Clexical

Ep. 28: Interview with William Cooper

William Cooper has had a very diverse career as not just a composer, but as a pianist and conductor as well. His music has been acclaimed by Augustin Hadelich, the Julliard Orchestra, Trio 180, the JACK Quartet, and the Lysander Trio, and has been performed at the Radio France Festival and the Wellesley Composer Conference. 
 
Along with holding positions on the faculty at Purdue University, Vincennes University and Interlochen Arts Camps since summer of 2010, he founded the choral department at Ben Davis University.
 
Cooper received ASCAP awards in 2004 and 2007, and the 2012 Leo Kaplan Award, the highest prize awarded in the ASCAP Morton Gould awards. As a passionate devotee of early music, he was the recipient of the 2012 David S. Saxon award from the UC Davis music department for excellence in performance of early music. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D in music composition at UC Davis, studying composition with Pablo Ortiz, and conducting research on English Renaissance music with Jessie Ann Owens.

Ep. 27: Interview with Amy Williams

Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, [Kweku Adusei-Poku]. Here you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journey as musicians and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music. To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we’ve done so far, the outreach programs we’ve done with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Laurentia Woo.
 
Amy Williams' music has been defined as “simultaneously demanding, rewarding, and fascinating,” “fresh, daring, and incisive,” and “curious and playful”
 
Born in Buffalo New York in 1969, Williams went to Bennington College where she decided to devote her life to performing and composing contemporary works. After a fellowship in Denmark, she returned to Buffalo to complete her Master’s degree in piano performance at the University at Buffalo with pianist and composer Yvar Mikhashoff, and her Ph.D. in composition, working with David Felder, Charles Wuorinen, and Nils Vigeland. She began teaching at her alma mater, Bennington College, in 1998 as a member of the music faculty and then moved to another faculty position at Northwestern University in 2000. Since 2005, Williams has been teaching composition at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is a  full professor.
 
Amy Williams’ compositions have been presented at renowned contemporary music venues throughout the U.S., Asia, Australia, and Europe. These include the Lucerne Festival, Lincoln Center, Whitney Museum of American Art, Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Gaudeamus Festival, Dresden Contemporary Music Days, Ars Musica, Aspekte Festival, Festival Musica Nova, and the Thailand International Composition Festival. Her works have also been performed by acclaimed ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Orpheus, JACK Quartet,, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Surplus, Dal Niente, and many others.

Ep. 26: Interview with Diana M. Rodriguez

Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, [Kweku Adusei-Poku]. Here you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journey as musicians and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music. To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we’ve done so far, the outreach programs we’ve done with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Edward Lee. 
 
Diana M. Rodriguez is a composer, artist, and educator based in New York City. Her music is most known as a blend between Colombian folk traditions such as Joropo and Cumbia, Rock en Espanol, and Ambient soundscapes. She crafts immersive electroacoustic compositions that explore themes of identity, belonging, and the landscape of internet culture.
 
DM R was born and raised in Bogota Colombia and attended a community college in Miami at the age of 17 which led her to pursue a PhD at Columbia University in NYC.
 
Her work experiments in electronic music and noise, pushing the boundaries of sound art in both solo projects and collaborations. Her music has been acknowledged in multiple major ensembles and festivals, including the International Contemporary Ensemble and the MATA Festival. She has had works commissioned by Fromm Music Foundation and National Sawdusts’ Hildegard Commission Initiative.

Ep. 25: Interview with Jeeyoung Kim

Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, [Kweku Adusei-Poku]. Here you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journey as musicians and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music. To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we’ve done so far, the outreach programs we’ve done with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Edward Lee.
 
Jeeyoung Kim is an acclaimed Korean-born composer. She defines her work as a harmonization of the unique cultural aspects of Eastern and Western traditions; Deconstructing and rebuilding cultural heritage through music. She is committed to the power music has to heal, connect, and be a medium for creative expression.
 
With an extensive educational background, Kim studied music composition at Yonsei University in Seoul South Korea for her bachelor’s, Indiana University for her Masters in music, and she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Yale University. Kim received the Bunting Fellowship at Harvard University where she composed and researched Asian music and philosophy.
 
In addition to her astounding level of education, Kim has received a multitude of awards and fellowships including recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, International Alliance for Women in Music, National Association of Composers, Meet the Composer, the Dale Warland Singers New Music Competition, Jerome Foundation, Aspen Music Festival, and many others.
 
Her compositions have been performed by renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the Korean Broadcasting System Orchestra, Chanticleer, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, KBS Korean Traditional Music Orchestra, Contemporary Gugak Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic, and Empire State Youth Orchestra.

Ep. 24: Interview with Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson is an incredibly prolific composer, having over a hundred works for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles. His compositions have been performed by a number of celebrated groups and artists including Dawn Upshaw, the Chicago Quartet, the San Francisco Symphony, and the London Philharmonic. Wilson has received many accolades for his works including an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Creative Arts Award in Music from the City of Cleveland, the Stoeger Award from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Also a renowned pedagogue, Wilson taught at Vassar College for fifty years, where he served as the Mary Conover Mellon Professor of Music.
 
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he started out learning piano and cello, with his teachers being Leonard Shure and Ernst Silberstein respectively. In his early musical studies, he studied at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. In 1963, Wilson graduated from Harvard University where he was a recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe Award. He has been a composer-in-residence with the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992.

Ep. 23: Interview with Chris Arrell

Chris Arrell is a celebrated composer and teacher. His incredible works have led to commissions from many prestigious organizations including Spivey Hall, Cornell University, and the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University. He has received worldwide recognition for his works including Bent Frequency Underscore Prize, the Ettelson Composer Award, the Ossia Music Prize, and awards from the League of Composers/ISCM, the Salvatore Martirano Competition, the MacDowell and ACA colonies, and the Fulbright Hays Foundation. Additionally, he has had many incredible ensembles perform his works including Bent Frequency, Brave New Works, and the Boston New Music Initiative.
 
Originally from Oregon, Arrell received his doctorate in musical arts from Cornell University before going on to work as Director of Theory and Composition at Clayton State University. Currently, he teaches at the College of the Holy Cross, where he leads courses in music theory and computer music. With a distinct sound that has been praised for its “unconventional beauty,” Arrell’s works continue to amaze audiences around the globe.

Ep. 22: Interview with Jeff Scott

Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, [Kweku Adusei-Poku]. Here you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journey as musicians and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music. To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we’ve done so far, the outreach programs we’ve done with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Laurentia Woo.
 
Jeff Scott is a Grammy Award winning composer and educator. He defines his work as an intersection between European classical tradition and African American cultural expression, what he calls Urban Classical Music. Rather than a hybrid or compromise, his music is a reclamation that draws from the harmonic rigor of Western art music and the rhythmic vitality, emotional depth, and communal spirit of Black American life. It’s shaped by his urban upbringing and the stories that surround him.
 
Born in Queens, NY, Scott began playing the french horn at age 14, when he received a scholarship to attend the Brooklyn College Preparatory Division. His further education includes a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with David Jolley, and a master’s from SUNY at Stony Brook where he studied with Willian Purvis. He later continued his horn studies with Scott Brubaker and the late Jerome Ashby. 
 
For more than 20 years following, Scott served as the French hornist of the Imani Winds. This position allowed him to perform at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center, and countless other prominent stages. His most recent commissions and performances include collaborations with the Detroit Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Detroit, and other notable ensembles and soloists across the country.
 
As an educator, Scott believes in inviting his students and performers to hear themselves in the classical music canon. His goal is to allow them to see their stories, their neighborhoods, and their ancestry reflected in concert halls. He wants his audience to feel the urgency and beauty of music from the lived experience. 

Ep. 21: Interview with Daniel Asia

Daniel Asia is a prolific composer and educator. His works for orchestra have been commissioned and performed by numerous major orchestras across the U.S. and the world. His work has earned him numerous prestigious awards and fellowships including a Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland Fund for Music Grant, and numerous prizes in composition from ASCAP and BMI. His achievements also allowed him to be inducted into the American Academy of Sciences and Letters in 2024. He worked as an Assistant Professor of Contemporary Music and Wind Ensemble at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1981-1986, and from 1998-2024, served as a professor of music at the University of Arizona. Mr. Asia is also a respected author, with his book, Observations on Music, Culture and Politics, being published in 2021. He is currently the president of Polyhymnia, a platform dedicated to discussions about fine arts, economics, politics, philosophy, and culture. 
Originally from Seattle, Washington, Mr. Asia graduated with a Masters in Music from the Yale School of Music, with his major composition teachers including Jacob Druckman, Stephen Albert, Gunther Schuller, and Isang Yun. He has a large portfolio of published works for a wide range of instruments including 6 symphonies for orchestra. 

Ep. 20: Interview with Chaya Czernowin

Chaya Czernowin (χaja t͡ʃɛʁˈnobin) is an acclaimed composer and educator. Her work is characterized by attempts to find alternative temporalities, changing perspectives and scale, and fragmentation, all coupled with a high emotional intensity. She makes direct reference to the use of metaphors as a means of reaching an unfamiliar sound space and the use of noise and physical parameters such as weight and textural surface, and an inquiry of the handling of time. These ways of thinking fuse her work with multi-sensory content and work to reach a sonic expression into the subconscious that goes beyond style, conventions, and rationality.
 
Although born and raised in Israel, Czernowin continued her studies in Germany through the DAAD grant, the US, Tokyo, through the Asahi Shimbun Fellowship and American NEA grant, and finally back in Germany through a fellowship at the Akademie Scholl Solitude. 
 
Czernowin considers teaching to be an important aspect of her continued compositional development. She held professorship at UCSD and was the first woman to be appointed as a composition professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna from 2006-2009, and at Harvard University where she has been the Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music. Along with Steven Kazuo Takasugi and Jean-Baptiste Jolly, she has founded the summer Academy at Schloss Solitude, a bi-annual course for composers.
 
Czernowin’s works have been performed in most of the significant new music festivals in Europe and also in Japan, Korea, Australia, US, and Canada. Her works have been commissioned by Vlaamse Opera Belgium, IRCAM Paris, Mannheim Stadtheater, and the Deutsche Opere Berlin.
 
Her opera Infinite Now, commissioned in 2017, combines materials of the first world war with the short story “Homecoming" by Can Xue. This opera was chosen as the premier of the year in the international critics survey of Opernwelt.

Ep. 19: Interview with Sam Nichols

Dr. Sam Nichols is a renowned composer, musician, and educator. He has written works for a variety of ensembles and organizations including the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Earplay, the Empyrean Ensemble, and the Composers Conference at Wellesley College. Dr. Nichols has also won numerous awards for his compositions including the 2011 Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award for his string quartet, Refuge, as well as 3rd prize in the 2010 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition.
 
Born in rural Maine, Dr. Nichols studied at Vassar College and Brandeis University, where he received his PhD in 2006. He has studied with many renowned teachers including Ross Bauer, Eric Chasalow, Annea Lockwood, David Rakowski, Richard Wilson, and Yehudi Wyner, Marty Boykan, and Terry Champlin. Since 2002, Dr. Nichols has taught at the University of California Davis, where he currently serves as the chair of the music department. He works as a professor of teaching, and also teaches music theory, electronic music, and composition.