Sound Bites From the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra

Listen as as APO Concertmaster Er-Gene Kahng and reknowned cellist Anita Graef discuss her upcoming performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' "Cello Concerto No. 1", Graef will perform with the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra on October 13th as part of "Innovations: A Celebration of Breakthroughs". This evening of music will accompany the Fashioning America exhibition at the beautiful Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Benontonville, Arkansas. TIckets on sale now: https://bit.ly/APO-innovations-concert

Listen as APO's Maestro Steven Byess interviews composer Barbara Harbach, discussing her work and fascination with Americana.   The Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Barbara Harbach's "American Solstice" on October 13th, during the upcoming concert "Innovations: A Celebration of Breakthroughs", at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.   Join the APO for an evening of music to accompany the Fashioning America exhibition. It's a tribute to American grit, glamor and cultural firsts.   Don't miss it! https://bit.ly/APO-innovations-concert

Seven Last Words: Joel Thompson's Seven Last Words of the Unarmed takes the last words of unarmed Black Men (Kenneth Chamberlain, Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, John Crawford, Eric Garner and George Floyd) before they were killed.  According to Thompson, the composition was "an effort to humanize these men and to reckon with my identity as a black man in this country in relation to this specific scourge of police brutality". Join me in exploring this powerful work this week.   Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033

Ineffable Grief: How many times have we witnessed or personally experienced an event too great for words, when we can neither muster the words nor find the "right" words to fully express how we feel? This week we explore the ways Berio's  "O King" and Messien's "Quartet for the End of Time" respond to the specific tragic events of their time and attempt to "find the right words" through their music. Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033    

What is the role of the conductor?: I interview UK-based conductor Dwight-Pile Gray this week as we cover a range of topics such as the history of the role of the conductor; how a conductor approaches and prepares for a rehearsal, as well as the question: is there a place for modern values to be expressed in classical music? Dwight also shares some of his favorite compositions by nationalist composer Antonin Dvorak.   Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

Who was Louis Ballard?: Pianist Nathan Carterette joins me in speaking about the legacy of Native American composer Louis Ballard, known as the "father of Native American composition".  Nathan guides us through a few of Ballard's solo piano pieces and shares Ballard's fascinating biography. Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

Tchaikovsky's Ballet Music: This week we speak with London-based violist, Wei Wei Tan, who has performed the music to every major ballet in the Classical music repertory.  She tells us about the brief history of ballet music with a special focus on Tchaivkosky's Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.   Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033    

Join Maestro Steven Byess, Choreographer, David Justin, Soloist, Er-Gene Kahng, and Principal Dancer, Carmen Felder in a discussion about APO and NWA Ballet's collaborative performance of Ralph Vaughan William's, The Lark Ascending. This episode contains the audio recording of the performance, for video, visit APO's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVboWRTn6eU_BlY3zVKE-jg    

Lyrical Modernism, Light and Timbre: We explore the music of German-Korean composer, Unsuk Chin, the third woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for her Violin Concerto no. 1.  Listen as we explore her sonic world of lyrical modernism, centered around concepts of light, texture, and etherealism in a modernist classical music tradition.   Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

Exploring the Hyphen: Korean-American composer Jean Ahn stops by to speak with me about her compositions, many of which incorporate Korean folk songs (such as the Arirang) and/or Korean cultural themes (such as "Haan" - collective trauma and deep grief). We explore how her music, which is in the Western European classical music tradition, houses elements of Korean folk culture. Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

What is New Contemporary Classical Music?: Composer and Cellist, Matt Magerkurth stops by to speak with me about his compositions and the musical values that guide his works and practice. Though informed by traditional classical frameworks, he aims to leverage contemporary technologies and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary languages to explore new modes of sonic self expression. Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

Finding the new in the old: BBC Concert Orchestra's Principal Cellist, Benjamin Hughes, stops by to speak about how he fell in love with the cello, Bach's second cello suite, and the many ways building a relationship with history and his practice deepens his love of music everyday.  Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033  

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Sampling: This week we explore one of the most recognizable sounds of classical music, (the opening motif of) Beethoven's Symphony no. 5, and the ways in which sampling further extends the life of this iconic work in the present day.  Visit the APO Listening List on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWmchbUilbMXtHG4vpHd3?si=4787b1f0422d4033