Summer festivals abound

‘Extra Eclectic’ continues our time at the 2026 BBC Proms Festival this week with Welsh composer Gwilym Simcock’s Triple Concerto for Saxophone, Horn and Cello performed by the soloists who premiered it: Jess Gillam, Ben Goldscheider and Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

A performance of Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto for Orchestra recorded at the 2026 BBC Proms offers a look at modern classical works inspired by jazz on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ which also showcases works by Jon Batiste, Earl Louis Stewart and Jeff Scott. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Brass instruments are the focus on episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ in solo, duo and ensemble settings. Selections include Valerie Coleman’s ‘Fanfare for Uncommon Times,’ Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Apparition du Christ Glorieux’ and more. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

The Earth is our one home, and on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ contemporary composers pay tribute in their music, including Erland Cooper, whose ‘Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence’ incorporates the Earth as a collaborator. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

On this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ we hear considering both fleeting moments and the vastness of eternity, including Chris Rogerson’s ‘Thirty Thousand Days’ and Steve Reich’s ‘Proverb.’ Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Host Steve Seel poses a lot of musical questions on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ and you’ll have to decide if you hear any answers. Charles Ives’ ‘The Unanswered Question’ is “answered” by Laurie Spiegel’s work ‘The Unquestioned Answer.’

While classical music can sometimes be about frivolous things, this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ is concerned strictly with ideas on a higher plane. Host Steve Seel brings us Olivia Belli’s ‘Limina Luminis,’ Arvo Pärt’s ‘Tabula Rasa’ and more. Listen now!

On the latest episode of Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel showcases the music of giants such as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and Steve Reich: composers who introduced fresh thinking into the genre and opened the concert hall to new audiences. Listen now!

We continue our month-long celebration of American music on this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic’ by looking at how contemporary composers reference American folk idioms in their works, including bluegrass, hymns and lullabies. Selections include music by Daron Hagen, Jennifer Higdon and more. Listen now with host Steve Seel!

Steve Seel presents another week of purely American sounds on the latest episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ and this time, it’s works written by musicians associated primarily with jazz. We hear works by Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny and more.