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Libby Larsen is one of America’s most performed living composers. Her catalogue of some 500 compositions spans every genre from vocal to chamber music to massive orchestra and operatic works. Including a Grammy winning album in 1993, she has over 50 recordings to her credit. She continues to be in demand for commissions and premieres by artists worldwide.  She is the co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Form, now the American Composers Forum, and has held residencies with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony.We are thrilled to be hosting Libby at the 56th Annual Contemporary Music Festival at Sam Houston State University! You can read about that event here. OTHER LINKS:Tony Boutté's websiteNEXUS - recording of Libby's percussion work, DDT 

Percussionist and composer Scott Deal’s work is characterized by a deep interest in technology. His curiosity of new and emerging technologies spurred his founding of two collective projects. Scott founded the Telematic Collective, an Internet performance group of artists and computer specialists, and he is a founding member and percussionist with the computer-acoustic trio Big Robot.As a performer, Scott has concertized worldwide and has recordings on labels including Albany, Centaur, Cold Blue and SCI. He has received funding for his research from organizations including Meet the Composer, Indiana Arts Council, and the Arts and Humanities Institute at IUPUI, where he is also a Professor of Music and Director of the Donald Louis Travel Arts and Technology Research Center. 

This episode is a bit of a departure from my normal format. The original idea for having a part 2 with poet Dean Rader was simply to have continuation of the discussion we began back in episode 47. If you haven’t listened to that, I definitely recommend jumping back and catching up on his work. Dean and I share an interest in engaging with socio-political themes in our creative work. In our previous conversation, we ended with the idea that we’d have a discussion about how we both make pieces with socio-political content. We are also curious about interdisciplinary work and how one practice brushes up against another. In that spirit, I sent Dean a number of links to some pieces of mine. As it turns out, he had a lot of questions and... I had some long answers. The conversation we then had ended up being mostly about my work. I so rarely talk about my own work on the podcast, so it was great to have the opportunity. I want to say a special thanks, again, to Dean for his interest in my work and the terrific conversation!ABOUT DEAN RADER:Dean Rader has published widely in the fields of poetry, American Indian Studies, and visual culture. His poetry has garnered a number of awards and recognitions including the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. His newest collection of poetry, Self-Portrait as Wikipedia Entry, was recently published by Copper Canyon Press. A native of Western Oklahoma, he is now based in San Francisco where he is professor of English at the University of San Francisco.LINKS:Sparrow Song which was featured in the terrific book edited by Theresa Sauer, Notations 21. The Innocents - a collaborative performance piece with Allen Otte based on social justice issues of wrongful imprisonment and exoneration through DNA evidence.  Allen Otte, John Lane, and Clarence Harrison (Clarence was first person exonerated by the Innocence Project in the state of Georgia) Make sure and check out the new book that Dean co-edited: Bullets into Bells.     

Dean Rader has published widely in the fields of poetry, American Indian Studies, and visual culture. His poetry has garnered a number of awards and recognitions including the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. His newest collection of poetry, Self-Portrait as Wikipedia Entry, was recently published by Copper Canyon Press.As a poet, scholar, teacher, and writer/reviewer for a number of periodicals and journals, Dean does not shy away from the socio-political issues of our day. He recently wrote about teaching poetry post-truth and post-Trump for the Huffington Post and was interviewed by the Washington Post on the convergence of poetry and politics.A native of Western Oklahoma, he is now based in San Francisco where he is professor of English at the University of San Francisco.COMING SOON: Dean and I are planning another conversation to dive deeper into discussions about the intersection of art and politics. We also plan to examine some of the crossroads of our disciplines.  Cover art from Self-Portrait As Wikipedia Entry    

Andrea Polli is an environmental artist who works at the intersection of art, science and technology. Her interdisciplinary research has been presented in a variety of formats including public art, media installation, community projects, performances and more. Often her works express, in some way, the scientific data obtained from collaborations with scientists and engineers. Her work has been shown, exhibited, and performed worldwide. She has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation and Fulbright, among others. Her latest book is Far Field: Digital Culture, Climate Change and the Poles (Intellect Press). She is currently Professor of Art and Ecology with appointments in the College of Fine Arts and School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico. Much of our discussion was about how she navigates a curious intersection between science and art, while at the same time realizing her work within the socio-political landscape of our time. Below are some links for further investigation.   Buy Andrea's latest book HERE.  Here is a link to her album, Sonic Antarctica.  

I got to meet Charles Corey, composer and Director of the Harry Partch Institute, when I visited my friend and percussion colleague Bonnie Whiting at the University of Washington in Seattle back in October of 2016. He generously gave me a tour and allowed me to play some of the iconic instruments during my visit. It was a real treat and something that I had planned to document here on the podcast. In fact, I got so excited that I only pushed the record button once instead of twice, so I lost the audio of our tour. Charles was kind enough to send me a new recording of the instruments and re-create our tour via Skype. It was also an opportunity to get his unique perspective on Partch and how Partch's work has influenced his own work.Here's a link to hear/experience some of Partch's instruments: http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.htmlHere are some photos from my visit. Here's a recording of Partch playing my favorite piece of his: The Letter (1943, rev. 1972).

Jessie Marino is a composer, performer, and media artist. Her work pays attention to the virtuosity of common activities, explores ritualistic absurdity and delights in the archeology of recent media. In her compositions, she rigorously scores out sound, physical movements, indicates lighting/staging and works with highly organized time structures in a variety of musical and theatrical formats. She is co-founder and director of the experimental performance collective, On Structure; and co-artistic director, composer, and cellist for the New York-based Ensemble Pamplemousse. We chatted a lot about how vital community and friendship is to her work, how it informs the kind of work she makes. Jessie also has a great perspective on the intersection of music and socio-political ideals. Make sure and check out the video of Rot Blau by On Structure, which we talked about in some detail. Here's version with the score:The following is a work-in-progress: a fully staged multimedia performance created, designed and performed by On Structure:Finally, here is the newest album/video from Ensemble Pamplemousse:

David Huntsberger is a unique voice in stand-up comedy. Drawing on his deep curiosity about science, technology, philosophy, and many topics in between, his comedy is intellectual, pointed, and self aware. This curiosity and openness has led to a number of interesting collaborations, including his latest film One Headed Beast and a monthly variety show he hosts in LA called The Junk Show.A touring standup comedian, he has also appeared on major television networks including NBC, Comedy Central, and the SyFy Network. He has released several albums of standup comedy. The most recent, Explosion Land, debuted in the Top 15 at iTunes.He was co-creator of the popular Professor Blastoff podcast (which is also my favorite podcast of all time!). Check out his current weekly podcast, The Space Cave.In this second half of our conversation, we chat about making a career in comedy and the history of some of his creative projects and podcasts. David has a great perspective on living/sustaining a creative life, too, and offers up some wisdom and good advice for all creatives. As I mentioned in the show's intro, David asked me to score this year's 16-Second Story from his Junk Show. Or watch on YouTube (and subscribe to David's channel!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzDFGNMFxCA

David Huntsberger is a unique voice in stand-up comedy. Drawing on his deep curiosity about science, technology, philosophy, and many topics in between, his comedy is intellectual, pointed, and self aware. This curiosity and openness has led to a number of interesting collaborations, including his latest film One Headed Beast and a monthly variety show he hosts in LA called The Junk Show.A touring standup comedian, he has also appeared on major television networks including NBC, Comedy Central, and the SyFy Network. He has released several albums of standup comedy. The most recent, Explosion Land, debuted in the Top 15 at iTunes.He was co-creator of the popular Professor Blastoff podcast (which is also my favorite podcast of all time!). Make sure to check out his current weekly podcast, The Space Cave.In the first part of our conversation, we chatted about his background, making a career in comedy, and about his creative process. 

This episode features an in-depth conversation with artist Dawn Scarfe. Currently based in London, Dawn has exhibited and performed in forests, parks, botanical gardens, city centers, galleries, and concert halls all across the UK and internationally. She was recently featured as an essayist in the book, Environmental Sound Artists: In Their Own Words, published by Oxford University Press.     Her works investigates resonance, perception and environmental atmospheres by utilizing a variety of forms and contexts, including site-specific installation, performance, and field recording. We talked about a number of her projects including the Listening Glasses, Armonica, and Bivvy Broadcasts. Here are a few links related to the Bivvy Broadcasts:International Dawn Chorus Day - May 7, 2017http://soundtent.org/index.html

Photo courtesy of Kevin Belli Craig Colorusso is an artist whose installations explore the intersection of sound, light, and space. Using wood, fabric, metal, and electronics, his work is elegantly simple and organic, while at the same time deeply spiritual and personal. INSTALL, a short film about his work directed by Kevin Belli, contains footage and interviews as it captures three of his major installation works. Make sure to check out Craig's essay in the new book, Environmental Sound Artists: In Their Own Words.  SUN BOXESPhoto by Emma Thurgood Read more about SUN BOXES here: http://www.sun-boxes.com CUBEMUSIC

This episode features a conversation with writer, performer, and producer Deborah Pearson. She makes and tours solo theater pieces and works collaboratively as a dramaturg for companies including Made in China and Action Hero. In 2007 she founded the multi-award winning organization Forest Fringe, which she also co-directs. Deborah is also an associate artist for Volcano Productions. Make sure to also check out her podcast: The Whole Darned Thing.In our in-depth conversation, we covered her background/influences, and many of her works. We also covered some sensitive issues—racism, immigration, and feminism—all of which are timely considering this posting is only days before the upcoming US presidential election.Here is the trailer to her new work, History History History.This is a clip from her solo work The Future Show.

This episode features a conversation with Hal Rammel: musical instrument inventor, composer/improvisor and visual artist. Equally at home in the fields of music and visual arts, Hal's work (spanning 45 years) includes instrument design/invention, composition, performing/improvising, photography, drawing, sculpture, collage, and cartooning. You can visit Hal's work online here. You can find his music through his record label Penumbra Music. Amplified pallete, 2008 At the Edge Where the Path Narrows (for J. Henri Fabre), 2007. Silver gelatin print, 8"x7"

This episode features part two of my conversation with percussionist Jan Williams, who has had a brilliant and multifaceted career. In addition to being one of the world's finest percussionists, Jan has been an arts administrator, educator, conductor, and composer. Deeply invested in contemporary music, he has worked closely with luminary composers including Morton Feldman, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Frederic Rzewski, and many more. As a performer, he has appeared worldwide and has been an important proponent for the development of literature for percussion instruments. Jan spent much of his career at the University of Buffalo, where he was one of the first class of Creative Associates in the 1960's. He went on to serve as a faculty member and chair of the music department. While in Buffalo, he also co-directed the North American New Music Festival and served as artistic director for the Center for Creative and Performing Arts. Here's a segment of the 4+ hour work by Morton Feldman we discussed in the opening segment, For Philip Guston:The adventurous piece by Lukas Foss we discussed briefly is Paradigm (1968). Here's the full recording:Jan's performance of Lukas Foss's Ni Bruit Ni Vitesse (1970):

This episode features part one of my conversation with percussionist Jan Williams, who has had a brilliant and multifaceted career. In addition to being one of the world's finest percussionists, Jan has been an arts administrator, educator, conductor, and composer. Deeply invested in contemporary music, he has worked closely with luminary composers including Morton Feldman, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Frederic Rzewski, and many more. As a performer, he has appeared worldwide and has been an important proponent for the development of literature for percussion instruments. Jan spent much of his career at the University of Buffalo, where he was one of the first class of Creative Associates in the 1960's. He went on to serve as a faculty member and chair of the music department. While in Buffalo, he also co-directed the North American New Music Festival and served as artistic director for the Center for Creative and Performing Arts. In the first part of our conversation we chatted about his background as a musician and some of the experiences working with composers John Cage and Morton Feldman.  Morton Feldman and Jan Williams, Photo by Bunita Marcus Click on the following link to explore photos in the archive at the University of Buffalo Library: Jan Williams's Photos of Morton Feldman.

Based in Hudson, NY, composer, sound artist, and musician Nathan McLaughlin makes hauntingly ethereal music using string instruments, field recordings, and reel to reel tape machines. In Nathan’s hands, the tape machine becomes its own instrument. He performs as both a solo artist and as a collaborator in a variety of settings including work with Cody Yantis and Joe Houpert, in the group Tilth), and with musician/multimedia artist Seth Chrisman.

This episode features a conversation with composer Marc Satterwhite. Marc's music has been performed worldwide by ensembles including the Boston Symphony, the Utah Symphony, and new music luminaries eighth blackbird and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He is currently Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the University of Louisville School of Music, where he also directs the Grawnemeyer Award for Music Composition. We chatted about his transition from a professional bassist living and working in Latin America to professional composer and academic, his compositions inspired by the photography of Flor Garuño, his take on the creative life, and much more. This is the Flor Garduño photo that inspired "Musico en la nada" (for trumpet and bass drum)

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Zen monk, writer, and punk rock musician Brad Warner. We focused on his new book, "Don't be a Jerk," which is an entertaining, yet insightful paraphrase and commentary on the 800-year old Zen Buddhist text, The Shobogenzo, by the Japanese Zen monk Dogen. We also talked about meditation practice and how it relates to creativity.Make sure to check out Brad's blog: http://hardcorezen.infoCheck out all of Brad's books!

Composer Jeff Herriott describes his music as “sounds that shift and bend at the edges of perception.” Much of his work is delicate and unhurried, music that often explores repetition and subtle variations.Recently, Jeff composed music for the film Bone Tomahawk, which was written and directed by S. Craig Zahler and stars Kurt Russell.He currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, where he coordinates the Media Arts and Game Development program and teaches courses in audio, multimedia, music technology and composition.Here is one of the works we discussed: Swarms of Light in MetalCheck out Jeff's band, The Bell Monks: http://music.bellmonks.com