On a new Living Classical: Inherited languages and private histories

And leaving comfort zones and rethinking notation on two new micro/Makers

Author

Tyler Kline
January 09, 2026

🍃 Loose Leaf Transmissions – Weekly Dispatch

Greetings, folks!

I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about how Living Classical is finding its way into the world.

Because of the way the show is structured and licensed, Living Classical lives online via Mixcloud. I know – it’s one more platform. But in this case, it’s actually been a gift. Mixcloud allows me to host the full program, build a real archive of every episode, and invite listeners into a shared listening space that feels closer to public radio than social media.

And here’s the really encouraging part: despite being brand new, Living Classical has been performing consistently well on Mixcloud’s Classical Music charts – landing in the top ten over the past few weeks (it’s sitting at #7 as I write this). That kind of visibility matters. The more people who listen, follow the show, and share it there, the more discoverable it becomes to listeners who may never have crossed paths with this music otherwise.

So if you’re listening online – whether directly on Mixcloud or through the embeds on my site – know that simply pressing play is already helping the show grow. And if you’re up for it, following Living Classical on Mixcloud is one of the easiest ways to support what I’m building here.

One more thing, while I’ve got you here. If you’ve been wondering how to support this work more directly, Patreon is currently the primary way to do that.

It’s just $8/month, and right now Patreon subscribers have access to two unreleased, advance episodes of Living Classical, with more early listens coming as the show ramps up. I’m also starting to experiment with what lives there beyond audio – things like program history, curatorial notes, and occasional snapshots of how I’m organizing and thinking about the show behind the scenes.

If you’re already a supporter: thank you. And if you’re thinking about joining, I’d genuinely love to know – what would you want to see there? Feel free to reply and tell me. This part of the project is still taking shape, and your curiosity helps guide it. Click here to join now: https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions/membership

Okay – thanks for indulging that moment of transparency. Onward.

🎧 New on the Feed

📻 Living Classical with Tyler Kline

Now streaming: Living Classical Episode 2 for January 4 - 10, 2026

On the next Living Classical with Tyler Kline, music becomes a vessel for language, memory, and intimacy – from Nicolás Lell Benavides’s Canto Caló, which honors his New Mexican grandparents through a Spanish–English dialect shaped by family history, to Annie Nikunen’s The Sound of Space Between Us, a quietly powerful meditation on distance, connection, and what lingers after separation. Together, the program listens closely to the stories we inherit and the ones we carry forward through sound.

🎙 micro/Maker

Episode 067: Composing Outside Your Comfort Zone (featuring Baljinder Sekhon)

Baljinder Sekhon reflects on deliberately stepping away from percussion writing to disrupt his own habits, and how that choice now shapes the way he teaches students to take risks and compose beyond their comfort zones.

Episode 068: Bridging Two Notation Worlds (featuring Shruthi Rajasekar)

Shruthi Rajasekar looks back on navigating notation, gatekeeping, and early shame in classical music, sharing how she forged a hybrid musical language that allowed her to learn, belong, and keep going.

Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe now!

🔜 Coming Up Soon

On a new Living Classical: I’ve put together a program that’s really about place and how imagination fills in the rest. Some of the music unfolds slowly, almost like walking through a landscape and noticing how memory and motion blur together; other moments feel like arriving somewhere completely unfamiliar and taking it all in for the first time.

You’ll hear works by Eleanor Alberga and Dai Fujikura, alongside music by Darius D. Edwards, Zhou Long, Victoria Bond, Carlo Nicolau, inti figgis-vizueta, Reza Vali, and Ambrose Akinmusire.

Tune in on Mixcloud beginning Sunday, January 11, at https://www.mixcloud.com/looseleaftransmissions/

☕ Support the Work

Love what you’re hearing?

Here are some easy, no-cost ways to support the work — just the cost of a click:

  • 💌 Share an episode with a friend who might enjoy it

  • 🎧 Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app

  • 📱 Follow along on Instagram or Facebook

  • ⭐ Leave a rating or review — it helps more than you’d think!

And if you’re feeling extra generous, you can support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon. Your support helps make space for thoughtful, independent work like this, and you’ll also get some perks.

Cheers, and see you next week!