Composer, percussionist and performer Gareth Farr is an indisputably colourful figure in New Zealand music, and, whether scored for percussion duet or the resources of two large orchestras, his music reflects his personality—bold, brash, or delicate and sensuous, but inevitably, immediately engaging. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, studied composition, orchestration and electronic music at Auckland University and was a regular player with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Karlheinz Company. Further study followed at Victoria University, Wellington, where he became known for his exciting compositions, often using the Indonesian gamelan. Farr is recognised as one of New Zealand’s most versatile and successful contemporary composers and as a skilled percussionist. He's also known for his alter ego, Lilith Lacroix. Watch a performance of Gareth Farr's Taheke (2002), played by flutist Christy Kim and harpist Sarah Davis . . . it's one of our NEW MUSIC VIDEOS for the week.

There can be few active musicians able to remember a time when Darius Milhaud's name was not familiar, fewer still who can claim knowledge of the vast quantity of work produced during the long career of this incessantly prolific and versatile composer. Milhaud's musical training began in his native city of Marseilles. At the age of 17 he went to the Paris Conservatoire. His teachers were Dukas, Leroux and Gédalge. Among his friends were Georges Auric and Arthur Honegger. Of equal if not greater importance were literary friendships with, for example, Francis Jammes and Paul Claudel, two of the great influences (Andre Gide was the third) on the early years of Milhaud's career. In 1917, Claudel took Milhaud to Rio de Janeiro as a member of his ambassadorial staff. Brazil brought him into fruitful contact with a civilisation half-Latin, half-exotic, with Latin-American popular music and with jazz. After returning to Paris in 1919 Milhaud was adopted into the circle of Les Six, a group of progressive French composers brought together under the guidance of Jean Cocteau. However, like any such artificial collection, Les Six was quick to dissolve, and during the 1920s Milhaud adopted an assortment of new musical influences (notably jazz, which the composer first discovered during a trip to the U.S. in 1922, and which features prominently in much of his subsequent music). Milhaud composed, performed, and taught ceaselessly during the 1920s and 1930s, only abandoning his homeland in late 1939 after all hope of resisting the German advance vanished. Settling in the United States, Milhaud accepted a teaching position with Mills College in Oakland, California, and continued to compose prolifically. From 1947 he combined his American teaching duties with a similar position at the Paris Conservatoire, remaining at both institutions until 1971. Watch Darius Milhaud Part I - A Recollection of the Twenties (KQED), originally produced for KQED in 1965 . . . our COMPOSER PORTRAIT for the week. And visit Darius Milhaud at the Pytheas Center.

Finnish composer Pertti Jalava was a jazz musician before taking up classical music. He has kept jazz and classical music compartmentalized instead of combining them, as some have done, into a crossover style. Some of his works are based on his earlier jazz output, but he adapts the old material to the new genre. By far Jalava’s most substantial works are his symphonies. Listen to a performance of Pertti Jalava's Symphony No. 3, "Forms of Opinion" (2004-08) . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS for the week.

And also check out: Classical Music Dead? Nico Muhly Proves It Isn't (Lucy Jones, The Telegraph) . . . it's our PYTHEAS THOUGHT and IDEA for the week. And visit Nico Muhly at the Pytheas Center.