
Frank J. Oteri
Host of SoundLives
Frank J. Oteri is the composer advocate at New Music USA and the editor of NewMusicBox, which has been online since May 1999. An outspoken crusader for new music and the breaking down of barriers between genres, Frank has written for numerous publications and has also been a frequent radio guest and pre-concert speaker. Frank is also the vice president of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and a board member of the International Association of Music Information Centers (IAMIC). Frank holds a B.A. and a M.A. (in Ethnomusicology) from Columbia University where he served as Classical Music Director and World Music Director for WKCR-FM.
Frank’s own musical compositions reconcile structural concepts from minimalism and serialism and frequently explore microtonality. His music has been performed in venues ranging from Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and the Theatre Royal in Bath, England to the Knitting Factory, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and PONCHO Concert Hall in Seattle where John Cage first prepared a piano. Among his most widely performed compositions are: Imagined Overtures, a 36-tone rock band piece that has been performed around the country and is the centerpiece of a 2009 CD by the Los Angeles Electric 8; and Last Minute Tango which pianist Guy Livingston has toured around the world and paired with a short film by Thijs Schreuder on his DVD One Minute More. MACHUNAS, a performance oratorio inspired by the life of Fluxus-founder George Maciunas which Oteri created in collaboration with Lucio Pozzi, received its world premiere during the 2005 Christopher Summer Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania; that performance can be streamed in its entirety from the website of the Other Minds Video Archive. Among Oteri’s recent vocal works are: Love Games, a setting for girls chorus, harpsichord, and two tambourines of three poems by the Elizabethan sonneteer Mary Wroth, which was commissioned and premiered by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City under the direction of Francisco J. Núñez for their Radio Radiance series; (not) knowing the answer, a setting of six sijos by James R. Murphy for unaccompanied vocal ensemble in 13-limit just intonation; and Counting Time in Central City, a setting for unaccompanied SATB chorus of three poems by Charles Passy commissioned by Central City Chorus for their 35th anniversary season, which received its premiere performance in New York City in June 2016. Oteri’s Already Yesterday or Still Tomorrow (2020) received its world premiere on January 23, 2021 at 7:30pm CST in a performance by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Delta David Gier which was streamed for free live from Sioux Falls’ Washington Pavilion on the South Dakota Symphony’s Facebook page. Oteri’s most recent composition, EXIT STRATEGIES (2021), will be performed later this season by the Del Sol String Quartet.
In 2007, Oteri was the recipient of ASCAP’s Victor Herbert Award for his “distinguished service to American music as composer, journalist, editor, broadcaster, impresario, and advocate” and, in January 2018, he received the Composers Now Visionary Award. On February 23, 2021, he was featured on Composers Now’s IMPACT series. For more information, visit fjoteri.com.
Frank J. Oteri has hosted 19 Episodes.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Episode 8: Adolphus Hailstork: Music is a Service
August 4th, 2021 | 51 mins 7 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
A conversation with Dr. Adolphus Hailstork about his love of melody and his belief that music should have meaning.
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Episode 7: Susie Ibarra: Hybrid Culture
July 7th, 2021 | 56 mins 39 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
Susie Ibarra's collaborative approach has informed her work with jazz, classical, indie rock, and traditional Philippine musicians.
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Episode 6: Ricky Ian Gordon: My Way of Enveloping a Story
May 5th, 2021 | 53 mins 14 secs
collaboration, gay pride, musical theater, musical theatre, opera, pandemic, words and music
Ricky Ian Gordon has been creating operas, musicals, or one-of a-kind music/theater hybrids one after another, seemingly without a pause.
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Episode 5: Pamela Z: Expanding Our Imaginations
April 2nd, 2021 | 50 mins 59 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
The only thing that is almost as exciting as watching and listening to a multimedia performance by Pamela Z is to hear her talk about it which she does for almost an hour in a fascinating conversation with Frank J. Oteri that ranges from creating during the pandemic to dealing with constant changes in technology and Pamela's obsession with old telephones.
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Episode 4: Judith Lang Zaimont: The Music She Has to Write
March 4th, 2021 | 52 mins 38 secs
composer conversations, interview, newmusicbox, soundlives
Judith Lang Zaimont is defiantly unwilling to be typecast for creating music in a particular style, which makes her music always a welcome surprise. NewMusicBox editor Frank J. Oteri talks with her constant reinvention and re-evaluation of her music.