Cassandra Miller

05/09/23 • 29 min

Cassandra Miller is one of the busiest composers working today, and her approach to creativity is highly individual. Her work is often meditative, mesmeric even, and as she describes in this podcast, her intention is to create a "slow, entrancing world". She often bases her work on musical source – a recording, or a particular score – that has caught her attention and these influences range in style and form: from operatic singing, to Georgian folksongs, to Kurt Cobain. In this podcast, we explore this approach – known as "transcription" – as well as her fascinating career, and her many collaborations with extraordinary performing artists. We’re very grateful to the Bozzini Quartet, Juliet Fraser, Another Timbre label and Faber Music for allowing us permission to use the musical excerpts here.

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Anna Thorvaldsdottir

Anna Thorvaldsdottir is one of the most extraordinary composers working today. She was born near Reykjavik in Iceland, and her orchestral pieces often evoke and explore the massive and dramatic landscapes of her home country. In this conversation, Anna talks about her love of orchestral sound – her ‘sonic landscapes’ – and her fruitful collaborations with contemporary ensembles. During the podcast we hear clips from her brilliant orchestral work Catamorphosis (Iceland Symphony, conducted by Daniel Bjarnason, forthcoming on Sono Luminus) and a chamber piece, originally performed with a light installation, In the Light of Air (International Contemporary Ensemble, Sono Luminus). With grateful thanks to Wise Classical and Sono Luminus for their permission to use these extracts. You can hear and see a movement from In the Light of Air with light installation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pid-bOD1ux0

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A Musical Gathering

Over the next few weeks we are counting down to the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival with the help of some of its star performers, artists, composers and conductors. What are they looking forward to, how are they preparing, and what does the Aldeburgh Festival mean to them? Presented by BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney Edited by Matt Jolly Original theme music by Aldeburgh Young Musician, Laila Arafah