Steve Seel possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at public radio stations around the country. Steve came to Minnesota Public Radio in 1999 to be a part of its nationally-syndicated classical music programming. In 2005, he became one of the founding voices on MPR's eclectic station The Current, and has hosted various time slots from mornings to late nights, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. Steve is an avid reader of political and social commentary as well, and he emcees The Current's popular Policy and a Pint community series, featuring discussions with noted scholars, politicians, community leaders, authors and big thinkers on important issues of the day. Steve is also a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.
This week on Extra Eclectic, Steve Seel explores themes of space, galaxies, and communication with extra-terrestrial beings -- in such works as Urmas Sisak's "The Milky Way" and Nimrod Borenstein's "The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe." Also, a salute to the classical endeavors of Jon Lord, known best to many as the man who spent years behind the Hammond organ in the rock group Deep Purple.
In 1968, Arvo Part essentially went dark. He stopped composing for several years as he entered a period of, as he called it, "artistic reorientation." When he re-emerged, he had a completely new style. One of the major works he created during this time was one that had a particularly appropriate title for him -- Tabula Rasa, or "blank slate." Steve Seel shares it on this week's program, in addition to some other works from the Baltic region, including Estonia's Erkki-Sven Tuur and Latvia's Peteris Vasks.
This week on the first night of the new year, Steve has meditations on the meaning -- and endless cycle -- of life, in two works drawing from the book of Ecclesiastes from composers David Lang and Norman Dello Joio. Also, a rock pioneer sees his music adapted for the concert hall by composer Timo Andres in his "Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno." That plus music of Philip Glass, Nico Muhly and more.
This week's edition of Extra Eclectic falls on Christmas night, and Steve Seel has an all Christmas-themed two hours of 20th and 21st century music in store for us -- in a program that promises plenty of musical discovery while keeping with the perfect atmosphere you're looking for to wind down the holiday. Tune in for selections on yuletide themes by Alan Hovhaness, Ola Gjelo, Chilly Gonzalez, Stephen Paulus, Eric Whitacre, and much much more.
As we approach the winter solstice this week, Steve Seel has music in a chilly mood this time ... or is it a warm one? Bundle up and enjoy 20th and 21st century classical music on wintry themes from Johann Johannssen, Alan Hovhanness and Ola Gjelo, as well as cellist Maya Beiser's ethereal rendering of the largo from Vivaldi's Winter concerto and Minnesota violinist Gaelynn Lea's duet with her looping pedal in a beautiful rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel."
Sometimes, things that are out-of-focus can be that much more dramatic. This week, Steve brings us works with titles that eschew sharp edges, including "Soft Focus" by Patrick Zimmerli, "Blurred" by Bill Ryan, and "Chiaroscuro" by Giya Kancheli. The second hour of the program showcases a new work by Nico Muhly written for Thomas Gould and his six-string electric violin.
With this edition of Extra Eclectic coming the night before Thanksgiving, Steve Seel has a late-night winter tapestry with an American slant to go with the evening vibes. A "Plea for Peace" by Augusta Read Thomas, John Adams' "Shaker Loops," and a work by Peter Garland that references chimney-smoke and kitchen warmth all inform the atmosphere of the program.
Modern music for strings is the first order of business on this week's program: Steve Seel brings us an hour of 20th and 21st century works for string ensembles big and small -- from Steve Reich's "Duet" for two violins to Michael Tippett's "Concerto for Double String Orchestra," a piece from the 1930s which sounds like it could have been written yesterday. For the second hour, Steve plays a selection of works loosely inspired by the shorter days and cooler temperatures this time of year.
There's a spiritual dimension to the works Steve Seel has for us on this edition of Extra Eclectic. Arvo Part's "Fur Alina," Jennifer Higdon's "Blue Cathedral," and John Luther Adams' "Canticles of the Holy Wind" are among the compositions that create an atmosphere of reverence among the contemporary sounds on the first hour of the program. In the second hour, Steve features David Kirkland Garner's "Dark Holler," a work exploring the sounds and atmospheres of the rural American south.
You'll hear traces of jazz and blues in works that Steve Seel has in store in the first hour, from composers including Derek Bermel, William Bolcom, Paul Bowles, and Valerie Coleman in her amazing tour-de-force "Shotgun Houses." In the second hour, Steve features different uses of the electric guitar -- in contemporary works from the likes of Steve Reich, Bryce Dessner, and Jascha Narveson.
Danny Elfman has written over 100 film and TV scores, from Tim Burton's Batman to the theme from The Simpsons. He says that from time to time, however, he finds that he has to write orchestral music totally free from the influence of film, in order to "keep my sanity" -- a process he says he finds "incredibly liberating and relieving." His latest is his Violin Concerto, "Eleven Eleven," and it's featured on this week's show. Ward Jacobsen guest hosts.
Some of the warmest, most compelling new classical music today is being written for the cello - and, played by cellists with a solid pedigree in new music. This week Steve features two hours of nearly wall-to-wall cellos, in solos, duos, multiples, and concerto settings, with performances by Maya Beiser, Ashley Bathgate, Yo Yo Ma, Zoe Keating, and others.
Avi Avital is an Israeli mandolinist, best known for his renditions of well-known Baroque and folk music, much of which was originally written for other instruments. Just about all those things are defied however in the work Steve features this week - a new work by David Bruce, called "Cymbeline," in which the composer says the mandolin conveys "the warmth of the sun." Steve also features two works by Steve Reich, as well as pieces by Missy Mazzoli, Colin Stetson, and more.
Rene Clausen, the professor of choral music and the Grammy-winning composer and conductor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., depicts the epochs of time it took to form what we now know as the Red River Valley of the North in 'Before the Whirlwind' on this week's Extra Eclectic.
Composer Christopher Rouse died on Saturday at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer. Rouse once said, "I don't think it matters whether a piece is complex or simple, whether it's tonal or atonal or whatever ... That's not nearly as significant as whether it communicates something meaningful to a listener." Steve honors his life and career with an airing of his work, "Supplica." That plus music of John Adams, Toru Takamitsu, and more on this week's program.
For centuries, and even for most of the 20th, classical music was very much a boy's club. Thankfully that's come to and end, and even though there's still much ground to be gained for women in classical music, female composers are growing in number all the time. Steve Seel features a full two hours of living women composers on this edition of the show, including Sarah Kirkland Snider, Paola Prestini, Laura Cannell, Caroline Mallonee, Shelley Washington, Carmen Braden, and more.
It can be a challenge to know exactly what to play on September 11. On this edition of the program, Steve chooses to go the broadly spiritual route, with selections including Richard Danielpour's "For Love is Strong as Death," David Lang's "again (after ecclesiastes)," and from John Tavener's "The Protecting Veil" - a work that encircles the listener with a sense of light and love.
Steve Seel marks the unofficial ending of summer and beginning of fall on this week's program. Libby Larsen's "Deep Summer Music" hands off the passing season to fall-themed works including Paul Moravec's "Autumn Song" .... and you'll hear music that celebrates the northern landscapes and vistas that will soon be flush with color, including Michael Fine's "Heading North," and Reinaldo Moya's "The Way North."
A new setting of Brian Eno's meditative song "By This River" featuring violinist Mari Samuelsen is the centerpiece of the first hour of this week's show - and Steve Seel also replays Eno's classic, experimental "deconstructions" of the Canon by Johann Pachelbel, featuring Gavin Bryars and the Cockpit Ensemble. The second hour showcases works on themes of air and water, from John Adams, Mary Lattimore, Lou Harrison, and more.
The spiritual energy of light, the earth and sun, and natural flora are explored in this week's program. Steve Seel features works ranging from Terry Riley's "Sun Rings: One Earth, One People, One Love," and Johann Johannson's magnificent "A Pile of Dust" to John Cage's "In a Landscape" and not one but two live recordings from the 2019 BBC Proms, including Alexia Stone's "Earthward," featuring the choral group Voces8.