Late in his life, the famed Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni felt so straightjacketed by the tonal system that he said one of the only viable method of escape was the invention of new sounds through electronic instruments.

This week's episode of the New Canon features new music from Thea Musgrave and oboist Nicholas Daniel as well as selections from the Boston Modern Orchestra Project's new disc of concertos by Thomas Oboe Lee. We'll also hear from our album of the week, an album of lyrical chamber music by composer Dan Visconti.

This week, the Brothers Balliett investigate three interconnected orchestral works, all centered around the idea of a memorial or homage. Music of Harrison Birtwistle, Magnus Lindberg and Witold Lutoslawski. Listen today at 3 pm.

Melissa Smey is the Director of the Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Her Mixtape includes several composers from the venue's Composer Portrait series, which begins its spring season on February 9. Listen today at 3 pm.

On Sunday, January 13, 2013, Ensemble LPR honored the late Elliott Carter with a concert featuring selections from throughout the composer's influential career. The program featured several longtime Carter collaborators, including cellist Fred Sherry, clarinetist Charlie Neidich, pianist Ursula Oppens and violinist Rolf Schulte.

This week's episode of the New Canon features new recordings of music by Alexander Byrne, Suzanne Farrin and Béla Bartók. Listen Monday at 3 pm.

Taking a page out of the great Nicholas Hodges' recent programatic playbook, this week on Hammered! we re-contextualize a handful of classic etudes by throwing in fistfuls of freshly composed ones, some so difficult only a machine can play them!

Why juxtapose Sibelius and Feldman over a week's programming? OK, it's partly a whimsical reaction to a striking quote in Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise, but there are, at least in their mature work, compelling commonalities. Hear Phil Kline weekdays from 11 am to 1 pm on Q2 Music.

Tonight at 7:30 pm, Q2 Music presents a live audio webcast of singer-instrumentalist Carla Kihlstedt with the International Contemporary Ensemble, live from the Ecstatic Music Festival.

Q2 Music helped open the 2013 Ecstatic Music Festival recently with a special show featuring the songwriter Shara Worden and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

All good things must come to an end, and so this week, the Brothers Balliett close the month-long series The Grown Person's Guide to the Orchestra with a deep dive into the worlds of piano, harp and percussion.

The music of rising composer Andy Akiho has been performed by Eighth Blackbird, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ethel String Quartet. His mixtape features pieces from Debussy to Feldman.

Grand Band – New York City-based piano sextet – honored the recent passing of Simeon ten Holt with a complete performance of the Dutch composer's epic work for multiple keyboards, Canto Ostinato.

A beloved addition to the NYC festival circuit, the multi-dimension and ultra-collaborative Ecstatic Music Festival kicks off this Friday. Q2 Music is its proud digital partner, and this week on Hammered!, to get into the mood, we not only survey music from the festival's composers, musicians and ensembles, but more generally embrace all things ecstatic.

This week's episode of the New Canon runs the gamut from complex, large scale symphonies from the likes of Henri Dutilleux (via Esa-Pekka Salonen and Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra) and Tan Dun to more intimate performances by percussionist Doug Perkins and Bill Ryan's ensemble Billband.

Picking up with Part III of the The Grown Person's Guide to the Orchestra, the Brothers Balliett explore that silky smooth sound of the string section this week. Be prepared for sounds ranging from thorny to sublime, from surprisingly beautiful to technically jaw-dropping.

Peter Matthews is the founder of Feast of Music, a blog covering live music in New York City. His genre-spanning Mixtape includes music by Adams, Coltrane, Messiaen and Muhly.