A new album from flutist Lindsey Goodman features a composition by WKAR classical music host Linda Kernohan
Goodman frequently performs work by living composers, and Kernohan reached out to connect with the flutist while living in Pittsburgh, where Goodman has often done shows. Later, Kernohan moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Goodman lives, and the pair became what they call “in-person besties.”
Goodman is serious about recording and performing modern works.
“I like to say that Beethoven is a little bit of a jerk,” she joked. “I went and visited him at home in Vienna two Julys ago, and he was not there. He does not return my texts or my emails or my calls, whereas Linda and I can go out for a cocktail or a coffee or a meal and actually talk about art! And so, that’s why I prefer living composers.”
Kernohan is quick to point out, though, that Goodman is also very good at the traditional flute repertoire.
“She can do it all, but music is something that, by definition, is to be shared. There has to be a listener, there has to be a performer and someone has to create that music, and I feel privileged to do that," Kernohan said.
On her new album "Transporting Bright: New Music for Flute." Goodman has chosen to close the album with the piece she commissioned Kernohan to write for her quartet PANdemonium 4. It's called "My Compass Still To Guide Me."
“Through that work, I think Linda now gained three additional good friends,” Goodman added. "I believe that that is one of her most performed works, because as a quartet, we just love it, and our audiences love it, and we just keep programming it again and again and again because it’s so beautiful.”
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This isn’t their first collaboration. Goodman’s album "Returning To Heights Unseen" includes Kernohan’s solo flute piece "Demon/Daemon."
Linda wanted it to bring listeners into the process of practicing the instrument. It has a theatrical element, with Goodman making mistakes and panicking on purpose.
“Things could go wrong,” Kernohan explained. “Things don’t always go perfectly, and that’s the work of the practice room, is to get you as close to that as you can be, but on the way there, you often have to kind of go through the wilderness, you know? Go through a great deal of struggle.”
For the newer composition on Goodman's latest album, Kernohan wanted to showcase each member of the quartet.
“The piece really does explore different areas. It’s got a lot of different styles of music, from the very rhythmic and syncopated, to kind of fast, fluttery music,” she said.
“I always have a love theme somewhere in my piece, and in this case, the group has named it the Princess Leia Theme. It’s a lot of fun.”
Goodman and Kernohan have another recording in the works. They’re also considering a collaboration that would mesh Goodman’s interest in electronic music with Kernohan’s experience writing for theremin.
In the meantime, there’s "My Compass Still To Guide Me" and the other new compositions on "Transporting Bright."
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Riverwalk Theatre in Lansing has a two-night cabaret event called "A Winter Masquerade" Friday and Saturday. That’s at 8 p.m. both nights.
On Saturday, hip-hop artists Jahshua Smith and Wayno are hosting a Christmas Birthday Bash at the Green Door in Lansing. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show is at 8 p.m.
The Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s Pops Series "Home for the Holidays" concert is on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Wharton Center on Michigan State University's campus.
