Modern Notebook

On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline, we kick off a series of programs highlighting music inspired by the Winter Season. Tune in for an episode of music inspired by winter weather, silence, and stillness, including icy works by Outi Tarkiainen, Alfreo Santa Ana, and Anuj Bhutani; a work titled “Blue Glacier Decoy” by Jennifer Jolley; and “Hush” by Angelica Negron.

On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: It’s music that is all about echoes with a work by Valentin Jost titled “Echo Chamber.” And throughout the piece, the composer explores the sensation of walking through a series of different echo chambers.Then: we conclude our series of interviews with composers from Sarasota’s Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program. This week, it’s conversations with Treya Nash and Sean Quinn.

On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: hear an undulating, groovy work for four trombones, with Laura Jurd’s “Swamped.” It’s music that encourages the performers to change their sound to something more compact, like performing into a 1940s microphone.Then: we continue our interview series with composers from the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program in Sarasota. This week, it’s conversations with Max Gibson and Joshua Muetzel.

On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: In 2024, North America experienced four eclipses, including the total eclipse in April. Tune in for music inspired by and composed just for these occasions, with “Eclipse” by Marc Mellits. It’s music that sonically reflects the process of eclipse with hidden melodies, dancing rhythms, and funky lines.Then: we kick off a series of interviews featuring composers from Sarasota’s Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program. Tune in for an introduction by artistic director Max Tan and composer mentor Sean Friar, then we’ll hear from fellows David Acevedo and Daniel Gostelow.

On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: with fall time here, it seems like a good time to make a bit of chili. So, tune in for a work titled Cello Chili by composer Brent Michael Davids: complete with a recipe for a stew made of green chiles and pieces of cello.Then: We welcome in the month of November with the music of Toru Takemitsu… we’ll hear his double concerto for biwa and shakuhachi titled November Steps.

On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline, tune in for a special lineup of pieces chosen just in time for Halloween! We’ll be getting spooky, with music about ghosts and ghost stories, pieces that will cast a spell on you, and selections that draw inspiration from horror genres.

On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Dai Wei’s piece “Honeycomb” is music born out of her own observations of a beehive outside her bedroom window. Stuck inside during the COVID-19 lockdowns, she would watch bees come and go, and later learned how bees passed nectar to one another to form a honeycomb–and this natural process went on to inspire the construction of this piece.Then: hear music by Akshaya Avril Tucker for trumpet and saxophone, and a piece by Sean William Calhoun called “Plasmonic Mirror.” And a guitar quartet by João Luiz titled “Three Brazilian Pieces,” which serves as a musical portrait of three forms of expression from his native country.

Coming up on this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: When the Apollo Chamber Players approached Adolphus Hailstork to compose a new piece, they specifically requested that he base his composition on material representing his heritage in some way. So, he chose to quote his favorite spiritual, “Deep River,” and crafted a rhapsody for string quartet from that material.You can hear that piece, plus: A combination of old and new ideas inspired Jüri Reinvere’s orchestral work, “On the Ship of Fools.” On one hand, it draws on Sebastian Brant’s 1494 satirical work “Ship of Fools,” but on the other hand… Reinvere cites the deception found on today’s social media as our own modern “Ship of Fools.”

On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: There’s an old Japanese tale about friendship and loss called Hanasaka Jiisan, which tells the story of an old man who lives with his best friend, a dog that possesses a magical power to find hidden treasure. Tune in for music for oboe, bassoon, and piano by Sato Matsui inspired by this tale.Then: it’s music that serves as a reminder of hope and that times move fast, with a piece by Sarah Lianne Lewis called “Letting the Light In.” It’s a work inspired by her experience of becoming a new mother… watching rays of morning light emerge from the inky darkness of nighttime.

Coming up on this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: hear expansive, meditative music with a piece by Marti Epstein titled “Swirl.” It’s a work that opens with a circular gesture that ascends higher and higher, and proceeds to examine fragmentary musical material through the lens of sonic memory.Then: The word “Symphonies” comes from the Greek word meaning to “sound together,” which adds another layer of meaning and context to Nova Pon’s “Symphonies of Mother and Child.” This is intensely personal music, inspired by her bond with her child - but also explores broader themes like love and loss, attachment and interconnection, and time and transcience.

On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Wēpan is the Old English word for “weeping.” It’s also the name of this piece by Tina Davidson scored for piano quintet - a work that explores metallic preparations in the piano mixed with evocative sliding gestures in the strings.Then: Gazing at the night sky has been a source of bewilderment and inspiration for millenia - and invitation to discern patterns and seek their meaning. It’s music inspired by the stars by Gerardo Dirié composed for viola da gamba and bass clarinet titled Noctuary Duos.

On this week’s Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Molly Joyce’s piece Unity explores the similarities and differences between the clarinet and saxophone across two movements. It was also written to incorporate sound descriptions for the purposes of accessibility and artistry of the music.Then: hear pieces by Baljinder Sekhon, Ge Gan-Ru, and others; plus, music for violin and electronics by Pamela Z called “Four Movements,” which explores different sounds generated by long delay lines and granular synthesis.