New Classical Music

Every once in a while, a critic or commentator will bemoan the passing of classical music.  Perhaps these people have never read Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise" and "Listen to This" or heard Nico Muhly on the radio or seen Gustavo Dudamel conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  If "dead" is based on market share, you can throw those figures out the window. With the advent of the Internet, more people are exposed to different types of music all the time.

Thanks to groups like the Kronos Quartet, SO Percussion, the Chiara String Quartet and people like Marin Alsop, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma and others, classical music is alive and well in concert halls, performance spaces and night clubs (yes, clubs where rock and jazz musicians play.)

Janus is 3 young musicians, Amanda Baker (flute, voice), Beth Meyers (viola, banjo, vocals) and Nuiko Wadden (harp, percussion), with a repertoire that ranges from Debussy to Toru Takemitsu to contemporary composers such as Caleb Burhans, Cameron Britt, Jason Treuting, Angelica Negron, Sophia Gubaidulina and others.  In existence since 2002, the trio's debut CD, "i am not" (New Amsterdam), was issued late last year.

Flutist Baker lives in New London, CT, and will be my guest this Sunday (1/30/11) at 11 a.m. on WMRD-AM 1150, Middletown, CT, and WLIS-AM 1420, Old Saybrook, CT. She's studied at Northwestern University and Yale University, performed with the Coast Guard Band and was principal flutist with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in Southern China. 

On the show, we'll talk about her training, the origin of Janus and how the group finds its music.  And, we'll listen to several tracks from the excellent recording.  If all goes according to plan, there will be an archived recording of the show - the site is in the works.

In the meantime, here's Janus performing Burhans' "Keymaster."