Cassie Kinoshi Listening Session

Arranging and orchestration are some of the most important tools a composer can have. The art of writing for particular musicians and allowing their personalities to shine, while shaping how each instrumental voice moves within and around others to build a layered sonic world is integral to creating music with emotional depth and richness. This listening session presents records from Cassie Kinoshi's personal vinyl collection, spotlighting some of her favorite composer-arrangers across genres, with a focus on large ensemble and string writing, alongside artists arranging outside the sound world they are most known for. Together, the selections show how much of a piece's character is decided by how its parts are arranged. The evening also includes a screening of the first half of Love You Madly (1967), Ralph J. Gleason's documentary on Duke Ellington. In it, Ellington speaks about the personal nature of arranging and the individual voices that shape a band's sound.