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Amanda Cook

Amanda Cook (she/her) is a music critic and digital editor based in the Twin Cities. She is the Editor of I CARE IF YOU LISTEN.

Review: Nwando Ebizie “Ecsta­sy of the Virtues”

The desire to bring the music of Hildegard von Bingen into the modern day is not an uncommon one. As...
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Chisara Agor, Chisato Minamimura, Fliss Jackson, Grace Nyandoro, Hildegard von Bingen, Jadyn Arriola Bagayas, Laura Bowler, Mahogany Opera, Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi, Michelle Cornelius, Nwando Ebizie, Yu Chinen
iiisa -- Photo by Leslie Mok

5 Questions to iiisa (interdisciplinary artist)

It would be futile to impose a narrative on isabel crespo pardo’s art and artmaking — the Brooklyn-b...
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Carmen Quill, Celia Hill, Henry Fraser, iiisa, isabel crespo pardo, Kabir Adhiya-Kumar, Kalia Vandever, Leaving Records, Lester St. Louis, Rahul Carlberg, sinonó, tilt, toso toso
Vox Urbane -- Photo by Ben Roberts

Review: Vox Urbane at The Ditch

The Ditch doesn’t exactly sound like the name of a classical music venue. Situated in a fashionable...
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Barbara Dudek, Dan Ludford-Thomas, Emily Hazrati, Helen Meyerhoff, Jago Thornton, Kerensa Briggs, Lillie Harris, Shoreditch Town Hall, Tara Mack, The Ditch, Vox Urbane
Weston Olencki -- Photo by Cy Klock

5 Questions to Weston Olencki (composer, multi-instrumentalist)

Weston Olencki is a U.S.-born, Berlin-based musician and composer whose work is fundamentally concer...
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Charlotte Mundy, Sweet Wreath, TAK Editions, TAK Ensemble, Weston Olencki
Violeta Garcia at Ultima Festival 2026 -- Photo by Nabeeh Samaan

Review: Ultima Festival 2026

Ever heard of a wolpertinger? The mythical creature is said to inhabit the forests of southern Germa...
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Alberto Bernal, Camille Norment, FRAMES Percussion, Gareth Mattey, Ícaro Zorbar, Jonas Lie Skaarud, Julian Sartorius, Kristine Tjøgersen, Lasse Marhaug, LEMUR, Miguel Ángel Garcia Martin, Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Oslo Philharmonic, Oslo String Quartet, Øyvind Torvund, Sarah Davachi, Tine Surel Lange, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, Violeta Garcia, Yann Leguay, Yuri Umemoto
Andrea Clearfield -- Photo by Chris Kendig

5 Questions to Andrea Clearfield (composer, curator)

Andrea Clearfield is a composer whose music reaches across histories and artistic boundaries, transf...
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Andrea Clearfield, ANIMUS, Bill Koutsouros, Cookie Diorio, Hun Hazy, Margaret Garwood, Naizel Hargana, Primavera Fund Alumni Chamber Ensemble, Szalon, Tamir Hargana
Leo Chang -- Courtesy of Venue

Review: Raven Chacon + Tashi Dorji + Alex Zhang Hungtai // Leo Chang at Roulette

Noise improvisation: the craft of experimenting with sound, sculpting a world for the listener to in...
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Alex Zhang Hungtai, Leo Chang, Raven Chacon, Roulette, Roulette Intermedium, Tashi Dorji
Nursalim Yadi Anugerah -- Courtesy of artist

ListN Up Playlist: Nursalim Yadi Anugerah (Sept. 17, 2026)

Nursalim Yadi Anugerah is a musician and composer whose works are shaped by deep engagement with the...
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Catherine Christer Hennix, Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, Ellen Arkbro, Eyvind Kang, Hanne Lippard, John McCowen, Kou Records, La Monte Young, Madison Greenstone, Maria Zazeela, Nursalim Yadi Anugerah, Raven Chacon, Sarah Davachi, Tristan Perich, Vicky Chow
Crossing 32nd Street Ensemble performs

Video Premiere: Crossing 32nd Street Ensemble Performs “Strobe” by Gabriel Bolaños

Bathed in cobalt blue, marigold, kelly green, and rose red, the four percussionists of Crossing 32nd...
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Crossing 32nd Street Ensemble, Gabriel Bolaños
Ami Dang at Sound and Gravity 2026 -- Photo by Bella Peterson

Review: Sound and Gravity 2026

I hope I never forget the warm September night when I saw Kari Watson and Katinka Kleijn perform at...
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7 Poets Trio, Ami Dang, Ana Roxanne, Bitchin' Bajas, Booker Stardrum, Dos Santos Quintet, Gregory Uhlmann, Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke, Kari Watson, Katinka Kleijn, Mary Halvorson, Natural Information Society, Sound and Gravity Festival, Tomas Fujiwara, Tomeka Reid, Tomeka Reid Quartet, Tyondai Braxton, Will Miller
Claire Chase and Terry Riley -- Courtesy of artist

Claire Chase is Shaping the Future of Collaboration with “Density 2036”

For musicians seeking to collaborate outside of the neatly delineated roles of “composer” and “perfo...
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Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Annea Lockwood, Claire Chase, Cory Smythe, Dai Fujikura, Edgard Varèse, Felipe Lara, George Lewis, JACK Quartet, Katinka Kleijn, Levy Lorenzo, Liza Lim, Marcos Balter, Matana Roberts, Nate Wooley, Seth Parker Woods, Susie Ibarra, Terry Riley, Tyshawn Sorey
Katherine Young -- Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee

5 Questions to Katherine Young (composer, bassoonist)

Katherine Young’s immersive practice is rooted in the art of collection: her work searches for sound...
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Ben LaMar Gay, Chaikin Records, Katherine Young, Linda Jankowska, Mattie Barbier, Olivia Block, RAGE THORMBONES, wasteLand, Weston Olencki, Yarn/Wire
Molly Joyce -- Courtesy of artist

ListN Up Playlist: Molly Joyce (Sept. 3, 2026)

Molly Joyce is a composer and performer whose work explores disability as a creative source. Describ...
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Adrian Anantawan, Drake Music, Gaelynn Lea, Imogen Heap, Jimi Hendrix, John Kelly, Laetitia Sonami, Lee Abramson, Michel Waisvisz, Molly Joyce, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Christian Li -- Courtesy of artist

5 Questions to Christian Li (pianist, composer)

Christian Li is a pianist, composer, and arranger based in New York City whose work spans a wide ran...
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Asher Kurtz, Christian Li, Endectomorph Music, JP Bouvet
PRISM Quartet -- Photo by Jon Rohrer

Review: PRISM Quartet “Generate Music”

On their new album Generate Music (XAS Records), PRISM radically reimagines the saxophone quartet as...
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David Krakauer, Diane Monroe, Erika Hunt, Fred Wesley, Helen Haynes, Matthew Levy, Myra Melford, PRISM Quartet, Susan Watts, Tyshawn Sorey, Ursula Rucker, Yotam Haber
Julius Eastman -- Photo by Ron Hammond

Review: AfriClassical Futures Presents “The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc”

What happens when an iconoclast becomes an institution? That question continues to unfold with Juliu...
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AfriClassical Futures, Ahmed Al Abaca, Alex Moore, Elastic Arts, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Evé Sanchez, Florence Price, Julian Otis, King Sophia, Lindsey Sharpe, Luis González, Malik Johnson, Nick Reeves, olula negre, Ómkara Gil, Peter Maxwell Davies, Sajdah Muhammad
Liz Draper -- Photo by Eric Reich

Review: Liz Draper at Edna’s Park

The sky can’t decide if it’s going to rain. Baby blue dots the gaps between hulking grey clouds over...
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Alissa Ona Jacobsen, Dameun Strange, Edna's Park, Liz Draper, Mikey Marget
Sarah Davachi -- Photo by Sean McCann

Sarah Davachi is a Sonic Architect

The organ at the Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew looms over Sarah Davachi as she takes a seat t...
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EMPAC, Late Music, Sarah Davachi
International Contemporary Ensemble -- Photo by Fadi Kheir

Review: International Contemporary Ensemble at TIME:SPANS Festival

In the last minutes of Márton Illés’ Forajzok (2021), every member of the International Contemporary...
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Farzia Fallah, Imsu Choi, International Contemporary Ensemble, Márton Illés, Njabulo Phungula, Rebekah Heller, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, TIME:SPANS festival
Mary Kouyoumdjian -- Photo by Desmond White

Review: Mary Kouyoumdjian “Paper Pianos”

The work of Mary Kouyoumdjian is equally rooted in composition and documentary through projects abou...
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Alarm Will Sound, Cantaloupe Music, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Nigel Maister
Imani Winds -- Courtesy of artist

Review: Imani Winds “Rise”

Imani Winds is an ensemble that has continually fulfilled its mission to inspire generations of musi...
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Billy Taylor, Dick Dallas, Donny Hathaway, Imani Winds, Imani Winds Media, Jeff Scott, Kevin Newton, Mariam Adam, Mark Dover, Mekhi Gladden, Monica Ellis, Nina Simone, Pavel Haas, Shawn Okpebholo, Stevie Wonder, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Valerie Coleman
Jennifer Koh -- Photo by Juergen Frank

Review: Jennifer Koh “The American Concerto, Volume One”

On The American Concerto, Volume One (Aug. 14, Cedille Records), the Grammy Award-winning violinist...
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Cedille Records, Courtney Bryan, Jennifer Koh, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Timothy Weiss, Vijay Iyer
Christopher Thompson -- Photo by Ricky A. Richardson

5 Questions to Christopher Thompson (composer, percussionist)

Composer and percussionist Christopher Thompson deftly demonstrates how overlooking the constraints...
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Christopher Thompson, Emerging Black Composers Project, Michael Morgan Prize, San Francisco Symphony
Rebekah Heller -- Photo by Olivia Bonnamour

Review: Rebekah Heller “Righteous Rage”

Rebekah Heller is on a mission to smash every tired stereotype or bad orchestra joke about the basso...
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Brittany J. Green, Cantaloupe Music, Fay Victor, Jessie Cox, Julius Eastman, Rebekah Heller, Steve Reich
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