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Flotation Device celebrates the radical Australian composer Liza Lim on her 60th birthday with an interview and a mini-retrospective that emphasizes her cross-cultural inputs and love of physicality in music. She also talks about her just-premiered concerto for orchestra and a reconstructed Celtic carnyx. Also on the docket are new albums by Alice Kemp, Visible Cloaks, pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-Fen and Henry Threadgill’s Zooid ensemble (which, like Flotation Device is celebrating its 25th year together). We continue our survey of major projects by Simon Nabatov and Simon Hanes that explore literary and biographical themes. And a 50th anniversary tribute to Salvatore Sciarrino’s landmark Violin Caprices hints at a shared lineage with Lim’s own shimmering string instrument writing. Creative and improvised music with host Michael Schell from 91.3 KBCS Bellevue/Seattle/Tacoma.
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Flotation Device 2026-08-30: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Aeschylus revisited [0:00]
1. [1:38] Henry Threadgill: Fluoroscope. From Cut You Where You Was (Pi, 2026) with Zooid: Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone), Liberty Ellman (acoustic guitar), Jose Davila (tuba), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums), Andy Taub (recording engineer, Brooklyn Recording)
2. [7:49] Liza Lim: The Navigator - Scene 1: The Unwinding. From Singing in Tongues (NMC, 2021) with The Navigator: Andrew Watts (countertenor), The Beloved: Talise Trevigne (coloratura soprano), First Siren/The Crone: Philip Larson (bass baritone), Second Siren/The Fool: Omar Ebrahim (baritone), Third Siren/The Angel of History: Deborah Kayser (Baroque alto), ELISION Ensemble, Manuel Nawri (conductor), Jim Atkins, Michael Hewes (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed and recorded 2008
3. [9:36] Liza Lim: The Navigator - Prelude: Weaver of fictions. From Singing in Tongues (as above) with Genevieve Lacey (Ganassi recorder)
4. [11:26] Liza Lim: The Oresteia - Scene 2: Memory spills from the split skulls of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Scene 3: Cassandra. From Singing in Tongues (as above) with Julie Edwardson (mezzo-soprano), Deborah Kayser (mezzo-soprano, cello), Tyrone Landau (tenor), Andrew Muscat-Clark (countertenor), Grant Smith (baritone), Jeannie van de Velde (soprano), ELISION Ensemble, Sandro Gorli (conductor), Jim Atkins, Michael Costa (recording engineers). NOTE: Composed 1993, recorded 1993, originally issued on The Oresteia (Dischi Ricordi, 1994)
SET 2: Liza Lim at 60 [20:01]
1. [21:28] Liza Lim in conversation with Michael Schell. NOTE: Video at https://tinyURL.com/LimAt60
2. [39:04] Liza Lim: The Compass. From Musica Viva #47: Liza Lim (BR-Klassik, 2025) with Carin Levine (flutes), William Barton (didgeridoo), Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Christoph Poppen (conductor), Peter Urban (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2005–06
3. [59:48] Outro with Liza Lim: Annunciation Triptych - 1. Sappho/Bioluminescence
4. [1:02:44] Visible Cloaks: Steel. From Paradessence (RVNG Intl., 2026) with Ryan Carlile, Spencer Doran
5. [1:06:22] Min Xiao-Fen: Crimson Horizon. From Boundless (Anderson Audio, 2026) with Min Xiao-Fen (pipa), Jim Anderson, Ulrike Schwarz (recording engineers, The Bridge Studio)
SET 3: Soviet Gartantua [1:11:28]
1. [1:14:17] Simon Nabatov: Your ID Please - Fronts Defined. From Getting Personal (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2026) with Simon Nabatov (piano), Frank Gratkowski (alto sax, clarinets, flute), Lucia Mense (recorders), Ina Stock (oboe), Alex Lindner (violin), Axel Porath (viola), Nathan Bontrager (cello), Stefan Deistler (recording engineer)
2. [1:18:11] Simon Nabatov: What My Grandfather Could Tell Me - Retreat and charge. From Getting Personal (as above) with Simon Nabatov (piano), Angelika Niescier (alto sax), Pascal Klewer (trumpet), Shannon Barnett (trombone), Axel Porath (viola), Nathan Bontrager (cello), Roger Kintopf (bass), Alex Parzhuber (drums), Stefan Deistler (recording engineer)
3. [1:25:11] Simon Hanes: Submit to the Fabulosity. From Gargantua (Pyroclastic, 2026) with Priya Carlberg, Isa Crespo Pardo, Jolee Gordon (sopranos), Kevin Newton, Noah Fotis, Blair Hamrick (French horns), Jen Baker, Jacob Garchik, Colin Babcock (trombones), Anna Abondolo, Jesse Heasly, Trevor Dunn (electric basses), Jon Starks, Matt Bent, Kevin Murray (drums), Ryan Streber (recording engineer, Oktaven Audio)
4. [1:26:03] Simon Nabatov: Your ID Please - The Unavoidable. From Getting Personal (as above) with Simon Nabatov (piano), Frank Gratkowski (alto sax, clarinets, flute), Lucia Mense (recorders), Ina Stock (oboe), Alex Lindner (violin), Axel Porath (viola), Nathan Bontrager (cello), Stefan Deistler (recording engineer)
5. [1:31:14] Simon Hanes: Knockandrow. From Gargantua (credits as above)
6. [1:34:50] Simon Hanes: Aurem Chaos. From Gargantua (credits as above)
SET 4: Stille nacht [1:41:16]
1. [1:45:14] Liza Lim: String Creatures - 1. Cats Cradle (3 diagrams of grief). From String Creatures (NMC, 2025) with JACK Quartet: Austin Wulliman, Christopher Otto (violins), John Pickford Richards (viola), Jay Campbell (cello), Alistair McLean (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2022
2. [1:49:21] Salvatore Sciarrino: Sei capricci - 1. Vivace. From Caprices (æon/Outhere, 2017) with Irvine Arditti (violin), Josef Kucera (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1975–76 premiered August 27, 1976, Siena, Italy by Salvatore Accardo
3. [1:50:49] Alice Kemp: Mass II. From A Profound Loss of Meaning (Tochnit Aleph, 2026)
4. [1:54:17] Salvatore Sciarrino: Sei capricci - 2. Andante. From Caprices (credits as above)
5. [1:59:02] Outro with Salvatore Sciarrino: Caprice No. 3 for solo violin (Irvine Arditti)
Photo credits: Henry Threadgill by Alan Nahigian, Liza Lim and Tongue of the Land by Michael Schell, Salvatore Sciarrino by Luca Carrà, Simon Hanes by Jacob Garchik, Séverine Ballon plays Liza Lim: Invisibility, Alice Kemp via the artist, Marco Blaauw and Jean Boisserie with carnyx by Christine Chapman, Simon Nabatov via the artist, Min Xiao-Fen via the artist.