Matt Jackfert, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Silkroad Ensemble Brings Eclectic Stylings To W.Va.

WVPB’s Matt Jackfert speaks with harper, composer and producer Maeve Gilchrist. They discuss her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and the group’s upcoming performance.

The eclectic Silkroad Ensemble is bringing their talents to the stage in Morgantown, West Virginia this week. Founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, the ensemble brings together music from many cultures to spark cultural collaboration for a more hopeful and inclusive world.

The Silkroad Ensemble will be bringing this creative energy and spirit with them in their upcoming performance called “Uplifted Voices” to Morgantown at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24 at the Lyell B. Clay Theatre at the Canady Creative Arts Center.

As Maeve Gilchrist, Celtic Harpist and composer, says, the Silkroad Ensemble “is an incredible collection of musicians from all over the world.” Gilchrist brings a Celtic influence to the ensemble as Celtic harpists run deep in her family.

Her piece, “Far Down Far,” she says, is a deconstruction and reconstruction of a Scotts-Irish reel, inspired by what you would find in Irish communities in America at the turn of the century. In her piece, she claims she writes out much of the notation but also allows for improvisation and input from the performers, giving way for more personal nuanced inflections during performance.

Find out more about Gilchrist, her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and their upcoming performance in this interview with WVPB’s Matt Jackfert.

Music clips featured in the interview:

“Far Down Far” by Maeve Gilchrist
“Tamping Song” by Haruka Fujii

Click here to purchase tickets.

The Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble will visit Morgantown for a one-night performance on April 24, 2024.

*Photo Credit: West Virginia University College of Creative Arts*

From Classical Music Host Matt Jackfert: Wind Band Recording Giants Release Final Two Physical CDs

If you ever find yourself looking at or listening to a recording of a wind ensemble, the chances are the recording is of the University of North Texas Wind Symphony led by Eugene Corporon. Together with the late Recording Engineer, Bruce Leek, they have been releasing top-of-the-line recordings in this medium for decades. “When we started recording at the University of Cincinnati, where I taught previously… we said, ‘let’s make a CD, one CD’, and fast forward now to almost 150 discs,” Corporon says. “It always seemed like a great way to give ourselves a chance to evaluate our work. And it serves as a real educational purpose, so it’s followed me all along.”

Now they have released their final two physical CDs Respair and Closure via GIA Publications with some incredible works by modern composers and wonderful performances by UNT students and faculty alike. Recording Engineer Benjamin Blasko and Producer Jack Stamp pick up right where Leek left off in terms of crystal clear, well-balanced recordings. Of course, they have no plans to quit recording in the future; however, with the changing times, they have decided to move to an all-digital format in conjunction with live audio/visual streams and archives via YouTube.

UNT College of Music attends the TMEA 2023 convention in San Antonio on February 8-11.

In this interview with UNT Wind Symphony Conductor, Eugene Corporon and UNT Wind Orchestra Conductor, Andrew Trachsel, we learn more about the process of recording and some of the pieces themselves in these new albums including Flying Jewels by James M. David, the Euphonium Concerto by Edward Gregson, and Re(new)al by Viet Cuong.

Click on the audio file to hear the interview and these selected recordings!

Radiolab's Abumrad Talks Music Composition, Production, and Virtual Seminar 'Gut Churn'

Jad Abumrad is the host of WNYC’s radio show and podcast Radiolab, but he does a lot more than just host. He’s a producer, music composer, and has guided the show along for decades as one of its founders. Abumrad actually started out studying music at Oberlin to achieve his childhood dream of being a film composer. When that didn’t pan out the way he wanted to, he jumped into radio as it was a way to weave both words and sound into one art form.

The skills he learned in composition weren’t a waste at all; in fact, he used them to weave together a tapestry of music, sound effects, and dialogue in his radio shows and podcasts. Abumrad claims, “Telling a radio story, making a radio story is an act of compositon. And that actually the film composer I always wanted to be is actually a radio-maker…using journalism as my instrument.”

“I’ve begun to think of my job as a composer in a much more liberal way.” He sees music composition as giving order to sound, and so, in the same way in his radio shows, he gives order not just to sound but to dialogue, thoughts, and ideas. “I’ve begun to see my job as a music composer and my job as a storymaker as kind of the same job, you know, because you’re just composing relationships…You’re just giving order to things.” Of course, that is apparent in all of the work of the Peabody-award-winning and MacArthur Fellow radio host and producer.

Abumrad will be giving a virtual seminar called “Gut Churn” on Wednesday Sept. 16th at 7:30 PM for the WVU College of Creative Arts in collaboration with the WVU Reed College of Media and WVU Career Services about the role of negative emotions in the creative process. More here: https://ccarts.wvu.edu/pandemic-proof-artist-series

Check out the full interview here:

Classical Check-in: A Chat with Host Frank Stowers

In these strange times, you may have been missing a familiar voice on the air–the voice of long-time Classical host, Frank Stowers. Frank has been asked to stay at home by our management here at WVPB in order to keep healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to check in on him and see how he and his wife, Emita, were doing, so Matt Jackfert called him and had a conversation with him.

“It really feels strange to be sitting at home listening to you folks, when I’m so accustomed to being there in the control room broadcasting myself, and I really miss being there, Matt, and all you good folks,” said the award-winning Classical host, Frank.

Take a listen below to the full chat between Matt and Frank.

Lindsey Goodman Releases "Etereo" and Performs In-studio

WVSO Flutist, WVSU flute teacher, and new music advocate Lindsey Goodman has just released her third album this past week. Featuring all sorts of living composers, this CD stretches the boundaries of solo flute music as well as music for flute and electronics. The album starts off with the jazzy “Bleuz” by Josh Oxford, which at times reminds one of the flute singing by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. It moves through more stunning solo flute pieces until it hits flute and electronic piece “Butterfly Within” by Mara Helmuth. Goodman switch-hits on the Alto Flute during the third movement of Alla Elena Cohen’s “Three Duos for Alto Flute and Cello”. And finally, her Leviathan Trio makes an appearance in the final track “Flight 710 to Cabo San Lucas” with Hannah Presley on cello and Joseph Dangerfield on piano.

Contents of the new “Etereo” CD by the Navona imprint from Parma Recordings

Goodman shared the album on the air with us while performing some selections live. She championed her passion for electronic music saying that if technology is an everyday part of her life, it should be an everyday part of her music. Having said that, she still understood the importance of solo flute music. She performed Oxford’s “Bleuz” and Bruce Babcock’s “Soliloquy” live on the air, following discussions of each work.

Take a listen below to the interview and performance by Goodman in our WVPB studios. Then check out her album on Spotify and purchase it here.

Lindsey Goodman and Matt Jackfert posing with the new CD

Walter DeBarr: Making Waves Across Appalachia and In-studio

Singer-songwriter Walter DeBarr is using his unique voice and turbulent past to create and spread a heartfelt message across Appalachia. Growing up a black man in mostly-white Buchannon, WV, DeBarr had it tough among his peers. “I got beat up alot and kids would mess with me. Kids who didn’t understand.”

Now, DeBarr draws upon these experiences to write his songs. “Nearly all of the music stems from my growing up… just from being different from all the other kids I grew up with… simply for being who I was.” He had an epiphany which turned that negative energy into something positive. “I realized, man, it doesn’t matter–none of that matters. What matters is what’s in your chest, and what sort of moral compass you carry.”

Walter DeBarr singing his song “Hurts so Good” in our studios

DeBarr chooses his lyrics by remembering how he grew up with the hopes that other people don’t feel so isolated. “We all struggle everyday with something, and I just genuinely want people to know they’re not alone.” For instance, his song, “Hurts so Good,” is about coming to terms with the necessary growing pains of getting older. “I just want to be a kid forever, but… we gotta grow up.”

Lyrics and music seem to flow through him easily. He’s written over 60 songs in just a few years without even knowing much music theory. “I don’t even know the names of all the chords,” DeBarr joked. But theory doesn’t matter when you can make beautiful songs. He’s made so many that he’s recorded and released his first EP We Fall, We Break with Greg McGowen at Rose City Recordings. It can be bought on most major platforms online.

Take a listen to our interview with DeBarr, where he performs two songs, “Hurts so Good,” and “These Hands, These Eyes”. Then check out his website walterdebarrmusic.com.