The Grant Wallace Band is the project of three trained composers who make interesting music together that spans a myriad of genres. The origin of their name, and the inspiration for many of their songs, comes from a joint interest in Outsider Artists.

Please enjoy the special video episode below.

Our next episode will be a video special featuring The Grant Wallace Band, a group of three composers who write and perform music centering around the artwork of Grant Wallace and other "outsider" artists. Expect this episode to premiere in mid-June.

Ben Hjertmann is a composer and singer involved in a variety of genres. In his upcoming self-produced album, Angelswort, we hear his myriad musical interests in concurrence, as well as conflict. Ben explains the inspiration behind the album and talks us through several of the movements.

Enjoy the album artwork below and study the entire score here.

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Download these pre-release tracks of the entire album:

I. Introit - Drift wood

II. Aksak - Wolves in the South Loop

III. Passacalglia - L'Homme Arme

IV. Ritual - Untitled

V. Chorale - Angelswort

VI. Scherzo - White Elk

VII. Kannon - Dance of 1000 Voices

For the next episode of Contempora, Ben Hjertmann introduces his upcoming album Angelswort. Ben is a composer, singer and member of the Grant Wallace Band. This album is an unusual combination of classical and pop music in a style he calls "chamber metal." Enjoy this preview and be sure to listen to the entire episode when it is released on May 1st.

Composer and percussionist Nathan Davis joins us this time on Contempora. Nathan is a member of the renown International Contemporary Ensemble and the New York Times describes his work as "music that deals deftly and poetically with timbre and sonority." As a percussionist, Nathan has performed music from around the world and he sometimes incorporates these musical traditions into his writing. We explore a work that does just that—his thrilling duo Kebyar Untai, for hammered dulcimer and amplified cello.

Check out Kebyar Untai  in its entirety below.

Our next program will feature International Contemporary Ensemble member, Nathan Davis. Nathan is a composer and percussionist, whose experience performing music from around the world allows him to incorporate an astounding array of musical traditions into his work as a composer. Get excited by listening to this preview, as Nathan describes a couple of the extended techniques he implements in his duo Kebyar Untai. 

Dr. Larry Alan Smith, "a young composer of great gifts," according to the New York Times, joins us this time to discuss his recent song cycle of Emily Dickinson poems, A Slash of Blue! A Sweep of Gray! Learn about what draws him to Dickinson's poetry and his life-long work as an arts administrator.

Don't forget to tune in on March 1st for the next episode of Contempora featuring composer Larry Alan Smith. He joins me over Skype to discuss his recent song cycle A Slash of Blue! A Sweep of Gray! Enjoy the preview below.

Kenneth Frazelle studied composition at the Juilliard School during the peak of high modernism. So how did his music develop into what the New York Times describes as a cross between Kurt Weill and Franz Schubert? And where did it pick up the influence of Appalachian folk music? This episode of Contempora will explore these questions, and much more, supplemented by Frazelle's recent and stunningly beautiful Songs in the Rear View Mirror.

Listen to the episode, and then enjoy this collection of his beautiful watercolor paintings.

Be sure to visit this page on February 1, 2013 to listen to the second episode of Contempora, featuring composer Kenneth Frazelle. Ken joins me to discuss his song cycle Songs from the Rear View Mirror. Below is a preview of the episode.

Eliza Brown's music has been described by Symphony Magazine as "Haunting, delicate and introspective." Eliza speaks about her inspirations and the compositional process for her work A Tune Refracted for harp and wind ensemble. Excerpts from a performance of the work are featured and one of the musicians who gave this performance, oboist Kevin Scott, speaks about the experience.

You can also listen to A Tune Refracted in its entirety below.