Today we speak to Hildegard Westerkamp, the pioneering composer, radio artist and sound ecologist. The centerpiece of all of her work is a close attention to the sonic environment and its relation to culture. We will listen to excerpts of six soundscape compositions made between 1975 and 2005, all of which reward the close listener–conceptually and aesthetic ... Show More
Nov 15
Lucy Caplan, "Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera" (Harvard UP, 2025)
Recently, musicologists and others have started writing about Black participation in opera. Lucy Caplan’s Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera (Harvard UP, 2025) is a major new publication on this topic. Caplan examines what she calls a Black operati ... Show More
59m 59s
Apr 2025
The Deaf Composer: How Beethoven wrote music he couldn’t hear
What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create groundbreaking music even as his world fell into silence. Along the way, we uncover the myths, invention ... Show More
28m 39s
Dec 2024
BEST OF 2024: Intro to The Tortured Poets Department - Epilogue & Prologue!
In this replay episode of 13: A Taylor Swift Fan Podcast, we have officially entered THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT! Before we deep dive into the music and lyrics of this album, we think it’s important to understand Taylor’s epilogue, as well as the prologue by Stevie Nicks. Both ... Show More
45m 29s
Mar 2024
Laurie Anderson's songs of duality
<p>Laurie Anderson is bucket list. The artist, violinist, and poet has been exploring the world in her unique way for decades. She caught our breath releasing O Superman, and has continued to bring play, humour, and curiosity into all she does.</p><p>Laurie was also the yin to Lo ... Show More
45m 32s
Mar 2021
Jodie Devos on her English song album, 'And Love Said …'
<p>Following her highly acclaimed debut album, a programme of Offenbach coloratura arias, for Alpha Classics – <em>Gramophone</em>'s current Label of the Year – <strong>Jodie Devos</strong> turns to the English language for 'And Love Said …'.</p> <p>James Jolly caught up with her ... Show More
22m 2s