives. Kalia share...
1.16 Pegasus Early Music
March 31, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBExecutive Director and lutenist Deborah Fox of Pegasus Early Music joins the Soundweavers team to discuss the nature of leading an organization that curates both the repertoire and personnel for each concert. She speaks with us about the ways in which Pegasus is promoting antiracist practices in a musical style “largely written by white, male, Christian Europeans.” We chat about Pegasus Rising, the organization’s program for promoting emerging artists in early music. We also talk about Pegas...
1.15 Cast Chat
March 17, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBRosy, Blaire, and Adam chat about the origins, purposes, and impacts of the Grammy Awards on the classical music industry; the role that the Grammys play in the evolution of classical music; the process of becoming nominating, and then winning, a Grammy award; the biases embedded in a system solely reliant on professional networks for access; and grassroots solutions emerging in response to these issues. Soundweavers explores the triumphs and tribulations of the chamber music community thro...
1.14 Tony Arnold
March 03, 2021 11:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MBSoprano Tony Arnold joins us to chat about hopping careers from orchestral conductor to international superstar vocalist, her varied interests in how sound is made and how to harness sound to make it into something else, and the way her interests have helped in collaborations with all sorts of instrumentalists and in teaching composers how to help performers lift music off the page . We speak about how she developed the working knowledge necessary to decipher contemporary scores, the close c...