Music From Other Minds

In anticipation of the upcoming Other Minds Festival, a program of celebratory music, or music that simply feels good. A recently discovered gem written by 19 year old Lou Harrison and cello solos by Theresa Wong. Kevin Volans honors Shona mbira music in a piece for two harpsichords. John Cage celebrates the soundscape of Finnegans Wake in Roaratorio. Improvised music with Tania Chen, Henry Kaiser, Wadada Leo Smith, and William Winant. George Crumb celebrates the resonance of amplified pianos. Henry Threadgill explores a new palette with Ensemble Double Up. Rousing percussion by Kui Dong, and a tribute to the late master of ecstatic devotional jazz, Pharoah Sanders.

On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays Charles Amirkhanian‘s Audible Autopsy (For Anthony J. Gnazzo), Pianola (Pas de mains), and other works and Hanna Hartman‘s Fracture, a work that utilizes extremely close mic’d sounds to create an otherworldly sonic collage. 

On this Music from Other Minds: symphonic music from Scandinavia. Featuring works by Danish composer Per Nørgård, Swedish composer Anders Hillborg, and Norwegian composers Cecilie Ore and Lars Petter Hagen. The program also features an excerpt from an interview between Joseph Bohigian and Lars Petter Hagen from the Other Minds Podcast.

This episode of Music from Other Minds is a freeform show, no specific focus. We will, however, feature music from two of the artists, Raven Chacon and Dominic Murcott, who will be performing during our next festival of new music, Other Minds Festival 26. In addition, we’ll play music by the UK-based duo Tomaga, composer Harry Partch, the Indonesian experimental duo Senyawa, crooner gone wrong Scott Walker, Philadelphian poet Moor Mother, and Rudresh Mahanthrappa, Flock, Aki Onda, Arto Lindsay, Tom Zé, Ben LaMar Gay, and composer Bryce Dessner.

This week Ed Herrmann presents a sampling from Other Minds Records, including several new releases. Cheryl Leonard’s Antarctica: Music from the Ice, is the result of five weeks in Antarctica where Leonard made recordings and collected small objects which she made into instruments.

Anthony Braxton’s Composition 429, a saxophone duet with James Fei, was performed live at the Other Minds Festival 25 and has just been released on CD.

Isotropes, by Brian Baumbusch, is a polytempo composition for wind ensemble and is featured on a new CD called Effigy.

The show also includes pianist Sarah Cahill performing music by Terry Riley, a percussion solo by Charles Boone, underwater guitar music by Jim Nollman, and an excerpt from a new Other Minds DVD of collaborations between Carol Law and Charles Amirkhanian.

Liam Herb rebroadcasts Charles Amirkhanian’s June 21, 1981 interview with outlaw country singer, painter, and conceptual artist, Terry Allen. Tune in to hear conversations about Allen’s work as a painter, lyricist, and his growing up in Lubbock, Texas.

Also on the program, selections from Juarez (1975), Lubbock (On Everything) (1979), and Smokin’ the Dummy (1980).

This program of Music from Other Minds features music for strings that relates to ideas of grief and mourning by composers from around the world. Featuring Artur Avanesov’s Quasi Harena Maris, Matthew Barnson’s The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying, Betty Olivero’s Neharót Neharót, and Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3.

Host Henry Kaiser escorts listeners on a carefully-curated musical adventure through the many recordings that Wadada Leo Smith has made since 2001. Wadada’s recording career began back in 1971 and he has appeared on more than 200 albums: jazz, blues, world music, new music composition, free improvisation, creative music, electronic music, and more. Kaiser has been a friend and collaborator with Wadada for nearly 50 years, as well as being a close student of his music.

Music for strings, from composers and performers who use what are commonly called “extended techniques” – non-traditional, unorthodox, or quote unquote “improper” ways of invoking sound from these instruments. To illustrate, we’ll play work by Theresa Wong, Ellen Fullman, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Wang Lu, Tyshawn Sorey, and violinist Jennifer Koh.

On this Music from Other Minds, Joseph Bohigian plays symphonies by Avet Terterian. Terterian was one of the foremost composers in Armenia during the late-Soviet period especially highly regarded for his symphonic works, which often incorporate Armenian musical traditions. This program features an interview with musicologist Dr. Oksana Nesterenko on the influence of religion and spirituality on the music of composers in the Soviet Union.