A Composer's Corner – Details, episodes & analysis

Philip Wesley, is an award-winning and best-selling solo piano artist. His compositions, which have featured prominently in radio, TV, and film, resonate with listeners worldwide and are easily accessible on platforms such as Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon. Wesley has achieved impressive chart-topping success, including reaching #1 on iTunes and multiple Billboard charts.

He started out as a guitar player and then gravitated to the piano when it was required in his musical training. Philip entered the world of Music Therapy and his album "Dark Night of the Soul" has touched the hearts of many deeply, helped them deal with tough times and depression. You will see some of that evidenced in this interview.

For more information, visit his website: www.philipwesley.com

You will find over 30 complete songs on the website. In addition, he has a blog with wonderful insight into the musical chords he uses and the composer's thoughts behind the construction of some of his pieces.

Didi Stewart is an associate professor in the Voice Department at Berklee College of Music. A two-time winner of the Boston Music Award for best female vocalist, Stewart has been a longtime fixture on the Boston music scene. Her first original rock band, Didi Stewart and the Amplifiers, recorded the album Begin Here for Kirshner/Epic Records in 1983. Her second band, Girls' Night Out, was one of the top-grossing acts in New England and was named best unsigned band by Musician magazine in 1986. Throughout the 1990s, Stewart was known her ongoing series of songwriter tributes, celebrating such composers as Laura Nyro, Carole King, Randy Newman, Jacques Brel, Rodgers & Hart, and Cole Porter. The critically acclaimed An Evening of Burt Bacharach and Hal David won a Boston Magazine award for best club performance. A prolific composer for film and television, Stewart's songs have been featured on Melrose Place, One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless, Touched by an Angel, Dark Skies, Any Day Now, The Twilight Zone, and The Beast. Her most recent album, the country-pop excursion Harmonyville, was released in 2006. We will be covering a wide range of her music including some very topical political satire. You can find out more about Didi here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063706440404

Phil Young composes music in various forms, including symphonic, chamber, electronic, vocal, and film. His ability fusing Chinese and western elements in his music enriches his originality. His music has been performed at music institutions and venues throughout the United States and all around the world including Shanghai, Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Barcelona, and England.

His music “Reverie” and “Reflection on a Tang Poem” have been published in exclusive anthologies of contemporary Chinese music. His composition for cello and piano “Consolation” (for all the people Suffering from the Pandemic) has been included in the KDFC Classical Music Station’s programing. “Fantasy for Orchestra”, “Lament”, “Suzhou River Fantasie”, “Sea Waves ” and “Fire Dance” have all received special recognition.

A graduate and a scholarship recipient of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Phil Young studied composition with professor Elinor Armer. Phil Young currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been involved with various local performing groups including as Music Director of the Chinese Performing Artists of America and Conductor of CPAA Youth Chamber Orchestra.

You find out more about him at https://philyoungmusic.com/

And you can find other interviews at https://www.acomposerscorner.com/

I interviewed David in Dec 2022. Born and raised in the small sylvan town of Mendham, New Jersey, David Tolk studied classical piano from an early age with his mother, Marilyn Tolk, who is a graduate of The Juilliard School. During his teenage years, David became more interested in learning to play the music of Rush, Journey, Van Halen, Kansas, Genesis, Yes, and other bands on the piano and his Korg synthesizers. He quickly discovered that he could play most songs on the radio by ear. He began composing peaceful instrumental piano music while still in high school.

David has released ten new age instrumental piano albums which have received national distribution and radio airplay. David's 2010 instrumental piano CD release, "David Tolk Christmas," peaked at #8 on the Billboard New Age Chart for the week of December 25, 2010. In February of 2022, David released his newest album, Blessings, which peaked as the #1 best-selling new-age album on Amazon shortly after its release. David's music has received more than 6005 million streams on Pandora His music has been featured on Public Radio programs including "Hearts of Space" and "Echoes." David has composed music for Warner/Chappell Production Music for licensing in film and commercials. David's music is available for purchase at www.davidtolk.com, iTunes, Amazon.com, and numerous other digital download sites. You can also listen to his music for free on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and many other streaming sites.

You can see more of him here: https://www.davidtolk.com/

And more of my interviews here:https://www.acomposerscorner.com/

David Nevue is an internationally recognized pianist, composer, and recording artist. David has released seventeen albums of his original piano works and arrangements, including two "Piano Album of the Year" winners; Overcome (2005) and Winding Down (2015). His latest album of new works, 2019's In the Soft Light of Grace, went to #1 on both the Amazon.com and iTunes music sales charts for his genre and entered the top 5 on Billboard's album charts. David's music has surpassed 1.8 Billion spins on Pandora Radio, a remarkable feat for an independent artist. A seasoned performer, David has shared the stage with some of the genre's most recognized names, including David Lanz, Wayne Gratz, Peter Kater, Suzanne Ciani, Chad Lawson, Michele McLaughlin and seventy other pianists. David’s music can be heard virtually anywhere you listen to music, including Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon Music, Alexa ("Alexa, play David Nevue"), YouTube, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Music Choice and Pandora Radio. You can find out much more on his website: https://www.davidnevue.com/about.htm which includes samples from ALL his CDs and full tracks on this page: https://www.davidnevue.com/listen.htm You can find more interviews like this at: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/video-interviews

Kevin Tracy was born and raised in Rhode Island and now lives in Connecticut. He has taught at many levels, from grade four up through “grade fourteen.” Mr. Tracy is a teacher, a conductor, and a composer of music in a variety of genres, including classical, jazz, funk, avant-garde, and heavy metal.

For those musicians out there, we will hear a piece that was composed in the Locrian Mode and also one using the Octatonic Scale. I heard one of his compositions recently played by the Windham Concert band on the Windham Green called “North Windham Overture”.

Kevin is a trombone player in the Willimantic Orchestra.

You can watch more interviews here:

https://www.acomposerscorner.com/video-interviews

Born and raised in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland, Áine Minogue is an award-winning harpist, singer, arranger and composer who has entertained Presidents and Prime Ministers, as well as traveled extensively to perform at concerts across the United States and around the world. At the age of 12, while at boarding school in County Galway, Áine discovered her true love - the harp. After completing school, she spent three years developing her incomparable talent as a harpist at Bunratty Castle, one of Ireland’s most treasured landmarks and the perfect setting to accentuate the harp's emotional and lyrical connections to Irish history. With a dozen solo album recordings to her credit, Áine has been nominated for several awards for her work as a record producer. Her recordings include Were You at the Rock, To Warm the Winter's Night, The Mysts of Time, Between the Worlds, Circle of the Sun, The Twilight Realm, Celtic Meditation Music, Celtic Pilgrimage, Celtic Lamentations, and Close Your Eyes, Love. She also has collaborated on a series of music videos with filmmaker Michael Yip entitled Winter, A Celtic Meditation. Áine’s music, in varying styles including Celtic, World, Folk, Spiritual and New Age, has appeared on compilations for industry labels such as BMG, Decca, Universal, Virgin Records, Windham Hill and Putumayo. Many of these albums have topped Billboard Magazine’s World, New Age and Classical Charts for months at a time. In addition, she has completed extensive soundtrack work for PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and MTV. She has a Master’s Degree in Traditional Irish Harp Performance from the University of Limerick, Ireland. Her music is on Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon. You can follow Áine on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. you can find more here: https://aineminogue.com/ and more interviews here: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/vide...

Marti Epstein (November 25, 1959) started studying composition in 1977 with Professor Robert Beadell at the University of Nebraska. She has degrees from the University of Colorado and Boston University, and her principal teachers were Cecil Effinger, Charles Eakin, Joyce Mekeel, Bunita Marcus, and Bernard Rands. Marti’s music has been performed all over the world by ensembles, which include the San Francisco Symphony, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Atlantic Brass Quintet, and Ensemble Modern. She is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music, where she has taught harmony, counterpoint, and composition since 1991, and is also on the faculty of Boston Conservatory. Marti is a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition. You can find out more about her here: https://martiepstein.com/ You can see more interviews here: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/vide...

Pianist and composer Charu Suri treads fearlessly between genres, pulling global influences that range from the mood-anchoring Indian ragas, Sufi music, to the trio. Her ground-breaking albums, The Book of Ragas, and its sequel, The Book of Ragas vol. 2 have often elicited the response, "I've never heard this type of sound before."

One of the few female composers from India to perform works at Carnegie Hall, Charu has lived in four continents, and writes music that reflects her journey as both a traveler and her training as a classical music piano prodigy. She has been playing the piano since the age of five, and performing since the age of nine, and one of her best memories is winning an international piano competition at the age of 15.

Her last album, RAGAS & WALTZES has received a lot of praise from critics and reviews in magazines like JAZZIA and All About Jazz. "The New American Songbook" has garnered many awards, including a "Band Single of the Year" crystal trophy for her song, Bluesy, awarded by the International Singer-Songwriters Association (ISSA) in 2021.

you can find out more about Charu at: https://www.charusuri.com/

and see more interviews at: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/video-interviews

Christine Elise is a rising star in the music industry, gaining recognition for her emotionally powerful lyrics and distinctive vocal style. Based in Massachusetts, Elise has swiftly captured the attention of music enthusiasts with her evocative songwriting and dynamic stage presence.

Christine Elise’s journey into music seems almost written in the stars. As the granddaughter of the illustrious Italian opera singer Luigi Vena, who performed for President John F. Kennedy, Christine was steeped in a legacy of musical excellence from an early age. Her artistic path has been shaped by the influences of legendary voices like Anne Murray, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey, guiding her to develop a distinctive vocal style that beautifully balances innocence with sultriness.

A prominent figure in the Boston music scene, Christine Elise has graced renowned venues such as the Custom House and captivated audiences at high-profile events, including the “Blood: Water Mission” fundraiser at The Montage in Beverly Hills, where she shared the stage with Robby Fontana. Her performances are celebrated for their emotional depth and intimacy, reflecting her deep-rooted connection to a wide array of musical genres.

Christine Elise’s music is characterized by its emotional depth and her ability to connect with audiences through poignant storytelling and inventive soundscapes. Her artistic vision continues to evolve, and she is quickly establishing herself as a notable emerging artist in the industry.

You can see more about her at : https://christineelise.com/

and more archived interviews at: https://www.acomposerscorner.com/video-interviews