This episode features a conversation that I had with composer Zachary Wadsworth and singer Tony Boutte during New American Voices, an initiative Tony put together for the 56th Annual Contemporary Music Festival on the campus of Sam Houston State University.

Composer Zachary Wadsworth writes music that is vivid and sometimes an evocative mixture of old and new. His music has been performed around the world by groups including the Boston Metro Opera, the Tokyo Cantat, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. With recent publications by Novello, G. Shirmer and E.C. Shirmer and airings on NPR’s Performance Today, his music has been widely broadcasted and distributed. Recordings are available on Gothic Records, Albany Records, and Innova.

Tenor Tony Boutte has established himself as a first-rate singer of many styles, including opera, art song, oratorio, and chamber music from the Baroque to the music of our time. Tony is also the artistic director of New American Voices, an initiative created to champion and perform new American works for voice through the collaboration of singer and composer. And it is that project, which was a featured component of our Contemporary Music Festival, that brought us together for our conversation.