Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak has a new album out called “Cantabile: Anthems for Viola,” and it is a celebration of works both new and old. I’m Tyler Kline, and on the next Modern Notebook we’ll hear a world premiere recording of a wordless song that’s been composed for Bak.
Then: “'Plain, quotidian, and sometimes fragile,” is the way that composer Lisa Illean describes the sound world she is aiming to create with her piece “arcing, stilling, bending, gathering.” It’s music she says leans into a non-tempered tuning system to convey “moments of kinship and tenderness that balance the immensity of the world we inhabit'.
Listen for those pieces, plus music by Anthony R. Green, Carlos Carrillo, Ben Nobuto, Gabriela Ortiz, Jessica Meyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Hannah Selin, James Romig, Moth Quartet, and others; and performances by pianist Clare Longendyke, cellist Tommy Mesa with pianist Michelle Cann, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra with Creekside Singers, bass clarinetist Ford Fourqurean, pianist Aura Go with Australian National Academy of Music, and others.
Listen Sunday night from 8 to ET on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9. Streaming the next day at modernnotebook.org.
Hour 1 Fugue – suivant “Des pas sur la neige” by Anthony R. Green. Carlos Carrillo’s Will the Quiet Times Come. The Nearness of Things by Ben Nobuto. Augusta Reed Thomas’ Song without Words. Desert Wind by Jeffrey Paul. Gabriela Ortiz’s Preludio y Estudio. Slow Burn by Jessica Meyer. | 
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Hour 2 Three Graces by Tyshawn Sorey. Hannah Selin’s Inverse Portraits (from Canarsie). arcing, stilling, bending, gathering by Lisa Illean. James Romig’s Leaves from Modern Trees. Harakeke Silhouette by Moth Quartet. | 
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Each week, Tyler Kline journeys into new territory and demystifies the music of living composers on Modern Notebook. Listen for a wide variety of exciting music that engages and inspires, along with the stories behind each piece and the latest releases from today’s contemporary classical artists. Discover what’s in store on Modern Notebook.
