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Like everyone else, young composers indulge in daydreams from time to time. One can easily imagine a 15-year-old composer wanna-be staring out the window and fantasizing that one day her music will be performed by big-name virtuosos and heard coast-to-coast on a national broadcast. That is exactly what did happen on today’s date in 2002, when the 15-year-old composer Athena Adamopoulos heard Yo-Yo Ma and Christopher O’Riley perform her “Soliloquy” for cello and piano at a taping of “From the Top” – a nationally broadcast public radio program that showcases young classical musicians from around the country. Occasionally, the show also spotlights young composers as well, as it did the day Yo-Yo Ma stopped by as a special guest. Athena commented, “When I heard the piece in my head originally, I heard it something like this, but this is about ten times better! It’s the most touching feeling in the world.” Even at 15, Athena was already a somewhat “experienced” composer. She had written several other chamber works by that date, and had actually performed one of her very first pieces on the “Sally Jesse Raphael” TV show, when she was just 8.
Like everyone else, young composers indulge in daydreams from time to time. One can easily imagine a 15-year-old composer wanna-be staring out the window and fantasizing that one day her music will be performed by big-name virtuosos and heard coast-to-coast on a national broadcast. That is exactly what did happen on today’s date in 2002, when the 15-year-old composer Athena Adamopoulos heard Yo-Yo Ma and Christopher O’Riley perform her “Soliloquy” for cello and piano at a taping of “From the Top” – a nationally broadcast public radio program that showcases young classical musicians from around the country. Occasionally, the show also spotlights young composers as well, as it did the day Yo-Yo Ma stopped by as a special guest. Athena commented, “When I heard the piece in my head originally, I heard it something like this, but this is about ten times better! It’s the most touching feeling in the world.” Even at 15, Athena was already a somewhat “experienced” composer. She had written several other chamber works by that date, and had actually performed one of her very first pieces on the “Sally Jesse Raphael” TV show, when she was just 8.
Playlist: Jordan Nobles, Victoria Guitar Trio - Concentric RingsLouis Andriessen, Ensemble Paramirabo, Thin Edge New Music Collective - Workers UnionDominick DiOrio, Simon Carrington Chamber Singers - Ode to PurcellDonnacha Dennehy, Crash Ensemble - Disposable DissonanceMatt Haimovitz, Christopher O'Riley, John McLaughlin - A Lotus on Irish StreamsLudovico Einaudi, Federico Mecozzi, Redi Hasa - AscentLudovico Einaudi, Federico Mecozzi, Redi Hasa - Golden Butterflies Var. 1Bright Sheng, Gerard Schwarz & Seattle Symphony - Black Swan (after Brahms' 6 Piano Pieces: No. 2 Intermezzo)Alexander Balanescu, Balanescu Quartet - SpotdanceTalivaldis Kennis, Latvia Festival Orchestra - Piano ConcertoKevin Lau, Ensemble Made In Canada - Race to the Midnight Sun
In our second episode we learned about the various timbres Radiohead uses to craft a unique sonic landscape. From the chunky guitar of “Creep” to the eerie synth of “Like Spinning Plates,” Radiohead is purposeful in the instruments and effects they choose to convey a message. So what happens when you boil all of those timbres into one instrument? The answer is Christopher O’Riley. Through his albums True Love Waits and Hold Me To This, Christopher weaves the distinct instrumental voices of Radiohead into one solo piano interpretation. The result is mesmerizing. This is a special bonus episode. An interview with classical pianist Christopher O’Riley about what he learned about Radiohead from transcribing their music for piano. And why he believes that Radiohead’s music, like that of the classical greats, will stand the test of time.
Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Zhou Long is interviewed by host Christopher O'Riley
From East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, this week's From the Top features more than 100 young musicians from across Mainland China in their first ever public performance as the National Youth Orchestra of China under the direction of Maestro Ludovic Morlot. We hear the full ensemble perform "Rhyme of Taigu" by Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Zhou Long, a young clarinetist shares how he fell in love with the clarinet's sound at his first concert, and five members of the ensemble perform the energetic first movement of Francis Poulenc's Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet with Christopher O'Riley.
Christopher O'RIley and teenage violinist, John Fawcett talk about nuanced bowing technique.
In this episode, we interview "From the Top" host and pianist Christopher O’Riley, as well as tango pianist Pablo Ziegler, in the lead up to their duo performance at Armstrong Auditorium. Two to Tango performance at Armstrong Auditorium:www.armstrongauditorium.org/performance…blo-ziegler Facebook Event page:www.facebook.com/events/772216699614488/
It’s entirely possible that cellist Matt Haimovitz has forgotten that composers other than Bach exist. On his last visit to Classical Classroom, he talked about Anna Magdalena’s (Bach’s second wife’s) transcriptions of Bach’s Cello Suites. On the visit before that, Matt and Christopher O’Riley talked… oh wait – that was about Beethoven. But still! The guy’s obsessed! And we’re glad he is. In this episode, Haimovitz talks about his CD Overtures to Bach, on which he commissioned 6 contemporary composers to essentially build an aural bridge from our time to Bach’s. Learn about Bach and hear amazing new music in this episode. All music in this episode from Matt Haimovitz’s Overtures to Bach. Audio production by Todd “Mr. Robot” Hulslander with poorly executed fake hacking sequences by Dacia Clay and assistance from Mark DiClaudio.
Christopher O’Riley, acclaimed pianist and host of NPR's From the Top, stops by the WDAV John Clark Performance Studio for an interview and live performance. We’ll talk to him about some of the top young classical musicians featured in From the Top and will be treated to a performance as well. From The Top is coming to the Batte Center at Wingate University on Saturday, November 23 rd to tape an episode of their award-winning radio program. From the Top , which airs on WDAV each Sunday at 5pm, is the preeminent showcase for America’s best young musicians.
When pianist and From the Top host Christopher O’Riley and cellist Matt Haimovitz recorded a new album of Beethoven’s music, they decided to kick it old school: Chris played an original Broadwood fortepiano and Matt played a Goffriller cello with ox-gut strings. Why would these two artists – often recognized for their arrangements of Radiohead, for performing with young musicians, and for playing classical music in nightclubs – decide to play period instruments? Is there a true benefit to playing music on the instruments it was written for, or is this classical music nerdery? Learn the answers to these and so many other questions in this episode! Audio production by Todd “Todd Rundgren” Hulslander with harshing of mellows by Dacia Clay and editing by Mark DiClaudio. Music in this episode: (From Christopher O’Riley and Matt Haimovitz’s new CD, Beethoven, Period.) Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1. II Rondo. Allegro vivace Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 2. I Adagio sostenuto e espressivo. Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in A Major, Op. 69. I Allegro ma non tanto III Allegro vivace (From their Shuffle.Play.Listen. CD) Arcade Fire: “Empty Room” Radiohead: “Pyramid Song” (From other places…) Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57. Arthur Rubinstein. For more about Christopher O’Riley, Matt Haimovitz, and their new CD: www.pentatonemusic.com/pentatone-oxi…thoven-period
The cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O'Riley are quick to emphasize that their recent venture into Baroque period instruments isn't some fusty or antiquated pursuit. The duo's new album, "Beethoven, Period," was recorded at Skywalker Ranch, film director George Lucas's famous studio complex in Northern California. Instead of sheet music they played from iPads. Their Seattle launch concert took place at the Tractor Tavern, a rock club. The experience with very old instruments also forced them to rethink their approach to Beethoven's music. "All of the sudden, the relation between the cello and the piano is completely different," Haimovitz tells host Elliott Forrest. "No longer am I trying to project over the grandeur of a Steinway grand but I'm actually having to make room for the piano." "You have a lot more leeway in terms of expressivity and color, even in the sense of one note having a shape to it," added O'Riley. The album features Beethoven's complete works for cello and keyboard, with O'Riley playing on a fortepiano made in 1823 and Haimovitz outfitting his 1710 Goffriller cello with ox-gut strings, a rosewood tailpiece and a period bow. The duo's performance in the WQXR studio marked a return to (mostly) modern equipment – with a 1940's Steinway and a modern cello bow – but two movements from the Opus 102 No. 2 sonata had a lightness and transparency that suggested time diligently spent in the period-instrument camp. As Haimovitz notes, the Opus 102 sonatas "offer a window into Beethoven's late period where he's deconstructing all of the ideas of the enlightenment and what he inherited from Haydn and Mozart and really finding his own voice complete." Below is the third movement. O'Riley and Haimovitz have previously collaborated on "Shuffle. Play. Listen" (2012), an album of pieces by classical composers (Stravinsky, Janacek, Martinu) along pop acts (Radiohead, Cocteau Twins, Arcade Fire), among others. Both artists have sought to blur the lines between pop and classical over the past decade or more – since Haimovitz began playing Bach in bars and clubs in 2002 and O'Riley started arranging arty rock songs around the same time. Together the duo is planning a future project of pop songs given classical reworkings by contemporary composers. According to O'Riley, it will include John Corigliano's resettings of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs; Philip Glass arranging the Velvet Underground; and Gunther Schuller taking on the band Guided by Voices. A recording is expected to be out this fall. Haimovitz and O'Riley also don't shy away from lush, romantic works as well, as their final performance in the WQXR studio demonstrates: the Andante from Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata, Op. 19. Watch that below and listen to the full segment at the top of this page. Video: Kim Nowacki; Sound: Irene Trudel; Text & Production: Brian Wise; Interview: Elliott Forrest
"ONCE UPON AN INNOCENCE" Exploring the sensationalistic and menacing side of the Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hollywood crime scene photography circa 1940’s. Both subjects once divorced of their folkloric enchantment and stylised imagery reveal wickedness, cruelty and abandonment in unconceivable measures. 1. JON HOPKINS prologue 2. CHRIS CLARK empty the bones of you/umbilical hut 3. THE SCHUTZ ACADEMY musikalische exequien 4. KLIMEK tears of happiness 5. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT remember everything 6. A IS FOR ACID interlude 7. AGNES OBEL just so 8. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT clouds 9. KATE BUSH among angels 10. AGNES OBEL katie cruel (live) 11. JACASZEK dare-gale 12. BALMORHEA coahuila (fun years mix) 13. PINK MARTINI lullaby 14. BRAIDS native speaker 15. LANGUIS particles 16. DAVID J & EGO PLUM black dahlia theme 17. SON LUX flickers 18. BJORK all is full of love 19. AYGEETEE missed my wi-fi flight 20. BALMORHEA night in the draw (jacaszek mix) 21. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT good and evil 22. MIRAH special death 23. PATIENCE AND PRUDENCE dreamers bay 24. KLIMEK a lament 25. RACHEL PORTMAN hailsham school song 26. CHRISTOPHER O'RILEY talk show host
The title does invite 'shuffle' play, but the creators think they've dealt a well sorted hand.
Classical pianist Christopher O’Riley, who performed at the Mondavi in November 2010, has a conversation with pianist Lara Downes, Artist-in-Residence at the Mondavi Center, UC Davis.