Sound, Movement, and Self-Permission with Sugar Vendil

Plus, a pair of micro/Maker episodes about how uncertainty and variety can fuel a creative life.

Author

Tyler Kline
October 31, 2025

🍃 Loose Leaf Transmissions – Weekly Dispatch

When I sat down to talk with Sugar Vendil for this week’s episode of music/Maker, I told her honestly: preparing for our conversation was a little overwhelming in the best possible way. Sugar’s website and body of work reveal such a rich, multifaceted creative life that it was hard to know where to begin.

She’s a composer, pianist, choreographer, dancer, and artistic leader – someone who truly embodies what it means to live creatively. In our conversation, we talk about her late start in composition (and what held her back from it earlier), her early experiments blending classical music and fashion, and how the physical act of making music has become central to her practice. It’s a conversation full of insight, energy, and depth, and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

🎧 New on the Feed

🎙 music/Maker with Tyler Kline

Now streaming: Sound, Movement, and Self-Permission with Sugar Vendil

Photo credit: Titilayo Ayangade

On today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer–pianist–choreographer Sugar Vendil, an interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn).

Beginning as a classical pianist, Sugar spent nearly a decade honing her voice; today her kinesthetic, improvisatory practice integrates sound, movement, and theater. She writes and performs solo works for piano and electronics and co-leads Vanity Project with Trevor Gureckis. A proud second-generation Filipinx American, she’s developing Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia (supported by NPN Creation Fund and MAPFund; co-commissioned by Living Arts Tulsa, High Concept Labs, and National Sawdust, premiering 2026 with her ensemble sugar vendil/isogram). Her commissions include work for Jennifer Koh’s Alone Together, The Nouveau Classical Project, ETHEL’s Homebaked, and ACF | Create; her album May We Know Our Own Strength is out on Gold Bolus.

In this conversation, Sugar and Tyler trace how movement, breath, and physical instinct shape her compositions; the shift from championing new music to composing her own; and how identity and agency inform an interdisciplinary practice across acoustic and electronic work. They dig into the seeds of Antonym, the body-forward “new virtuosity” she’s cultivating at the piano, collaborative processes that keep the work alive, and why she prefers the deeper connection of a newsletter over social platforms.

Learn more about Sugar and subscribe to her newsletter at https://sugarvendil.com/

New episodes every other Thursday. Subscribe now!

🎙 micro/Maker

micro/Maker 047: A Mother’s Support in an Uncertain Musical Landscape (featuring Mahdis Golzar Kashani)

Mahdis Golzar Kashani reflects on discovering music as a child in post-revolution Iran, sharing how early piano improvisations and her mother’s encouragement sparked her path toward composition.

micro/Maker 048: Why Variety Fuels Creativity (featuring Chris Opperman)

Chris Opperman talks about building a genre-defying career across classical, jazz, and video games – and how focus, curiosity, and discipline keep his creative practice thriving.

Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe now!

🔜 Coming Up Soon

Next week brings two new micro/Maker episodes with composers Hannah Boissonneault and Nicolás Lell Benavides, and November marks the final month of music/Maker episodes for 2025. I’m excited to close out the year with new conversations from Kurt Rohde and Anuj Bhutani – both really inspiring ones to end the season on.

There’s also a special announcement coming soon about something new from Loose Leaf Transmissions launching in December. I can’t say much yet, but it’s something I’ve been building toward for a long time.

And don’t worry – things start back up in January with more music/Maker, featuring conversations with Christopher Stark and Nicky Sohn. Lots of good things ahead!

☕ 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.

Happy Halloween and cheers to the start of a great end-of-year season!