photo by Jeremy Sawatzky

Dubbed a “Classical Rock Star” by the press, cellist Joshua Roman has earned a national reputation for performing a wide range of repertoire with an absolute commitment to communicating the essence of the music at its most organic level. Current season engagements include debuts with the Albany, Arkansas, and Santa Barbara Symphonies, the New Philharmonic Orchestra in Illinois, Oklahoma’s Signature Symphony, and Kentucky’s Lexington Philharmonic. In recent seasons he has performed with the Seattle Symphony, where he gave the world premiere of David Stock’s Cello Concerto, as well as with the Symphonies of Edmonton, Quad City, Spokane, and Stamford, and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, among others. In April 2009, Roman was the only guest artist invited to play an unaccompanied solo during the YouTube Symphony Orchestra’s debut concert at Carnegie Hall. An avid chamber music performer, the 25-year-old cellist is Artistic Director of TownMusic, an experimental chamber music series at Town Hall in Seattle.

For more information, please visit www.joshuaroman.com, and www.opus3artists.com

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
My mom and my dad have different versions of the story – my mom says my dad (the cellist) coerced me by explaining the terrors of high pitches from the violin, and the long hours standing up, etc… he says it was my choice. Either way, I’m glad! I just loved it, and as far back as I can remember have wanted to “be a cellist”.

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
Feb 3rd 2010, in Baltimore, playing the music of Alexandra Gardner!

(Alex interjects: Nooooooo, dude! TOTAL cop-out answer!!!)

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
I really enjoy being able to communicate with the composer, and getting to know them. I think it brings another dimension to the performance when there is a personal relationship which you can draw energy from.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
http://www.myspace.com/fartclops. It’s hilarious and my friend made it.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I’ve got some collaborative projects that will be rolling out in the next couple of years and I’m very excited about them. Right now the one I’m most involved in is a Sonata commission with my friend Dan Visconti, which will have its first performance in June at Town Hall in Seattle, on the same series which last year commissioned Alex to write a piece that will be on the program in Baltimore!

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
Ski Patrol dude, because I love skiing and snow and sunglasses.

photo by Timo Andres

Kelli Kathman attends the Graduate Center of the City University of New York where she is a doctoral student of Tara Helen O’Connor. Kelli also holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master’s Degree from Yale University. She regularly performs with new music ensembles Signal and Alarm Will Sound and has collaborated with such collectives as the Reich Ensemble, the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Zankel Band. Ms. Kathman had her solo debut at the age of sixteen with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls both here and abroad, most recently the Hermitage Theater, Izumi Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium and Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, Kilbourn Hall and the Library of Congress. Ms. Kathman has recorded on such labels as Naxos, Nonesuch, Warp Records and New Amsterdam Records. Her passion for new music has brought her into close contact with composers such as Steve Reich, John Adams, Julia Wolf, David Lang, and Terry Riley, among many others.

Kelli is a founding member of the award-winning New York-based woodwind quintet, Sospiro Winds. Prize-winners at the 2007 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Sprague Hall Chamber Music Competition, and finalists at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Sospiro Winds has been invited to perform on numerous concert series, including the Wintergreen Performing Arts Series, the Yale at Carnegie Concert Series, the Chamber Music Society at Yale Concert Series, and the Trinity Concerts at One Series. For more information, please visit www.sospirowinds.com.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
One day almost 20 years ago I picked up my friend’s flute and taught myself the Star Spangled Banner. The next year I announced in my school newspaper that I was going to be the principal flutist in the Philadelphia Orchestra when I grew up. Then one day, many years later, I woke up and found myself getting paid to play music. So I ran with it.

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
I worked on a project of composer Ted Hearne called “Katrina Ballads”. At the beginning I didn’t know Ted so well, or anyone else on the project for that matter, and I remember having the absolute worst attitude when I showed up. All I could do was focus on the crazy rehearsal schedule, the long schlep from the subway, the cold rehearsal space, bad lighting… you name it, I complained about it.

So we started rehearsals and I was totally stuck in my obnoxious world of imaginary suffering when, on day two or three, I started listening to the music, started to really hear the words. The project was inspired by Hurricane Katrina and all of the text came from survivors, politicians, aid workers, and other well-known public figures during the storm and in the days following. So there I was, complaining in my head, when I hear baritone Anthony Turner sing, “My wife, I can’t find her body, she gone…” Had I really just been whining about fluorescent lighting?? All of a sudden I was super grateful to be sitting in a warehouse in Brooklyn, with electricity and running water and a room full of wonderful people.

Katrina Ballads was the first truly meaningful project I had been involved in. You could hear in the music that Ted had put his heart and soul into this work. And you could hear in the rehearsals and the performances that the whole band was totally into the project. My career, which was starting to feel like one big ego trip, was suddenly infused with meaning and conviction and I felt truly inspired! It wasn’t about impressing people but about reaching people.

I consider myself very lucky to be a part of this ongoing project. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to have other hugely meaningful projects, namely David Little’s “Soldier Songs” and outreach work through Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections. All of these are my most satisfying musical experiences.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
I love seeing little dots on a page and then hearing what they sound like when everyone plays theirs at the right time. And then you can all go have a beer.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
Ambient music. I used to wait in front of the radio for Hearts of Space to come on NPR when I was a kid.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I’m playing a show with the New York Miniaturist Ensemble on January 31. It’s a super clever group that is dedicated to playing works of 100 notes or less. I’ll be playing four pieces for solo flute, three of which are premiers by composers Anna Mikhailova, Ruben Naeff and Ed RosenBerg III.

Also, Signal Ensemble has a really awesome Spring, with works by Helmut Lachenman, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Nico Muhly and Sir Harrison Birtwistle on the program. Those are all really exciting shows. You should definitely check them out if you can. Brad Lubman is a rockstar conductor and always makes the group sound like a million bucks.

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
Probably a social scientist of some sort? Just because it’s the only other field I ever considered as a kid. But who knows at this point??

Born into a musical family, Alicia Lee grew up in Michigan where she began her musical studies on the violin and piano at age 4. She made the switch to clarinet at the age of 12. Her orchestral appearances include the Spoleto festivals in Italy and America, the Lucerne Festival Academy, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and the Pacific Symphony.

Her chamber music experience includes performances at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and the Yellow Barn Music Festival, where she has performed for the past three summers.

This Fall, Alicia began her second season as a fellow in The Academy – a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. As a part of her fellowship, Alicia is a teaching artist at PS 249K in Brooklyn. Alicia is the associate principal and eb clarinet player of the Santa Barbara Symphony, a position she has held since the Fall of 2006. She has performs in New York with a variety of groups, including the Knights, the Talea Ensemble, and ICE. Alicia holds a B.A. in French Language and Literature from Columbia University, an M.M. in clarinet performance from the University of Southern California, as well as a Professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
I come from an extremely musical family – my dad is a pianist and conductor, mom is a pianist, brother is a violinist, and sister is a cellist. It was sort of never even a question of whether or not we would play instruments. I started on violin at around 4 years old, shifted to piano around 5 or 6, and then shifted to clarinet at around 11. I was always a serious music student but never thought I’d go into it as a career when I was in high school. I went to college thinking I’d figure out some sort of career that would be super lucrative. That, however, never happened. Though I was a French major all throughout undergrad, I made a decision by the end of my first year that I could not not be a musician professionally. I suppose in the end it’s just in my blood.

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
Although I come from this musical family, we have practically no opportunities to all play together! On two occasions, however, we’ve been asked to do a family concert in Michigan (where I grew up). Both times it’s been a totally amazing and fun experience. We put together programs of mostly duos and trios (in different combinations) and then ended with an arrangement that my dad did of a Strauss Waltz (“The Artist’s Life” – clever right?) for piano four hands, violin, cello, and clarinet. It’s so different to be with your family in a more professional context and is so interesting to explore.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
One of the things that I love most about seeing a new piece, and specifically a contemporary piece, is having to figure it out like a puzzle. I like working through really thorny, dense rhythms in a kind of mathematical way and then figuring out how to make it sound musical.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
Probably Beyoncé. And Alicia Keys. And no, I don’t feel guilty!

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I have a few things scheduled that I’m particularly excited about: I play in a group called Ensemble ACJW and this season we started doing a little series at Le Poisson Rouge in New York where we are in charge of all the programming. We have shows on February 24, April 28, and June 13. On February 24 I am playing 2 duos: “Last” by Philippe Manoury for marimba and bass clarinet and “Suite im hexachord” by Stefan Wolpe for oboe and clarinet. All the shows should be a lot of fun.

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
If I were not a musician, I would be some kind of small business owner. Not sure what kind of business – probably clothes. There’s something very appealing to me in the idea of owning something that would be very representative of myself. Good thing I’m not actually trying to do that in this economy.

If you are inspired by these interviews to sponsor a musician, please click here or on the “Make A Donation” sidebar to make a tax-deductible contribution that will go directly towards performer fees and travel expenses for the above mentioned concert. Thank you!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled post….

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The merging of an ageless classical instrument and the twenty-first century has found life in the person of guitarist Benjamin Beirs. Trained as a classical guitarist at Peabody Conservatory by Julian Gray, he has among other things performed a concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic and appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – yet he is oh-so-much more. A singer, songwriter, teacher and composer, you can find him almost anywhere from the concert stage to an elementary school, playing to a most diverse and appreciative audience.

Mr. Beirs believes in music as a “great kindness” – one that has helped him immensely in his own life, and just as importantly, one which helps others. In addition to teaching and performing, he frequently performs outreach in various settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools.

Whether he is performing the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Concerto in D major with “intense musicality,” the rags of Scott Joplin, a song by Nick Drake, or his own compositions, Benjamin Beirs is the quintessence of the modern musician, open to any great musical idea.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
I started taking guitar lessons at age 6 on classical guitar, because my parents told me my after-school music program “didn’t offer drum lessons.” Not true, and I still want to buy myself a drum set. I think my own compositions reflect my yearning to be a percussionist as well!!

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
I have two performance experiences that stand out, and they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. One was recently, in June 2008 – as a finalist in the Joann Falletta Guitar Concerto Competition, I performed a concert with the Buffalo Philharmonic in front of around 2,000 people. It was just electrifying playing with so many great musicians. My other experience was performing the “Invocacion y Danza” by Rodrigo for a patient at the Gilchrist Hospice in Baltimore. There was a kind of communication that happened that was and is beyond words. Very touching.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
It depends on what it is, and what it’s for! Basically, if I think it’s going to make the audience happy and I like it as well, I can get pretty excited about it. Sometimes I have trouble jump-starting myself into work mode, but once I’m into it there’s no stopping me!

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
I don’t really know! I don’t have any guilt about what I listen to – I guess maybe I feel guilty that I don’t listen to enough “classical” music!

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I have a couple of solo recitals in February in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and then in April my guitar duo will be touring the East Coast. I’m also working on an album of my songs – as if I’m not busy enough, I’ve decided to do the singer-songwriter thing when it fits in my schedule

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
If I weren’t a musician, I would be a completely lost soul because I honestly can’t answer this question. I like the saying that you don’t do music because you love it, you do it because you can’t imagine doing anything else.

photo by Steve Gong

Yuki Numata is a violinist with “virtuosic flair and dexterous bravery,” according to the New York Times.

Ms. Numata is rapidly gaining attention as a charismatic virtuoso, having performed as a soloist with the New World Symphony, the University at Buffalo’s Slee Sinfonietta, the Wordless Music Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra.

As a result of her avid interest in new music, she has had the opportunity to work closely with some of today’s foremost composers including Charles Wuorinen, Steve Reich and John Zorn. Ms. Numata performs frequently with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) which had its Carnegie Hall debut this past spring.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Ms. Numata holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. Her principal teachers include Andrew Jennings, Zvi Zeitlin and Gwen Thompson.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
I began playing the violin at the age of 3 because my parents told me to! According to my dad I sounded so bad that he wanted to let me quit playing, but my mom wouldn’t let that happen. She said that if they let me quit I would forever think that anytime something is difficult, I can just walk away. Talk about learning life lessons at an early age! I never hated the violin but I didn’t begin to really enjoy it until I started playing in the orchestra at the Vancouver Academy of Music. My first experience playing a Brahms symphony blew me away and I was hooked. When I graduated from high school, my parents said that I could study music in college if I also took on another degree, so I went to the Eastman School of Music and began a double major in English Lit at the University of Rochester. After a few months at Eastman I knew that I wanted to focus on the violin, so after many months of pleading and arguing with my parents, I dropped the second degree and put all of my time into music. It was there that I met the conductor Brad Lubman and began playing in Musica Nova, the school’s new music ensemble. I was so inspired by Brad and by the other players who were into new music that I never looked back. I’ve loved playing contemporary music ever since my undergrad and it has now become the bulk of the playing that I do professionally. After 3 years at the New World Symphony, I recently moved to New York and have been trying my hand at the freelancing scene here. So far I’m loving the freelance life!

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
I have been very lucky to be part of the Tanglewood Music Center for 4 years – 2 years as a fellow and 2 years as a Fromm player, specializing in the performance of contemporary music. In my 2nd year as a Fromm player, I performed Charles Wuorinen’s Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra with Kazem Abdullah conducting the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. This experience was so exciting to me because I rarely have the opportunity to perform with orchestra, and especially with one that is as responsive and as dedicated as the TMCO. Although they were coming off of some very demanding weeks, the orchestra sounded incredible in the performance and I felt honoured and proud to be their soloist. Charles Wuorinen and James Levine were both in the audience and they were very complimentary and gracious afterwards. To have such pillars of the contemporary music world take the time to speak with me made the whole experience unforgettable.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
There is such a long lineage of wonderful violinists dating back hundreds of years that along with the tradition and history also comes a certain amount of intimidation. For me, it’s difficult to find concrete reasons for why the world needs to hear me play the Tchaikovksy concerto for the millionth time when there have been so many thoughtful and historic performances in the past. I get excited about playing a new piece of music because of the freedom that I have in interpreting it, and because I like to discover new ways to communicate and connect with an audience.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
Lately, I love listening to Ne-Yo!

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I play a ton with ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble) and we’ll be performing this summer in the Berkshires. The program uses Bach as inspiration and we are commissioning quartets by Timothy Andres and Ryan Streber. Very exciting stuff!

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
If I were not a musician, I would be a personal trainer because I enjoy working out and would love to have more time to do it!

Percussionist Chris Thompson is a member of Alarm Will Sound, The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Line C3 Percussion Group and has performed as a guest with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and for On- and Off- Broadway theater, including the New York Productions of Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He has recorded for Nonesuch, Sony Classical, and various independent chamber music projects. Chris received his B.A. from UCLA in 2001 as a student of Mitchell Peters, and his M.M. from The Juilliard School in 2003 as a student of Daniel Druckman.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
Around age 13 I was intensely inspired to become a musician when I saw this and this. Shortly thereafter, I got my start here. It turned into a career my first day of remedial music theory at UCLA, my freshman year. Prof came in the room and said “you are all in this class because you don’t have what it takes to be professional musicians. I recommend you change your major now. For those of you who are stubborn, go home and draw 500 treble clefs.” I didn’t get paid for those treble clefs but that was definitely the day that turned it into a career!

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
For my most satisfying musical experience I still think back to the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, the summer before I moved to New York – playing timpani on the Rite of Spring with Charles Dutoit conducting. That orchestra blew the roof off! Later, the whole process of putting together Nico Muhly’s Elements of Style premier at the NY Public Library inspired me that concerts could actually be interesting and multifaceted events.

What gets you interested/inspired/excited about playing a new piece of music?
Show me a piece that has well crafted and implicitly playable individual parts, but with virtuosic ensemble demands, and I will be very excited!

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
Dance music with smooth open-filter synth sounds playing parallel major and minor triads. In real life, I listen to more of this than just about anything else. By like 175%. But nobody knows that.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
Like, there are a couple things? But I’m pretty free in general? Call me, lets do something! Yay!

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
I try not to think about it… person who receives benefits? I dunno…

More links and fun tidbits from Chris:
My website is www.thisischristhompson.com, I tweet @chrispthompson and post videos on the tube.

My group www.linec3.com, also has a channel on the tube, and the ultra-abstract @LineC3 twitter feed of funny and/or slightly naughty sounding Things Percussionists Play (submissions welcome!).

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Saxophonist Brian Sacawa has been called many things – most of them good – including “an inventive musician” (The New York Times), “inspired” (Washington Post), and “brilliant” (Baltimore Sun). He is the Co-Founder and Lead Curator of the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern music series, performs in the genre-bending duo Hybrid Groove Project with composer/turntablist Erik Spangler (aka DJ Dubble8), and is author of the blog Sounds Like Now. Brian lives in Baltimore, MD with his wife, music journalist Molly Sheridan.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?

I started playing the saxophone in fourth grade because one of my friends was taking private lessons and I thought he was really cool. As soon as I took up the instrument, I kind of always knew that that was what I wanted to do. It made that portion of high school, where everyone is figuring out what they want to do in college, a little anticlimactic because I always knew what I wanted to do.

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.

While I was at the University of Michigan, I got the opportunity to perform Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic – that’s the St. Petersburg in Russia – with Yuri Temirkanov conducting. The concert was at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I drove down from Ann Arbor and had a rehearsal with the orchestra the day of the performance. I was warned before the concert that the orchestra played at A=446 and the clarinetist I sat next motioned to me – he didn’t speak English – to push my mouthpiece in. I had already done so and practicing at that pitch actually made my ears hurt the day before. Anyhow, the rehearsal went fantastic, as did the concert. Temirkanov even gave me a solo bow. The most memorable part of the performance was when the principal flutist joined me in the solo. I have never felt a musical connection with another player like that before. And we’d only had one rehearsal. She came up to me after the performance and was extremely complimentary and gracious. I wish I could have continued the tour with them. I’ll never forget that performance.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?

This has changed over time. These days, I’m most interested in playing music by composers who have a unique and “honest” voice. Mostly, I like music that communicates to people and try to work with composers who share that feeling.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”

Ummm, I actually downloaded “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus. OMG, I totally can’t believe I admitted that. Smiley face.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?

Mobtown Modern continues to be my big project. The Contemporary Museum has been a great partner in this venture and has pretty much given me free reign to craft its musical voice. I’m really excited about what we’ve got lined up for the fourth season.

Also, I’ve begun working with the software Ableton Live and have a few Live-based projects lined up with a few people. That’s also very exciting.

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.

If I were not a musician, I would be a bicycle racer because, like music, there’s no finite endpoint – it’s all about the journey.

Maybe compounded by this joyful event?

Oh wait! I know what else it is! I CAN GET HITCHED NOW!!! Okay, almost. Still exciting!

Whatever the reason, it’s kinda nice to revel in one’s baking urges. As 2009 draws to a close, I have been enjoying the presence of many different types of family; the family into which I was born, an astoundingly cool family of friends, and a rapidly expanding “musical family”. It is amazing to be working with people who not only believe in, and bring their own voices to music that is happening right now, but who are also “in for the long haul”. A composer really can’t ask for better than that!

Happy Holidays everyone! Grab your hot chocolate, or your hot toddy, or whatever your pleasure, and enjoy. I can’t wait to share all the exciting things coming up in 2010 with you. Stay tuned for all sorts of exciting newness at the beginning of January!

Another composer participating in that show was Annie Gosfield, who, in addition to writing exciting and original works of music, also writes clear, insightful words about music. Her “Advice to Young Composers” is traveling like wildfire across the internet, and I’m sure it will be quoted extensively for a long time to come. She has also written an essay that describes my life with frightening accuracy, towards which I direct those who want to know (or, ahem, NEED to understand) what it’s like to be a composer.

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An addendum to that recent post about becoming more interested in video:

Cellist Joshua Roman has a fine new project with photographer Chase Jarvis, which you can watch here. Chase has also made a very fun iPhone app called Best Camera, which makes the iPhone camera way more entertaining!

Also – I help manage a website called livingroommusic.org, which was created to honor the memory of Randy Hostetler, a super-talented young composer who left us much too early. A few months ago a friend of Randy’s gave us some wonderful video of Randy performing his own composition “8″ for piano and eight ball.

Having never properly met Randy (although we did attend the same high school and graduate school, at different times), this video is a lovely window into his personality.

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Listening:

• Roger Kleier, The Night Has Many Hours (Innova)

Reading:

• Amy Bloom, Come to Me

The fierce and fabulous violinist Jennifer Choi has released a CD! Violectrica features music for violin and electronics, including my work electric blue pantsuit, along with compositions by Annie Gosfield, Susie Ibarra, Padma Newsome and Randall Woolf, as well as a set of improvisations by Jennifer herself with Ikue Mori. I am excited to be part of this engaging and unique recording!

Violectrica is available at CDBaby, so head on over and scoop up a copy!