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.

Canadian composer Harry Somers describes his artistic development: "Over the years I've worked consistently on three different levels with three different approaches to composition. On one level my approach has been what I call 'community music' or 'music for use': for example music for amateurs and music for school use. On a second level I've created 'functional music,' in the specific sense: music for television, films and theatre, where the composition has to work in company with another medium and serve the demands of that medium. On a third level I have created without consideration for any limitations, sometimes completely experimentally, sometimes extending the line of a particular direction on which I had been working through a series of works. In short, the first two levels relate directly to the environment and society, in the broad sense, in which I live at the moment, and in which I function as a craftsman; the third relates to a more restricted audience (though I'm not convinced it need be so) and my personal development as an artist." Somers came to be one of Canada's most internationally-known composers. His children's opera A Midwinter Night's Dream premiered in Toronto on May 17 1988, with a libretto by Tim Wynne-Jones. Watch a performance of Northern Lights from Harry Somers' A Midwinter Night's Dream sung by the Milwaukee Choral Artists, Sharon Hansen, director . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

Composer and percussion artist Emmanuel Séjourné was born in Limoges, France. His music is rhythmic, romantic, energetic, and inspired both by the Western classical tradition and by popular culture (jazz, rock, extra-European). Each year his compositions are played in dozens of countries around the world, and many orchestras include them in their repertoire: the Nagoya Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Croatian Radio Television Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Italienne, Camerata de Bourgogne, Orchestre d’Auvergne, de Cannes, Nice, Pau, Bochumer Symphoniker, Wurttembergisches Kammerorchester, among others. Acclaimed by members of the percussion community, his music has been commissioned or recorded by Gary Cook, John Pennington, Ju-Percussion group, Bob Van Sice, Nancy Zeltsman, Marta Klimasara, Katarzyna Mycka, and the Amsterdam Percussion Group. Séjourné has also composed many chamber and choral works, and his fascination  with the relations between various forms of artistic expression has produced music for the stage and television. Watch a performance of Emmanuel Séjourné's Vouz Avez duFeu? (2001) . . . one of our BANG, CLANG & BEAT - New Music for Percussion for the week.

Finnish composer Pertti Jalava has written numerous works for orchestra (including three symphonies and a piano concerto), various ensemble combinations and chorus. He has also composed a considerable amount for big band and his own jazz ensembles, in which he plays drums and keyboards. Jalava's compositions for string orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber ensemble, jazz ensemble and big band have won many prizes in both national and international composition competitions and have been performed by orchestras in both Finland and abroad under many distinguished conductors. Numerous concerts containing over 40 works by Jalava have been recorded and broadcasted by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). Some upcoming performances include: Two Ways to Leave and Return will be premiered at the New Paths in Music festival, 21 June 2012, Elebash Recital Hall, City University Graduate Center, 5th Ave. & 34th Street in New York City, NY, by the New Paths Ensemble and conductor David Alan Miller; A diptych: Distant / Close Distant Smoke from Behind the Woods and A Close Shave At the Traffic Lights will premiere 22 September 2012 in Orgelpark, Gerard Brandtstraat 26, Amsterdam, Holland by Dirk Luijmes (harmonium) and the String Quartet of Nieuw Amsterdams Peil; and Jalava's Fourth String Quartet has been recently commissioned by Juha-Pekka Vikman, concert master of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. Listen to Pertti Jalava's Pinta Surface (2002) . . . it's one of our PYTHEAS EARFULS for the week.

Writing about her 1985 composition Pennyroyal Swale, American composer Beth Anderson writes: "A swale is a meadow or a marsh where there is nourishment and moisture and therefore, a rich diversity of plant life. My work, since 1984, is made from swatches of newly composed music, rather than found music, which are reminiscent of this diversity. When a horse named Swale won the Kentucky derby several years ago, I discovered the word and have used it extensively since. Dedicated to Mr. James Roy because of his dedication to assisting women composers while running the concert division of BMI, this work is a combination of folk-related vernacular music with 'classically' developed techniques in an open, somewhat repetitive form. Pennyroyal is a member of the mint family and a healing herb with a distinctive odor." Listen to a performance of Beth Anderson's Pennyroyal Swale, played by the Rubio String Quartet . . . it's this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.