SoundLives
SoundLives, a NewMusicBox podcast, shares insights and stories from people who dedicate their lives to new music.
About the show
SoundLives, a NewMusicBox podcast, is brought to you by New Music USA, the resource for adventurous creators and listeners in the US and beyond.
This program is funded in part by: the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs – and listeners like you.
SoundLives on social media
Episodes
-
Episode 24: Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Unexplainable Places
August 16th, 2023 | 59 mins 46 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
To Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, music "surpasses the meaning of words because it can go to unknown places and unexplainable places."
-
Episode 23: inti figgis-vizueta: the ability to grow
July 20th, 2023 | 59 mins 39 secs
composer conversation, interview, new music
inti figgis-vizueta likens her compositions to plants and creates music that carefully balances experimentation and practicality.
-
Episode 22: Brandee Younger: A Hip-Hop Baby Transforms the Harp
June 1st, 2023 | 45 mins 36 secs
collaboration, conversations, harp, hip-hop, interviews, jazz, newmusicbox, r&b, soundlives
Brandee Younger has carved out a very unlikely music career for herself, a classically-trained harpist who went from making her jazz debut over a decade ago to being an in-demand leader and collaborator in a wide range of musical genres.
-
Episode 21: Tina Davidson: Listening Through The Journey
April 4th, 2023 | 56 mins 46 secs
adopted, audience development, chamber music, classical music, identity, memoir, string quartet
The story of Tina Davidson's life, which is the basis of her newly published memoir Let Your Heart Be Broken, is extremely intense but also a rewarding reading experience just like the emotional roller coaster rides in so many of her musical compositions make for very compelling listening.
-
Episode 20: Kevin Puts: Keeping Secrets
February 15th, 2023 | 59 mins 47 secs
grammy, metropolitan opera, pulitzer, time for three
Kevin Puts takes pride in keeping secrets, preferring "to keep something in reserve so that there's a payoff for the attentive listener."
-
Episode 19: Tania León: The Rhythm of Life
December 7th, 2022 | 52 mins 20 secs
amplifying voices, classical, composer conversation, cuba, equity, interview, new music, orchestra, pulitzer
The new music community has been impacted, inspired and transformed by Tania León as a musical creator--as well as an interpreter, educator, and organizer--for decades.
-
Episode 18: Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound
October 19th, 2022 | 55 mins 16 secs
accessibility, classical, inspiration, interview
For Elena Ruehr, "It's all about turning emotion into sound. As far as I'm concerned, that's my job; that's what I do."
-
Episode 17: Victoria Shen (Evicshen): The Landfill of Meaning
August 10th, 2022 | 45 mins 47 secs
composer conversation, newmusicbox, noise, performance art, turntablism
Victoria Shen's needle nails technique is just one of many new approaches to making sounds she uses in her performances and installations.
-
Episode 16: Raven Chacon: Fluidity of Sound
June 29th, 2022 | 1 hr
collaboration, experimental, graphic scores, native american, social justice
While the idiosyncratic graphic scores of 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning composer Raven Chacon are stunningly original in their conception and have been recognized as works of visual art in their own right (several are in this year's Whitney Biennial), they have a larger social purpose.
-
Episode 15: Anthony Davis: Any Means Necessary
May 16th, 2022 | 57 mins 36 secs
central park five, composer conversation, jazz, newmusicbox, opera, pulitzer winners, social justice, soundlives, x
Anthony Davis uses jazz, classical, and many other styles in operas dealing with major historic events or important social concerns.
-
Episode 14: Sarah Hennies: Getting at the Heart of a Sound
March 23rd, 2022 | 54 mins 29 secs
composer conversation, interview, new music
How we perceive sound on a psychological level as it unfolds over time is key to the sonic experiences that Sarah Hennies creates.
-
Episode 13: Alice Parker: Feeling the Same Emotion at the Same Time
February 28th, 2022 | 59 mins 9 secs
composer conversations, elderly, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
Alice Parker, a fixture of the choral music community for eight decades, believes people find their common ground through singing together.
-
Episode 12: Huang Ruo: Creating Four Dimensional Experiences
January 18th, 2022 | 59 mins 54 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
For Huang Ruo, music--like theater--exists in a four-dimensional space. There is also a larger purpose in most of Huang Ruo's work, whether it is to call attention to stories of people, particularly Asians and Asian-Americans, whose voices have often not been heard, or to provide an environment for reflection and healing.
-
Episode 11: Matthew Aucoin: Risking Generosity
December 8th, 2021 | 1 hr 10 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
Matthew Aucoin, composer of the Metropolitan Opera's Eurydice and author of The Impossible Art, talks about generosity and risk-taking.
-
Episode 10: Terri Lyne Carrington: A World of Sound Waiting for Us
November 3rd, 2021 | 53 mins 46 secs
composer conversations, drums, gender equity, jazz, mentoring, newmusicbox, percussion, soundlives
NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winner Terri Lyne Carrington was practically born into jazz, but she is not a traditionalist.
-
Episode 9: Renée Baker: Nothing's Gonna Stop You From Creating
September 9th, 2021 | 56 mins 42 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
Spending an hour chatting with Renée Baker about her more than two thousand musical compositions and perhaps almost as many paintings was inspirational as well as motivational. Renée does not let anything deter her and while her music is extremely wide ranging and gleefully embraces freedom of expression, her daily schedule is precise and meticulous.