On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: Four soloists stand where one normally would in Jennifer Higdon's Low Brass Concerto, a work written as a portrait of the Chicago Symphony's legendary low brass section — their majesty, grace, and power. The piece alternates slow and fast sections, moving between solos, duets, and chorales. No special effects, just the challenge of the moving line. Then: The soul of the gamelan was said to live in the lowest gong, used to

On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: Strength doesn't always announce itself through force. In For Edna, composer Leila Adu-Gilmore writes toward a quieter endurance – perseverance, openness, and the ability to remain connected in the face of strain. Dedicated to a close friend and activist, the piece honors resilience as something lived, sustained, and shared. Then: Memory doesn't arrive all at once – it surfaces in fragments, voices, and the spaces between

On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: History can move – not just through words, but through bodies in motion. In A Green Double, composer Anthony R. Green draws on Black history and classical tradition to create a dance suite where protest, reflection, and joy share the same ground. Then: Ideas take root slowly — shaped by care, knowledge, and adaptation – in the String Quartet 2.5 by George Lewis, titled Playing with Seeds. Here, the composer treats the stri

On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: Nobody Know by Adolphus Hailstork is a concert aria shaped by perspective – a "song from the other cross." Drawing on spirituals and biblical echoes, the music centers a voice that speaks in the language it has known, asking for recognition and redemption. Then: Imagine music moving with urgency – driven, physical, and full of sharp contrasts, as if tracing a landscape shaped by force and memory. That energy sits at the he

On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: In Morning Piece , composer Devonté Hynes writes with an uncommon sense of balance – music where, as one listener put it, one note more would be too much, and one less, too little. It’s a work shaped by stillness, patience, and close attention to sound itself. Then: the title alone suggests a place of suspension – stillness, depth, and light held in balance. In …amid still and floating depths , composer Jeffrey Mumford unf

On the next Living Classical with Tyler Kline : Breath is something we rarely notice – until we slow down enough to hear it. In Respiratory Cycle , composer Rob Funkhouser builds large-scale music around that simple motion, shaping sound as something that expands, releases, and returns, opening wide sonic spaces that reveal themselves gradually over time. This hour includes a moment from that cycle, Iris Field , inviting close, patient listening. Then: In portrait RE , compos