Andrew Norman: Meet the Composer on WQXR

by Ted Gordon on Aug. 11, 2014, 2:29 p.m.

Nadia Sirota, violist and radio host on New York's WQXR and Q2, is now the host of Meet the Composer: a radio show dedicated to extended interviews and coverage of today's leading composers. Playing off the legacy of the organization founded by John Duffy which would later become New Music USA, Meet the Composer has successfully Kickstarted its way to five planned episodes, each dedicated to a single composer. After the premeire episode, which featured John Luther Adams, Sirota has turned her attention to Andrew Norman, in an episode entitled "Better Living Through Architecture."

Architectural references abound in Norman's works, from the obvious—titles referencing the Farnsworth House and architecture in Rome—to the symbolic, such as his play with architectural rhythm, large-scale form, and experience in orchestral works such as Play. In this episode, Sirota goes in-depth with Norman in an interview both informal and informative, exploring Norman's life, aesthetic philosophy, and compositional technique. Stream the entire episode here.

Three Works by Lei Liang

by Ted Gordon on Jan. 25, 2012, 3:12 p.m.

Live from Rome! New York City's WQXR airs an interview with Lei Liang, live from the American Academy in Rome, on January 25th, 2012. Check out the livestream here: http://www.wqxr.org/#/articles/q2-music/2012/jan/25/interview-lei-liang/. Lei's interview is a part of WQXR's "China in New York" series, an innovative and fresh look at Chinese-American composers. 

Lei's recent signing with Schott has been a huge thrill for us, and we've been hard at work getting all of his materials ready for publication. Three new works are now available on PSNY: "A Journey into Desire," for solo guitar; "In Praise of Shadows," for solo flute, and "Gobi Canticle," for violin and viola or cello. Check out an excerpt of "In Praise of Shadows" here:

Sleeping Giant on WQXR

by Ted Gordon on Jan. 11, 2012, 4:52 p.m.

In case any of you missed it, the members of the illustrious Sleeping Giant collective took over "Hammered!" on WQXR's Q2 for the entire month of December. (And if you're not familiar with these gentle giants, they are: Timothy Andres, Robert Honstein, Jacob Cooper, Chris Cerrone, Andrew Norman, and Ted Hearne.) Timothy Andres hosted and performed his own music, as well as music by the other Sleepy G's, and the show was hosted by each composer in turn during the week.

Much of the music featured was by the Sleeping Giant composers, including PSNY composers Timo Andres and Chris Cerrone. But the programming also ran the gamut of contemporary piano composers: Arvo Paert, Thomas Ades, Morton Feldman, Gyorgy Ligeti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alex Mincek, Adrian Knight, Scott Wollschleger, and Beat Furrer. Phew!

You can stream all episodes from WQXR's website. Here's the full recording of Alex Mincek's "Stems", which aired on the December 15th episode: