Classical Gas

Composer Missy Mazzoli

In October 2026, Mazzoli’s opera, Lincoln in the Bardo, with libretto by Royce Vavrek, will be premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She tells Wein that the no

Pianist/Composer Stephen Hough on "Les Noces Rouge"

Stephen Hough is a concert pianist, a published author and an accomplished composer.   His work for piano and string quartet, Les Noces Rouge will have its first West Coa

Augusta Read Thomas - composer, mentor, and composer-mentor of DeGaetano Composition Institute

Augusta Read Thomas is the composer-mentor for the DeGaetano Composition Institute, an ambitious program for emerging composers founded by the Orchestra of St Luke’s. She

Bassoonist, conductor and all-around renegade Rebekah Heller

The first time she picked up a baton, about five years ago, the bassoonist Rebekah Heller had a revelatory moment. She was working with the New World Symphony as a coach,

The surprising details of Clara Schumann's life with Sarah Fritz, biographer

Sarah Fritz is a musicologist who has been obsessed for the better part of the last decade with the life, music and place in history of the composer and pianist Clara Sch

Joan Tower on grief, procrastination and her papers at Library of Congress

The composer Joan Tower has won many awards, including the prestigious and lucrative Grawemeyer award in 1990. But for her, the biggest honor came when the Library of Con

Claire Chase on Density 2036 - a quarter century of new music for flute

Flutist Claire Chase embarked on a herculean project a few years ago – to expand the repertoire for flute by commissioning nearly 100 new works over 24 years. She calls t

Colin Jacobsen on 20 years of Brooklyn Rider and "Citizenship Notes"

Colin Jacobson is a violinist, composer and co-founder of the Knights Chamber Orchestra and the string quartet Brooklyn Rider. I spoke with Colin earlier this year about

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

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 pia