Other Minds Podcast

Other Minds

The Other Minds Podcast features interviews with some of today's leading composers and performers of new and experimental music. The podcast is produced by Other Minds in San Francisco, which hosts concerts, a record label, a weekly radio program, an archive, and a yearly festival of contemporary music. Season 3 of the podcast features interviews hosted by Joseph Bohigian with a range of musicians and authors, including the composers featured on our 28th Festival, which will be held on September 25–28, 2024 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, California.

  1. 30 Jun

    42. Stephen Siek on Alexander Reinagle, Composing in Early America

    Pianist Stephen Siek served as a professor of music at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he taught piano, music history, American music, the aesthetics of music, and film music. He is currently Director of the Emeritus College Academy for Continued Learning at Arizona State University. He has performed and lectured at piano conferences for organizations such as the Historical Keyboard Society of America and the American Liszt Society. Siek is a specialist in the keyboard music of the Federalist Era American composer Alexander Reinagle. Reinagle was born in Edinburgh and immigrated to America in 1786, first briefly to New York before settling in Philadelphia and later Baltimore, where he died in 1809. He quickly became an important figure in the musical life of Philadelphia, where he performed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention and attracted the attention of George Washington. Siek will visit the Bay Area to perform the music of this little-known early American on Monday, July 20, 2026, the 240th anniversary of Reinagle’s first performance in the United States, at Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland. Siek joins the podcast to talk about the life and work of this underrecognized American composer. Music: Sonata in D I. Allegro con Brio, Sonata in E II. Adagio, Variations On "Steer Her Up And Had Her Gawn," Sonata in C II. Adagio, and Variations On "Lee Rigg" by Alexander Reinagle, performed by Stephen Siek (Titanic Records) pianosage.net Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. otherminds.org Contact us at otherminds@otherminds.org. The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).

    30 min
  2. 9 Jun

    41. Composers Inside Electronics on David Tudor

    Composers Inside Electronics is a group of composer/performers dedicated to the composition and live collaborative performance of electronic and electro-acoustic music. The group was formed in 1973 with David Tudor and is known for its pioneering use of original live electronics, including custom-built software instruments, resonant sculptural instruments, rotating and focused loudspeaker systems, and ultrasonic instruments. On June 26 and 27, 2026, Composers Inside Electronic (John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, Michael Johnsen, John Bischoff, Paul DeMarinis, and James Fei) will perform music by David Tudor for his centenary with Other Minds and Mills Performing Arts at Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California. They joined us on the podcast to talk about working with Tudor in the 1970s, the importance of feedback in Tudor’s music, and the challenges of performing his work today on recreations of the original instruments. Music: Untitled by David Tudor, performed by Michael Johnsen; Forest Speech by David Tudor, performed by Composers Inside Electronics; Pulsers by David Tudor, performed by Michael Johnsen; Microphone by David Tudor, performed by Composers Inside Electronics; Speaking in Tongues by John Driscoll, performed by Composers Inside Electronics composers-inside-electronics.net Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. otherminds.org Contact us at otherminds@otherminds.org. The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).

    42 min
  3. 31 Mar

    40. David Rothenberg, Eleven Paths to Animal Music

    David Rothenberg is a composer, clarinetist, philosopher, and author of several books on animal songs, including Why Birds Sing, which was turned into a documentary by the BBC in 2006. He has more than forty albums under his own name, and has worked with scientists to decode the mockingbird’s song and written stories on cicada music for the New York Times and whale music for National Geographic. Rothenberg will travel to the Bay Area to talk about playing music with animals at Other Minds’s The Nature of Music series on April 16, 2026 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. Rothenberg will also give the West Coast premiere of his work Eleven Paths to Animal Music, which features recordings of natural environments from his travels. On the podcast, we talked about what animal song tells us about animal cultures, which animals are the most musical, and making field recordings for his piece Eleven Paths to Animal Music. Music: Sharawji Blues by David Rothenberg, performed by David Rothenberg (Terra Nova); Dreaming Slow by David Rothenberg, performed by David Rothenberg and Lembe Lokk (Terra Nova); On the Journey That Must Be by David Rothenberg, performed by David Rothenberg (Terra Nova); Magicicada Warm Springs by David Rothenberg, performed by David Rothenberg (Gruenrekorder/Terra Nova) Follow David on Instagram. davidrothenberg.wordpress.com Listen to David Rothenberg’s Soundwalker podcast. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. otherminds.org Contact us at otherminds@otherminds.org. The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).

    25 min
  4. 30/12/2025

    39. Amy Williams, Morton Feldman at 100

    The “fresh, daring and incisive” (Fanfare) compositions of Amy Williams have been presented by leading international performers, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JACK Quartet, Bent Frequency, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Wet Ink, International Contemporary Ensemble, Junction Trio, Orpheus, pianist Ursula Oppens, soprano Tony Arnold, and bassist Robert Black. As a member of the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, she has performed throughout Europe and the Americas and recorded six critically-acclaimed CDs for Wergo (works of Nancarrow, Stravinsky, Varèse/Feldman and Kurtág), as well as appearing on the Neos and Albany labels. She is a Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh and Artistic Director of the New Music On The Point Festival in Vermont. On January 8, 2026, Williams will perform Morton Feldman’s Triadic Memories for Other Minds at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California. She joins us to talk about her early impressions of Feldman in Buffalo, New York, his influence on 20th century music, and her upcoming performance in Oakland. Music: Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman, performed by Amy Williams (Alan Wonneberger, engineer); Piece for Four Pianos by Morton Feldman, performed by the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo (WERGO); Piano and String Quartet by Morton Feldman, performed by Amy Williams and the JACK Quartet (live at Black Mountain College) Follow Amy Williams on Instagram. amywilliamsmusic.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. otherminds.org Contact us at otherminds@otherminds.org. The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).

    26 min

About

The Other Minds Podcast features interviews with some of today's leading composers and performers of new and experimental music. The podcast is produced by Other Minds in San Francisco, which hosts concerts, a record label, a weekly radio program, an archive, and a yearly festival of contemporary music. Season 3 of the podcast features interviews hosted by Joseph Bohigian with a range of musicians and authors, including the composers featured on our 28th Festival, which will be held on September 25–28, 2024 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, California.

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