The Relache Chronicles

The Relache Chronicles Team
  • 4.8 (6)
  • MUSIC
  • UPDATED DAILY

THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is a podcast about musicians residing in what we call “the Margins of American Music.” In these 30-to-45-minute episodes, we’ll play recordings – primarily by The Relache Ensemble from Philadelphia - of complete musical works plus commentary by composers, performers, and others with insight to the music. Throughout the podcast, we’ll discuss the guest composers’ processes, how they utilized current and past technologies and how the acoustical properties of a given space informed the creation and performance of a musical work. Finally, we will discuss how the composers’ relationship with the musicians brought the music to life. Episodes feature music by John Cage, Robert Ashley, Joe Kasinskas, Pauline Oliveros, Guy Klucevsek, Eve Beglarian, Fred Ho, Phill Niblock, Romulus Franceschini, Bill Duckworth, Lois v Vierk, and an overview of the New Music America Festival 1987 - Philadelphia, and the expansive residency/performance project named Music in Motion. THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is produced, directed, and edited, by Arthur Stidfole with Joseph Franklin, Joe Kasinskas, and Arthur Sabatini. Throughout their careers, they have been performing musicians, composers, executive and artistic directors, university teachers, radio hosts and authors, dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

  1. APR 23

    Episode Twenty-Eight - Comin' On Home: A Concert For Guy

    On February 25, 2026 “Comin’ On Home – A Concert for Guy” was held at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY. On the day before what would have been his 79th birthday, the concert celebrated the life and music of accordionist, composer and performer, Guy Klucevsek who passed away on May 22, 2025.  Guy was well known to international audiences for his exquisite playing.  His compositions for solo accordion number in the hundreds. He performed and recorded numerous works by other composers that were commissioned specially for him. He was a sideman or leader of numerous ensembles in the United States and Europe. He created pieces for ensembles such as Relache and Little Big Top (both of them are featured in this episode). His quartet Accordion Tribe toured Europe and became the subject of a documentary film. You can see a complete listing of his compositions, solo performances and collaborations with artists worldwide on his website .   Three earlier episodes of The Relache Chronicles are dedicated to Guy’s music. Episodes 4 and 10 feature conversations with him and the team as well as recordings of his music. Episode twenty-three is a personal tribute to Guy by the Relache Chronicles producing team, all close personal friends. To those episodes, we add Episode Twenty-Eight.  “Comin’ On Home – A Concert for Guy” featured thirty-one works played by eight soloists and twenty-four ensemble players who were friends and collaborators of Guy’s. From those thirty-one works, we have selected eight to play on this episode. They are performed by The Relache Ensemble, Little Big Top Ensemble, accordionists Nathan Koci, Alex Meixner and Will Holshauser, violinists, Andie Tanning and Todd Reynolds, pianist Joe Kubera, and singer Kamala Sankaram.  We have included links to the complete audio and video recording of Comin' On Home - A Concert for Guy and the 28-page program booklet (with program notes on each piece in the concert order.)  The complete audio and video recordings of the concert can be found on the Roulette website HERE. You can download the program booklet HERE.

    59 min

  2. MAR 12

    Episode Twenty-Seven - The Walkings

    Created, written and performed by Arthur Sabatini, The Walkings are literary and poetic musings and commentaries set to music of William Duckworth’s “The Time Curve Preludes,” played by pianist Neely Bruce from a recording on the Lovely Music label. (Episode Twelve of The Relache Chronicles features Bill’s music plus commentary from the Relache Chronicles Team, who were all friends of Bill’s.) Arthur’s personal and professional association with Bill Duckworth and his wife, media artist, Nora Farrel is explained by Arthur as he charts a mythical path through time as “The Chronicler,” the name he adopted as a member of The Cathedral Band. (Cathedral, the iPod Opera and iOrpheus were creations of Bill and Nora in collaboration with a group of artists.) This episode consists of thirteen preludes from The Walkings. Click HERE for a full recorded performance of all twenty-four preludes. Although different from Arthur’s collaborations with Bill, Nora and The Cathedral Band, The Walkings represent a tribute to their artistic legacies. It is beautifully performed by Arthur and Neely Bruce. The Walkings is somewhat of a departure from the format of earlier episodes, but true to the intent of The Relache Chronicles, it honors the music and related projects created and performed by members of Relache’s extended family.

    51 min

  3. 11/14/2025

    Episode Twenty-Six - Joe Kasinskas

    Composer Joe Kasinskas moved to the Philadelphia area when the Relache Ensemble was still in a formative stage of defining itself as a performing  entity. Its mission was, of course, performing new music within the experimental music traditions. In those days, the ensemble  tossed a wide net, hoping to snare young composers with visions of how to incorporate evolving performative styles and emerging electronic and computer technologies in a compelling  manner that would appeal to a new, inquisitive audience. Joe’s timing was impeccable. He  envisioned musical works that used analog audio-acoustic systems to enhance, alter and extend the sounds generated by traditional musical instruments. He often used mythological stories as vehicles within which to set his musical creations. That is the focus on this episode of the Relache Chronicles. Two works will be featured that were incorporated into a musical theater  piece titled “Demeter’s Lament.” The first, titled “Vesperal Span” for solo flute  features an analog delay technique that produces an aural illusion of sound moving in space. The second work, titled “Flight of Birds”  for solo violin uses an analog delay to create an environmental echo suggesting a group of birds talking flight, an illusory image emanating from the violin. Each work was intended to serve as a concert performance piece as well as a part of “Demeter’s Lament.”

    39 min

  4. 10/05/2025

    Episode Number Five - Eve Beglarian

    Three works by composer and media artist Eve Beglarian titled “Fresh Air,” “Machaut in the Machine Age,” and “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” performed by the Relache Ensemble and the MATA Ensemble are featured. Throughout her extensive composing career, Eve has collaborated with numerous performers - poets, theater artists and directors, choreographers, and visual artists – to create works in a variety of media, including her long-term project named Book of Days. Listen as Eve and the podcast team discuss her career and how each of the works performed were created. Duration is 49’30.”

    47 min

  5. 09/23/2025

    Episode Twenty-Five "Bertolt Brecht and Song"

    Bertolt Brecht, playwright, director, poet and provocateur, was a dynamic figure throughout his life, whether it be in his native Germany or during his residence in the United States.  Best known for collaborating with composer Kurt Weill to create a unique style of music and theater in the early years of the 20th century, Brecht also collaborated with other composers, principally Hanns Eisler with whom he shared a distinct political perspective. Both Brecht and Eisler resided in Los Angeles with other European artists and intellectuals, after fleeing their respective homes prior to and during WWII. During those years in Los Angeles and upon their return to what became East Germany following the war, they collaborated on a collection of songs as Brecht continued to write poetry and plays. Their collaboration is the focus of Episode Twenty-Five. In the early 1980’s members of the Relache Ensemble – and friends – developed a music theater work that celebrated Brecht and Eisler’s songs and poetry. The title of the piece is “Bertolt Brecht and Song.” Part One of the work features songs by Brecht-Weill sung by Relache’s featured vocalist, Barbara Noska accompanied by the late accordionist-composer, Guy Klucevsek. Part Two features songs by Eisler-Brecht and poetry by Brecht performed by Barbara Noska, actor Christopher Hayes and guitarist Joe Kasinskas. “Bertolt Brecht and Song” premiered at the Yellow Springs Institute in Pennsylvania. This is the performance that is featured on Episode Twenty-Five of The Relache Chronicles.

    52 min

  6. 08/20/2025

    Episode Number Three - Pauline Oliveros "The Well"

    This is a major work by the pioneering composer, sound artist and activist, Pauline Oliveros. Created in collaboration with dancer-choreographer, Deborah Hay, and the Relache Ensemble while in residence at the Yellow Springs Institute for the Arts and Humanities in Chester Springs, PA, “The Well” has been performed throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South America by Relache and recorded on Hat Hut Records. The podcast team discusses how “The Well” was developed and shaped in collaboration with Pauline and Deborah, with assistance from Guy Klucevsek, who was an original member of the Relache Ensemble. Duration is 34’34.”

    34 min

  7. 08/19/2025

    Episode Two - Joe Kasinskas "Echoes in Palindromes"

    Episode No. 2 Joe Kasinskas.  One of the more dynamic works in the Relache Ensemble’s extensive catalogue of site-specific performances is titled “Echoes in Palindromes” by composer Joe Kasinskas. Following a carefully scripted graphic score, four performers move throughout a performance space playing notated musical palindromes amidst reverberant echoes, the result of audio-playback procedures while two “microphonists” follow their movements in search of the resonant frequency of the room. Part dance, part ritual, part dream, this work is an intuitive leap toward sonic truth. Duration is 33’10.”

    33 min

  8. 07/14/2025

    Episode Twenty Four - IN C - Terry Riley

    Episode Twenty- Four – IN C by Terry Riley  Of all the musical  works that the Relache Ensemble played during its long history none is more memorable than IN C by Terry Riley. Arguably, IN C is one of the most important musical works of the mid-twentieth century. This episode – Episode twenty-four – will explore the impact that IN C had on the artistic evolution of the Relache Ensemble. Throughout, the Relache Chronicles team explained how each of them listened to and was enriched by live performances they heard of IN C by the Relache Ensemble. The recording you will hear is from 1983. Is it a vintage recording of IN C? It’s difficult to tell since there were over thirty performances by Relache throughout  its history. But given the time and place of this performance/recording, it served as a turning point of sorts for the Relache Ensemble. We hope the listener agrees.

    48 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is a podcast about musicians residing in what we call “the Margins of American Music.” In these 30-to-45-minute episodes, we’ll play recordings – primarily by The Relache Ensemble from Philadelphia - of complete musical works plus commentary by composers, performers, and others with insight to the music. Throughout the podcast, we’ll discuss the guest composers’ processes, how they utilized current and past technologies and how the acoustical properties of a given space informed the creation and performance of a musical work. Finally, we will discuss how the composers’ relationship with the musicians brought the music to life. Episodes feature music by John Cage, Robert Ashley, Joe Kasinskas, Pauline Oliveros, Guy Klucevsek, Eve Beglarian, Fred Ho, Phill Niblock, Romulus Franceschini, Bill Duckworth, Lois v Vierk, and an overview of the New Music America Festival 1987 - Philadelphia, and the expansive residency/performance project named Music in Motion. THE RELACHE CHRONICLES is produced, directed, and edited, by Arthur Stidfole with Joseph Franklin, Joe Kasinskas, and Arthur Sabatini. Throughout their careers, they have been performing musicians, composers, executive and artistic directors, university teachers, radio hosts and authors, dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Information

  • Creator
    The Relache Chronicles Team
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Relache Chronicles
  • Show Website
    The Relache Chronicles

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