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Singer-songwriter
Suzanne Vega hosts this Peabody Award-winning, 13-part series
exploring the revolution behind classical concert music in the
20th century. Inspired by the adventurous programming of the
San Francisco Symphony and its concert festival of the same
name, the series features the tradition-breaking composers who
shaped the development of American music -- from Charles Ives
and Laurie Anderson, to Aaron Copland and John Adams. The
stories in the series are frequently told by the creators themselves
to show the personal side of the often-overlooked field
of experimental music. Special interviews and commentary from
San Francisco Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas highlight
this celebration of musical inspiration and creativity.
Fridays
at 10 p.m.
Explore
More:
American
Mavericks Official site
This
site is full of additional content to listen to, read and play
with, like the Listening
Room, which offers two Web-streams of continuous music,
and the virtual Rhythmicon
keyboard to bring out your inner composer.
 Suzanne
Vega:
•
WHYY Interview
•
Official site
 Michael
Tilson Thomas:
•
Biography
•
San Francisco Symphony
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Suzanne
Vega
Singer,
songwriter, children's activist
Read
a WHYY interview with Suzanne Vega
 Widely
regarded as one of the most brilliant songwriters of her generation,
Suzanne Vega emerged as a leading figure of the folk-music revival
of the early 1980s when, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar,
she sang contemporary folk songs of her own creation in Greenwich
Village clubs.
Since
the release of her self-titled, critically acclaimed 1985 debut
album, she has performed sell-out concerts in many of the world's
best-known venues. With the release in 1987 of Solitude Standing,
her second album, including the hit single "Luka,"
Ms. Vega vaulted to a position of prominence in the world of
popular music.
In
1986, Vega wrote the lyrics for two pieces in Philip Glass'
song cycle "Songs from Liquid Days." She collaborated
with Anton Sanko to produce her third album, Days of Open
Hand. Inspired in part by the British group DNA's successful
remix of "Tom's Diner," from Solitude Standing,
she released 99.9F, which won a New York Music Award
as Best Rock Album of 1992. She has collaborated with Philip
Glass, Joe Jackson, Arthur Baker, They Might Be Giants and The
Lemonheads. She has contributed her work to the Disney compilation,
"Stay Awake"; the Grateful Dead tribute, "Dedicated";
"Pavarotti & Friends"; the Leonard Cohen tribute,
"Tower of Song"; and to the soundtracks for the films
Dead Man Walking, The Truth About Cats and Dogs and Closer.
Vega's
fifth album, Nine Objects of Desire, was released in
1996. In 1999, she released a book, The Passionate Eye: The
Collected Writings of Suzanne Vega, published by Spike/Avon
Books. Her critically acclaimed sixth album, Songs in Red
and Gray, was released in September 2001.
Ms.
Vega has been involved with organizations devoted to children's
issues since 1988, including Amnesty International's Working
Group for Children and Casa Alianza, which provide care, rehabilitation
and legal aid services for the Street Children of Central America.
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