Extra Eclectic for February 24, 2021

As composer Jessie Montgomery spent time thinking about "The Star Spangled Banner," she wondered, "What does an anthem for the 21st century sound like in today's multi-cultural environment?" Her work "Banner" was part of her answer. It's just one of the works on this week's program, which continues our celebration of Black History Month with works also by Adolphus Hailstork and George Walker.

Steve Seel possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at public radio stations around the country. Steve came to Minnesota Public Radio in 1999 to be a part of its nationally-syndicated classical music programming. In 2005, he became one of the founding voices on MPR's eclectic station The Current, and has hosted various time slots from mornings to late nights, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. 
 
Steve is an avid reader of political and social commentary as well, and he emcees The Current's popular Policy and a Pint community series, featuring discussions with noted scholars, politicians, community leaders, authors and big thinkers on important issues of the day. Steve is also a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.


MPR Photo

Steve Seel

As composer Jessie Montgomery spent time thinking about 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' she wondered, 'What does an anthem for the 21st century sound like in today's multicultural environment?' Find out about the resulting work on Extra Eclectic, with Steve Seel.


Exploring anthems with Jessie Montgomery