On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Dai Fujikura.

Born in Osaka and based in London since moving to the UK at fifteen, Dai Fujikura is one of the most prolific and wide-ranging composers working today. Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, the Ivor Novello and Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, and the Paul Hindemith Prize, among many others, his music spans orchestral works, chamber music, opera, and collaborations across jazz, experimental pop, and improvisation. His operas include Solaris, The Gold-Bug, A Dream of Armageddon, and the forthcoming The Great Wave, about the life of Katsushika Hokusai. He runs his own label, Minabel Records, and serves as Artistic Director of the Born Creative Festival at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.

In this conversation, Dai and Tyler trace a journey that begins with a boy in Osaka secretly composing while his mother was out of the house, and winds through a scholarship to a British boarding school at fifteen, years of hustling musicians at Trinity College of Music into playing his work for the price of a pint, and a friendship with Ryuichi Sakamoto that lasted until Sakamoto's death. They also get into how a piece reveals itself — or sometimes stubbornly refuses to — the DIY spirit behind Minabel Records, what traditional Japanese instruments mean to someone who first encountered them not in Japan but at Darmstadt, and why a stiff neck at the end of a long day at the desk doesn't mean you wrote anything good.

Learn more about Dai and his music at https://www.daifujikura.com/

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music/Maker episodes release every other Thursday! Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com

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music/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

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On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Shuying Li.

Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as "vivid, dramatic" and described by The Seattle Times as "a real talent," Shuying Li writes bold, emotionally charged music that blends rich colors with compelling storytelling. Originally from China, she began her training at the Shanghai Conservatory before earning a scholarship to the Hartt School and going on to complete her master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan. Her works have been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Alarm Will Sound, and many others worldwide. She is currently on the faculty at California State University, Sacramento.

In this conversation, Shuying and Tyler trace her unlikely path to composition — from a medical family in China, to a spontaneous cross-country audition tour, to the culture shock of arriving at the Hartt School and hearing for the first time that she could simply write whatever she wanted. They talk about the long, slow process of unlearning the need to impress and finding music as a means of connection instead, the universal stories that anchor her work, and how founding the Four Corners Ensemble reshaped her understanding of collaboration. They also get into her compositional process, her recent push to fold jazz, blues, minimalism, and EDM into her concert music, and her belief that a finished score is only about half the piece — the rest belonging equally to performers and audiences.

Learn more about Shuying and her work at https://www.shuyingli.com/

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music/Maker episodes release every other Thursday! Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com

Subscribe to the Loose Leaf Transmissions newsletter for new episodes, behind-the-scenes updates, and ways to support the work: looseleaftransmissions.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions

Follow along on Instagram @loose.leaf.transmissions

music/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by guitarist and composer Jessica Ackerley.

Described by Wire Magazine as "one of the most exciting guitarists to have emerged from the free music scene in recent years," Jessica Ackerley has built a distinctive voice across 25 releases as a bandleader and co-leader, working with labels such as Innova, AKP Recordings, and 577 Records. Their music has earned acclaim from Pitchfork, BBC Radio, and Wire Magazine, appearing on multiple critics' year-end lists. They have received commissions from Bang on a Can, NYSFA, and New Music USA; a nomination for the Academy of Arts and Letters Music Composition Award; and residencies at Banff Center for the Arts, the International Gugak Workshop in Seoul, and the Arctic Circle Residency.

In this conversation, Jessica and Tyler trace the arc of Ackerley's artistic life — from rural Alberta to doctoral studies at the University of Hawaii — digging into a compositional process that begins not with notation but with drawing, and a musical identity that refuses easy categorization. They discuss graphic notation as a tool for equity and collaboration, how Jessica's roots in jazz and rock quietly surface in music written for contemporary ensembles, and the lasting impact of the Arctic Circle Residency on their work. The episode closes with Jessica reflecting on a label that follows them everywhere — "experimental" — and why they wish people would pause before reaching for it.

Learn more about Jessica at https://www.jessicaackerley.com/

music/Maker episodes release every other Thursday! Listen and subscribe wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com

Subscribe to the Loose Leaf Transmissions newsletter for new episodes, behind-the-scenes updates, and ways to support the work: looseleaftransmissions.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions

Follow along on Instagram @loose.leaf.transmissions

music/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.