As I've said before, electronics, from recording technology to the theremin to looping pedals to Max/MSP, have had the largest and widest-spanning impact on music since polyphony.

Gearing up for the New York Philharmonic's venturesome annual series in November and December, CONTACT!, Cued Up on Q2 broadcasts highlights from the NY Phil's 2010 season.  Conducted by music director Alan Gilbert, listen in on Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m. to hear the NY Phil blaze through some new music that captured the ears and imaginations of music fans from the last 100 years.

You have to love wind players. As a member of the string team myself, I must admit to some low-grade mocking of their obsession with reeds, swabbing and chapstick, but let's face it: when the turn of a phrase is mapped to the length of a breath, stunning things can happen.

One of the conspicuously binding forces between the music of concert halls and dance halls in the past fifty years has been the use of electronically generated sounds. In other words, if there was a Venn diagram that included Stockhausen and Lady Gaga, or David Tudor and N.W.A., the overlap would be electronics. This Sunday, November 7 at 2 p.m on Cued Up on Q2, listen to some of host Nadia Sirota's favorite electroacoustic performances from New York City.

What do Meredith Monk, Jón Þor “Jónsi” Birgisson, the Hilliard Ensemble, Antony Hegarty and Gidon Kremer have in common? They are all being featured on Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival. This is a festival with a bit of a hard-to-pin-down unifying theme: spiritual music, deeply introspective music.

Nadia Sirota gets you in the Halloween spirit by presenting unsettling masterpieces by such composers as Crumb, Ligeti and Penderecki. Tune in and tell us which pieces you find creepy!

As far back as I can recall, the string quartet has resonated with me on an almost spiritual level, and I really do mean as far back as I can remember. When I was old enough and accomplished enough to participate in performing string quartets, well, that's when casual flirtation morphed into full-on obsession.

For some reason, I’ve been late to the party on saxophones. I had a good, saxophone-playing friend in college who was so frustrated by what he termed “the musical limitations” of his instrument that I developed an ‘over it’ attitude towards an instrument I was barely familiar with. Ah the folly of youth! In the years since those heady, saxophone-prejudiced days, and as I’ve been slowly adding sax to my listening diet, I’ve come to a realization: I like the saxophone!

Every once in a while, when, say, I kick off a week by getting on a boat to row row row to the sweet sounds of Iannis Xenakis’ percussion music, I get in a sort of seasonal, celebratory mood. There’s something about a boat. And Xenakis. Ergo I feel it’s only appropriate that we kick off summer with programming inspired by the great outdoors!

These shows originally aired the week of June 7, 2010. For the original show page, click here.

I am so happy (finally!) to be back from my ash-extended hiatus. To celebrate (and partly to facilitate a smooth radio re-entry), I thought it might be fun to feature music by northern European and Scandinavian composers this week.

This Sunday, September 26th at 2pm, Q2 invites you to listen to the collaboration of Baltimore's head-bopping experimentalists, Matmos, and Brooklyn's avant-classical percussion mainstay, So Percussion. Recorded at a concert at Le Poisson Rouge on June 8th, they present material from their recent album, Treasure State, which pairs uncompromised sonic creativity with primal rhythmic expression.

These shows originally aired the week of February 22, 2010. For the original show page, click here

Iannis Xenakis was a brilliant composer who has an almost cultish following. When I was in college, mentions of the word Xenakis were often accompanied by Ozzy Ozbourne-esque fists of rock and tongue-waggling. Why would a post-war, Greek-French composer, mathematician and architect be the source of such rabid devotion?

So, WQXR is spending the whole month of September in praise of the violin. Of course I'm a violist at heart, but I thought this would be a great jumping-off point for this week's show. Thus! This week we'll study great Acts of Violins in the 20th and 21st Centuries.

On Sunday, September 5 at 2 p.m., Cued Up on Q2 presents highlights from the New Juilliard Ensemble's most recent season. The stellar student ensemble, led by the indefatigable Joel Sachs, fearlessly takes on the most adventurous contemporary concert works, and Q2 is excited to bring you live recordings of the most exciting performances.

It’s nearly September!

For some reason, my brain functions exclusively on an academic calendar. This is perhaps due to my parents’ working in academia or to the nature of the concert season?  However it came to pass, I truly look forward to the fall. It’s nearly September! It’s nearly time for this heat to finally break! It’s nearly time for new seasons and new rep and new festivals, and my Pavlovian response is to buy PENS.

For some reason, I’ve been late to the party on saxophones. I had a good, saxophone-playing friend in college who was so frustrated by what he termed “the musical limitations” of his instrument that I developed an ‘over it’ attitude towards an instrument I was barely familiar with. Ah the folly of youth! In the years since those heady, saxophone-prejudiced days, and as I’ve been slowly adding sax to my listening diet, I’ve come to a realization: I like the saxophone!

These shows originally aired the week of January 18, 2010. For the original show page click here.

A hot tip: If you ever find yourself in sophomore Music History class, arm yourself with the following information, as it can be referenced for approximately one-half of the questions on your mid-term.

These shows originally aired the week of January 11, 2010.Click here for the original show page.

New Music is flush with chamber music these days! Small ensembles of virtuosic musicians are popping up left and right. But how does an ensemble of saxophone, electric guitar, piano, and percussion fit into the classical canon?