Nico Muhly: Throughline

Commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, Nico Muhly’s 19-minute “Throughline” dazzles throughout its 13 movements. Muhly composed the masterful work to comply with COVID-19 health restrictions—meaning that no more than six orchestral players could be on stage at once during recording, and breath-based instrument were recorded separately. The San Francisco Symphony, Esa-Pekka Salonen and eight collaborative partners—including Bryce Dessner on electric guitar and Esperanza Spalding …

Online Musical Time Capsule, 2020 Is A Song

Motivated by a feeling of numbness that was only remedied by music, interdisciplinary writer and editor Marisa Aveling created 2020 Is A Song—an online time capsule centered on “personal yet collective remembering.” A people-powered counterpoint to Spotify’s data-driven Wrapped, 2020 Is A Song calls for individuals all over the world to contribute a track that helped them through the year that was. An even sweeter …

Grand Journal Presents a 25 Day Reading Of Beowulf With an All-Star Cast

From Miz Cracker to Diane Cook to Alan Cumming, bibliophiles bring the newest translation of the epic work to life

Multi-hyphenate writer Maria Dahvana Headley’s latest work is a translation of the 1,000+ year old monster classic Beowulf. Long a fan of Grendel and his mother, she wrote The Mere Wife in 2018, a precursor of sorts to her new translation of the original story, which uses modern day slang (including the word “bro”) to make the work more accessible. Literary magazine Grand Journal is celebrating this …