From Nadia Sirota at Q2: “SONiC Portrait: Bryce Dessner “

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Nadia Sirota interviews Bryce Dessner from 12-1. Olivia Giovetti fills in for Nadia from 1-4.

Straddling Pop Superstardom and the Legacy of Western Classical Music
Friday, October 14, 2011

“Featuring over 100 composers under the ago of 40, the American Composers Orchestra’s SONiC (Sounds of a New Century) Festival is energizing New York with a stellar kickoff to the season – eight days of amazing new work performed by 16 extraordinary ensembles. Yay!

Here at Q2 Music we’ve got all kinds of exclusive SONiC-related goodies for you, from concert coverage to ensemble portraits, and, of course, you can always rely on Q2 Music to provide a direct line from composer to listener — five composers whose work is being featured on the festival stopped by the Q2 Music studios to talk chat about their lives, their work, and the classical landscape.

NYC-based composer and performer Bryce Dessner is probably best known as the guitarist for the acclaimed rock band The National, whose most recent record, High Violet debuted as #3 in the US Billboard chart and #4 on world album charts. On the more Classical side of things Bryce has received tons of acclaim for his work composing and performing concert music. He’s written for such new-music heavyweights as the Kronos Quartet and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, as well as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the American Composers Orchestra. Dessner’s chamber and orchestral work shares some of the propulsive, grooving elements of his songwriting, while exploring novel orchestrations and instrumental virtuosity.”

Brice Dessner

[No mention of the score for The Social Network which only won an Oscar?? Strange.]

From Nadia Sirota at Q2: “SONiC Portrait: Susie Ibarra”

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2
Nadia Sirota interviews Susie Ibarra from 12-1. Olivia Giovetti fills in for Nadia from 1-4.

Navigating Among Found Sound, Electronica and Percussion

“Featuring over 100 composers under the ago of 40, the American Composers Orchestra’s SONiC (Sounds of a New Century) Festival is energizing New York with a stellar kickoff to the season – eight days of amazing new work performed by 16 extraordinary ensembles. Yay!

Here at Q2 Music we’ve got all kinds of exclusive SONiC-related goodies for you, from concert coverage to ensemble portraits, and, of course, you can always rely on Q2 Music to provide a direct line from composer to listener — five composers whose work is being featured on the festival stopped by the Q2 Music studios to talk chat about their lives, their work, and the classical landscape.

Susie Ibarra aims to create a cultural dialogue through her music, via her innovative style and pan-cultural influences. As both a percussionist and a composer she works with a variety of ensembles, from the Susie Ibarra Quartet, in which she’s joined by musical luminaries Bridget Kibbey, Jennifer Choi, and Kathleen Supove, to her world electronics duo, Electric Kulintang, to her children’s world music outfit, Mundo Niños. As a composer, Susie’s music uses percussive sounds from around the world as well electronics, sampled field recordings, and acoustic instruments, to create a brand of music that is at once propulsive, unique and attractive.

Susie Ibarra

[Here is something really cool about Susie Ibarra: she is well known not only at Q2, but also in the Jazz world. The photo I used was from the great Jazz site, my friends, All About Jazz. And some time ago, upon first hearing one of Susie’s Innova recordings, a Jazz on-air host at WPRB pronounced the music “choice”, which is I understand a huge compliment in the world of Jazz.

See the full post here

From Nadia Sirota at Q2: “SONiC Portrait: Andrew Norman”

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

This Member of the Composer Collective, Sleeping Giant, on Churches in Rome and Video Games

This interview airs at the top of Monday’s show (October 10, 2011). Olivia Giovetti fills in for Nadia from 1-4.
Monday, October 10, 2011

O.G.

“Featuring over 100 composers under the ago of 40, the American Composers Orchestra’s SONiC (Sounds of a New Century) Festival is energizing New York with a stellar kickoff to the season – eight days of amazing new work performed by 16 extraordinary ensembles. Yay!

Here at Q2 we’ve got all kinds of exclusive SONiC-related goodies for you, from concert coverage to ensemble portraits, and, of course, you can always rely on Q2 to provide a direct line from composer to listener — five composers whose work is being featured on the festival stopped by the Q2 studios to talk chat about their lives, their work, and the classical landscape.

Composer Andrew Norman uses his intimate knowledge of string instruments to write music that bubbles and pulses with propulsive energy. An avid orchestral composer, Andrew shared only his chamber music with us here at Q2 Music, due to airing restrictions associated with recording symphony orchestras (a topic eloquently blogged about by composer Nico Muhly). Using exclusively acoustic instruments as his palate, Andrew manages to create very innovative, almost electronic-sounding sonorities with decidedly un-modern equipment.”

A.N.
See the full article here.

Nadia Sirota

From Nadia Sirota On Q2: “Happy Birthday 2 Us! “

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Q2 Music Celebrates (Q)2 Years of New-Music with an Encore Presentation of Maximum Reich

Nadia says, “I am pretty astonished that Q2 Music is turning two this coming Sunday! It seems like so recently that we folks sat down in a room and brainstormed about the ideal internet locale for all things new and awesome. On the other hand, looking at all of the great Q2 Music content, the hundred-some live concerts, the great shows we’ve developed and the fabulous guests we’ve had, I’m shocked we’ve been able to cram all that into a mere two years! So I guess our being age two feels just about right.

This week, we’ll celebrate our birthday with a re-airing of the first festival we ever hosted: Maximum Reich. It seems only appropriate, given Steve Reich’s 75th birthday falls on Monday, and our 2nd the following Sunday. So we’ll revisit all thing’s Reich, from It’s Gonna Rain to WTC 9/11. It’ll be a week of phasing and pulsing, not to mention old-school (um, is two years ago old school??) hosting from yours truly.”

Nadia Sirota

From Q2: Nadia Sirota Presents “Maximum Reich 2.0”

Q2 Music’s Inaugural Festival Celebrating Steve Reich Gets a 2011 Makeover

“To celebrate the 75th birthday of Steve Reich (born October 3, 1936) and the second birthday of Q2 Music (born October 8, 2009), we’re presenting a renewed and rejuvenated version of our first full festival, Maximum Reich: A Celebration of Steve Reich. With additional pieces, live performance recordings, interviews and hosted segments, Maximum Reich 2.0 promises a nexus of activity, nostalgic and forward-looking, all celebrating this major composer’s major career.

This weeklong immersion into the work of one of the most landscape-changing composers of the last 50 years will include a comprehensive presentation of his recorded works; explorations of the influences both on and of Reich, an Eight Days of Steve blog including tributes from musicians and composers he has inspired, such as Nico Muhly, Sonic Youth, and David Lang; an in-studio video; interviews and concerts from the extensive archives of sister station WNYC; and Reich’s own introductions to many of his seminal works. ”

For the full palette of this project, see the full article here.

Nadia Sirota Hosts: Every day at midnight, noon, and 6pm.
Two-hour shows curated and hosted by violist and black-belt new music champion, Nadia Sirota. Hear all seven archived shows on-demand.

Nadia Sirota

From Nadia Sirota at Q2: The Return of Scarves

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Colorful Music for the New Season
Monday, September 19, 2011

“The weather, it seems, has finally broken and the Fall is truly upon us. Hooray Autumn!! All the various ensembles are starting back up post summer hiatuses, we get to enjoy un-iced coffee, and I personally can start ramping up for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I enjoy the holidays, and I’ve just found out that two of my close friends are playing this season’s Radio City Christmas Spectacular (my not-so-guilty pleasure; the first 15 minutes of that thing truly justify its being called a spectacular. Plus: boozy slushies with light-up swizzle sticks and 3-D and live camels and the Rockettes.) Everything’s gonna be fine.

So this week, we’ll celebrate brisk weather, the return of scarves, hot drinks and new seasons with some bright, colorful pieces. Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, David Lang, Sofia Gubaidulina! This week’ll be a good one. Let’s get back to it!

See the full article here.

From Nadia Sirota on Q2:”Remembering New York After 9/11″

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Requiems and Works of Remembrance
Monday, September 05, 2011

“It’s hard to believe that “September eleventh” was ten years ago. I moved to New York City eleven years ago basically to date, and that event still remains as vivid a memory to me as ever. This anniversary is stirring up plentiful emotions for me, and I imagine I’m hardly the only one for whom this is true.

Lights at ground zero (A. Strakey/flickr)

Mostly, I remember the fact that New York really came together after 9/11; there was a real sense of community, civic pride, and joy post that event which, I have found in trying to write this article, is particularly complicated to articulate. Whatever my feelings about political events post-9/11, I really treasure my memories of the city from late 2001.

This week we will celebrate the lives lost that day with a series of requiems, memorial pieces, and works which simply ‘helped us through.’

Q2’s own Requiem Project begins Friday, September 9 at 4 p.m. at the conclusion of this week’s Remembering New York After 9/11 with Nadia Sirota.”

Nadia Sirota

From Nadia Sirota on Q2: “Summer, Repeating “

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Philip Glass’s Days & Nights Festival
Monday, August 22, 2011

“Summer Festivals are simply the best thing. My parents taught at BUTI when I was a little kid, and aside from two slightly horrifying summers at Girl Scout camp (where I did, incidentally, at least learn how to sail a Sunfish), I spent every summer of my life through age 24 at a music festival. It’s all about chamber music and picnicking, it really is.

Due to these music camp-y proclivities, I became super excited when I heard about Philip Glass’s new music festival in Big Sur, the Days and Nights festival. Given that their first ever concert was this past Friday, it seemed fitting to celebrate the end of festival season and the birth of a new festival with a week dedicated to the Days & Nights fest.

PHILIP GLASS: Philip Glass, for as long as I’ve been working in radio, has inspired more weighted opinions from listeners, both positive and negative, than any other composer. Hands-down. Whatever you think of his work, you must give him credit for precipitating a really interesting dialogue about art. Philip Glass has also, notably, fostered an incredibly vital community of composers and performers around him. Part of a generation notable for the fierce individualism of its composers, Philip was almost anachronistic in his support of other creatives. This week’ll feature Philip, but also the wonderful musicians in his circle, members of the Philip Glass ensemble, assistants and enthusiasts.

[Just to name one, Nico Muhly]

[Lou Harrison on Philip Glass: “…of the world of New York, the one I like best, or feel closest to, and it’s likely because I know him and like him, and that’s Philip Glass. He’s a good composer and Dennis brought him here… I didn’t like his improvisation on the piano, which was equal temperament triads till I thought I was going to scream, but nonetheless, the orchestral works were stunning. I admire him. He’s an insider artist, there’s no doubt about it, but I do admire him and like him, and he’s a nice man, too.” From an interview by Alan Baker for the American Mavericks project at Minnesota Public Radio, 2002]

From Nadia Sirota on Q2: “The Space Between”

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

positive and negative space in harmony
Monday, August 15, 2011

” ‘There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.” Can you guess which composer spoke these words? Don’t worry, I’ll wait!

4’33” later (har har. sorry)

John Cage completely disassembled the concept of music and built it back up again, exploring beauty, noise, silence, and contemplation within the construct of performed concert music.

John Cage

Good and evil, light and dark, positive and negative space. As the song goes, you can’t have one without the other. There is no sound without silence, there is no form without void. This week, we’ll calm things down a bit pay attention to the spaces between the notes. This week’s show is all about music that is friends with contemplation.

When have you found silence to be most arresting? Most captivating? What’s the most profound, or even dramatic moment of silence in music? ”

See Nadia’s full post here.

From Nadia Sirota on Q2: “Much Ado about Igor “

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

Nadia tells us:

“This week! This week simply rules. Are you ready for serious childhood dorkery? Here goes; I am not ashamed. When I was in ninth or tenth grade, I cut the names of three composers out of construction paper (construction paper!!) and stuck them up on the window-free walls of my room. The east was Hindemith (aw, gimme a break: I was a teen viola queen and a massive fan of Trauermusik), the north was Britten (I’d played part of the C-major quartet at camp and died), and the west was Stravinsky. Stravinsky is so good at music. My high school chorus had sung the Symphony of Psalms and I completely lost my mind. How good is that piece? Afjdkslfjdslkf!!

Well, dorky child-me was hardly the only person to flip out upon hearing Stravinsky’s music; I’ve seen people walk down the isle to Firebird and dance on lawns to Petrushka, so this week we’re taking a cue from Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and becoming hopelessly devoted to Stravinsky and his influence. A lot has happened in music over the past 100 years, and much of it has had something to do with Igor.

This week’s got polytonality, octatonic scales, ecstatic neo-classical phrases and pounding polyrhythms. This week! This week simply rules.

Nadia Sirota

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