Category Archives: Studio Visits

PARALLAXES & MORE WITH HUCK HODGE

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by Maggie Stapleton 

HuckHodge

The University of Washington School of Music is fortunate to have Huck Hodge as an Assistant Professor of Composition.  Hodge has already won more prestigious composition awards than many renowned composers twice his age.  He is the winner of a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship the 2010-2011 Rome Prize, the 2008 Gaudeamus Prize and the Aaron Copland Award from the Bogliasco Foundation.

Huck stopped by our studios to share some insights about three of his compositions & recordings: re[(f)use] (2012), Parallaxes (2005), and Alêtheia (2011).  As you listen to Huck’s commentary about Parallaxes, refer to this image.

With 3 other esteemed composers (Richard Karpen, Juan Pampin, and Joël-François Durand on faculty at UW and a top notch student modern ensemble, Inverted Space, expect this to be the first of many features on that program!

MUSIC ON THE MAP

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by Maggie Stapleton
John Teske

Seattle composer John Teske takes inspiration from nature and space in a lot of his compositions, including his upcoming premiere topographies (along with Andrew C. Smith’s Topology (A/∀)) to be performed on Saturday, March 22, 8pm at the Good Shepherd Center’s Chapel Performance Space.  The work is composed as a set of graphic scores based on a topographical map and will be performed by 2 saxophones, cello, double bass, & percussion.  This should be a great catalyst for musical discovery – John is curious to find how the performers carve their own path.. both alone and together.

Here’s a conversation between Second Inversion’s Maggie Stapleton and John Teske on the inspiration behind this piece (including which particular map inspired this piece), his approach to collaboration with performers, educational outreach, and his overarching love of space and seas in his compositions.

To tide you over until March 22, here are some of John’s recent recordings with introductory comments:

CATCHY STUFF FROM A FAR CRY

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by Jill Kimball

You know what’s really impressive? Musicians who can conduct and play…at the same time.

That’s the whole concept behind A Far Cry, a collective of 17 awesome musicians (they call themselves “criers”), all of whom can lead or follow whenever necessary. This group is all about diverting expectations and experimenting with new ways to prepare, perform and present music.

They visited our studios to record some liners the other week…

In this exclusive clip, A Far Cry plays a collection of short pieces from composer Ljova, aka Lev Zhurbin, aka “a man about town”–or so says Jesse Irons! Bagels, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and weddings in New Jersey play a part. It’s fun, catchy, and the crowd went nuts. Hit play and give it a listen while you surf. It’s Fiddler on the Roof meets Bartok’s Rumanian Folk Dances meets… well, A Far Cry.

A VISIT FROM BROOKLYN RIDER

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by Jill Kimball

Our favorite wacky string quartet from–you guessed it–Brooklyn paid us a visit today! They were on the way to their performance with banjo sensation Bela Fleck at the UW World Series. We were honored to have them!

(That’s our own Maggie Stapleton with members of Brooklyn Rider.)

As we’re preparing to launch the Second Inversion stream, we’ve been welcoming some class acts into the Classical KING FM studios to record interviews, liners, and even some music. This was our favorite visit yet, for reasons which become obvious below…