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Clexical · August 14 · 15 min

Episode 33: Interview with Josh Rosenblum

Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, Kweku Poku. Here, you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journeys as musicians, and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music. To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we have conducted so far, our outreach programs with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Jean Park. In this interview, composer Josh Rosenblum discusses his creative process and shares his ideas on his current contemporary classical music. He claims that he is able to initiate well when composing for a specific performer or an ensemble or a clear performance date or a deadline. He usually begins his compositions at a piano, experimenting with different musical ideas. At other times melodies come to him naturally while walking so he records himself singing them into his phone and creates them later. Rosenblum also introduces his chamber work Mercer Street, which was inspired by a recurring dream in which he feels lost and running late for a concert he is supposed to conduct. Although he is intrigued in electronic and computer generated sounds, he prefers writing for traditional instruments and believes that they offer various creative possibilities. He finds performance opportunities and attracting audiences as two greatest challenges for contemporary composers. However he is encouraged by the freedom composers now have to combine classical music with jazz, rock, and other genres.He believes that this cross genre approach can increase composer’s creativity and make contemporary classical music more accessible to wider audiences. Rosenblum also discusses artificial intelligence and music. Although he believes generated music may improve over time, he argues that the human element of the creative process cannot be replaced. For students who find contemporary classical music difficult to grasp, he offers simple advice: listen with an open mind and give the music a chance. In his view, the best pieces speak for themselves and do not require extensive explanations to be appreciated.

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Welcome to Clexical, the podcast dedicated to contemporary classical music! I’m your host, Kweku Poku. Here, you will listen to conversations with living contemporary composers about their work, their journeys as musicians, and their thoughts on the current new music scene. Join us as we explore and influence the vibrant world of contemporary classical music.

To learn more about our work, please visit www.clexical.org. You can find videos of all the interviews we have conducted so far, our outreach programs with schools and libraries, and our weekly blog posts discussing the current new music scene. Today’s interview will be conducted by Jean Park.

In this interview, composer Josh Rosenblum discusses his creative process and shares his ideas on his current contemporary classical music. He claims that he is able to initiate well when composing for a specific performer or an ensemble or a clear performance date or a deadline. He usually begins his compositions at a piano, experimenting with different musical ideas. At other times melodies come to him naturally while walking so he records himself singing them into his phone and creates them later. Rosenblum also introduces his chamber work Mercer Street, which was inspired by a recurring dream in which he feels lost and running late for a concert he is supposed to conduct. Although he is intrigued in electronic and computer generated sounds, he prefers writing for traditional instruments and believes that they offer various creative possibilities. He finds performance opportunities and attracting audiences as two greatest challenges for contemporary composers.  

However he is encouraged by the freedom composers now have to combine classical music with jazz, rock, and other genres.He believes that this cross genre approach can increase composer’s creativity and make contemporary classical music more accessible to wider audiences. Rosenblum also discusses artificial intelligence and music. 

Although he believes generated music may improve over time, he argues that the human element of the creative process cannot be replaced. For students who find contemporary classical music difficult to grasp, he offers simple advice: listen with an open mind and give the music a chance. In his view, the best pieces speak for themselves and do not require extensive explanations to be appreciated. 



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