I turned 35 years old this week, and naturally, it’s got me reflecting on the past and thinking about the future – particularly on what I want out of the work I keep sharing with you.

I grew up at a time in the late 90s and early 00s when there seemed to be this promise from the internet that across time and space we would be able to connect meaningfully with people who shared the same (or different!) interests or perspectives as us. Obviously, this was a time before everything became monetized and our interests and attentions were capitalized for the financial gain of others.

Still, I think it’s possible, in the year 2026 and beyond, for us to connect in the ways I often wax nostalgic about. And I think it’s that possibility that really drives me to make all this stuff and put it out into the world. Whether that's my creative and artistic work, or my broadcasting and podcasting work, I've let it all become tangled up in my life in ways I never really anticipated, and so as the years go on, I’m always thinking about what it is I really want from all of this.

I’ve come to realize the answer is community.

A few years ago, a composer wrote to me while listening to my radio show and told me how “magic” it felt to be able to tune in at a certain time, to a certain “place” (on the radio, or web), and know that you’re one of thousands, if not tens of thousands, partaking in some sort of collective moment.

I think if I were to distill my goals and ideals concerning why I do what I do, there’s probably not a better way than exactly that. I very strongly believe it’s possible that radio can be a bridge for people to crossover and join one another in community. Well, not only radio, but maybe a podcast, or a composition, or whatever else it is we may make.

Life is busy and hard and messy, and it takes work in small and big ways from all of us to create and partake in the sort of thing I’m describing, but I’d also like to believe that it’s so much better than some sort of mindless, passive scrolling where our attention feeds someone else’s bank account.

So, with all this said, my invitation to you today, and anytime you listen to my work, is to be a part of a community of people. And my challenge – to myself, and anyone reading this – is to help me brainstorm how to best create a community out of all this. Is it possible to create a space somewhere that people can join in to discuss the ideas or music they hear through music/Maker or Living Classical? I would hope the answer is yes – but it quite literally takes a community of people to make it happen.

Let me know what you think, or if you want to help bring this to life in some way. I’m not sure what “it” really is yet, but I think I want to put more energy into building what I’m describing and I’d love to have you come along.

Alright, with that diversion put out there into the ether, scroll below to see all my new offerings to you this week.

Now streaming: Living Classical Episode 27 for June 28-July 4, 2026

On this edition of Living Classical, Tyler Kline marks July 4th with music by living American composers – from a piece inspired by the Star-Spangled Banner's 200th anniversary to works rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the desert Southwest, and the architecture of Chicago. A survey of the people, places, and ideas that make up this country, told through the composers writing American music today.

Music by Allison Loggins-Hull, Jessie Montgomery, Katherine Bergman, Marcus Maroney, Curtis Stewart, Michael Leibowitz, Shuying Li, Ledah Finck, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Patrick Harlin, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and Julia Wolfe.

View the playlist & listen: https://www.looseleaftransmissions.com/post/living-classical-with-tyler-kline-for-june-28-july-4-2026

Follow & stream anytime on Mixcloud.

Episode 132: Expressing Identity Through Sound (featuring Han Hitchen)

Han Hitchen reflects on how embracing his identity as a queer, transgender, nonbinary man transformed composition into a vehicle for making the truths of selfhood visible.

Episode 133: Trading All-Night Writing Sessions for a Healthier Rhythm (featuring Nicky Sohn)

Nicky Sohn talks about how marrying outside the music world – and watching people who keep clean lines between work and the rest of life – helped her unlearn the conservatory-bred belief that a slow commission year means something is wrong with her.

Episode 134: Taking the Organ Beyond the Church (featuring Graeme Shields)

Graeme Shields discusses the Vital Organ Project and what it takes to reintroduce audiences to an instrument that's spent too long misunderstood – and show that the organ still has a vital place outside of church walls.

Episodes are released every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe now!

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music/Audible | YouTube | Acast

On a new Living Classical, streaming July 5 2026: A dialogue between piano and orchestra – sometimes contentious, sometimes unified – runs through Paola Prestini's Hindsight: Let Me See the Sun, a concerto that coalesces by its close into a single whistling line. Shaped by the composer's own experience as an immigrant artist, the piece holds both the optimism and the fragility of voices calling out for equity.

Then: What happens to a rhythm when you stretch it far enough that the pulse disappears? Andrea Mazzariello's Figure to Ground unfolds a single syncopated figure on a massive scale until that question becomes the experience itself – a late melody finally easing the listener back to solid ground.

Music by Regina Harris Baiocchi, Ingrid Stölzel, Donnacha Dennehy, inti figgis-vizueta, Osnat Netzer, and José Martinez.

Listen and follow on Mixcloud, or at livingclassicalradio.com!

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