| Say Hello | Daily Playlists | Composers | On-Demand Concerts | Video Documentaries |
Shows: Meet the Composer with Nadia Sirota | LPR Live | Phil Kline | The Brothers Balliett |
Q2 Music is your multi-platform home for dynamic and inspiring contemporary classical music. Discover countless new artists via our 24/7 stream – hand-crafted daily to reward your curiosity – and be surprised by the boldest new pieces on demand in the WQXR app or in our ever-expanding concert archive. Welcome to a world of new music. Tune in, won’t you?
Recently in Q2 Music
Young People's Chorus of New York City Looks Ahead with 'Transient Glory III'
Monday, November 30, 2015
"Transient Glory III" offers a glimpse of what makes the Young People's Chorus of New York City such outstanding interpreters with music by Meredith Monk, John Corigliano and more.
Vote: What Does the 'New' in 'New Music' Mean to You?
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
What does it mean for a piece of classical music to be considered contemporary, or new? Vote now and help change the rules of Q2 Music's 5th annual new-music countdown.
Download: Anna Thorvaldsdottir's 'Scape' Performed by Pianist Cory Smythe
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
This week’s Meet the Composer Bonus Track is a world premiere recording of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s "Scape," performed by pianist Cory Smythe of the International Contemporary Ensemble.
Shara Worden's 'You Us We All' Draws Upon Monteverdi and Beyoncé Alike
Monday, November 23, 2015
Billed as a contemporary baroque opera, Shara Worden's You Us We All draws upon everything from Monteverdi to pop as it explores a rite of passage to find meaning in the modern world.
Listen: Alarm Will Sound and Three New York Premieres
Monday, November 23, 2015
October 22, Alarm Will Sound performed at Merkin Concert Hall for the 2015 SONiC Festival.
Horn of Plenty: 24 Hours of Music of Constant, Inexorable Change
Friday, November 20, 2015
Join us all day Tuesday, Nov. 24 for a pre-Thanksgiving sonic horn of plenty with 24 hours of music of subtly ever-shifting, unstoppable change.
Listen: Visualizing Music at National Sawdust's SONiC Afterhours
Thursday, November 19, 2015
October 17, a spectacle of sound and visual art captivated audiences at the 2015 SONiC Festival at National Sawdust featuring two world premieres.
Listen: wild Up's West Coast Experimentalism at Roulette
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
On Tuesday, Oct.20, wild Up performed "a study of west coast: experimentalism, pulse music, noise, punk rock, Los Angeles, and tumbleweeds" for the SONiC Festival at Roulette.
Listen: World Premiere of Tod Machover's 'Symphony for Lucerne'
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
On Sept. 9, 2015, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra premiered Tod Machover's new field recording-colored "Symphony for Lucerne."
Dawn of Midi's Qasim Naqvi Offers a Sci-Fi Companion with 'Preamble'
Monday, November 16, 2015
"Preamble," the debut solo release from Dawn of Midi drummer Qasim Naqvi is a companion to a sci-fi film installation, but works powerfully as a stand-alone piece of art.
Travel Journal: Oslo's Ultima Festival of Contemporary Music
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Oslo, Norway's Ultima Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary this Fall. With two Norwegian performances happening this week, Q2 Producer Hannis Brown recalls the opening weekend.
Listen: Jürg Wyttenbach's Collage Opera and Swiss Folk Music Live at Lucerne
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
August 22, 2015, Swiss composer Jürg Wyttenbach presented a world-premiere arrangement of his "Collage Opera" inspired by French Renaissance novelist François Rabelais.
Brian Eno's Electronic Classic in Acoustic Re-Imagining
Monday, November 09, 2015
Brian Eno first composed the electronic Discreet Music in 1975 after a car accident that put him in a full-body cast. Stream Toronto-based Contact ensemble's new recording all week.
Listen: Nieuw Amsterdams Piel at Le Poisson Rouge
Monday, November 09, 2015
On October 19, Dutch ensemble Nieuw Amsterdams Peil presented five premieres at Le Poisson Rouge as part of the 2015 SONiC Festival.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: I. Small Town Living
Monday, November 09, 2015
Anna grew up in a tiny town surrounded by incredible beauty — mountains, ocean — studying music under the guidance of her music-teacher mother and aunt.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: III. Heima er Best (Home Sweet Home)
Monday, November 09, 2015
For all that Icelanders yearn to see the world, there is some deep tug that brings them home, time after time. No matter where Anna is on the planet, she feels tied to Iceland.
Meet The Composer: Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Landscapes
Monday, November 09, 2015
Anna Thorvaldsdottir is an Icelandic composer whose work conjures entire environments of sound, surrounding the listener in a dark and forbidding landscape. Listen to the complete show.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: II. Composing a Space
Monday, November 09, 2015
Icelandic is a language of whispers and sub-audible subtlety. It is a sort of an ancient thing, it feels like it wasn’t workshopped as extensively as other European languages.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Playlist
Monday, November 09, 2015
Hear a piece of music you loved in the show? Click for a complete breakdown of all the music in Episode Nine – Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Composing Is Second Nature.
Interview: Richard Reed Parry on the US Premiere of 'Wave Movements'
Thursday, November 05, 2015
A new work by Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) and Bryce Dessner (The National) gets its US premiere this Friday and Saturday. Parry joins us in the studio to discuss the concept.
Follow WQXR
Follow Q2 Music
Featured Comments
Loved this piece, it represents a Brave New World I am willing to listen to repeatedly. Classical works that continue ...
Wow! thank you for posting this. Wish I could have been there in person and so glad to be able ...
Hi - I initially had mixed emotions about repeating Phil Kline's show at night, but now I find myself listening ...
Satie has helped me immeasurably when difficult times prevailed. A comfy sofa, glass of wine and Erik Satie always makes ...