Shows
Modern NotebookModern Notebook for August 4, 2025On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: In Listen to the Earth, James Grant takes us aboard Apollo 11 — from liftoff, through orbit, all the way to the lunar surface. Drawing from NASA transcripts, environmental texts, and his own poetic reflections, Grant’s music becomes a call to witness our planet’s beauty from space — and to care for it with everything we’ve got.Then: Inspired by a Mark Rothko painting, Anna Clyne’s Color Field imagines sound as color and color as sound — with musical movements tied to yellow, red, and orange. Each section draws from synesthes...2025-08-041h 58
Follow Your Dream - Music And Much More!Shawn Okpebholo - Grammy Nominated Nigerian-American Classical Composer. Combines Classical Training With His African Heritage. Commissions Include Chicago Symphony And US Air Force!Shawn Okpebholo is a Grammy Nominated Nigerian-American classical composer. He combines his classical training with his African roots. His music has been described as “devastatingly beautiful” and “fresh, new and fearless”. He was named 2024 Chicagoan Of The Year in classical music. He’s won numerous awards. His music has involved themes of Negro Spirituals and stories of enslaved resistance and resilience. He’s had commissions from the Chicago Symphony, the United States Air Force and others. His songs have been performed by the Los Angeles, Fort Worth, Portland and Des Moines Operas. And he’s conducted Master Classes in Nigeria. 2025-07-0735 min
TRILLOQUYOpus 252 - "Songs in Flight" (feat. Shawn E. Okpebholo)Loki chats with composer Shawn E. Okpebholo about the idea of "music for music's sake", the importance he puts on responding to calls for social justice, and his latest release, "Songs in Flight". Loki compares backlash against Beyoncé's Grammy wins to society's general aversion to musical evolution and change. Support for TRILLOQUY comes from FeedSpot!Theme music by Soggy BeatsShawn E. OkpebholoSongs in FlightSongs in Flight Live from the Met MuseumBeyoncé Backlash
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2025-02-061h 07
The Founders ShowGaetz Drops Out, Louisiana Tax Reform, Opera Cook-OffHy and Christopher weigh in on Matt Gaetz withdrawing his nomination to become U.S. Attorney General, mostly due to a choice that Mike Johnson allowed his backbenchers to make happen. Knowing that likely they were not enough votes in the U.S. Senate to confirm Gaetz as AG, President-elect Donald Trump had pushed Johnson to put the U.S. House in recess. The Senate was poised to enter recess for a few days as well, and absent Congress-in-session, Trump could appoint Gaetz into the AG position for up to two years without need of confirmation. Instead...2024-11-2254 min
Art ThrobNo. 30: Shawn Okpebholo - Composer in Residence, Lexington PhilharmonicShawn Okpebholo was born in Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of Tates Creek High School. He earned his doctoral degree in composition from the University of Cincinnati's Celloge-Conservatory of Music. Currently he serves as the Jonathan Blanchard Distinguished Professor of Composition at Wheaton College-Conservatory of Music and the Saykaly-Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence with the Lexington Philharmonic. Two Black Churches is a song set in two movements for baritone soloist and orchestra. Originally composed for voice and piano, featuring baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sanche, this orchestration was co-commissioned by the Lexington Philharmonic during Shawn E. Okpebholo's tenure as t...2024-05-2820 min
Sunday Baroque ConversationsSunday Baroque Conversations 117: Shawn OkpebholoAward-winning musician Shawn Okpebholo earned his degrees at the prestigious University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. But he credits his start in music to The Salvation Army church, where he received free music lessons as a child, and to his mother's tenacious support. The breadth of Dr. Okpebholo's work is extraordinary: chamber works, art songs and choral music, opera, orchestral music and concertos, and music for wind and brass band, as well as some jazz, film music, and pop. He is in demand as a composer for commissions from top-tier ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, United States Air Force...2024-02-0727 minSunday Baroque ConversationsSunday Baroque Conversations 113: Brandon Patrick George 2023Grammy-nominated flutist Brandon Patrick George is a member of Imani Winds and has appeared as a soloist with soloist with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Albany symphonies, American Composers Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, among others. He's also on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music. Suzanne spoke with Brandon Patrick George about his debut 2020 solo recording, and welcomed him back in Fall 2023 to talk about his second solo recording, TWOFOLD, which pairs solo flute works by composers such as C.P.E. Bach, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Claude Debussy with new works by composers including Reena Esmail, S...2023-12-0527 min
OJAICast2. Composing Across BoundariesOur second episode takes a look at the idea of composing across boundaries with festival composers Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Carlos Simon.
Shawn Okpebholo
Ojai Virtual Talks: Lei Liang and Steve Schick
Niloufar Noubakhsh and IFCA
Carlos Simon, Requiem for the Enslaved
Bill Traylor
Emily Praetorius, host and producer
Louis Ng, recording engineer
OJAICast theme by Thomas Kotcheff and Louis Weeks
Music Excerpts in this Episode:
mi sueño: afro-flamenco - Shawn Okpebholo, performed by Clare Longendyke
The Willows are New - Chou Wen-Chung, pe...2023-05-2455 min
Song CycleThe One with Shawn OkpebholoThe wholesome content you've been waiting for is finally here. Meet legendary composer and CSI Advisory Council member Shawn Okpebholo, who not only writes some of the most searing and poignant vocal music of today, but also keeps it 100% real by never losing sight of the ones who helped him get where he is today and paying it forward by nurturing current relationships to the fullest.Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.2023-04-2745 min
TRILLOQUYOpus 174 - "Putting On A Good Show"This week Garrett and Scott highlight the power of inter-disciplinary blending and collaboration and the benefits therein with the help of an HBCU band inspired article by Katie Brown and a profile on cellist and "clown" Karen Hall. The guys highlight compositions by James Lee III, Shawn Okpebholo, Ludwig Göransson, and many others. Composer Elijah Daniel Smith returns to the third movement to talk more about life as an emerging composer, as well as the importance of respecting the diversity of Blackness and artistically being true to oneself.
Support for TRILLOQUY comes from Schubert Club!
Playlist:
Blood Orange - "B...2022-11-161h 50
Relevant TonesShawn E. OkpebholoShawn E. Okpebholo is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning composer whose music has been described as “devastatingly beautiful” and “fresh and new and fearless” (The Washington Post), “affecting” (The New York Times), “searing” (The Chicago Tribune), “staggering” (The New Yorker), “lyrical, complex, singular” (The Guardian), and “powerful” (BBC Music Magazine).
Host Stephen Rawson talks with him and features a wide range of his music.2022-09-121h 04
Classically Black PodcastAlbum Coming Soon | Episode 196IN THIS EPISODE
Donate to ISBM! https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/international-society-of-black-musicians
Check out our website: https://www.isblackmusicians.com
https://afroclassicalcomposers.org
https://thefso.org/auditions
Black Excellence: Shawn Okpebholo
http://www.shawnokpebholo.com/bio
Piece of the week: Starburst - Jessie Montgomery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcxDk92QIcY2022-09-121h 22
Classical PostReframing Classical Music's History: Gillian Friedman Fox and Shawn Okpebholo on the 2022 Newport Classical Festival and Enriching a Legacy of Black Composers in AmericaHow does a storied summer music festival thrive in the 21st century? Especially one located in a town best known for its 19th-century gilded glamor and magnificent mansions?
For Newport Classical's executive director, Gillian Friedman Fox, it's all about finding ways to respect history and tradition while forging new paths for access and inclusion. "For Newport Classical, people are looking for a classical music and arts experience that you just can't find anywhere else," Friedman Fox says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"On one hand, [Newport's] charm and glamor is a...2022-06-3026 min
The Humanities PodHistory wrapped up in song: “Singing Freedom” with Tsitsi Jaji, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Ed BaptistHistory wrapped up in song: “Singing Freedom” with Tsitsi Jaji, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Ed Baptist.
Soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, poet and associate professor of English at Duke Tsitsi Jaji, and Cornell professor of history Ed Baptist, talk with Annette about ’Singing Freedom,’ a multi-layered collaboration with leading Black American composers and performers to create musical responses to materials in the Freedom on the Move archive. They talk about how music might give voice to those self-liberators and their stories, exploring ways the creative arts might grapple with racism in the past and present across literary and musical...2022-06-2241 min
Captain's Corner Podcast ArchivesShawn Okpebholo2021-10-2757 min
NOVA Chamber Music SeriesOkpebholo, Loggins-Hull, Hailstork, and BachThis concert is also available in a video version at https://youtu.be/BHby05dKf9kJeff Counts hosts a full-length concert of music by your favorite NOVA musicians. Jason Hardink and Caitlyn Valovick Moore perform works by three great American composers. Then six violists and cellists each take on a movement of Bach’s famous Third Suite for Solo Cello.CONCERT PROGRAMWelcome and Okpebholo Introduction (00:16)Jeff Counts | hostSHAWN OKPEBHOLO: ψαλμοὶ καὶ ὕμνοι καὶ ᾠδαὶ πνευματικαί (psalmoi kai ymnoi kai odai pnevmatikai / psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs)I. Ede Ede (Nigeria): an ostinato (01:00)II. Bringing in the Sheaves (USA): a var...2021-05-0352 min
NOVA Chamber Music Seriespsalms, hymns, and spiritual songsWhen Jason Hardink discovered Shawn Okpebholo’s music on Facebook, he knew he had to perform something by this incredible composer. But as he began learning ψαλμοὶ καὶ ὕμνοι καὶ ᾠδαὶ πνευματικαί ("psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs"), he struggled with whether it was appropriate for him, as a white pianist, to be performing a piece rooted deeply in the musical and religious traditions of Nigeria, African American culture, and Papua New Guinea.Jeff Counts speaks with Jason about the responsibility performers have to examine their own repertoire choices and present works from diverse voices in a way which respects their origins while bringing them to new audiences.This episo...2021-04-1914 min
Belonging & BecomingAsbury President Dr. Kevin Brown interviews ’03 graduate Dr. Shawn OkpebholoA liberal arts education means students get much more than a major. In today’s conversation with Asbury President Dr. Kevin Brown, Dr. Shawn Okpebholo from the class of ’03 shares his love for music, unity, and the liberal arts. Dr. Okpebholo is an award-winning composer whose work has taken him to Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and […]2021-02-1927 min
Cedille RecordsEpisode 41 - Will Liverman / Dreams of a New DayOn this episode of Classical Chicago, Cedille President Jim Ginsburg joins Chicago baritone Will Liverman in conversation about his upcoming album Dreams of a New Day — Songs by Black Composers.
Liverman's full-album Cedille debut showcases the tradition of African American art song and features a world-premiere by composer Shawn E. Okpebholo.
https://www.cedillerecords.org/albums/dreams-of-a-new-day-songs-by-black-composers/2021-01-201h 08
the Extra Half18: a moving, spiritual experienceA conversation with Dr. Shawn E. Okpebholo. A sought-after and wonderful composer, Shawn’s parents are from the United States and Nigeria. We talk about what it means to be Black and/or African-American, how his worldview has shifted in the last fifteen years, and how strongly knowing his own roots influenced his trajectory. We also talk about the importance of being Nigerian for for him growing up as well as the joy and surprise of going there for the first time as an adult, paired with the immediate sense of connection and belonging that he felt meeting his fa...2020-11-161h 07
Central City Opera PodcastWill Liverman, BaritoneAmerican Baritone Will Liverman talks with Central City Opera Education Coordinator Meg Ozaki Graves about his experiences as a Black opera singer, how he’s staying inspired during the pandemic and his thoughts on how arts organizations can move forward. Will was last seen at Central City Opera as Papageno in THE MAGIC FLUTE, 2018. Watch the video version of this interview on the new Opera Central series at centralcityopera.org. Learn more about Will Liverman, and follow his career at willliverman.com, on Facebook @WillLivermanBaritone and Instagram @Willie1525. Will was nothing short of iconic as an ost...2020-07-2043 min
Artists for JoyThe Movement Needs YouThere are no words at this moment, and so this episode is different. Merideth passes the mic to others, whose voices she is honored to amplify: artists of color. They share their stories of resilience, creativity in times of anger/frustration/fear, and give us all an important call to action for artists right now. Shefon Taylor (collage artist and designer) www.byshefon.com Courtney Porter (mezzo-soprano), IG: Thelightofthesun_ Shawn Okpebholo (composter) www.shawnokpebholo.com Brandi Bey Neal (spoken word poet), Facebook: Brandi.Bey2020-06-0529 min
Pastor Brian PodcastS1:E38- Dr. Shawn Okpebholo- Wednesday, May 27th, 2020Today we are celebrating the season of Easter through scripture, song, and prayer! Our Podcast includes an: Introduction (00:00), Opening Prayer (00:41), Psalm (01:35), Scripture (04:55), Prayer (05:50), Dr. Shawn Okpebholo (08:49), Blessing (09:44), End (10:12). You may find the full daily scripture reading (Psalm 99; 1 Kings 8:54-65; John 3:31-36) at Daily Revised Common Lectionary. Blessings!You can find more of Shawn's work at:www.shawnokpebholo.com2020-05-2710 min
Vrije geluiden op NPO KlassiekWillaert & GabrieliDe grenzen van de klassieke muziek opgezocht in de Late Night Show van Vrije Geluiden, waarin vanavond Venetië, filmmuziek, en een stukje gitaarconcert van Andre Previn. Met muziek van Gabrieli, Willaert, Previn, Jeff Russo, Shawn E. Okpebholo en ORBI.2019-03-0300 min
A Theology of HustleShawn Okpebholo | Composer, Professor of Music[ep 17] Shawn Okpebholo is a really great guy to talk to. In addition to being very genuine he is a widely sought-after and award-winning composer. He has an amazing...2018-08-2159 min