Radio
Emma Rush
In Tune Interview is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune — in which host Nick Hurt interviews musicians and speaks with them about their recordings and projects.
In this Zoom-interview, Hurt speaks with the guitarist Emma Rush about her new album, Wake the Sigh.
Rush and Hurt speak about several fascinating women who were playing and composing for the classical guitar in the 19th century, whose music has, unfortunately, rarely been heard since their lifetimes.
This interview features the music of Emilia Giuliani-Guglielmi, Catharina Pratten, Julia Piston, and Delores de Goñi.
This segment originally aired on Monday April 26 2021.
Sarah Pizzichemi
In Tune Interview is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune — in which host Nick Hurt interviews and records live performances by classical musicians and educators.
In this Zoom-interview, Nick speaks with the violinist Dr. Sarah Pizzichemi.
Pizzichemi and Hurt talk about the history of the string quartet, uplifting the music of composers from marginalized communities, and how Pizzichemi engages with audiences using Star Wars themes.
Over the course of the interview, Pizzichemi and her quartet, the Skyros Quartet, play works by Grazyna Bacewicz, Jean Sibelius and Joaquín Turina.
This segment, featuring violinist Sarah Pizzichemi, originally aired Monday March 22 2021.
Joshua Romatowski
In Tune Interview is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune — in which host Nick Hurt interviews and records live performances by classical musicians and educators.
This interview, recorded in early February, was held over Zoom and it features recordings of the Baroque Flute and other period instruments.
Josh and Nick talk about historically informed performance practice, period instruments, and how Josh drew inspiration from the hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar to program his solo recording of Baroque Flute.
Josh plays works by Johann Joachim Quantz, Franz Danzi, and Georg Philipp Telemann.
This segment, featuring flautist Joshua Romatowski, Originally aired Monday March 1st, 2021.
Tom Clippinger
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune — in which host Nick Hurt interviews and records live performances by students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
This interview, recorded in early January, was held over Zoom and the music was taken from live recitals and the musician’s own recordings.
Tom and Nick talk about playing modern music, building musical community during a pandemic, and Tom’s original musical inspiration, the rock band Aerosmith.
Tom plays works by Toru Takemitsu, Salvador Brotons, and Jose Maria Sanchez-Verdu.
This segment, featuring guitarist Tom Clippinger, Originally aired Monday February 1st, 2021.
Henry Johnston
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune — in which host Nick Hurt interviews and records live performances by fellow students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
This segment, featuring guitarist Henry Johnston, originally aired on Monday September 30th.
Hurt speaks with him about growing up as the son of a guitar teacher, and his time studying in Paris with Judicaël Perroy. They also discuss the guitar’s role in the diverse ecosystem of music at large.
Henry performs pieces by de Falla, Milhaud, Debussy, and Ponce. Of the Debussy, he says, “I find a real sense of humor in the piece. I think that we should be aloud to laugh when we listen to a piece of music. I try to convey that when I play that piece.”
Heyue Zhang
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune, featuring live performances with students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
In this segment — which originally aired on Monday, October 14th — host Nick Hurt speaks with Heyue Zhang, a pianist from Nanjing, China currently studying with Gregory Allen in Austin.
Zhang talks about her recent performance at Carnegie Hall, her thoughts on classical music’s place in today’s musical ecosystem, and her pedagogical lineage — Zhang’s teacher’s teacher’s teacher (and so on) was Ludwig van Beethoven.
Zhang performs works by Wang Jianzhong, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Robert Schumann.
“I feel classics will never fade away, because they have the wisdom of the human being,” Zhang says. “Classical music’s role is an understanding of the history to create the future. I don’t feel that it’s disconnected.”
Page Stephens
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune, featuring live performances with students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
In this segment — which originally aired on Monday, February 24th — host Nick Hurt speaks with mezzo-soprano Page Stephens. Hurt and Stephens talk about new music, dance and using the body and movement to inform interpretive musical decisions.
For this show, Stephens performs works of Jules Massenet and Mark Kilstofte. The recording of the Massenet was made at the Butler School of Music on UT campus.
Talking about new music and working with a living composer, Stephens says, “new music is important because classical music will not live on anywhere if we don’t keep making it. We like, as a society, to replay the 19th century and backwards and awful lot – and its not that that music isn’t fantastic. However – part of what is enjoyable to me about new music is it makes me feel freed up… I can sing it however I want, and I have the brain of the creator in the room with me to help sort it out.”
Thalea Quartet
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune, featuring live performances with students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
In this segment — which originally aired on Monday, April 6th — host Nick Hurt speaks with the Thalea String Quartet. Hurt and members Christopher Whitley, Kumiko Sakamoto, Luis Bellorín, and Titilayo Ayangade discuss teaching young ensembles to listen, the importance of diversity in programming, and how they strive to be a “string quartet for the future.”
For this show, the quartet plays the works of Aaron Copland and Florence Price. They were recorded live at the Butler School of Music.
Speaking on audience engagement Sakamoto says, “we like to do what we can to break down the barrier between the audience and the performer. We used to play lots of house concerts, and that informed how we perform now. So now, even if we are playing in a really large hall and we are really far away from the audience, we do our best to get as close to them as possible, not just physically, but with our music and emotionally express how we are feeling about something musically.”
Dragos Ilie
Texans In Tune is a segment of Marfa Public Radio’s Monday classical music program In Tune, featuring live performances with students at the University of Texas Butler School of Music.
In this segment, host Nick Hurt speaks with Romanian guitarist Dragos Ilie.
Hurt and Ilie talk about teachers as apostles of the classical guitar and how an injury can become a means to deepen one’s understanding and appreciation of music.
For this show, Ilie plays works of Claude Debussy, Wenzel Thomas Matiegka, and Nuccio D’angelo. The conversation and performances were recorded live at Bates Recital Hall on the University of Texas Austin campus.
While healing from an injury, Ilie could only practice guitar for few minutes a day. Regardless, he continued to compete in and win international competitions.
“I could really just let go and focus on the playing because that’s all I had,” says Ilie of that time. “Those 15 or 20 minutes of performing on stage were the minutes I really had to make music and nothing else really mattered – so it was liberating in a way.”