Extra Eclectic

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.

This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel introduces the multitalented Bryce Dessner, who is the lead guitarist in the critically acclaimed band the National and a composer. Listen with Seel as he plays Dessner's ‘Concerto for Two Pianos,’ written for the sister duo of Katia and Marielle Labeque.

Classical music truly has become a global village in the 20th and 21st centuries. This week on Extra Eclectic, host Steve Seel transports us to Asia in the first hour of the program. In the second hour, it's a tapestry of musical dreams, from John Cage, Ellen Reid, "Blue" Gene Tyranny and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.  

Steve Seel offers solidarity with the women composers of the 21st century on this edition of Extra Eclectic, including works by Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Jennifer Higdon, Missy Mazzoli and more. Listen now!