Classical Gas

Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate talks about his unofficial role as an unofficial ambassador Indian country to the fine arts world, a new work recorded by the Dover Quartet and encouraging the next generation, including his young son, to be involved in music.
I first heard Tate’s music in 2005, when I wrote about the National Symphony’s premiere of his work “Iholba” for The Washington Post.
That composition for chamber orchestra and chorus took my breath away, and in the review, I praised Tate’s “ability to effectively infuse classical music with Native American nationalism.”

Soprano Lucy Shelton on Pierrot Lunaire

The legendary soprano Lucy Shelton gives us an inside look at Arnold Schoenberg's groundbreaking composition "Pierrot Lunaire."

Charles Ives @ 150: Talking with Donald Berman, President of Ives Society

Welcome to Classical Gas, a new podcast by radio host and producer Gail Wein. Episode 1 is an interview with Donald Berman about Charles Ives (1874-1954). Berman is a pianist and president of the Charles Ives Society.
“Ives was interested in rubbing consonant music with dissonant music, so there was a feeling of jostling,” said Berman. “He felt that his music should not come easily.”