Ben Shirley
This week our Classical Californian is composer Ben Shirley, whose clarinet quintet High Sierra Sonata appeared on the Grammy nominated album American Stories, with Anthony McGill and the Pacifica Quartet. His path to classical music took him through playing bass with rock bands for several decades, as well as both addiction and recovery. He began studying classical music during the two years he lived at LA's Midnight Mission on Skid Row, and subsequently got a scholarship to continue his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He's got selections that he discovered along the way, by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Austin Wintory, Kim Planert, Tchaikovsky, Jóhann Jóhannsson, as well as a football-themed bit of nostalgia. Tune in Wednesday Night at 7!
