A Big Year for Emily D’Angelo A Mezzo-Soprano with a Curatorial Flair WORDS BY ARLAN VRIENS & MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK | BERLIN | MUSIC THE smART Ensemble NOV 15, 2022 | ISSUE 8 Emily D’Angelo by Mark Pillai.© Styled by Esther Perbandt. ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Emily D’Angelo by Ella Mazur ​ If you’re looking for an introduction to Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, you’ll find her on some of the most celebrated international opera stages: The Met, La Scala, or the Royal Opera House. You might also find her in a recital in Salzburg, Prague, or at Carnegie Hall. But after treading these storied paths to opera stardom, D’Angelo’s debut album enargeia (Deutsche Grammophon) presents a carefully curated statement of an altogether distinctive artistic vision. Fascinated by connections between the ancient past and the emerging present, D’Angelo populated enargeia with over 900 years of music, ranging from the 12th-century Hildegard von Bingen to the trending 21st-century composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Missy Mazzoli. Speaking with smART Magazine , D’Angelo discusses her fascination with von Bingen’s life and music. She finds connections between von Bingen’s life, as a medieval polymath, and the multifaceted careers of contemporary composers like Guðnadóttir. D’Angelo places great importance on negotiating her personal artistic goals while challenging audience and industry expectations. Along the way, she also reflects on the opportunities and hurdles presented by technological elements such as video and social media. sM | Artists usually begin their recording career with more predictable mainstream works. What motivated you to take risks with the highly curated enargeia instead? ED — I think that taking a risk is always my preferred way to work. It’s how you personally create something interesting. If I’m interested, engaged, and feeling like I'm taking a risk or being vulnerable, then probably that will translate into something that—even if people don’t like it—might be interesting. At least, I’m sure it will be interesting in one way or another. With this project in particular, I wanted to create an album that really meant something. Of course, the standard repertoire means a lot to me—enough that I spend most of my time singing Rossini and Mozart—but this was an opportunity to do something that really interested me in a different way. Curating programs is something that we often do as performers, especially when we’re putting together recitals. Taking that same approach to enargeia allowed me to do something that told a story and had a purpose. sM | What drew you to Hildegard’s music, and how do Snider, Mazzoli, and Guðnadóttir layer on top of that choice? ED — Layering is a really good word for the processes of this album; it came together organically, in phases. When I first sang Hildegard as a child in choir, it blew me away. I didn’t know where or when this music came from. It could have been from any time; it has so much modernity to it. At that point in music history they were dealing with just pitch and word, and it’s so clear how Hildegard felt about each word. She was a profound character with very profound beliefs and a profound intelligence, and that comes across. I knew that I wanted to have Hildegard von Bingen at the centre of this project, but the question was how to do that in a meaningful, purposeful way. It took a lot of time to curate the program. I thought of Hildur Guðnadóttir first because she makes music as a cellist and a singer, and often writes her own words. She’s kind of a polymath, like von Bingen was. Guðnadóttir’s work has a cello drone that creates a sort of otherworldly sound that connects so well with Hildegard. Once we had that sound world going, the rest snowballed. I first encountered Sarah Kirkland Snider because I heard she was writing an opera about Hildegard, but then her Penelope song cycle grabbed my attention. It’s an amazing combination of ancient Homeric ideas with new ways of creating sound, like the electric guitar. This sort of mixed style creates an open playing field that lends itself to a lot of different ways of singing. Finally, I chose selections from Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar and Vespers for a New Dark Age . I encountered Vespers first and it immediately made me think about the same themes of old versus new, religion versus modernity, all taking place in our modern world of technology. I felt that I had to chip away at this tracklist for a long time, but it eventually all became very clear. sM | What does the music industry gain from giving more curatorial opportunities to young artists? What did it mean to you? ED — For me, I always put the music first. My goal with enargeia wasn't to do just anything, but I also wasn’t trying to say anything other than “this is amazing music and these works belong together.” With old works, there’s no question about their validity or their place in the canon—they are the canon. New works don’t have that history behind them yet, so they deserve advocacy. Many people have noted that all of the composers on this album happen to be women, but that’s not a theme. It’s not something you can hear—it’s just a fact outside of the music. It would be preposterous to say that Liszt and Bach go together because they’re both men. There have to be other reasons to connect musicians, and sometimes you have to do some digging to make a good connection. But I’d say it’s been a long time coming for major record companies to give young artists the chance to create something important and personal. It’s already been happening to some extent, but the more the better. This project became important not just to me, but to the entire team. There were so many amazing people who were all involved with this and it felt very special to get to put it together with such a great group. sM | Your videos are visually powerful. Is this approach part of your personal style, or is it about connecting with contemporary audiences? ED — I don’t usually have thoughts of, “will people like this?” That might sound selfish to say, but it’s also a really important part of the process. If you try to please everyone—even just everyone in the room with you—you’re going to be quickly met with conflict and you’ll end up making something that doesn’t really please anybody. It certainly won’t make you feel good. It’s an impossible goal to make other people like what you’re doing as much as you do. As far as my style, it’s important to note that nothing happens in a vacuum. That’s the beauty of it. As you work with certain people, you discover different parts of yourself and learn new things. In those circumstances, suddenly some artistic change appears that you could never have predicted, just from the experience of being in the room with those particular people. The visual aspect of my videos is very important. Of course, visuals have always been important for opera, which is both a visual and an aural art form. If I can visually present my music in a way that I’m excited about, and if that aesthetic also taps into something that others get excited about, it’s more likely to be interesting to the viewer. With any aesthetic, of course some people won’t like it, but as an artist and a human being it behooves you to accept the fact that not everyone is going to like you, and not everyone is going to like what you like. And that’s okay. That’s part of the beauty of life. We’re all different, right? sM | How do you balance artistic freedom and privacy against the demands of social media? ED — I think everyone has different boundaries and comfort levels with social media. I didn’t really use it at all until quite recently. That was what I needed and that’s what I was comfortable with, up until that point. I’ve found a way to be comfortable using it now, because I have a reason to. Namely, I think it’s important to share. If I think that the work I’m doing is truly important, then it can't just be important to me . It shouldn’t just exist in a vacuum where nobody knows about it. But this isn’t just about my personal work, either. I work with a record company, sound producers, photographers, composers, and so many others, so I certainly owe it to them to share our collaboration with the world, and we all hope that someone will like it. Of course there are very difficult pitfalls with social media along the way, so we have to try to find the ways that we can use it to make something good. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

JULIAN LAGE On Layers, View with a Room , the gritty warmth of his guitar sound WORDS BY CALEB FREEMAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHERVIN LAINEZ | NEW JERSEY ELLINGTON AUG 09, 2023 | ISSUE 12 | ELLINGTON Julian Lage by Shervin Lainez There is a sense of wide-eyed curiosity in Julian Lage when he discusses music. It’s an endearing quality coming from the accomplished guitarist and former childhood prodigy, who once played the Grammys at age 12. Last year, Lage released the acclaimed album View with a Room , his second release for Blue Note Records and his third as a trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. The ten-song collection featured the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell and was produced by singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy; it was recorded by Mark Goodell with additional production by Armand Hirsch. For Lage, View with a Room was an exploration, an attempt to “widen the aperture” of a trio record. He has described it as a “kind of seven-person art project” that attempted to balance lush orchestration with an “organic sense of improvisation and the agility of a small ensemble.” The result was a vibrant collection — infused with blues and swing — that highlighted the trio’s skill and versatility while also showcasing the evolution of their sound through their collaboration with Frisell. Lage’s newest album, Layers , is a continuation of the experimental voyage he embarked on with View with a Room . A companion album to View , Layers has “all the musical seeds” of its predecessor, according to Lage─the same collaborators, the same vibrancy and sense of exploration. But at its core, the six-song collection is its own creation. It is sparser and more ethereal, more conversational in its expanded focus. Half of the songs find Lage playing an acoustic guitar, a further departure from last year’s record. The collection is another captivating release, one that stands on its own but also sheds new light on its companion. "The Layers" Album cover Varsity series - Julian Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ Julian Lage by Kalya Ramu COMPANIONS sM | The Layers is a companion to your recent album, View With a Room . This is a formula we’ve seen before with Live in Los Angeles , which was a companion to Arclight . Do you conceive of these companion albums as B-sides to their predecessors, or as expressions of something new, but in the same language? JL ─ In making View with a Room , I wrote a lot of songs and then whittled the album down to about 16. There was a time where Layers was gonna be a 70-80 minute record, kind of like an epic journey. As an experiment, I separated them and said, “Well, suppose the things that are the connective tissue were not used as connective tissue, but as a standalone experience?” And I loved it. That’s how Layers came about. I wouldn’t say they’re B-sides at all, they just originally served a different function. It’s a kind of re-contextualization. EXPANSION X DISTILLATION sM | Although there are relatively more layers to this album, it sounds more spare than View with a Room . One of the layers you added to your trio was the guitarist Bill Frisell, and that addition allowed you to achieve “the Technicolor experience” you’ve been searching for. What extra layer of dialogue were you interested in pursuing with this larger role you’ve created for Frisell? JL ─ I think Bill brings interaction. Fundamentally, there is a communication, a trust that I cherish very much. In terms of him expanding the record into the Technicolor experience, especially with Layers , we are leveraging the power of more guitar information. When that energy is shared with two guitars, suddenly that lead guitar voice is more complex. Not only emotionally, but also in terms of overtones. So you’ve got the relationship with Bill that expands the guitar, and then you’ve got the orchestration of two guitars that expands the picture. IMPROVISING ATMOSPHERE sM | The Layers seems to exist at the intersection of jazz and classical idioms, in terms of balancing improvisation and orchestration and replacing oration with atmosphere. What do you find most interesting about keeping the element of improvisation, while also approaching a diffused atmospheric sound? JL ─ What I’m struck by in listening to the difference between View and Layers is that I think even more of my voice and the band’s voice comes through when there is an atmosphere. With full humility, what I learned in making those two records is that you can use atmosphere and space as a means of revealing character. You can improvise atmosphere. You can improvise context. It’s almost like improvising lighting design: it casts a big light, but it’s ephemeral. You can’t say why it’s having the effect it’s having. Julian Lage MUSIC VIDEOS sM | You took a unique approach to the music videos, with six videos for VEVO all recorded live and in one continuous setting, utilizing really fluid camerawork. How did this concept evolve, and how does this approach capture the improvisational element of this album for you? JL ─ I think there’s value in presenting two interpretations. You add them together and you get the picture that reveals the studio recording as more deliberate and the video recording as more fluid, more spontaneous, or maybe containing more risk. There’s no law that says you should only hear improvised music, that you shouldn’t see it. With video, and especially camera movement under the direction of Alex Chaloff, who made those videos, I think that tells the story. You go, “Oh wow, these people are doing it in real time!” It’s part of the drama, so why hide it? We like to celebrate it. ​ GRITTY WARMTH sM There’s an impulse to describe your sound as easy listening or lounge jazz, but there’s a volatility to the guitar sound that makes it step into the foreground. You’ve described that sound as “subdued and warm, but also gritty.” It’s the grittiness that sounds novel, as “subdued and warm” has been done before─John Scofield in particular comes to mind. What do you appreciate most about that nervous excitability in the sound you’re chasing? JL ─ The balance that is struck has a lot to do with the guitar sound, but it also has a lot to do, in my opinion, with the context you put it in. If I were in a much louder band, I probably would live more on the grittier side because I would have to live at that threshold of the guitar. Context, to me, is probably of even more interest than the actual sound. The guitar is responding to the context. If the context is liberated and there’s room to ratchet it up or down, you’ll hear those features. Julian Lage COMMUNITY sM | Concert venues can sometimes feel coldly transactional, but in some of your concerts for View the venue doors were open about an hour beforehand for fans to show up with or without guitars, and engage in conversations with you about the instrument and your work in general. What inspired you to create this communal space, and how does that change the atmosphere of the concert that follows? JL ─ I have the same curiosity about it. What occurred to me, and my management, and everyone involved, was that the guitar community has a certain spirit of wanting to help one another. Even if you’ve been playing a long time, it doesn’t mean you’re any less privy to the pursuits of someone who’s newer to the instrument. It’s been very humbling for me to learn. I’m in a privileged position to hold space for conversation, and that’s by virtue of being allowed in that venue for that night to put on a show. I love it. I think it’s very grounding, and seemingly impactful for those who come. Or at least that’s the hope. Julian Lage THE GREAT GLASPY sM | The music of your wife Margaret Glaspy – whose latest album, Echo the Diamond , is out in August – is in a completely different neighbourhood from yours, and yet there’s a shared musical zip code that’s particularly notable in her approach to producing Layers . What sort of creative liberation do you find in having someone who understands you in so many different ways join you in the recording studio? JL ─ With Margaret, I know she knows me and I don’t have to explain it. I don’t have to prove it. I can just follow my nose, play the guitar, and do my best as a musician in this production. I trust that she’ll see the overarching picture and say, “Oh, I kind of lost you there because this other thing took precedent,” and that she’ll be able to hang on to that perspective when I do a take where I think, “Surely I blew it.” And it’s the classic thing, but it’s so often been true of her to be like, “That was it. That was totally your DNA. Anything that you thought took you out of the music didn’t take us outta the music on this side of the glass.” That’s incredibly valuable. ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Reflections with Timo Andres The pianist and composer on bring the latest release by Sufjan Stevens to life WORDS BY ZOE CLELAND JULY 30, 2023 | ISSUE 12 Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson "Reflections" Album cover ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson Sufjan Stevens by Dawn Miller With a multiplicity of possibilities expanded by the technological advancements now at our disposal, more and more artists are collaborating across traditional industry boundaries. One such exciting crossover is celebrated indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens ’s foray into the world of ballet. Stevens, who has been nominated for both Academy and Grammy awards for his work, began collaborating with choreographer Justin Peck in 2012 to adapt his music for the dance. Their creative partnership has produced numerous scores, including Year of the Rabbit (2012), Everywhere We Go (2014), In the Countenance of Kings (2016), The Decalogue (2017), and Principia (2019). Stevens says that their latest collaboration, Reflections , written for two pianos and eleven dancers, is about “energy, light, and duality.” Released through Asthmatic Kitty Records and produced by Ryan Streber, it sees the return of pianist and composer Timo Andres performing alongside fellow pianist Conor Hanick . Although Stevens is that magical breed of self-taught musician who learned his considerable skill by ear, Andres’s proficiency in orchestral music composition and performance has bridged the necessary gap between artificial in-studio orchestras and real ones. Reflections is a distillation of Stevens’s expansive electronica and orchestral pop, and is electrifying in its condensed, two-instrument expression of the artist’s original sound. Their connection dates back to 2017 when Andres recorded music for The Decalogue, fresh off its premiere at the New York City Ballet. Reflections was the third collaboration between Andres, Stevens, and Peck, recently followed by Illinois (2023) — a theatrical performance based on Stevens’s much-loved concept album of the same name — performed at New York’s Bard College. Andres’s interpretation of Stevens’s essence embraces the inherent, defining aspects of his work while gently transitioning it to the new context of dance, one that has the potential to uplift both forms of art. Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson NOVEL & UNTETHERED sM | On his general approach to composing music, Stevens has said, “A lot of the work that I compose is anachronistic as it doesn’t follow a genealogy of aesthetic. It can be a cornucopia of styles.” Aside from the challenge inherent in performing a new work, how are you able to pin down a work that is both novel and untethered? TA ─ I would say that we’re living in an age where many composers, myself included, feel more or less untethered from any need to have an aesthetic agenda, or any need to fit oneself into a chronology of music history or style of music. And even when I interpret older music – say music from the classical canon – I’m trying to trace their lineage, their influences, and the circumstances of their lives that went into their work. I think all composers throughout history have fundamentally had an acquisitive ear, where you can’t help but go through life hearing all this different music and think, “What can I pick up from that? What can I draw from that’s useful to me, either interpretively or compositionally?” We’re like these magpies collecting beautiful objects to furnish our nests. Sufjan’s music is really no different. Even if you look at his so-called pop albums, it’s always a carnival of references. When I heard his album Illinois (2005) in college, that was one of the things that made me think it’s okay to throw all these ingredients in the pot, even though they may not on the surface seem to have much to do with each other. Your music ends up all the richer for it. We all bring our own musical histories and baggage with us when we come to interpret a new piece. SUFJAN sM | You’ve worked with Sufjan Stevens before. How did this creative partnership begin? TA ─ It was really a spur-of-the-moment thing. I jumped in at the last minute to record some promo audio for a ballet of Sufjan’s called The Decalogue , another Justin Peck ballet at the New York City Ballet. A mutual friend connected us. They said, “Oh, you need someone to learn some thorny new piano music quickly? My friend Timo is just the guy.” After it premiered, Sufjan got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to record the whole ballet. In the world of freelance artists and musicians, there’s no HR department. There’s no formal hiring process. It’s all just: “Oh, I know a guy who would be perfect for this.” Mutual trust. SUFJAN INCIDENTAL MUSIC sM | Reflections is incidental music for a ballet choreographed by Justin Peck for the Houston Ballet. To what extent did the choreography inform your approach to your work? TA ─ Actually, I have seen none of it. Playing for dance is its own kind of special thing that demands a very collaborative form of interpretation on the musician’s part. I think part of why Sufjan wanted to record these scores separately and release them on their own was so that the music could speak for itself and be a little freer to do so. I think there were interpretive choices that my co-pianist Conor Hanick and I took that might have made things more difficult for the dancers, or might not have meshed with their rhythmic agenda.There was no specific dance in my mind that said, the music itself is extremely athletic─it suggests movement at all times. If I can presume to speak for Sufjan for a second, I think what attracts him to doing this sort of composition is making himself subservient in a way to this other artform, giving them something that feels really good to move to. Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson SELF-TAUGHT sM | Stevens is also a self-taught composer. How does this self-training show up in the score? TA ─ In a way, it makes it clear what my job is. Sufjan thinks orchestrally. There’s so much going on in the production, in the instrumentation, but it’s all a studio product. It’s all multi-tracked (instrument by instrument) in a recording studio and then balanced in the studio. Essentially that’s what you’re doing when you’re orchestrating something, except you’re doing it live in real time with 60 or 80 players all on the clock. So it was very interesting to go back and forth with Sufjan and take these sketches and say, “Okay, what is the sound quality, what’s the rhetoric of this music?” and then connect that to orchestral ideas in my head. ILLINOIS sM | The collaborative triangle between you, Stevens, and choreographer Justin Peck continues with transcriptions for the album Illinois for another dance theatre piece for New York’s Bard College. Unlike Reflections , this work is incredibly familiar to an entire generation of listeners. What was your approach to preserving the atmosphere of this album while translating it in a new way for choreography? TA ─ It was not a task I approached lightly by any means. The first several months of the process were discussing a general approach with Justin and trying to think: What are the aspects of this music that are inseparable from what makes the songs themselves? I think a lot of the songs are strong enough to stand on their own in a lot of different contexts. We wanted to retain the grandeur and the orchestral outrageousness of a lot of those arrangements on the album – which are so colourful – and the group sing-along aspect, the communal spirit. A lot of it was me sitting there and really listening to bits of these songs over and over. I’d slow them down and take them apart and try to separate the layers. There were a lot of things on that album that were not practical to do in a live setting, like multi-tracking four oboe parts. We’re not going to hire four oboe players for this touring theatre production, so I needed to find ways to recreate the richness of that sound with a more limited personnel. We have a 13-piece band of instrumentalists who sometimes sing and singers who also play instruments─everyone does a bit of everything. It’s true to the spirit of the album and of the songs, and there’s a real joy and a richness there that I’m excited for everyone to hear. ​ ​ ​ ​ Similar Articles Reflections with Timo Andres Link to page The pianist and composer on bring the latest release by Sufjan Stevens to life Paola Prestini Link to page On Collaboration, Community, and Technology Constantine Orbelian Link to page Takes on New York City Opera Hilary Hahn’s Eclipse Link to page “Music like this resonates with the dissonance that you might be experiencing” Jeff Alexander: President of the CSO Link to page "The state of the organization was overtly and intentionally keeping people out."

Reflections with Timo Andres The pianist and composer on bring the latest release by Sufjan Stevens to life WORDS BY ZOE CLELAND THE smART Ensemble JULY 30, 2023 | ISSUE 12 Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson "Reflections" Album cover ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson Sufjan Stevens by Dawn Miller With a multiplicity of possibilities expanded by the technological advancements now at our disposal, more and more artists are collaborating across traditional industry boundaries. One such exciting crossover is celebrated indie singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens ’s foray into the world of ballet. Stevens, who has been nominated for both Academy and Grammy awards for his work, began collaborating with choreographer Justin Peck in 2012 to adapt his music for the dance. Their creative partnership has produced numerous scores, including Year of the Rabbit (2012), Everywhere We Go (2014), In the Countenance of Kings (2016), The Decalogue (2017), and Principia (2019). Stevens says that their latest collaboration, Reflections , written for two pianos and eleven dancers, is about “energy, light, and duality.” Released through Asthmatic Kitty Records and produced by Ryan Streber, it sees the return of pianist and composer Timo Andres performing alongside fellow pianist Conor Hanick . Although Stevens is that magical breed of self-taught musician who learned his considerable skill by ear, Andres’s proficiency in orchestral music composition and performance has bridged the necessary gap between artificial in-studio orchestras and real ones. Reflections is a distillation of Stevens’s expansive electronica and orchestral pop, and is electrifying in its condensed, two-instrument expression of the artist’s original sound. Their connection dates back to 2017 when Andres recorded music for The Decalogue, fresh off its premiere at the New York City Ballet. Reflections was the third collaboration between Andres, Stevens, and Peck, recently followed by Illinois (2023) — a theatrical performance based on Stevens’s much-loved concept album of the same name — performed at New York’s Bard College. Andres’s interpretation of Stevens’s essence embraces the inherent, defining aspects of his work while gently transitioning it to the new context of dance, one that has the potential to uplift both forms of art. SUFJAN sM | You’ve worked with Sufjan Stevens before. How did this creative partnership begin? TA ─ It was really a spur-of-the-moment thing. I jumped in at the last minute to record some promo audio for a ballet of Sufjan’s called The Decalogue , another Justin Peck ballet at the New York City Ballet. A mutual friend connected us. They said, “Oh, you need someone to learn some thorny new piano music quickly? My friend Timo is just the guy.” After it premiered, Sufjan got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to record the whole ballet. In the world of freelance artists and musicians, there’s no HR department. There’s no formal hiring process. It’s all just: “Oh, I know a guy who would be perfect for this.” Mutual trust. SUFJAN INCIDENTAL MUSIC sM | Reflections is incidental music for a ballet choreographed by Justin Peck for the Houston Ballet. To what extent did the choreography inform your approach to your work? TA ─ Actually, I have seen none of it. Playing for dance is its own kind of special thing that demands a very collaborative form of interpretation on the musician’s part. I think part of why Sufjan wanted to record these scores separately and release them on their own was so that the music could speak for itself and be a little freer to do so. I think there were interpretive choices that my co-pianist Conor Hanick and I took that might have made things more difficult for the dancers, or might not have meshed with their rhythmic agenda.There was no specific dance in my mind that said, the music itself is extremely athletic─it suggests movement at all times. If I can presume to speak for Sufjan for a second, I think what attracts him to doing this sort of composition is making himself subservient in a way to this other artform, giving them something that feels really good to move to. Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson NOVEL & UNTETHERED sM | On his general approach to composing music, Stevens has said, “A lot of the work that I compose is anachronistic as it doesn’t follow a genealogy of aesthetic. It can be a cornucopia of styles.” Aside from the challenge inherent in performing a new work, how are you able to pin down a work that is both novel and untethered? TA ─ I would say that we’re living in an age where many composers, myself included, feel more or less untethered from any need to have an aesthetic agenda, or any need to fit oneself into a chronology of music history or style of music. And even when I interpret older music – say music from the classical canon – I’m trying to trace their lineage, their influences, and the circumstances of their lives that went into their work. I think all composers throughout history have fundamentally had an acquisitive ear, where you can’t help but go through life hearing all this different music and think, “What can I pick up from that? What can I draw from that’s useful to me, either interpretively or compositionally?” We’re like these magpies collecting beautiful objects to furnish our nests. Sufjan’s music is really no different. Even if you look at his so-called pop albums, it’s always a carnival of references. When I heard his album Illinois (2005) in college, that was one of the things that made me think it’s okay to throw all these ingredients in the pot, even though they may not on the surface seem to have much to do with each other. Your music ends up all the richer for it. We all bring our own musical histories and baggage with us when we come to interpret a new piece. Timo Andres - Photo by Michael Wilson SELF-TAUGHT sM | Stevens is also a self-taught composer. How does this self-training show up in the score? TA ─ In a way, it makes it clear what my job is. Sufjan thinks orchestrally. There’s so much going on in the production, in the instrumentation, but it’s all a studio product. It’s all multi-tracked (instrument by instrument) in a recording studio and then balanced in the studio. Essentially that’s what you’re doing when you’re orchestrating something, except you’re doing it live in real time with 60 or 80 players all on the clock. So it was very interesting to go back and forth with Sufjan and take these sketches and say, “Okay, what is the sound quality, what’s the rhetoric of this music?” and then connect that to orchestral ideas in my head. ILLINOIS sM | The collaborative triangle between you, Stevens, and choreographer Justin Peck continues with transcriptions for the album Illinois for another dance theatre piece for New York’s Bard College. Unlike Reflections , this work is incredibly familiar to an entire generation of listeners. What was your approach to preserving the atmosphere of this album while translating it in a new way for choreography? TA ─ It was not a task I approached lightly by any means. The first several months of the process were discussing a general approach with Justin and trying to think: What are the aspects of this music that are inseparable from what makes the songs themselves? I think a lot of the songs are strong enough to stand on their own in a lot of different contexts. We wanted to retain the grandeur and the orchestral outrageousness of a lot of those arrangements on the album – which are so colourful – and the group sing-along aspect, the communal spirit. A lot of it was me sitting there and really listening to bits of these songs over and over. I’d slow them down and take them apart and try to separate the layers. There were a lot of things on that album that were not practical to do in a live setting, like multi-tracking four oboe parts. We’re not going to hire four oboe players for this touring theatre production, so I needed to find ways to recreate the richness of that sound with a more limited personnel. We have a 13-piece band of instrumentalists who sometimes sing and singers who also play instruments─everyone does a bit of everything. It’s true to the spirit of the album and of the songs, and there’s a real joy and a richness there that I’m excited for everyone to hear. ​ ​ ​ ​