University Professor Augusta Read Thomas and Percussion Director John Corkill are featured in a new 6-episode podcast launching April 13.
Mission: Commission is a free weekly podcast that invites listeners behind the scenes to hear how classical music gets made. Follow the creative journey of three composers (Augusta Read Thomas, Marcos Balter, and Courtney Bryan) who have been given six weeks to create a newly commissioned piece of music.
Mission: Commission is a production of Miller Theatre at Columbia University.
In fall 2020, Miller Theatre invited Thomas, Balter, and Bryan—three fascinatingly different composers stylistically—to each write a new piece of music in six weeks, checking in with podcast host Melissa Smey (Miller’s Executive Director) weekly to discuss their unique processes along the way. Like an audio diary, listeners will get a rare inside look as an artist creates—from the blank page, to inspiration, risk-taking and hard work, to the finished product. The result is a dialogue about music creation that ventures into joy, frustration, and humor—and just being a human during a global pandemic. Recordings of the final pieces will be shared at the conclusion of the podcast on May 18.
Augusta Read Thomas writes a new work for the Department of Music's Percussion Ensemble Director and member of the CCCC's Grossman Ensemble, John Corkill.
Visit MissionCommissionPodcast.com for more details.