Pause and Listen

Pause and Listen explores the spectrum of new classical music through the lens of musicians, composers, and art appreciators. Each episode, three panelists join in conversation with John T.K. Scherch, bringing in three pieces of new notated music available on the internet that they feel others should hear. Listeners are encouraged to engage with the music as they see fit, be it listening to the pieces uninterrupted before playing the episode or pausing and listening to the pieces on streaming platforms along with the panelists.

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Pause and Listen

STEM

February 25, 2020 • John T.K. Scherch and Michele Mengel Scherch • Season 1 • Episode 7

1. Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s In the Light of Air:
https://open.spotify.com/user/yd3pvj6u9lur21sni8znarqmh/playlist/22MsIEjWfcXFJQrrESB745?si=eLm5qw_YRF6qbU_haMHawg

2. Gregory W. Brown’s Missa Charles Darwin:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7fSXwqsyBjRmreve9R6dwr?si=u7xKb6KxQJaeJa2wfS4Bwg

3. Enno Poppe’s Keilschrift:
https://open.spotify.com/track/7va4X4tNwmThivQeBCHKg4?si=1HY70FFgQum9oyUQzypcCg

You can listen to these before or after the episode, or you can pause our podcast and go listen to each piece as we introduce them.

Panelists:

Richard Drehoff Jr. is a composer and pianist interested in creating works that explore a level of intimacy between performers and audiences. His music strives to manipulate our perceptions of time to develop a unique psychological affect for each piece, often juxtaposing the most fragile of sounds with obtrusive and harsh sonorities. Richard is the Co-Director of earspace, a North Carolina-based ensemble dedicated to the cultivation of invigorating and immersive performances of contemporary compositions, often featuring collaborations with video and mixed media artists. His works have been performed by earspace, the Mivos Quartet, the ECCE Ensemble, among others. He brought Enno Poppe’s Keilschrift.

Dorothy Couper, viola, was graduated from New England Conservatory and Tufts University with a dual degree in Viola Performance and English Literature and from Peabody Conservatory with a Graduate Performance Diploma in Viola Performance. As a freelance orchestral musician, Ms. Couper plays with the Amadeus Orchestra, the Apollo Orchestra, the Delaware Symphony, the Maryland Symphony, and the National Philharmonic, among others. Dorothy is also an active member of the D.C. Musicians’ Union. As a chamber musician, Dorothy is a founding member of the Laurel Quartet, and was also a founding member of the Syrinx Ensemble while studying in Boston. She has also been a regular collaborator with Classical Revolution Baltimore and has been a guest artist with the Evolution Concert Series, the Edwin Trio, the HexaCollective, and the Iris Quartet. She brought in Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s In the Light of Air.

Henry S. Gibbons, microbiologist by day and baritone by night, currently serves as the Bass section leader of the Handel Choir of Baltimore. Previously, while in North Carolina, he created the role of Malvolio in the world premiere of Joel Feigin’s Twelfth Night with Long Leaf Opera. Other operatic roles included Antonio in Hoiby’s The Tempest, and Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Bogdanowitsch in The Merry Widow with the Opera Company of North Carolina. He also performs oratorio and soloist roles, including Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem and numerous Bach cantatas, among others. He currently serves as a Research Microbiologist and principal investigator at the US Army’s Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. He brought in Gregory W. Brown’s Missa Charles Darwin.

More information at pauseandlisten.com. Pause and Listen was created by host John T.K. Scherch and co-creator/marketing manager Michele Mengel Scherch.