The New Music Help Desk was a series we dreamed up during the 2020 lockdown in the hopes of providing a unique opportunity for composers and performers to get face time with Spektral and ask pointed questions about notation, feasibility, tuning systems, harmonics, or simply how to stay motivated in the midst of a quarantine. During what was a scary time for all of us in the arts, we hoped that the New Music Help Desk might bring at least a little glimmer of hope and assistance to our fellow artists.

This recurring series was geared towards anyone curious about the labyrinth of new music notation, composition, and performance: from students, emerging artists and those currently in process with a piece to inquisitive music enthusiasts and audience members. Spektral selected a special guest to join for each session to enrich the discussion, bring new perspectives on artmaking and the music industry, and to sit in the hot seat for any queries that came in, and we were lucky to be joined by a wonderfully prestigious and generous group of composers, instrumentalists, conductors and curators…

HELP DESK HIGHLIGHT REEL

Check out the clips below, and see every episode in full on this YouTube Playlist

Special Guests, in order of appearance

(click on a name to see their episode)

For our very first (!) New Music Help Desk we are joined by the brilliant and hilarious Sam Pluta for a discussion on how to notate extended string techniques and aleatoric patterns within a score, how to conceptualize and practice quarter tones, and much more.

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Improviser, bassoonist and composer Katie Young joins us for a fascinating conversation about microtonality, composing using harmonics, and how to get your “composer” and “improviser” selves to play nice.

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On this week’s Help Desk, we get into the weeds with composer Nico Muhly about drone music, his approach to composing choral music with text, and how to fight through feelings of imposter syndrome.

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Ever wondered what the process for an expert performer learning a new piece looks like? Virtuoso violinist and new music veteran Miranda Cuckson breaks it down for us and leads us through each step she takes when approaching a complex new work.

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In this special edition of the Help Desk, beloved Spektral board member, former Chicago Tribune columnist, and stalwart concert-attendee Barbara Brotman presents us with some hard-hitting questions from the perspective of the audience member.

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Spektral BFF Alex Temple joins us for a discussion about the role of humor in music, the process of advocating for oneself and defining what one stands for as an artist, and much more!

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The brilliant Conrad Tao drops in to talk about the different modes he inhabits as performer, composer, improviser and curator and discuss the impact that our musical practices can have in our communities and in the world.

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The wonderful Marcos Balter joins us for an engaging discussion about social justice and the need for equity within classical music and within our individual lives and communities.

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The uncommonly articulate and wonderful pianist and composer Anthony Cheung joins us this week in the wake of the protests following the murder of George Floyd to tackle some pressing questions about how larger, white institutions can work towards missions of true inclusivity.

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The inimitable Augusta Read Thomas (aka Gusty) makes a special appearance on this week’s Help Desk and bestows some invaluable advice on artistic process, how composer’s can create and pursue opportunities, how to overcome burnout and writer’s block, and how to write a strong mission statement.

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This week we tackle some big questions with the help of the charismatic Ted Hearne - how to balance personal artistic vision with the constraints of a commission, how to approach compositions that involve complex political themes, and the nuanced presence of white supremacy in art making. 

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On this week’s Help Desk we get extra nerdy with composer Chris Fisher-Lochhead and go deep on all things to do with unconventional and inventive systems of notation, using his brilliantly funny (and dastardly difficult) string quartet “Hack” as an example.

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Flutist and composer Allison Loggins-Hull joins us for a very flutey Help Desk and provides guidance on practicing and performing with click tracks, mic placement and EQ-ing when recording for flute, and how she composes when dealing with a specific storyline or subject matter.

This one is for the conductors! Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor and Rice University faculty member Jerry Hou drops in to the Help Desk to offer some valuable advice for young conductors starting out in their careers, and to discuss ASO’s programming changes as response to the current racial justice movement.

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This week our special guest is the fabulous Du Yun who leads us in a thought-provoking conversation about the best ways to approach collaborations with artists from different cultures and traditions, and whether or not music has the potential to create connections between different societies. 

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On this week’s Help Desk we have the unique opportunity to pick the brain of Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, and get her take on everything from whether “genre” is useful, the fine line between joy and sadness in music, and how vocal artists should be when it comes to politics and identity.

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On this week’s Help Desk we team up with Quince co-founder and soprano Amanda DeBoer-Bartlett to field questions from the wonderful music students of BGSU and share our experiences with forming a chamber ensemble, expanding our circles of collaboration, and navigating interpersonal and artistic differences of opinion as colleagues.

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With the help of our dear friend, composer Eliza Brown, we bring the New Music Help Desk to University of Kansas’ mini-festival: "Behind the Music: an Exploration of Social Issues in Music!

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In this special iteration of the Help Desk we attempt to dole out career advice (yikes!) to the bright young members of DePaul University’s Ensemble 20+ with the help of their fearless leader, the wonderful Michael Lewanski.

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Have you ever wondered what it actually looks like when a composer writes using electronics? Our dear friend the composer Samuel Adams walks us through one of his Logic Pro sessions for an in-process composition and chats with us about notation and interpretive freedom when it comes to microtonality.

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Composer Alex Mincek joins us for a fascinating discussion on how to break down the invisible barrier between performer and audience member, how modern technologies can be incorporated into composition and rehearsal, and whether or not creativity can be taught.

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This week we take a deep dive into the compositional process and artistic mind of Pulitzer Prize winning co-founder and co-artistic director of Bang on a Can collective - the one and only David Lang!

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This very special Help Desk episode gives us a look behind the curtain of arts administration - we are joined by Ab Sengupta, who brings a performer’s perspective to his role as Carnegie Hall’s Director of Artistic Planning.

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Explore the full playlist on Youtube!