Modern Notebook for March 7, 2021

Photo: Composer Nicole Lizée (Photo credit: Murray Lightburn)

On this week’s Modern Notebook, Tyler Kline shares music for piano trio by Yukiko Watanabe and a solo piano piece by Reena Esmail.


Plus, an orchestral work with electronics by Nicole Lizée that is embedded with audio from news clips: it’s titled Bondarsphere, and it traces the extraordinary life of Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first neurologist in space and Canada’s first female astronaut.


Featuring works by Paola Prestini, Hannah Boissonneault, Kaija Saariaho, Jessie Montgomery, Unsuk Chin, Anna Clyne, and Laura Elise Schwendinger; and performances by cellist Caitlin Sullivan, Unheard-of//Ensemble, Longleash, Catalyst Quartet, pianist Liza Stepanova, and more.



That’s Sunday night from 8 to 10 EST on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9. Streaming at wsmr.org.


Hour 1

  • Ophelia by Paola Prestini.
  • Hannah Boissonneault’s As I Sit in Stillness.
  • ver_flies_sen by Yukiko Watanabe.
  • Reena Esmail’s Rang de Basant.
  • Bondarsphere by Nicole Lizée.

Hour 2

  • Asteroid 4179: Toutatis by Kaija Saariaho.
  • Jessie Montgomery’s Source Code.
  • The Violin Concerto by Unsuk Chin.
  • On Track by Anna Clyne.
  • Laura Elise Schwendinger’s Waking Dream: As if in a dream.

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