Hannah Boissonneault reflects on the evolving attitudes toward genre and identity within classical music — and how her own experience in academic spaces revealed both barriers and opportunities. She shares how supportive mentors and collaborative communities helped her break away from rigid definitions of what a “composer” should be, and how that shift opened up a more expansive, personal, and integrated creative practice.

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Shruthi Rajasekar reflects on growing up in a deeply musical household shaped by her mother’s work as a Carnatic vocalist and collaborator across cultures. She and Tyler talk about the intersections of Indian and Western classical traditions, early encounters with instruments like the cello and clarinet, and the way curiosity and openness became part of her musical DNA.

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For Graeme Shields, composing started as play—long afternoons with friends huddled around the family computer, experimenting with Finale and discovering the thrill of sound on command. Those early experiments evolved into something more intentional: arranging, composing, and eventually finding community at the Junior Composers Institute, where he met living composers and heard his music performed for the first time. A conversation about how curiosity becomes commitment.

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For Fire Ecologies, Christopher Stark spent months working with field recordings made near California wildfires, and just as much time deciding what not to include. A long recording of an actual forest fire originally closed the piece; he cut it less than a day before final production, leaving behind only indirect traces — water that sounds like fire, a Sierra Nevada power line slowed down until its buzz becomes something closer to marching boots. The same instinct shaped his choices in the field: standing in a town that had just burned, camera in hand, Stark found he couldn't bring himself to record people in front of what remained of their homes, even as a documentary-minded friend urged him to. The excerpt sits inside that tension — between bearing witness and observing from a respectful distance, and what it means for work like this to edge toward activism without losing the line between representing something and exploiting it.

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For Yue Song, confidence didn’t come first—it arrived after years of imitation, theory, and hesitation. Growing up in China, Yue learned piano alongside her sister, studying under traditional mentors who emphasized balance and restraint. But it wasn’t until she moved to Ireland, surrounded by experimental musicians and new collaborators, that she rediscovered her creative spark—and began composing every day.

micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday!

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Michael Frazier reflects on the importance of mentorship and advocacy as his musical identity sharpened during his time at Eastman. Encouraged by teachers who supported sincerity over conformity, he describes learning not only to follow his instincts but to articulate why certain influences—particularly hip-hop and loop-based music—held meaning for him. A pivotal realization came earlier at USF through studying with Bel Ginster, whose passion for teaching and deep belief in the value of music helped Frazier see composition not just as a practice, but as a lifelong vocation grounded in sharing curiosity, care, and creative possibility with others.

micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday!

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Biting into sound, Emily Koh tells Tyler Kline how meals became both inspiration and material for her music—from writing pieces based on chewing insects to dreaming up scores for specific dishes. She explains why chefs are fellow artists, why bad background music ruins cooking videos, and how a planned sandwich cart almost became her next creative stage. For Emily, every ingredient, texture, and bite carries its own rhythm—one she’s eager to share through sound.

micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!

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Nicolás Lell Benavides reflects on the intersection of art, ethics, and responsibility—how writing about water, folklore, and humanity connects to a deeper sense of duty. He and Tyler talk about motivation, artistic purpose, and why composing with conviction matters even when the impact isn’t immediate. It’s a conversation about staying principled, present, and patient in a long creative life.

micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.

Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon. Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.

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

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