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

What Music Can Be

August 04, 2020 • John T.K. Scherch and Michele Mengel Scherch • Season 2 • Episode 2

1. Mark-Anthony Turnage's Blood On The Floor
https://open.spotify.com/album/4xHOUUef30vZftklRI0JRO

2. Nina C. Young's Rising Tide
https://youtu.be/K42sIHsHW6o

3. Karlheinz Stockhausen's Klang 13. Stunde: Cosmic Pulses
https://youtu.be/8HaqC_DuLRI

Panelists:

Sonya Alexandra Knussen runs Go Compose! – North America, providing online workshops encouraging kids ages 11-18 to start or continue composing during the 2020 global pandemic. Additionally, she teaches in Maryland and on online platforms. As a singer, Sonya has been praised by The New York Times for her “gracefully shaped vocal lines” and The Washington Post for her “confident and penetrating account of line.” She has premiered many works at festivals in the U.S. and U.K and, as a featured soloist, she has worked with ensembles including the Washington Bach Consort, Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival, Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Baltimore Symphony. She is a seasoned ensemble singer and founder of hexaCollective, an ad hoc vocal ensemble based in Maryland. Media experience includes blind direction of cameras throughout live performances at Elliott Carter’s Centenary Celebrations at Tanglewood, producer for recordings of Carter’s Boston and Cello Concertos, music assistant on recordings of works by August Read Thomas, Oliver Knussen and Hans Werner Henze, score-reader for LWT/Channel 4’s series on 20th-century orchestral music with Simon Rattle entitled Leaving Home and researcher for Sounds from the Big White House for BBC 4.

Elizabeth Milligan is a musician and arts administrator in the Baltimore/D.C. metro area. A versatile flutist and piccolo player, they enjoy a wide variety of traditional and contemporary collaborations, from Stravinsky dance raves to J.S. Bach marathons. Their research has explored and documented the progression of flute techniques and performance standards from late 19th century to present day. They currently serve as the Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator for the University of Maryland School of Music. A graduate of The Peabody Institute and UMBC, they have earned a Bachelor of Arts, a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Contemporary American Music, and a Master of Music. Their primary teachers have included Laurie Sokoloff, Lisa Cella, Lori Kesner, and Gina Eichman.

Rudolf Kämper has performed as a trumpet player with symphonies in Mexico, Omaha, Baltimore, as well as in Germany. He studied trumpet with Jim Darling, Ed Hoffman, Mauro Maur, and Jack Sutte. As a composer, Kämper’s works have been performed both in the U.S. and in Germany. He studied composition with Loris Chobanian and attended workshops by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Lucas Foss, and John Corigliano. He has also been a director for complete performances of Stockhausen’s works, including Klang at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in Montreal at the SAT. Kämper is the founding director of ANALOG arts ensemble, a musicians’ and artists’ collective dedicated to a fresh perspective of the arts. Dolf Kämper also runs North Coast Imports, Sternreiter, and Suburban Clock, a family of companies devoted to the design and restoration of complicated timepieces and mechanical musical curiosities.

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