New Amsterdam Presents: Reverberations with Majel Connery
Reverberations is a new podcast that extends the genre-fluid spirit of New Amsterdam Records from music to conversation. Hosted by musicologist and performer Majel Connery, the podcast is a series of probing discussions with NewAm's family of musical artists on the connection between life and craft. Each episode is rooted in musical exploration, while ranging freely into the big ideas that drive us and that shape our creative lives.
New Amsterdam Presents: Reverberations with Majel Connery
Owls: Rare Birds
The opening episode of Reverberations Season 2 is a conversation with Owls, a pioneering string group that flips the traditional string quartet model to produce an ensemble with 1 violin, 1 viola and 2 cellos. All four members of the group are represented on the call: violinist Alexi Kenney, violist Ayane Kozasa, and cellists Gabriel Cabezas and Paul Wiancko. In the episode, we explore the implications of this “inverted string quartet” in terms of musical dynamics, and how Owls co-creates the repertoire it plays. We also touch on Owls’ childhood love of hockets, pitch matching, and their debut album, Rare Birds. Says Kenney: “We love trying to be each other’s sounds.”