In the days immediately after 9/11, our regular programming on WNYC 93.9 FM was suspended and we were doing wall-to-wall news coverage from NPR’s New York studio in midtown. I had been on the scene that Tuesday morning and was badly shaken by the events; and staying at home with nothing to do was definitely not helping me. So when NPR called to ask if I’d cover a live performance of the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, and gather some sound from people at the church, I was relieved and grateful.

When Robert Ridgell (organist at Trinity Wall Street Church in New York) asked me for a new work to be commissioned by Trinity Wall Street and for his wonderful Trinity Youth Chorus, I said "Yes." Then Robert told me that this new work would be part of the 9/11 Anniversary and he would appreciate having a requiem.

As we take all the generous musical suggestions you've provided and strive to channel them into a cohesive, fluid stream of music for the 9/11 weekend, we acknowledge a complicated, but inevitable, decision. We have an idea how to proceed; however, we want to hear your thoughts as to the most appropriate, respectful course of action.

As part of Q2's Requiem Project, we're collecting stories from the  New York Public Radio archives to augment the music stream — voices that expand upon the themes in the music, and vice versa.  We recently wondered: what if we blended the two?  We've put together a little audio experiment and we'd like you to evaluate the results.

How exactly do you keep a composition for six 2'x4's from sounding stiff? Find out how Michael Gordon does just that, and get a free download from his new CD this week only.

The requiem that stands out for me is the performance I heard of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The performance was by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur at Avery Fisher Hall. A collective feeling of wounded angst could be felt as audience-goers entered the auditorium.

It is twelve years since I finished composing Chrysalid Requiem — a setting of the Latin funeral service, plus the "Libera me" and "In paradisum" from the burial service. Rather than the commemoration of someone’s death, I found other reasons for the project. The Latin words sing beautifully, cry for a wildly imaginative setting and resonate with layers of metaphor that suggest a complex musical fabric.

In the early 1960s, I was in summer residence at an “arts camp” called Indian Hill. I was already quite a serious pianist by then, and during those sparkling, sun-dappled days in Stockbridge Massachusetts, I stayed indoors. Day after beautiful day, I pulled down the shades in the piano practice room -- and practiced.  

Ten years ago on September 11, I was on the air here at WQXR from 7 p.m. until midnight. I had been called in at the last minute to cover for my colleague, June LeBell, who had been evacuated from Battery Park City to New Jersey earlier in the day. As I walked to the station that night, I remember how absolutely lost I felt. "What should I say? What should I do? How can we help?" It seemed so illogical to be playing music while television and radio stations all over the city were trying desperately to explain what had happened and to advise us about what to do next.

The Wordless Music Orchestra marked the 9/11 anniversary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sunday with a reflective program of Schnittke, Golijov, Ingram Marshall and William Basinski. Listen to the full concert here.

Tan Dun is one of those mercurial composers that’s impossible to pin down—is he a film composer (see: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)? A maestro of opera (see: The First Emperor)? An Eastern musician blending western idioms (see: Ghost Opera, performed by the Kronos Quartet with Wu Man)? A symphonist (see: the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s performance of his Water Concerto)? Read on to nab a free download of the title track from the film The Banquet, as performed by Lang Lang.

I last saw my friend and sound engineer Bill Cadman in Paris at the beginning of December 1988 when we had a drink together. On December 21st, Bill and his new girlfriend Sophie were killed in the Lockerbie air crash. I was very badly affected by his death and for some time I found it hard to sleep and had constant nightmares. I wrote an obituary for The Independent newspaper shortly after his death, which helped me quite a lot.

As part of Q2's Requiem Project, we've been searching the NYPR archives for voices that offer perspective on 9/11 and help us better understand the world in which we now live. The stories that immediately stood out to me were of the volunteers who for months helped feed, clothe and comfort the people working at the site. "We have to understand that their existence in millions for each evil act is what keeps us going," the late evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould told WNYC's Marianne McCune.

(Le) Poisson Rouge has become the go-to venue to host a record release party so it is no surprise that the Brooklyn-based indie band Elysian Fields booked a slot on June 14 to celebrate its newest record Last Night on Earth. Led by co-founders, Oren Bloedow and Jennifer Charles, joined by a host of stellar musicians, the band treats their (L)PR audience to an unforgettable record kick-off featuring songs off their brand-new album.