FutureStops – Details, episodes & analysis

In the final episode of Season 2 (time flies!), we share clips of 5 artists who will be performing at the 2022 FutureStops Festival in September. 

Don't forget to check out our Patreon @ www.patreon.com/futurestops

In our penultimate episode of Season 2, Blake sits down with Kit Downes, a phenomenal composer, pianist and organ player, as well as ECM records recording artist, and winner of a BBC Jazz award.

His website: https://www.kitdownes.com/

Also, don't forget to check out our Patreon @ www.patreon.com/futurestops

Raven Chacon, an artist with experience in chamber music & caustic noise performance, releases his first composed work for organ & ensemble "Voiceless Mass". Listen to this Indigenous American's first experience performing with the pipe organ as well as his history as a musician and his work with the organization, The Native Americans Apprenticeship Program.

Welcome to the third installment of Organ+, a segment of the podcast where we profile artists and performers expanding existing contexts for the organ and creating new ones. Our guests in this episode are:

Thomas Mellan, a composer and the newly minted organist at St Cecilia's Church in Boston, MA. His latest project breaks the mold of what we expect from a congregational player and connects back to his love of the electric guitar.

FUJI​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​|​TA, a performer who accompanies his voice with a keyboardless pipe organ which he built and designed himself.

John Kameel Farah, an artist who blends different keyboard instruments, genres, eras and cultures within live musical experiences, offering challenges and insights into the spaces where they take place.

Sandra Boss is a composer and sound artist based in Denmark. She is also the creator of the Automatic Organ, an instrument of her own design with a modern midi keyboard controlling old, hand-picked organ pipes that would have otherwise been thrown out. Join us here for an interview with Sandra about the inspiration behind creating the Automatic Organ, and the creative ideas that drive her compositions and performances.

Ellen Arkbro is a Swedish composer whose search for authenticity in her musical practice led her to the pipe organ. Join us here for an interview with Arkbro about her creative approach to the organ and her abundant musical creativity. Listen to this episode's feature track, 'CHORDS for organ', here: https://ellenarkbro.bandcamp.com/track/chords-for-organ.

Razen is a Belgian improvisational group that creates music informed by early music, the unique acoustics of sacred spaces and a deep sense of ritual and connection. The group's core members, Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour, have been involved in this project for more than ten years and they join us here for an interview about their creative process, the importance of acoustics and how they incorporate the pipe organ's complex historical context into their sound. Listen to the full album Ayîk Adhîsta, Adhîsta Ayîk here!

Amina Claudine Myers is an, Organist, Pianst, Vocalist, Composer, Master Improvisationalist, Actress and Educator. She joins us here for an interview about her incredible life as a musician, and her yet-to-be-released Improvisational Suite, featuring the pipe organ. Amina's music gives us a glimpse into what’s possible when a pipe organ is wielded by someone with a wide range of influences, and an unbridled, wild creativity.

Roger Sayer never anticipated that his organ playing would be heard by millions as part of the soundtrack to a blockbuster sci-fi film, but that's exactly what happened after composer Hans Zimmer decided to record the epic score to 2014's Interstellar on the organ at London's Temple Church.

Sayer is the organist and Director of Music at Temple Church, and he joins us here for an interview about how he became an organist, what it was like to record for a blockbuster film score and why the organ is the perfect instrument for a film about time, love and outer space.

Welcome to the second season of FutureStops! We’re very excited to be back bringing you more of the sounds and stories of the 21st century organ experience. This season begins with the first in a series of episodes exploring the rich history of organ building in Canada. Our first stop is at the legendary house of Casavant in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, where we spoke to Dany Wiseman, Sébastien Kardos and Simon Couture about their experiences in the complex and fascinating world of organ building.