As a singer with a very pure tone, Adrienne Albert has been recruited to work with many talented composers over the years, including Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, and Igor Stravinsky. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about Adrienne's own composing process. She shares some stories behind her music, including how she used woodwind players to represent a chorus of animals in her Alaska-inspired "Animalogy."
The MNKINO filmmaking group and the Composer Quest podcast are teaming up to bring you a fun challenge for the summer. Filmmakers will make short films, composers will write scores for them, and the Composer Quest Orchestra will perform these scores live along with the films. If you're a composer or filmmaker, sign up below, and I'll be in touch with more details!
In order to be more productive, composer Justin Merritt once tried polyphasic sleeping, meaning he slept only a couple hours per day. After countless hours of busyness, he finally came to the revelation that he just needed to feel bored to become inspired. In this episode of Composer Quest, Justin and I talk about how Buddhist philosophies have influenced his life as a composer, and he shares some great composition advice he gives to his students at St. Olaf. Justin also explains how he invented a unique system of creating scales and modulating, which he used in his beautiful piece "Lachryme" for string orchestra.
I'm excited to bring you this Composer Quest podcast episode with talented video game composer Rich Vreeland (aka Disasterpeace). We talk about his snowflake-catching game January, and how he infused his code with music theory to make some beautiful generative music. Rich also explains his composing techniques for the indie games FEZ and The Floor is Jelly.
In honor of Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), our eighth Composer Quest quest will involve the number four. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a piano piece for four hands (two pianists at one piano). You're also encouraged to work the number four into your piece in other ways, like the harmony, rhythm, or form. The best pieces will be performed by Susan Hsu and Franco Holder here in Minnesota on May 4th (6pm, Underground Music Cafe).
When he was just 14, Joey Johnson started touring with America's Polka King, Frankie Yankovic. Joey has carried on the tradition with his own polka band, and in this episode of Composer Quest, he shares everything he knows about accordions and polka. Joey's original tunes have been featured in a number of commercials and TV, and we talk about the pros and cons of being published in a music production library.
In this episode of Composer Quest, we get a sneak preview of Nathan Eliot's first solo album, Universe in Me. We talk about the creative process behind his songs, singing super high as a countertenor, and bringing his mandola into a special ed classroom.
"Outsider" composer Rick Sowash has 14 beautiful chamber music albums to his name, all self-published and fan-supported. After graduating from a prestigious music school that he hated so much he refuses to name, he vowed to stay independent of any academic or commercial organization. In this episode of Composer Quest, Rick shares his entire strategy for making it as an independent composer, which he's been perfecting for many years. We also get to hear how Rick converted orange juice, French toast, eggs, and bacon into music for a treble clef quartet.
Fellow composition podcaster Tom Snively has been producing new tracks weekly and picking them apart on his show Making My Own Music. However, his inner composer was dormant for many years as he worked as a computer programmer, then as a financial planner. In this episode of Composer Quest, I talk with Tom about his new venture to make a career out of composing and producing. He's been experimenting with writing video game scores, jazz saxophone tunes, new age music, and a spoken word track based on Philly cheesesteaks.
Ellen Stanley (aka Mother Banjo) brought her banjo over to the Composer Quest studio to share some songs and stories. We talk about everything from her Walden-inspired song to her unusual connection to Paul McCartney. In addition to her banjo-playing career, Ellen is the executive director of the Minnesota Music Coalition, and she worked as a music publicist for the folk label Red House Records. So she also shares some advice on networking, getting airplay, etc.