FutureStops

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

In this episode, Blake sits down with Hampus Lindwall, the organist at Église-du-Saint Esprit in Paris. Known as an improviser, performer, and emerging techno artist, Lindwall is well versed on the Pipe Organ of new and old. Hear about his journey through music and religion! His website is http://www.hampuslindwall.com/ Also, don't forget to check out our Patreon @ www.patreon.com/futurestops

In Episode 33, we speak with 3 different guests. First, we speak with Robert Curgenven about his project Beyond Enclosures. Then Tea Kulas comes on to discuss the Zadar Sea Organ and her organ festival. Finally we wrap up with Tauba Auerbach and Cameron Mesirow on their project: the Auerglass. Beyond Enclosures: https://robertcurgenven.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-enclosures-3-album-set the Zadar Sea Organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n86pF-wQKrw Don't forget to check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/futurestops

In this episode, we discuss the music of the late Iannis Xenakis, a widely performed 20th century composer who’s 100th birthday was just celebrated in Paris with an exhibition and multiple concerts. Xenakis, whose experimental use of mathematics and architecture in composing music anticipated so much of the 21st century and whose musical scores can be baffling to even the most seasoned interpreter wrote a work for pipe organ that still to this day, stretches the capabilities of the performer and the organ itself. We first sit down with organist Suanne Kujala was chosen to perform this work at the recent celebrations in Paris. This notoriously difficult piece by Xenakis continues to challenge countless performers around the world since its publication in 1974. Our second guest, Eun-Joo Ju is an organist at Presbyterian Home, and Kenilworth Union Church in Illinois; her keen interest in this work, led to her choosing it as the subject for her thesis studies You can check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/futurestops

For episode three of our Canadian Organ Builders series, we visit the workshop of Orgues Letourneau. The Orgues Letourneau workshop is a pipe organ factory housed in a former water treatment plant in sleepy Ste.-Hyacunthe, Quebec. Fernand Letourneau started the company in 1979 by building a six-rank pipe organ in his basement, and from those humble beginnings the company has built an international reputation for their distinctive sound and artistry. We speak with Andrew Forrest, who is the Vice President and Artistic Director at Letourneau and plays a key role in the balancing act between old world tradition and new world technology.

Hermann Nitsch is an Austrian avant-garde artist who works in experimental and multimedia modes. We speak to two experts in his craft, Ludwig Lusser & Leopoldo Siano, about Nitsch's music, process, and successes.

Today we speak with documentary filmmaker James Dawson and organ restorer Martin Renshaw about their work on the documentary Organ Stops. You can check out the full doc here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/organstops Organ Stops Synopsis: Martin has spent his life playing and building pipe organs; nowadays he dedicates all his time to rescuing them – "It’s a real crisis. There are around fifty churches closing every year and half the organs in them are worth saving." Beautifully made and historically important pipe organs are being scrapped in their hundreds. Once the centre of British culture pipe organs are now largely neglected and unloved. Often just one step ahead of the bulldozers, Martin and a small band of organ "anoraks", travel the country on rescue missions. In one ex-mining village in the north of England he discovers a fine very rare nineteenth century organ who’s salvage and "rebirth" becomes the redemptive story at the heart of the film. It's eventually adopted and given a new lease on life in a vibrant, largely Afro-Caribbean congregation in London.

For episode two of our Canadian Organ Builders series, we visit the workshop of Juget-Sinclair. They run the organbuilders workshop in an unassuming factory on historic Mill Street in Montreal, Canada. In this episode, they talk about how the factory is laid out, how 21st century technology is changing their job, and what they have planned for the future.

Adrian Foster is back at Montreal’s Sacre Coeur de Jésus Church for season two. In this episode we discuss Foster's use of the pipe organ to create both electronic and acoustic music, as well as feature his piece Manifesting Light recorded in November 2021Sacre Coeur de Jésus

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.

Born in Brooklyn in 1947, Charlemagne Palestine is a multidisciplinary artist who has been exploring the sonic potential of the pipe organ since the 1970s. Join us as host Blake Hargreaves speaks with Charlemagne about his fascinating life and career. Special thanks to Nathan Cook at Close-Far Records for providing music from a very rare early recording of Charlemagne for this episode!

Orgelpark is an organ-centric performance space and research lab in Amsterdam that is home to 6 (!) permanently installed pipe organs. Join us for our conversation with with Orgelpark's Artistic Assistant Trevor Grahl and composer Eric de Clercq to learn more about the past, present and future of this performance space and what makes it so unique.