Tonight at 7:30 pm ET, Q2 Music and New Sounds Live present a live audio webcast of composer Sarah Kirkland Snider's new song cycle from the Ecstatic Music Festival, with vocal performances by DM Stith, Shara Worden and Padma Newsome.

At the junction of art and pop songs lies tonight's New Sounds program. Listen to a song by Clogs, featuring guest vocalists Sufjan Stevens and Shara Worden.  Also, listen to music from Sarah Kirkland Snider from her gorgeous work, "Penelope," with vocals again by Shara Worden.  There's music from How To Destroy Angels, which is Reznor's latest collaboration with Atticus Ross and Rob Sheridan, along with his singer wife Mariqueen Maandig.  Hear innovative songstress Katie Mullins, as she crafts melodies around the African thumb piano, the mbira.  Plus, songs from David Sylvian, Evelyn Glennie featuring Bjork, and Susanna and the Magical Orchestra.

Q2 Music helped open the 2013 Ecstatic Music Festival recently with a special show featuring the songwriter Shara Worden and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

Held until now, hear some of the music from the New Sounds Live with Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) & yMusic from March of 2011 on tonight's show.  At that concert, Worden wore both her composer and performer hats, treating us to songs that were included o her Fall 2011 release, "All Things Will Unwind." Highlights from the night include live performances of "Be Brave," "There's a Rat," "She Does Not Brave the War," and others, featuring yMusic, percussionist Brian Wolfe, and guest vocals by DM Stith at Merkin Concert Hall's Ecstatic Music Festival.

For this New Sounds, listen to selections from Sarah Kirkland Snider's epic song cycle, Penelope. From a New Sounds Live recorded in March of 2011 at Merkin Hall as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival, hear composer/vocalist Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond.  together with the versatile sextet yMusic.  Also, yMusic performs Snider's instrumental piece, "Daughter of the Waves."

For this New Sounds, there’s music from Montreal-based musician Colin Stetson on (mostly bass) saxophone without looping or overdubbing. (How DOES he do it?)  Stetson’s technique of circular breathing (much like digeridoo players) combined with nearly 20 microphones placed all over a studio- including on Stetson’s throat and on the instruments themselves - created an original palette of sounds, thanks to producer Shahzad Ismaily and engineer Efrim Menuck from Godspeed You! Black Emperor/A Silver Mt Zion.  Ben Frost then mixed these tracks into a haunting and riveting record, “New History Warfare Vol. 2 .  (Excited note: guest appearances by both Shara Worden and Laurie Anderson.)

On this New Sounds, listen to some of the central players of the indie-chamber, or indie-classical "scene."  We'll hear from yMusic, a new music group who can move between folk, classical, and indie quite effortlessly.  We'll hear music from their latest recording, a demo of Gabriel Kahane's song cycle, “For the Union Dead,” (music by Gabriel Kahane, words by Robert Lowell), along with music from the ACME ensemble, recorded live.  Plus, another live recording from the most recent New Sounds Live concert at Merkin Hall featuring the 8-person strong group, Newspeak.

For this New Sounds, we’ll hear music that incorporates looping and delay devices, first by digging into Todd Reynolds’ new double-CD, “Outerborough.”  Reynolds plays a work by Phil Kline, “A Needle Pulling Fred,” and a piece by David T. Little that samples a woman’s voice talking about being in the military and the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.  Then listen to something new from the one-woman band, guitarist/looper/delay-artist Julia Crowe, from her latest, "Empire of Light."

For this New Sounds, listen to new songs by Clogs who have borrowed voices from the indie rock world for their latest record, "The Creatures In the Garden of Lady Walton."  It’s a song cycle, written by violinist and singer Padma Newsome, featuring guest appearances from Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, the National's Matt Berninger, and from Sufjan Stevens.

Held until now, hear some of the music from the New Sounds Live with Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) & yMusic from March of 2011 on tonight's show.  At that concert, Worden wore both her composer and performer hats, treating us to a preview of songs on the  forthcoming "All Things Will Unwind." Highlights from the night will hopefully include live performances of "Be Brave," "There's a Rat," "She Does Not Brave the War," and others, featuring yMusic, percussionist Brian Wolfe, and guest vocals by DM Stith at Merkin Concert Hall's Ecstatic Music Festival.

For this New Sounds, listen to new songs by Clogs who have borrowed voices from the indie rock world for their latest record, "The Creatures In the Garden of Lady Walton."  It’s a song cycle, written by violinist and singer Padma Newsome, featuring guest appearances from Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, the National's Matt Berninger, and from Sufjan Stevens.

For this New Sounds, listen to selections from Sarah Kirkland Snider's epic song cycle, Penelope. From a New Sounds Live recorded in March of 2011 at Merkin Hall as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival, we'll hear composer/vocalist Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond.  together with the versatile sextet yMusic.  Also, yMusic performs Snider's instrumental piece, "Daughter of the Waves."

On this New Sounds, listen to some of the central players of the indie-chamber, or indie-classical "scene."  We'll hear from yMusic, a new music group who can move between folk, classical, and indie quite effortlessly.  We'll hear music from their latest recording, a demo of Gabriel Kahane's song cycle, “For the Union Dead,” (music by Gabriel Kahane, words by Robert Lowell), along with music from the ACME ensemble, recorded live.  Plus, another live recording from the most recent New Sounds Live concert at Merkin Hall featuring the 8-person strong group, Newspeak. 

For this New Sounds, we’ll hear music that incorporates looping and delay devices, first by digging into Todd Reynolds’ new double-CD, “Outerborough.”  Reynolds plays a work by Phil Kline, “A Needle Pulling Fred,” and a piece by David T. Little that samples a woman’s voice talking about being in the military and the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.  Then listen to something new from the one-woman band, guitarist/looper/delay-artist Julia Crowe, from her latest, "Empire of Light." 

For this New Sounds program, John Schaefer throws his annual, highly subjective, completely opinionated list of the ten best new-music releases of 2010 into the ring. Listen to the contenders for this year: a chamber ensemble (ahem, feat. members of the National)  in collaboration with an indie vocalist, a Genius-award-winning jazz pianist and his trio, a classical ensemble with a rock rhythm section made of members from an influential post-rock band, a singer-speaker-storyteller with an alter-ego, an indie-classical song cycle for the same vocalist as mentioned above, and an unexpectedly beautiful combination of poetry, singer-songwriter and avant-jazz ensemble.  Plus some of the usual suspects...