Showing posts tagged Relevant Tones

For Your Thirsty Ears

I mentioned a few months back that composer Seth Boustead had relaunched Relevant Tones, WFMT’s first radio program dedicated to contemporary classical music.  Today marks another first for the station: the Thirsty Ear Festival.

Tonight at 5pm, Relevant Tones will broadcast their first ever new music festival live from—yes, you guessed it—the Empty Bottle! The two hour program will feature sets by the Chicago Q Ensemble, the MAVerick Ensemble, clarinetist James Falzone, and Access Contemporary Music’s Palomar.  I’m not sure what’s on the program for tonight, but I think I heard from composer Kyle Vegter that the Q Ensemble will be digging back into some of his music for FJORDS.  Always a good thing.

You can tune in to 98.7FM to hear the broadcast, or listen online here.  If you can actually attend the event (and you should, obvz), the nitty gritty is here.

Let’s all hope this becomes an annual event for WFMT.

After a brief test run over the summer, the radio program Relevant Tones—perhaps WFMT’s first attempt at a show dedicated to contemporary music—will air once again, starting tonight at 5pm.  I’m sure the station occasionally programs some new-ish music, like that one time where they had Anna Clyne host (which I just had to make a note of).  But a weekly broadcast of new music? That’s a big deal. The show’s upcoming programs can be viewed at its website, including the playlist for each one.  Tonight will have members of Chicago’s own eighth blackbird in the studio! The music will feature a collection of pieces that the ensemble has been playing fairly recently. Host Seth Boustead, composer and founder of Access Contemporary Music, was recently interviewed on Chicago Tonight to discuss the show.  He briefly talks about the obstacles one faces in attempting to “update” the classical image for listeners who haven’t really given contemporary music a chance.  He also mentions the problems that come with continuing to use a term like “classical,” something which Kyle Vegter also touched on in my interview with him. Relevant Tones is a great and much-needed addition to popular Chicago radio (WFMT does have listeners, right???) and I’m hoping it will build more incentive for programs that showcase the impossibly wide array of art music that’s being created right now.  Hey, only 23 more hours and Chicago might have its very own Q2! You can listen to tonight’s program on WFMT’s website or, if you happen to own a car, on the radio at 98.7fm.

After a brief test run over the summer, the radio program Relevant Tones—perhaps WFMT’s first attempt at a show dedicated to contemporary music—will air once again, starting tonight at 5pm.  I’m sure the station occasionally programs some new-ish music, like that one time where they had Anna Clyne host (which I just had to make a note of).  But a weekly broadcast of new music? That’s a big deal.

The show’s upcoming programs can be viewed at its website, including the playlist for each one.  Tonight will have members of Chicago’s own eighth blackbird in the studio! The music will feature a collection of pieces that the ensemble has been playing fairly recently.

Host Seth Boustead, composer and founder of Access Contemporary Music, was recently interviewed on Chicago Tonight to discuss the show.  He briefly talks about the obstacles one faces in attempting to “update” the classical image for listeners who haven’t really given contemporary music a chance.  He also mentions the problems that come with continuing to use a term like “classical,” something which Kyle Vegter also touched on in my interview with him.

Relevant Tones is a great and much-needed addition to popular Chicago radio (WFMT does have listeners, right???) and I’m hoping it will build more incentive for programs that showcase the impossibly wide array of art music that’s being created right now.  Hey, only 23 more hours and Chicago might have its very own Q2!

You can listen to tonight’s program on WFMT’s website or, if you happen to own a car, on the radio at 98.7fm.