Extra Eclectic

Composer Scott Johnson a composer and guitarist died this past Friday at 70. In Johnson's honor, Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel features his poignant work ‘Soliloquy’ performed by the Kronos Quartet on this week's show. 

What kinds of different sounds can be coaxed from a piano? Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel answers this question in the first hour of the show with the help of some 20th and 21st century composers such as Stephen Scott and Sophia Subbayya Vastek. In the show's second hour, Steve unapologetically shares an hour of "lovely" modern classical music, from the likes of George Pelecis, Hugi Gudmundsson, and Reena Esmail.    

A new CD of the complete string quartets of Steve Reich inspires Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel to bring us a full hour of the great 20th-century minimalist composers. As part of the program, Seel shares clips from his interview with Steve Reich about the new recording. In the second hour, it's the opposite of minimalism, as we hear modern composers embracing romanticism.  

Composer Steve Reich's contributions to contemporary classical music are incalculable, yet he says he never would have written one of the core forms of classical music — a string quartet — if he hadn't been asked to by the esteemed Kronos Quartet. In the wake of a recent recording of Reich’s complete string quartets, Extra Eclectic host Steve Seel speaks with the composer about his unlikely history with the form and his unusual approach to it.

For centuries, classical music was an "old boys club." Fortunately, a lot has changed, and while there's still much work to be done, women have made great inroads into the world of composing. On this edition of Extra Eclectic, we cap off our celebration of International Women's Day with two hours of some of the bigger female names in modern classical music.

It's said that Franz Schubert suffered from a mood disorder called cyclothymia, causing rapid mood swings from one extreme to the other. Contemporary composer Anna Clyne says she wrote her work, ‘Night Ferry,’ with Schubert in mind. Listen to music by Clyne, Gabriela Ortiz, Avner Dorman, Timo Andres and more on this week’s episode of Extra Eclectic with host Steve Seel.

Our celebration of Black History Month continues on this week’s episode of Extra Eclectic, hosted by Steve Seel, with a collection of Black composers paying tribute to musicians and performers who have inspired them.

This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel continues his celebration of Black History Month. We will hear works from composer Billy Childs, saxophonist/composer Steven Banks, band leader Ed Bland, vocalist and flutist Nathalie Joachim and more.  

Many composers of our time have answered the tragedies and atrocities brought upon African Americans throughout history with compositions that serve as musical responses. This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel features some of them.  

This week’s Extra Eclectic falls on the first day of Black History Month. Host Steve Seel features a survey of contemporary Black composers whose music speaks to the Black American experience in many ways — from George Walker to Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Baily Holland to Quinn Mason, and many more.