Recently in Q2 Music
Morton Subotnick: At Play in the World of Electronic Music
Monday, March 19, 2012
Morton Subotnick has almost as many pioneering credits to his name as he does compositional ones. A leader of the San Francisco Tape Center in the '60s – a place where Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros and many others took some of their earliest aesthetic steps – Subotnick has consulted (or commissioned) the building of synthesizers from the ground up, and also recorded the first electronic-music album meant just for listening, instead of live-performance miming. (So radical!)
Listen Now: Oneida and Rhys Chatham
Monday, March 19, 2012
On March 17, psych-rockers Oneida and left-field composer, guitarist and trumpeter Rhys Chatham came together for a set of new works that walk the line between instrumental rock, film noir-esque musings and free jazz.
Leonard Bernstein Talks Aging and Emerging Dreams
Monday, March 19, 2012
In this 1985 interview, Leonard Bernstein describes the influences his early education had upon the formation of the Young People's Concerts and feeling "cursed with this need to teach."
Lisa Moore Hosts Hammered!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Pianist Lisa Moore hosts this week's installments of Hammered!, presenting music by composers like Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, Charles Ives, Conlon Nancarrow, Philip Glass, John Adams and many others.
Maverick Mixtapes: Son Lux
Monday, March 19, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured musician is composer and electronic musician Ryan Lott, a.k.a. Son Lux.
While Sounding at Home, American Composers Orchestra Nevertheless Goes Big
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Under the leadership of George Manahan, the ACO has renewed its commitment to the next generation of young compositional voices. Find out how and get a download from Kati Agóc's album opener, Pearls.
Better Know Zwerm
Friday, March 16, 2012
Q2 Music's Better Know an Ensemble introduces new-music in new places, by bringing you multimedia-rich portraits of ensembles from across the globe. In this installment we're plugging you in, quite literally, to the Belgian-Dutch electric guitar quartet Zwerm.
Maverick Mixtapes: Dave Douglas
Friday, March 16, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured musician is trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas.
Bernstein and Copland Discuss American Music
Friday, March 16, 2012
In this 1950 appearance at Tanglewood, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Irving Fine and Lukas Foss gathered together around a piano discuss what gives American music its special identity.
Meredith Monk Searches for the Sacred
Thursday, March 15, 2012
In this 2008 interview, composer, vocalist and filmmaker Meredith Monk joins host David Garland to explore the musical traditions of disparate world religions and discuss the personal, non-denominational expressions of the search for the sacred through sound.
Maverick Mixtapes: Sam Hillmer
Thursday, March 15, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured musician is saxophonist and composer Sam Hillmer, of the Brooklyn-based avant jazz groups Zs, Hubble and Diamond Terrifier.
Scott Johnson: Pioneering 'Speech-Melody' and Hybridism
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Composer/guitarist Scott Johnson is an inventor of a technique of generating a piece of music based on recorded speech and approximating it with musical notes.
Listen Now: Dan Deacon, NOW Ensemble and Calder Quartet
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Listen now to indie heavyweight Dan Deacon's compositions performed in Merkin Concert Hall's Ecstatic Music Festival.
Maverick Mixtapes: Padma Newsome
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured musician is Australian songwriter and composer Padma Newsome, a founding member of Clogs and a frequent collaborator with Brooklyn-based rock group The National.
The Tone Colors of Henry Cowell
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
In this 1952 Music for the Connoisseur, host David Randolph intersperses archival audio of Henry Cowell's speeches on musical techniques, plays pieces based on the composer's theories, and ties the program together with his own insights into the composer's pioneering ideas.
Maverick Mixtapes: Alan Pierson
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured musician is Alan Pierson, conductor and musical director of both the new-music ensemble Alarm Will Sound and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
John Adams and Writing an American Opera
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
In this 1995 interview from the WNYC archives, John Adams talks with host John Schaefer about his new opera I Was looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky, finished just a week before the interview took place. Adams explores what sets this opera apart from his earlier efforts and how it resembles the form of the American musical. Cast members from the production perform live in-studio.
Listener Poll: Your Suggestions for a Maverick Playlist
Monday, March 12, 2012
We want your help in programming the final day, March 30, 2012, of our American Maverick festival. Help our hosts know what trail-blazing, renegade composers have most impacted you and shattered your preconceptions about what music is.
Kathleen Supové Hosts Hammered!
Monday, March 12, 2012
This month on Hammered! Q2 Music invites three pianists to curate episodes focused on the past century's most revolutionary musicians. Listen in 11 am and pm all this week for episodes hosted by the fearless Kathleen Supové.
Maverick Mixtapes: Tyondai Braxton
Monday, March 12, 2012
For Maverick Mixtapes, we asked musicians from different musical backgrounds to curate an hour of music that they deemed best fit the ideal of an "American Maverick." Today's featured group is composer, guitarist, and former Battles member Tyondai Braxton.


Featured Comments
As of late, mobility problems have prevented my travelling into Manhattan from Long Island to attend the many concerts, recitals, ...
Music of Chip Michael Austin Wintory Ozie Cargile
Q2, you guys are really killing it lately. Thank you.
So cool to hear these guys talk shop. Thanks for posting this invaluable interview.