Modern Notebook for May 5

Modern Notebook for May 5 - 11, 2024

Photo: violist Jordan Bak (photo credit: Titilayo Ayangade).

Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak has a new album out called “Cantabile: Anthems for Viola,” and it is a celebration of works both new and old. I’m Tyler Kline, and on the next Modern Notebook we’ll hear a world premiere recording of a wordless song that’s been composed for Bak.

Then: “'Plain, quotidian, and sometimes fragile,” is the way that composer Lisa Illean describes the sound world she is aiming to create with her piece “arcing, stilling, bending, gathering.” It’s music she says leans into a non-tempered tuning system to convey “moments of kinship and tenderness that balance the immensity of the world we inhabit'.

Listen for those pieces, plus music by Anthony R. Green, Carlos Carrillo, Ben Nobuto, Gabriela Ortiz, Jessica Meyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Hannah Selin, James Romig, Moth Quartet, and others; and performances by pianist Clare Longendyke, cellist Tommy Mesa with pianist Michelle Cann, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra with Creekside Singers, bass clarinetist Ford Fourqurean, pianist Aura Go with Australian National Academy of Music, and others.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Recent Shows

Modern Notebook for November 30 - December 6, 2025

By Tyler Kline • November 27, 2025

On the final episode of Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Hideaki Aomori’s Split stretches the bass clarinet to its limits, exploring the full breadth of its sound world. This hour also features Baljinder Sekhon’s Drifting Seeds for cello and harp, along with music by Anna Mieke, Vivian Fung, and more. Then: chamber music by Jessica Ackerley called Spark Surge — one of the highlights of the final hour. You’ll also hear Fumiko Miyachi’s piano duo Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange Charm , alongside music by Shirish Korde, Oliver Knussen, and others. Also in this episode: music by Tania León performed by pianist Isabel Dobarro; Claire Victoria Roberts performed by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain; Judd Greenstein performed by NOW Ensemble; Justin H. Bush performed by saxophonist Timothy McAllister and pianist Liz Ames; and flutist Tessa Brinckman performing music by Shirish Korde.