Living Classical with Tyler Kline for October 18-24, 2026

On this edition of Living Classical with Tyler Kline: Legend has it Muhammad Ali's 1960 Olympic gold medal ended up at the bottom of the Ohio River. Composer Valerie Coleman, who grew up in the same West Louisville neighborhood as Ali, turns that story into "Rome 1960: The Young Champion," a movement from her work Shotgun Houses.

Then: Greeting cards mark the big moments of a life: "A Baby Boy," "You've Had Twins!," "Sorry to Hear About Your Accident." Seán Clancy threads fifty-five of those phrases through the score of Fourteen Minutes of Music on the Subject of Greeting Cards, tracing one anonymous life from cradle to grave, with a piano circling a single pitch that stands in for the protagonist.

Along with pieces by Billy Childs, Sato Matsui, Dorothy Chang, Shuteen Erdenebaatar, Nico Muhly, Connor D'Netto, Carolina Heredia, Yi-Ting Lu, and Sarah Hennies.

Featuring performances by violinist Er-Gene Kahng; pianist Daniel Schreiner; saxophonist Susan Fancher with pianist Inara Zandmane; clarinetist Mariam Adam with Blair String Quartet; clarinetist Jason Noble; violinist James Lyon; bassoonist Ben Roidl-Ward; bass flutist Claire Chase with Constellation Choir; Arcis Saxophon Quartett; Aurora Orchestra; and Plus Minus Ensemble.

Join Tyler Kline for this edition of Living Classical – exploring the full spectrum of classical music being made today.

Hour 1

• Gigue from Four Portraits by Billy Childs

• Sato Matsui’s Oiseau lunaire

• Folksong from Dorothy Chang’s New Stories

• Rome 1960: The Young Champion from Shotgun Houses by Valerie Coleman

• Awakening and Sparkle from Shuteen Erdenebaatar’s Echoes of Life

• Nico Muhly’s Seeing is Believing

Hour 2

• Part 3 (through) from Some Kinda Way by Connor D’Netto

• Carolina Herdia’s Déjate Caer

• Fourteen Minutes on the Subject of Greeting Cards by Seán Clancy

• Yi-Ting Lu’s Taxidermy

• Reservoir 2 by Sarah Hennies