Matthew is a composer from Australia who is currently based in London where he co-directs the new music ensemble Plus Minus and teaches Experimental Music at the Royal College of Music . He has composed works for groups such as Champ D’Action , Ensemble Offspring , EXAUDI , Nieuw Ensemble , Quatuor Diotima , and the Ricciotti Ensemble . You can listen to more of his music at www.shlom.com . In our conversation we talk about New Music’s emphasis on the multiple listening experience, his use of po...
May 28, 2013•1 hr 18 min
Clara is an Italian composer who is currently living in Berlin as part of the DAAD Artists Program . She has had her works performed by Trio K/D/M , Ensemble Aleph , Talea Ensemble , Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin , and members of Ensemble Recherche . You can listen to more of her music at www.claraiannotta.com . In our conversation we talk about her transition from flute to composition, the new music scene in Italy, and the effect IRCAM has had on her approach to acoustic music. The piece pla...
May 21, 2013•1 hr 2 min
Bryan Jacobs is a New York based composer and guitarist. His music has been performed by ensembles such as the Cleveland Chamber Symphony , The McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble, Wet Ink , International Contemporary Ensemble , Talea Ensemble , and Ensemble Pamplemousse . He has had performances at Festival Ai-maako (Chile), La Muse en Festival (Paris, France), Festival Archipel (Geneva, Switzerland), as well as numerous other music festivals in Canada and the United States. You can check out mo...
May 14, 2013•1 hr 4 min
Mark is an American composer who is currently based in Berlin. He works in the areas of concert music and concert installation. Recent commissions include new works for the Donaueschingen, Witten, and Darmstadt festivals as well as for ensemble recherche, KNM Berlin, and Ensemble Intercontemporain. You can listen to more of his music at www.mark-barden.com. In our conversation we talk about his former life as a pianist and why he chose to become a composer, his frustation and solution for writin...
May 07, 2013•1 hr 17 min
Philip is a composer from the UK who is currently based in Berlin. His commissions have included the Bregenz Festival in Austria, the BBC Singers , and the BBC Symphony Orchestra . Other works have been written for and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, Rambert Dance Company, and the Cheltenham International Music Festival. You can listen to more of his music at www.philipvenables.com . In our conversation we discuss his background in the natural sciences, the ne...
Apr 30, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Johannes is a German composer currently living in Berlin. We reference a lot of his conceptual works in our interview so if you want to understand them in detail the following links to his work might help. “Product Placements” which is played at the beginning of this interview. “Charts Music” Melodies derived from Stock Charts, arranged with Microsoft Songsmith. “Fremdarbeit” cheap composers from asia exploited. His protest against the SWR orchestra merger , and the reaction it received from soc...
Apr 23, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Richard is a New York based composer, pianist and conductor. His music has been performed internationally by the New York Philharmonic, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Darmstadt Summer Festival, Merkin Hall, JACK Quartet, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and others. You can listen to more of his works at www.richardcarrick.com In our conversation we talk about his origins as a club med baby, his use of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s Flow Concept , and the stylistic shifts that happened after his education....
Apr 16, 2013•1 hr 5 min
Fabien is a French composer who is currently living in Berlin. He studied composition with Gérard Grisey at the Paris Conservatoire. His works have been performed by the Ensemble Recherche, the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt, and the Berlin Radio Symphony orchestra (among others). He won the 2004 Förderpreis from the Ernst von Siemens Foundation for music. He is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at Columbia University in New York (USA) and senior professor for co...
Apr 09, 2013•1 hr 28 min
Reiko is a German composer and performer based in New York. He has been commissioned by the Wet Ink Ensemble , International Contemporary Ensemble , and the Dresden Chamber Choir . He is also a professor in composition and theory at the Manhattan School of Music. You can listen to more of his works at www.reiko-fueting.de . In our chat we discuss how he ended up living in New York, the use of historical music in his own compositions, and how his past professors have influenced his approach to te...
Apr 02, 2013•1 hr 9 min
Malin is a Swedish composer who currently resides in Berlin as part of the 2012 Berliner Künstlerprogramm. Her work includes music for instrumental ensembles, orchestra, staged music, electronic music, instrumental sound installations and performance pieces. She is also the composer and co-artistic director of the Curious Chamber Players , a Swedish based New Music Ensemble. You can listen to more of her music at www.malinbang.com . In our conversation we talk about the influence the Berlin impr...
Mar 26, 2013•1 hr 7 min
I normally edit each interview to fit into one podcast, but Martin has too many great stories, including one interesting encounter he had with Luigi Nono, which he wrote about in the New York Times , and many others about studying with Ligeti. So Martin gets two episodes. In part one we talk about different political climates and the music being made in them. In part two we focus on his music and aesthetics. You can listen to more on his website www.martinbresnick.com . Martin is a composer from...
Mar 19, 2013•59 min
I normally edit each interview to fit into one podcast, but Martin has too many great stories, including one interesting encounter he had with Luigi Nono, which he wrote about in the New York Times , and many others about studying with Ligeti. So Martin gets two episodes. In part one we talk about different political climates and the music being made in them. In part two, which will be released next week, we focus on his music and aesthetics. You can listen to more on his website www.martinbresn...
Mar 12, 2013•59 min
Simon is a Berlin based composer, performer and installation artist as well as a lecturer of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus. His works include instrumental music, electronics, video, and performance within a range of settings. You can listen to more of his music at www.simonsteenandersen.dk . In our conversations we talk about his time living in Paris, what makes a piece of music durable from performance to performance, and his unique approach to choreography in instrumental ...
Mar 05, 2013•1 hr 15 min
David is a New York based composer and the founding artistic director and drummer for the chamber ensemble Newspeak . He has a new CD out of solider songs , an opera-theatre work exploring the perceptions versus the realities of war through the eyes of a soldier. One of the tracks is featured in this interview. In our conversation we talk about when and when not to us precision while writing, how composers and performers discover each other for collaborations, and how he navigates the world of p...
Feb 26, 2013•1 hr 14 min
Eric is a New York based composer pianist, and Executive Director of Wet Ink. His music has been performed by Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin , ICE , Yarn/Wire , Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and The Knights . He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition at Oberlin Conservatory. You can listen to more of his music at www.wubbelsmusic.com In our conversation we talk about the satisfaction of performing and listening to scrutable music, the critical apparatus of New Music in the U.S....
Feb 19, 2013•1 hr 10 min
Sam is a New York based composer and improviser. He is Technical Director and electronics performer for the Wet Ink Ensemble , and has been commissioned and premiered by Mivos Quartet , Yarn/Wire , ICE , Timetable Percussion , RIOT Trio, and So Percussion . You can hear more of his music at www.sampluta.com . In our conversation we talk about his transition from computer science to electronic music, the time he spent working and studying in the UK, and the inherent aesthetic preferences of compu...
Feb 12, 2013•1 hr 4 min
Alex Mincek is a New York-based composer and performer. He is currently the saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and artistic director of the Wet Ink Ensemble , which he founded in 1998. You can check out more of his music at www.alexmincek.com or go to an upcoming concert featuring his music alongside composer Eric Wubbels on Feb 8th at the DiMenna Center in Manhattan. In our conversation we talk about why he founded Wet Ink, the continental lag for European Composers gaining attention in the U.S., a...
Feb 05, 2013•1 hr 8 min
Kate is a composer and vocalist based in New York and Boston. She is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Cambridge MA, and is Managing Director and performer for the new music ensemble Wet Ink . You can listen to more of her music at www.katesoper.com , or go to her publisher’s page at Project Schott New York . In our conversation, which took place about a year ago, we talk about her involvement with Wet Ink, her experiences working in a scene that is mostly male, and metho...
Jan 29, 2013•54 min
Timo is a Brooklyn based composer and pianist who is part of the composer collective Sleeping Giant . He has had commissions and performances from the New World Symphony, Albany Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. You can check out his blog and music at www.andres.com In our conversation we talk about a composer having a sense of consistency, different ways style can evolve and change over time, and the DIY aspect of an artist’s own image....
Jan 22, 2013•55 min
Sarah is a Berlin based composer. She has worked with such groups as Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart , Ensemble Accroche Note , Trio Accanto, Ensemble Adapter , Nomos Quartet , and the International Ensemble Modern Academy . You can find out more about here at www.sarah-nemtsov.de In our conversation we talk about creating associations in music without text, what happens if there is an aesthetic shift during a long-term project, and curators programming composers based on a theme....
Jan 15, 2013•1 hr 3 min
Scott is a composer based in New York. He was the Artistic Director of Red Light New Music and is currently Associate Director of New Publications for Project Schott New York . You can listen to and look at his music at www.scottwollschleger.com. I also attached a score to this post. In our conversation we talk about his opinions and goals on music publishing and marketing in the U.S., his approach to creating his own scores, and how he wants his music to feel when being performed....
Jan 08, 2013•1 hr 1 min
Evan is a composer from the U.S. who is currently based in Berlin. He has also spent an extended amount of time in Norway where he studied at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. His music has been played by such groups as, Ensemble Intercontemporain , the Jack Quartet , and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra . You can find more of his music at www.evangardner.com . In our conversation we talk about when a composer should or should not write safe music, the difference of expectations between Europea...
Jan 01, 2013•1 hr 26 min
Paul is a composer living in Berlin. He is part of the composer collective Klangnetz as well as a band member of the trio Brandt Brauer Frick , whose music is featured at the end of this interview. The piece is called Teufelsleiter. In our conversation we talk about his time living as a composer in Barcelona, his love for complexity in dance and club music, and adapting elements of electronic music into acoustic realities....
Dec 25, 2012•1 hr 18 min
Robert is a composer and pianist living in Brooklyn, NY. He co-founded the Sleeping Giant composer collective and co-directs the Fast Forward Austin music festival. You can listen to more of his music at http://www.roberthonstein.com/ In our conversation we talk about the importance of staying involved in a new music scene, the delicate balance of collaborations, and being stylistically flexible depending on the circumstances of a commission. The first piece played on this recording was part of ...
Dec 18, 2012•56 min
Heather is a composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music, improviser and experimental flutist and works on sound installations. You can listen to more of her music at http://heatherfrasch.wordpress.com/ In our conversation we talk about her time living and studying in France, when people need and don’t need a structured lifestyle, and different methods and reasons for notating music outside of convention. We talk about her piece “the silence that reigns…” as well as the program note she wrot...
Dec 11, 2012•1 hr 33 min
Oscar is an Italian-Swiss composer who has studied in Milan, Paris, and New York. He has been awarded numerous prizes, such as the Gaudeamus first Prize, the Dussurget Prize, the Asm-Stv Prize, the Aargauer Kuratorium fellowship and the Ictus fellowship. You can find more of his music at www.oscarbianchi.com/ In our conversation we talk about being able to develop an overview between cultures, the contradiction between synthesizing new aesthetics and further refining craft, and his work with the...
Dec 04, 2012•57 min
Missy is a composer based in New York as well as the keyboardist for Victoire , a band dedicated to playing her own compositions. In our conversation we talk about why certain genres are emphasized in academia, finding the joy in networking, and learning how to filter and react to criticism. You can find more of her music at www.missymazzoli.com Special thanks to Eight Blackbird and Cedille Records for their permission to use Still Life with Avalanche in this interview....
Nov 27, 2012•1 hr 1 min
Mauricio is a Costa Rican composer and electric bass player based in the UK. He is co-director and founder of the Distractfold Ensemble and of the Altavoz Composers . He also performs with the Manchester-based trio, A Greater Horror . You can listen to his music at www.mauriciopauly.com/ In our conversation we talk about the first half of a composition workshop we participated in with Ensemble Dal Niente , how composers gain experience and improve, and if artists need structure in their daily li...
Nov 20, 2012•55 min
Jacob is a composer living and working in New York. He is a member of the composer collective Sleeping Giant , as well as having been a faculty member at Amherst College. In our conversation we talk about his opera Timberbrit , his approach to electronic music, and if staying too long in an academic institution can be counter productive. You can listen to more of his works at www.jacobcoopermusic.com/...
Nov 13, 2012•1 hr 8 min
Asmus is a composer who is currently working towards a Ph.d in philosophy at Humboldt University. He is also a member of Klangnetz , a collective of young composers living in Berlin, as well as co-founding the publishing house Lunardi Verlag . In our conversation we talk about the international culture in Berlin, what its like living in a city with no aesthetic consensus, balancing life as a composer and philosopher, and the effect higher learning institutions have on the artists associated with...
Nov 06, 2012•1 hr 16 min
