“What does it look like to be an Indigenous person from Minneapolis today, and how my narrative can and has the power to shatter stereotypes — that’s one of the levels and layers.” icareifyoulisten.com/2026/01/tufa...

“As I became more involved with the new music community, the distinction between art and popular music often felt arbitrary to me.” Have you read our interview with Cristina Lord yet? Check it out at: buff.ly/HwQND0w

“The truth is, having a day job has freed me.” Have you read Hilary Purrington’s essay, “In Defense of the Day Job” yet? Check it out at:

“What if we sought to challenge the institutions that fundamentally shape the contemporary arts landscape?” Have you read John Dante Prevedini’s essay “Ivory Tower Values are Keeping New Music Inaccessible and Unaffordable” yet? Check it out at:

“The “underworld” became the site of my liberation, and my role as an artist in Los Angeles began to grow.” Have you read our interview with Lu Coy yet? Check it out at:

“His choices and execution show a clarity of purpose that are sometimes assumed to be the domain of canonical works.” Have you heard Philippe Quint’s album, “Milestones,” yet? Check out our review at:

“The task of close listening is foregrounded for the listener” Have you listened to Will Mason’s “Hemlocks, Peacocks” yet? Check out our review at:

“Understanding how money moves, whether through contracts, grants, co-productions, honorariums, or backend royalties, helps you ask smarter questions and avoid financial landmines.” Have you read Megan Ihnen’s essay “Getting Paid Like a Pro” yet? Check it out at:

“I create an environment where you can come in knowing totally nothing, and then come out knowing a lot.” Have you read our interview with Nadia Sirota yet? Check it out at:

“This music does not exist in a zoned out space, but demands careful, detailed listening.” Have you listened to Catherine Lamb's album, “interius/exterius” yet? Check out our review at:

“Every time I get involved in a creative process with other musicians, I am affected in such a way that my playing changes, is enhanced, and enriched. Collaboration is very important, it is a way of sharing.” Have you read our interview with Paula Sanchez yet? Check it out at:

“Most composers don’t know where the floor starts, where it should start, or how high the ceiling goes. [...] We have to talk about pay.” Have you read Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei’s essay, “This is a Failed Study on Pay Transparency for Composers” yet? Check it out at: buff.ly/06W006O

“To celebrate with sincerity requires courage." Have you read Lana Suran’s essay, “Do We Truly Celebrate Each Other’s Success?” Check it out at: buff.ly/WGW5ECP

“Night is a time when the world slows down and inner conversations begin. In the darkness, small gestures feel amplified, and silence itself becomes more present.” Have you read our interview with Asuka Kakitani yet? Check it out at:

“In my music, I’ve found this recurring desire to take thick beds of sound and try to reign them in. It feels like a meditation.” Have you read our interview with Cristina Lord yet? Check it out at:

"In my playlist, I thought to take you through a little journey of some incredible artists that have guided my exploration of voice since I was very young. I feel that through their music, they have taught me so much about the power that a voice can carry." icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/list...

“The idea of embarking on a music career without a strong community is — and should be — terrifying.” Have you read Brandon Elliott and Dale Trumbore’s essay “What If You Don’t Have a Music Community?” Check it out at:

“For me, music is the closest thing to spirituality, and this is why I compose. I also enjoy music that brings me closer to an unexplained force and elicits deeper meanings.” Have you listened to Nina Fukuoka’s ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out at:

It’s that time of year again, and we’re excited to share a list of our contributors’ top albums of 2025. All of them highlight the dynamism, uniqueness, and diversity of contemporary music — and what we gain when we give new music a chance to stretch our ears. icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/our-...

“The music of my faith has been a part of my life more during an actual worship service and not necessarily as part of my own compositions, which tend to have a different harmonic language.” Have you read our interview with James Lee III yet? Check it out at: buff.ly/NZBL3H4

“Debts are temporary. But I could live with these pieces forever.” Adam Tendler on the works he commissioned for his Grammy-nominated album “ Inheritances.” Check out the interview at: buff.ly/OeVutt3

“There is that opportunity through music to tell the lesser known stories, or at least bring people together so they can tell their own stories — finding a village of artists of multiple disciplines to amplify the voices of the community." icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/for-...

“Most composers don’t know where the floor starts, where it should start, or how high the ceiling goes. [...] We have to talk about pay.” Have you read Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei’s essay, “This is a Failed Study on Pay Transparency for Composers” yet? Check it out at:

“Her works often center the voices of people affected by violence and displacement.” Have you read our interview with Grammy nominee, Mary Kouyoumdjian yet? Check it out at:

“Their sensitivity to each composer’s intention[...] results in articulate, potent, and masterfully proficient performances.” Have you listened to Mivos Quartet’s new album, “May Our Centers Hold” yet? Check it out at:

"I believe we are multiplicities, encapsulated in the idea of being one person." Have you listened to Carolina Noguera’s ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out at:

“What is underground music, and why should we care?” Have you read Micah Huang’s ListN Up! Playlist yet? Check it out at:

“Like many non-Western composers, I have always wondered “how far is too far?” when it comes to fusing various traditions with classical music.” Have you read Hamed Erfani and Yasaman Seif’s article “Blending Global Folk Traditions with Western Classical Music” yet? Check it out at:

“Almost every composer has done nonmusical work — yet this alternate path simply does not exist for everyone. This is the reality for international and foreign student composers.” Have you read James Díaz’s Money Matters essay, “You Must Only Make Music” yet? Check it out at:

“Each member builds on anotherʻs energy, and Frey’s compositions create space for the quartet to push deeper into each section and for us to get the wheels turning.” Have you listened to Carrie Frey and The Rhythm Method’s “Seaglass” yet? Check it out at:

“We clap. [...] But somewhere, deep down, the quiet voice of self-doubt that usually stays in the background begins to make itself heard.” Have you read Lana Suran’s new essay, “Do We Truly Celebrate Each Other’s Success?” yet? Check it out at:

"The production features no divine interventions; instead of a magical blossoming of virtuosic skill... If the Robert Johnson of legend is an impulsive victim of the devil’s whim, Delta King’s Johnson is instead deliberate and hardworking." icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/dami...

“My approach to curating this playlist was imagining giving a new friend a mixtape of works that I’d like to talk about over coffee.” Have you listened to Elizabeth A. Baker’s ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out at:

“I have for you a collection of music that I put together by kind of scanning over my life and picking pieces that stood out as music that stopped me in my tracks because it was beautiful.” Have you listened to Leyna Marika Papach’s ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out at:

“What happens if 60 [multiphonics] are put together?” Have you heard Zachary Good’s new album, Lake Heritage? Check out our review at:

"Professionally and personally, people suffer through mediocre, unfair, or legitimately abusive treatment and think it's 'normal' because they don't have much to compare their experience to." @newmusicusa.bsky.social icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/nego...

“Despite what is happening in the current social and political climate, I choose to stay motivated and compose.” Have you read our interview with James Lee III yet? Check it out at:

“Debts are temporary. But I could live with these pieces forever.” Back in December, we sat with Adam Tendler to talk about his 2026 Grammy-nominated Inheritances. Check out the interview at:

"With a broad palette of instruments and textures and references to ancient mythologies, Dohi’s album is an attempt at mythmaking in real time." icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/erik...

“The album nods to the role of the percussionist as ‘timekeeper’ while showcasing dream collaborations and long-time friends.” Check out our review of Third Coast Percussion’s Grammy-nominated “ Standard Stoppages” at:

“Despite his terminal degree in music composition, Lomax has maintained a commitment to Black history and art as a throughline in his work with additional studies in African-American Studies and ethnomusicology.” Have you read our interview with Mark Lomax, II yet? Check it out at:

"I usually try to boil things down to their most relevant essence... for me it comes down to the fact that art is the way we express abstract feelings and moods that we otherwise would not have any outlet for." icareifyoulisten.com/2025/12/5-qu...

“For me, music is the closest thing to spirituality, and this is why I compose.” Have you listened to Nina Fukuoka's ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out:

“Night is a time when the world slows down and inner conversations begin. In the darkness, small gestures feel amplified, and silence itself becomes more present.” Have you read our interview with Asuka Kakitani yet? Check it out at:

“For me, music is the closest thing to spirituality, and this is why I compose.” Have you listened to Nina Fukuoka's ListN Up Playlist yet? Check it out:

“Night is a time when the world slows down and inner conversations begin. In the darkness, small gestures feel amplified, and silence itself becomes more present.” Have you read our interview with Asuka Kakitani yet? Check it out at: buff.ly/mntSYJY

"Pursuing a musical career doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor — we have the freedom to create our own pathways and shape careers that benefit both our artistry and our well-being." Have you read Hilary Purrington's Essay "In Defense of the Day Job" yet? Check it out at:

"Performed with guts and gusto by this ensemble of performers/composers, Seaglass manages a balancing act of intrigue and revelation with four works by the quartet’s violist Carrie Frey." Have you listened to The Rhythm Method's album "Seaglass" yet? Check it out our review at:

"Its resonance can literally stop people in their tracks, mouth agape." Have you read our interview with Nora Barton yet? Check it out at: buff.ly/oK1gVoi

"I tend to do a lot of pre-compositional work, and my goal is always to derive as much connected material as possible from the smallest original idea" Have you read our interview with Anna Webber? Check it out at: