Conor Hanick

Despite this month's phenomenal, forward-looking programs on Q2 Music's Lucerne Festival webcasts, there is a conspicuous absence of music by one of the festival's artistic gurus—and one of the most influential musicians of the last fifty years—Pierre Boulez.

Q2 Music presents the second of four performances recorded at the 2013 Lucerne Festival, featuring world premieres from competition winners Benjamin Attahir and Christian Mason. 

Maverick force of nature and New York new music fixture John Zorn turned 60 last week and the whole city is celebrating. This week on Hammered! we explore his tremendously varied keyb...

Sunday, September 8 at 6 pm, Q2 Music presents the first of four performances recorded live at the 2013 Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.

This week on Hammered! we queue up portions of Frederic Rzewski's epic musical novel The Road—in addition to a few driving playlists of our own. Tune in all week at 10 am.

This Fourth of July week on Hammered!, tune in for the piano-based repertoire of American music's great experimental pioneer.

Nothing accompanies a sweated-through T-shirt and an oppressively humid summer evening like George Crumb, right? Get your dog day's musical antidote all week on Hammered! with summertime music not written by George Gershwin.

Late in his life, the famed Italian pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni felt so straightjacketed by the tonal system that he said one of the only viable method of escape was the inv...

What is it about the opening measures of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring that generates such intense musical magnetism? This week on Hammered! we explore how the starts of pieces impact the music that follows. 

The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. But it must be asked: can someone play something—ANYTHING?—after, like, maybe 1910!?

Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring turns 100 on Wednesday! Was there a bolder, more influential work in the 20th century? On the days surrounding Q2 Music's Rite Of Spring Fever, Hammer...

With all the richness, and pianistic splendor of last week behind us, the only suitable response involves music of clarity and sparseness. This week on the program we're balancing Aim...

On May 14, Q2 Music and NPR Music presented a live video webcast previewing the American debut of composer Nico Muhly's opera Two Boys. The evening also included performances by songw...

Few pianists have impacted contemporary music more profoundly than the Frenchman Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Hear his insights and performances of Ives, Ligeti and Messiaen all week on Hammered!

When in doubt return to the source, especially when that source is Elliott Carter, David Lang, or other informed, articulate and engaging promoters of their own music. This week on th...

Family ties resemble teacher-student relations in weird ways. A student's music might "resemble" a teacher's style, or sometimes try very hard to disassociate itself. This week on Ham...

Taking a page out of the great Nicholas Hodges' recent programatic playbook, this week on Hammered! we re-contextualize a handful of classic etudes by throwing in fistfuls of freshly ...

This week on Hammered! we explore the mountains of chamber music that includes piano(s), or, otherwise put, music for piano+. Hear music from Thomas Ades, Ezequiel Vinao, Benjamin Broening and many more.

As a follow-up to our five-day pianist profile series last fall, aptly titled Solid Gould, Hammered! presents a week's worth of hour-long musical portraits of some of the great pianists of the contemporary music world, including performances from the late Charles Rosen.

Echoing the around-the-clock programming on WQXR's Bach 360 Festival, this week on Hammered!, we allow the great Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach guide the musical conversation. L...