Classical Post: Recent Episodes
Classical Post
Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers.
Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a leading New York marketing agency serving the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a leading New York marketing agency serving the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a leading New York marketing agency serving the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Jonathan Tetelman is quickly becoming one of the opera world's most in-demand tenors — not only for the distinctive radiance and warmth of his voice, but also for the wide palette of emotions he brings to the characters he portrays.
But as I discovered during a recent sit-down with Tetelman, early in his career the Chilean-American singer had many doubts about whether he could take on the deeply dramatic roles he's become known for. In fact, he almost pulled out of one of his first big European engagements — portraying Paolo in Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini at Deutsche Oper Berlin — because of that self-doubt.
"I knew the story and thought it would be a good challenge for me," Tetelman shared in our conversation. "But as I was preparing the role, I noticed how heavy and difficult the role was, and I almost pulled the plug on the whole thing, because I felt like I wasn't ready to do it."
Then the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown, which gave Tetelman six months to immerse himself in the role, unpack its complexities, and build the mental and physical fortitude he needed to make Paolo a character of flesh and blood — not an easy feat for a young singer.
"To perform this very dramatic role at 32 was really kind of an eye-opening experience, and an exciting possibility for me to perform other dramatic repertoire in the future. At the time I was really only singing things like Rodolfo and Alfredo, much more lyric repertoire. To get a taste of the verismo, it hooked me immediately."
Tetelman credits his success in that production to its director, Christof Loy.
"It was the first time I worked with a director who helped me bring out my characterization, and also helped me understand the characterization of my colleagues in a better way. Working with him really challenged me, but it was the thing that was kind of missing in my presentation. From then on I used a lot of the tools and ideas that he gave me for this production."
Those tools and ideas have only increased Tetelman's meteoric rise in the years since that Deutsche Oper Berlin production. His first two albums for Deutsche Grammophon, 2022's Arias and last year's The Great Puccini, received rave reviews, with the former winning Tetelman the 2023 Opus Klassik Award for Young Talent of the Year. And this month he's bringing the nuanced approach to character-building he honed with Loy to two major Puccini role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera: Ruggero in a new production of La Rondine, and the naval officer Pinkerton in Anthony Minghella's Madama Butterfly.
For Tetelman, building a legacy in the opera world now means not only bringing artistry to the music he performs, but also caring for the characters represented in opera — and helping audiences see themselves in the emotional turmoil and triumph these characters experience.
"They're supposed to be human and they're supposed to be full of emotion and everything that embodies humanity. And I think the music is just the vessel that allows us to feel those emotions. I want to be one of those people who can really bring those things out, and help other people understand and feel what these characters feel."
Madama Butterfly is on stage at the Metropolitan Opera through May 11. Tetelman's latest album, The Great Puccini, is available across all major streaming platforms.
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Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a leading New York marketing agency serving the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Few faces in classical music are more recognizable right now than that of Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä — not because of his sculptural good looks and piercing blue eyes, but because he's quickly become one of today's most popular conductors.
At just 28 years old, Mäkelä has already racked up an impressive résumé, including his current roles as music director of the Orchestre de Paris, chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, and chief-conductor designate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. But despite his face adorning posters plastered on concert hall facades across Europe, Mäkelä doesn't want to be the center of attention. When he's on the podium, he'd much rather you focus on the composers whose works he brings to life.
Music lovers in North America will have several opportunities to hear Mäkelä's prodigious talents this month, when he and the Orchestre de Paris embark on a tour of Montreal, Boston, Ann Arbor, and New York, where the young conductor will make his highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut conducting Stravinsky's Firebird ballet and the volcanic Rite of Spring — two works Mäkelä and the orchestra recorded and released to critical acclaim on Decca Classics in 2023.
In this episode, Mäkelä and I talk more about the upcoming tour and what he's most looking forward to when he steps onto the stage of Carnegie Hall. Plus, he shares how the visual arts inspire his artistry, the 18th-century composer he'd love to play chamber music with, and the importance of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's music during his childhood.
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Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
When Justin Austin isn't singing at the Metropolitan Opera, Kennedy Center, or Lincoln Center Theater, you're likely to find him shooting hoops on the basketball court. Sports have been a lifelong passion for the young baritone, but it's more than the game's physical benefits that keep him reaching for a basketball. To Austin, cultivating the mindset of an athlete has consistently helped him reach new heights as an artist.
"A basketball coach once told me that discipline means doing all the things that are hard and that you don't like to do, but doing them as if you love it," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"That's helped me in my work ethic and my discipline within my musical career. When I encounter any kind of discomfort or difficulty learning my music or translating or memorizing, I just try to fall in love with the process, the repetition, dancing the words and the music. I find different creative ways to get the score in my body, so that it lives within me and comes out of me organically."
That approach to practice and role preparation has helped Austin land repeat engagements on some of classical music's biggest stages — including Carnegie Hall, where, on March 5, he's presenting a recital with pianist Howard Watkins. Part of Carnegie Hall's ongoing festival, Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice, this recital — titled "Don't Be Angry!" — presents music by five composers written over the course of a century, from selections from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera to the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's Marvin Gaye Songs, which Gordon composed for Austin.
In this episode, Austin and I talk more about his upcoming recital and how he hopes the program helps audience members become more comfortable with feelings of anger and hopelessness during turbulent times. Plus, he shares what it was like to return to the Metropolitan Opera stage after pandemic lockdowns, why opera singers should spend time honing their acting skills, and the OutKast album he would need with him if stranded on a desert island.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Classical music so often feels divorced from pop culture, but we don't need to dive too deep into the history books to see how much composers of the past embraced the cultural traditions of their homelands. Béla Bartók traveled across Hungary documenting folk songs, Gustav Mahler wove popular tunes into his First Symphony, and even Mozart composed background music for playing the popular card games of his day.
Is it possible for today's composers to once again marry concert music with aspects of popular culture? Juan Pablo Contreras thinks so.
The Mexican composer-conductor thrives on combining Western classical and Mexican folk music into a single soundscape that's all his own. And in his dazzling 2022 orchestral work Lucha Libre!, he's also incorporating one of his country's most beloved traditions: the choreographed wrestling spectacles that emerged in the 1950s, in which wrestlers act as superheroes waging battles between good and evil.
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Lucha Libre! transforms the stage into a live wrestling match, with six of the orchestral musicians wearing the iconic luchador masks. For Contreras, the work is not only an example of his artistic mission to bring people into the concert hall with music that feels relevant and exciting, but also a way for him to pay homage to the virtuosity of classical musicians.
"For me, classical musicians are like superheroes," Contreras says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "They do something almost impossible with their instrument. They are very gifted, and they have to do things in collaboration with other musicians so the magic happens. The same thing happens in lucha libre — everything is choreographed, so even if the teams are rivals, they have to work together to give the people a good spectacle."
In this episode, recorded just before the work's LA premiere, we talk more about the genesis of the piece, how Contreras collaborated with local communities to shape the work, and how he hopes Lucha Libre! inspires people to consider their own superhero persona. Plus, he shares how film and architecture inspire his creativity, the importance of daily meditation, and his favorite West Hollywood spot for Peruvian paella.
Stream Lucha Libre!, performed by the Orquestra Latino Mexicana — a group Contreras founded in his hometown of Guadalajara — on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to music.
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Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
For more than a year now, I've been obsessed with TÁR, the 2022 Todd Field film starring Cate Blanchett as an orchestral conductor whose power plays lead to her devastating downfall. Yes, the story is gripping and suspenseful, but it's the music interlaced throughout the film that keeps me coming back.
Aside from the two works performed in the film — Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Elgar's Cello Concerto — which were baked into Field's script, the music you hear throughout TÁR is the result of months of work by the film's music supervisor, Lucy Bright. A specialist in the arenas of film and television scoring, Bright has worked with some of today's biggest composers — including Nico Muhly, Michael Nyman, and Volker Bertelmann — on projects ranging from Assassin's Creed to Aftersun and The Iron Claw.
But what exactly does a music supervisor do on a film of this scale? Turns out, it's a lot.
From working with a team of on-set sound engineers who specialize in recording symphony orchestras to developing the film's Deutsche Grammophon concept album and recreating Urbie Green's 1967 recording of "Twenty-one Trombones," Bright was kept busy managing countless aspects of the film's musical atmosphere across three countries.
In this episode of the Classical Post podcast, I speak with Bright about the expert levels of coordination and collaboration vital to her work, working with the Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir to realize Lydia Tár's compositions, and what it was like seeing Cate Blanchett raise a baton to conduct Mahler. Plus, she shares her fascinating history with modern architecture, her go-to burger place in New York City, and the therapeutic benefits of swimming in the natural springs of London's Hampstead Heath.
Stream TÁR (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or wherever you stream music.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Poetry has long served as a point of inspiration for classical composers. Just think of Beethoven's magnificent setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy," Schubert's cinematic take on Goethe's "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel," or Ned Rorem's soulful songs based on the words of Frank O'Hara.
And now there's a new work to add to this storied tradition from composer Brian Raphael Nabors. In Upon Daybreak, premiered by the Berkeley Symphony in late 2022, Nabors turns to a poignant poem by the late Maya Angelou, "A Brave, Startling Truth." Rather than set the poem's text to music, however, Nabors distills Angelou's visionary call for a great "day of peacemaking" into a powerful orchestral work that imagines a utopian world without hatred or malice.
"In the poem, [Angelou] talks about all the chaos, war, and dystopia that come about from us being humans and destructive," Nabors says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "But also all the beauty that comes from humanity and what we're able to offer. It talks about this day when all this war mongering ends finally and we realize that the true wonders of the world are ourselves and life itself."
Commissioned by New Music USA as part of its Amplifying Voices program, Upon Daybreak has been performed by the Detroit Symphony, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra since its Berkeley premiere, and the work will make its way to the Seattle Symphony in 2024.
In this episode, Nabors and I talk more about composing Upon Daybreak and what it was like working with the Berkeley Symphony's music director, Joseph Young, on a host of community engagement projects leading up to the premiere. Plus, he shares the important part his spiritual life plays in maintaining the energy to compose, how video games help him overcome creative blocks, and why skin care is always a top priority in his wellness routine.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
There's an interesting dichotomy baked into the act of composing. Although the music that composers write reflects their own thoughts, emotions, and perspectives, they need to hand that music over to other people to bring it to life.
But for Andrew Bennett, a Canadian composer of experimental electronic music who records under the moniker Factor Eight, his own voice is the driving force behind his 2022 album, II. Although that was never Bennett's plan for the album — it proved to be a creative breakthrough.
"Throughout the creation of that record, I was also trying to create a sound that was entirely my own, something that felt more authentically me," Bennett says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "I didn't really set out to create music using only my voice, but when I look back it's sort of serendipitous that these things happened in tandem. There's a parallel in the album between my artistic sound and my personal story behind the record."
By manipulating the vocals using a raft of technologies, he created a vast, mystical soundscape that's profoundly personal to Bennett. The new album became an avenue for revealing his struggles with mental illness and raising awareness of the stigma around bipolar disorder. Mental health advocacy has always been part of Bennett's mission as an artist, and he is donating proceeds from digital sales of II to the Canadian Mental Health Association Saskatoon.
In this episode, Bennett and I talk more about the creation of the album, and how the process inspired him to continue using his voice as the primary canvas for his music. Plus, he shares how the act of collaboration fuels his creativity, why a Vitamix blender is the most important gadget in his kitchen, and the importance of the visual arts in his sound-based work.
Listen to II on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever you stream or download music.
—Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
When most people think of the pipe organ, they imagine its massive, majestic sound filling a large church during a wedding, funeral, or other Christian ceremonies.
But as I learned in my recent conversation with the Austrian concert organist Lukas Hasler, we can trace the instrument's roots to ancient Egypt, thousands of years before the birth of Christ. And despite their prevalence in the church, organs have also played an important role in secular life. In the 19th century, for example, people in small villages or those who couldn't afford concert tickets could only hear new music when it was transcribed and performed by a local organist.
And for Hasler, bringing the organ back to the mainstream and helping people from all walks of life discover its beauty and expressive range has become a central component of his career.
"Everyone thinks the organ is just in churches, which of course is a truth," Hasler says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "On the other side, every time you walk into concert halls or listen to film music, the organ plays a major part. I really want to create an awareness of this instrument — and sometimes it really helps to transcribe very famous scores for the organ."
Hasler's ability to showcase the organ's remarkable versatility has made him a star on the rise. In addition to building a community of more than 80,000 fans on social media, he's performed in the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival, was the first touring classical musician to perform in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion, and his transcriptions of everything from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata to the Super Mario Brothers theme have thrilled audiences across Europe and the U.S.
In this episode, Hasler and I talk more about the organ's evolution over time and his latest digital release — an astounding reading of Franz Liszt's virtuosic Fantasy and Fugue on Bach. Plus, he shares what made him recently pack up his life in Austria and head to sunny southern California, how architecture and fashion inspire his creativity, and the importance of hearing protection when the instrument you play is very, very loud.
Listen to Hasler's recording of Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue on Bach on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you stream music.
—Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Anyone who's had the pleasure of seeing violinist Rachel Barton Pine perform live knows this is a musician who gives every performance her all. What many people will likely not know is how much that mesmerizing stage presence is informed and inspired by her love of heavy metal music.
"[In heavy metal], there's this 150% commitment to feeling the music and sharing it with the person farthest away in the venue," Pine shares on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "That's something I try to do whether I'm playing things that are really bombastic or things that are perfectly calm. ... For me, sharing is what it all comes down to — knowing that I've done everything I can to share the most music with the most people."
Sharing a lot of music with a lot of people has been a throughline of Pine's career. Besides performing the standards of the violin repertoire, Pine has made it her mission for more than two decades to shine a light on music by underrepresented composers. Last year she released the 25th anniversary edition of her seminal album, Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through the Centuries — a collection of works for violin and orchestra by Florence Price, Joseph Bologne, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and José White Lafitte.
The overwhelming response to that album — produced long before classical music's concerted push for more diverse programming — inspired her to launch the Music by Black Composers initiative in 2001, which has not only collected more than 900 works by 450 composers of African descent, but also produced a variety of free educational resources so music lovers of all ages can access this incredible music.
In this episode, Pine and I talk more about the album and the impact of historical discrimination on the violin repertoire. Plus, she shares how finding a sense of purpose as a violinist fuels her energy and creativity, that time she heard authentic tango music in Uruguay, and her favorite place in New York City for vegan Italian food.
Listen to Violin Concertos by Black Composers Through the Centuries on Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio, or wherever you stream music.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
No matter what line of business you're in, building a new enterprise from the ground up isn't for the faint of heart. From defining your mission to marketing, payroll, and growth strategies, there's a lot to consider — and a lot of opportunities to give up when the challenges feel insurmountable.
Conductor Luke McEndarfer encountered many of those moments in his early days leading the National Children's Chorus, where he's served as artistic director and CEO for 20 years. As he looked to expand the choir's reach beyond a handful of participants in Los Angeles, he hit a low point: needing to borrow money from his mother to pay the venue rental fee for an upcoming concert.
But giving up on the organization — and its talented young singers — was never an option, as McEndarfer shares on a new episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"At the end of my life, in the last minute or two that I'm here on this earth looking back, I would rather know I did everything I could to make this vision come true and failed, than to think I held something back and would never know what would have happened if I really went for it. So I'd rather fail than not give it my all and then never know."
To say McEndarfer's vision for the group has come to life would be an understatement. Under his leadership, the National Children's Chorus has become one of the leading children's choirs in the world, with more than 1,200 students across eight chapter cities performing concerts at leading venues around the globe every season. The ensemble won a 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance and just released its first album, Illumine, which they recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra at the iconic Abbey Road Studios.
In this episode, McEndarfer and I talk more about his 20 years with the chorus and what's on the horizon for the ensemble in 2024. Plus, he shares the ways human connection inspires him to make music, how getting up early helps him hone his creativity, and why the best investment you can make in your life is a really good bed.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
A postmodern take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Yorgos Lanthimos's new film, Poor Things, sees the director exploring ideas of life and liberty in his uniquely surrealist way.
The movie revolves around Bella, played by Emma Stone, a woman in Victorian Britain brought back to life by Dr. Godwin Baxter, played by Willem Dafoe. Eager to learn more about the world around her, Bella sets off on a fantastical, globe-hopping adventure.
That theme of reanimation was central to composer Jerskin Fendrix while developing the film's score. Although he's primarily known as a singer, pianist, and songwriter active in South London's indie music scene, Fendrix's ability to merge his classical training with experimental approaches to music-making was a perfect fit for the world of Poor Things.
To match the imaginative tone of Lanthimos's film, Jerskin spent time digitally processing and manipulating the voice of each instrument, ultimately transforming even the most familiar musical sounds into an unfamiliar, almost eerie listening experience.
"I was really interested in wind instruments and breath as a musical idea," Jerskin explains on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Breath and life are inextricably tied up, so giving the impression of something which isn't sentient or alive replicating anything that is alive sets off a really primal, fear-based instinct, something which is preternaturally horrifying."
In this episode, Fendrix and I talk more about the creative process behind his Poor Things score. Plus, he shares a piece of writing advice from Kurt Vonnegut that helps him focus his work, the importance of emotional resonance in his music, and the street food scene he craves whenever he's in New York City.
Poor Things and the film's official soundtrack will be released on December 8, 2023. The first two singles, "Bella" and "Lisbon," are available wherever you stream music.
—Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
The architecture world lost a giant when the distinguished Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly died earlier this year at the age of 78. For four decades, Viñoly led his global architecture firm to international renown, bringing to life everything from airports to hospitals, sports stadiums, and performing arts centers — including one very close to my heart, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center.
Having lived in the Philly area for many years prior to moving to New York, I've attended countless performances at the Kimmel Center. I've always been inspired by how the sprawling public space invites people to come together for drinks, conversation, and community even if you're not there for a concert. According to Viñoly's son Román, director of Rafael Viñoly Architects, creating vibrant social spaces was always part of his father's mission.
"He looked at his work as something that invariably had a profoundly civic dimension," Román says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "He recognized that buildings are very capital intensive, so he always found ways to leverage those enormous investments into developing public amenities — grand, inspiring spaces that people want to spend time in. That ethical approach permeates his work throughout the world."
Outside of architecture, Rafael Viñoly had another passion: classical music. So it's fitting that a concert paying tribute to the architect's life and legacy is taking place next week at Carnegie Hall — where for decades Viñoly attended several concerts every week.
On November 28, two ensembles that perform in Viñoly-designed spaces — the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jazz at Lincoln Center's Isaiah J. Thompson Trio — will share the stage at Stern Auditorium with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Jonathan Biss for an evening of music honoring Viñoly.
In this episode, Román and I talk more about his father's life, the work the Viñoly Foundation is doing to extend Rafael's legacy in architecture and the arts, and how the Carnegie concert also marks the first U.S. appearance of the Maene-Viñoly Concert Grand Piano — an innovative, ergonomically designed piano Rafael helped create.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
For conductor and baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather, artistic inspiration has largely sprung from asking questions related to his identity. What role does his work as a Black musician play within the larger tapestry of music history? Who are the artists of the past who contributed to the legacy he's inherited today?
As director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and music director of the Dessoff Choirs, Merriweather spends his days bringing to life great choral works from the Renaissance through the 21st century. But two composers — who happened to live 400 years apart — have proved his primary focus over the past several years: Margaret Bonds, a contributor to the Harlem Renaissance; and Vicente Lusitano, an Afro-Portuguese musician who's considered the first published Black composer.
Merriweather has led the Dessoff Choirs in performances of both composers' music, oftentimes programming their work alongside that of their contemporaries. Which, in the case of Lusitano, includes Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and Giovanni Palestrina — who also happens to be an important figure in the ensemble's early history.
"It's part of the Dessoff Choirs' mission to bring underperformed and underrepresented music and composers to the concert stage," Merriweather says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "That's been part of our mission since our founding in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, a German Jewish immigrant. At that time, she was bringing the music of Palestrina to this country, which had never been heard here."
In this episode, Merriweather and I talk more about his relationship to Margaret Bonds's music, and how his critically acclaimed recordings of her songs led him to London to hear Lusitano's works for the first time. Plus, he shares how the act of baking nourishes his mind and body, why he has to make his bed first thing in the morning, and his favorite restaurant in Harlem for American-Senagalese fusion cuisine.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
As busy as composer Anna Clyne is this season — fulfilling commissions for new works and serving as a resident artist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla y León — music accounts for a fraction of her artistic inspiration.
That's because the Grammy-nominated British composer thrives on incorporating many creative disciplines outside of music into her work. Reviewing a roster of her recent engagements, you'll find critically acclaimed collaborations with visual artist Josh Dorman, filmmaker Jyll Bradley, and choreographers from London's Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet.
Clyne's immersive approach to music-making offers audiences new entry points for experiencing new music and understanding classical music's relationship to other branches of the arts. "Success for me is about reaching audiences," she says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "My role as a composer is to create something as beautiful as I can and to share that. When people come back with a piece that's been very moving for them, I feel I've been successful in sharing something with the world. That's a very humbling feeling."
In this conversation, we discuss her ongoing partnership with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, how a Mark Rothko painting inspired her orchestral work Color Field, and the ways a lifelong love of literature is helping her to write an opera on the life of Emily Dickinson. Plus, Clyne discusses her wellness practices — from drawing and Japanese calligraphy to long walks with her adopted pup Penny — the joy of ending a long day with a Negroni, and her favorite place for classic steak frites in New York City.
—Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
When most orchestras commission a new work, they usually ask the composer to produce music that fits on a standard concert program, like a 10-minute overture or a 45-minute symphony.
But when BBC Earth approached composers Adam Lukas and James Everingham — along with the two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer — to compose the score for its latest nature documentary series, Frozen Planet II, the show's producers needed six hours of music. Even for this trio of seasoned composers, that's a tall order to fill.
Besides creating a sonic universe to accompany Frozen Planet II's icy, snow-capped visuals, these composers had to help fulfill the show's core mission: introducing viewers not only to the daily lives of polar bears, penguins, and snow monkeys — but also the ways climate change is compounding the difficulties they face surviving in the coldest regions of the world.
"The series is tackling the issue of the climate crisis," Lukas says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "We knew we wanted to tell the stories of the animals in their habitats in a way that helps people connect with them and care about them in a genuine way. That's something Hans has spent his career being the best at."
In this episode, I sit down with Lukas and Everingham to discuss the process of creating the series's score — which involved more than 100 people working for three years while navigating lockdown restrictions. They also share stories about collaborating with the legendary Zimmer, the magical time they spent in the studio with the Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora, and how they define success.
Frozen Planet II is available to stream in the U.S. on Prime Video, Vudu, and Apple TV.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
Composer Steven Mackey has come a long way since his teenage years studying physics at the University of California, Davis, and learning blues-rock riffs on his guitar.
Today Mackey stands as a celebrated composer and electric guitarist whose work is regularly performed by orchestras around the world — including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, and the Boston Symphony. He's taught composition at Princeton University for nearly 40 years and has served as a composer in residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, Tanglewood, and the Aspen Music Festival.
On his latest album, Beautiful Passing, Mackey brings together two works inspired by personal experiences that deeply informed his views on memory, life, and death: Mnemosyne’s Pool, which Musical America called "the first great American symphony of the 21st century"; and Beautiful Passing, a violin concerto Mackey composed after watching his mother pass away from cancer.
Despite the presence of death woven throughout both works, Mackey made sure to find moments for levity and humor in his music. "Part of death is a farewell to this joyous life and the energetic people my parents were," Mackey says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "There's a depth of emotion that music is really uniquely suited for. Where words are a struggle to come by, music bypasses those language centers and gives you a direct emotional response."
In this episode, we talk more about the new album, and Mackey shares the profoundly moving story of his mother's death and how it influenced Beautiful Passing's title. Plus, he discusses the parallels he sees between filmmaking, cooking, and composition, and his go-to spot for Italian food on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Listen to Beautiful Passing on Spotify, Apple Music, Idagio, or wherever you stream and download music.
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Classical Post®is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.
After years spent touring the world with pop and jazz legends like Julio Iglesias and Babik Reinhardt, pianist Chad Lawson was hungry to find a more intimate avenue for his curiosity and creativity. So he began composing short, ethereal works for solo piano, several of which made their way onto his debut album, 2009's Set on a Hill.
Although he began composing as a way to find quiet calm after years on the road, Lawson quickly saw the effect his music had on people all over the globe. He received countless emails from listeners who had found in Lawson's album the solace they needed to deal with hardships in their personal lives. And in the 15 years since that flood of emails began, Lawson has grown a devoted fan base. His music has received more than 500 million streams, and every week 60,000 people listen to his podcast, Calm It Down.
On his most recent album, breathe, it's clear Lawson has forged a career that's less concerned with his popularity as an artist and more about helping people improve their emotional and mental health.
"breathe is meant to invite people to be OK with what we've been through — be it the last two years, the last two hours, the last two decades — and to find that place where we can kind of exhale everything we've been carrying with us that we no longer need," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"It's not about Chad Lawson. It's about creating a platform that allows healing for people and what they're going through."
In this episode we talk more about the new album, and Lawson shares profound insights into the creative process behind his music. He also talks more about the marriage of music and mental health, the ways Transcendental Meditation helps him quiet his racing mind, and his favorite Brooklyn pastry shop for what he calls "the best donuts on the planet."
Listen to breathe wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
I'm always curious how many frequent flier miles composers rack up in a year. That's because, to hear a new work performed live, they need to travel to where the concerts are happening. And often times that's major cultural hubs like New York City, London, Berlin, or Tokyo.
But an inventive project from harpist Emily Levin is bringing composers much closer to their home turf. GroundWork(s), which Levin founded in 2022, is commissioning 52 composers — one from each of the 50 states, plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico — to write new works for the harp. But what makes GroundWork(s) unique is that each piece receives its premiere in the composer's hometown, showcasing the artistry of the composers in the cities that first inspired and supported them.
For the third GroundWork(s) commission, Levin tapped Puerto Rico–born composer Angélica Negrón, currently the composer-in-residence with the Dallas Symphony, where Levin is also the principal harp. Negrón's new work for violin, cello, harp, and electronics, Ave del paraíso, takes its inspiration from the Bird of Paradise and even includes field recordings of birds native to Puerto Rico.
For Negrón, the GroundWork(s) project represents the first time she's received a premiere in her hometown of San Juan. In addition to having family and friends be among the first to hear a work of hers performed, Negrón also saw the premiere earlier this year as a unique opportunity to dissolve the borders often placed between musicians and the audience.
In this episode, I talk more with Levin and Negrón about how the San Juan premiere came together and what's next for GroundWork(s) in the coming months. Plus, Levin shares her fascinating strategy for engaging audiences with new music by putting the focus not on the music — but on the people involved in the creative process.
Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
Few classical musicians have an IMDb page as extensive as composer-pianist Volker Bertelmann.
In addition to the experimental piano music he composes and performs under the moniker Hauschka, Bertelmann is one of the most prolific film composers at work today. Over the past 15 years, he's scored nearly 60 films and television shows — including titles featuring megawatt stars like Nicole Kidman and Benedict Cumberbatch.
But even with those credits, Bertelmann knew it would be difficult composing the score for Netflix's new World War I epic All Quiet on the Western Front. He would need to establish a musical atmosphere that could take viewers from the optimistic enthusiasm felt at the start of the war to the bleak despair experienced by millions of soldiers trapped in trenches on the front lines. Bertelmann was up for the challenge.
"My life philosophy is that your lifetime is there for you to grow," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "And you can only grow if you're challenged — finding solutions, another path. I'm a big fan of that. It keeps you flexible."
Bertelmann's work has certainly paid off. Earlier this year, he won the BAFTA Film Award for his score to All Quiet ..., and just last month he took home an Oscar for best original score.
In this episode — recorded before his trophy wins — we talk more about the development of his award-winning score and the ways modern dance and architecture inspire his creativity. Plus, Bertelmann shares the facial toner he can't live without and his favorite Manhattan restaurant for, interestingly enough, Shaker-inspired early American cuisine.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
Pianist Zsolt Bognár had a light-bulb moment while building his first artist website in 2012. What if, instead of short clips of his performances — something every pianist publishes on their website — he interviewed his musician friends about their craft and careers?
Inspired by Bognár's love for Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio, the first iteration of the web series that would become Living the Classical Life was born. And more than a decade later, it has grown into an incredibly popular, award-winning show that's featured the best of the best in the classical music world.
With more than three million views on YouTube alone, Bognár's in-depth conversations with the likes of Daniil Trifonov, Yuja Wang, Joyce DiDonato, Lisa Batiashvilli, and Susanna Mällki illuminate the inner world of classical musicians — revealing the passions, fears, and rewards that fuel their lives in music.
To find success in today's content-saturated landscape, Bognár knew he would need to build a network of like-minded professionals who could support his vision for Living the Classical Life not only as a creative outlet, but as a business venture. That's a perspective he hopes to impart on anyone seeking advice on launching a new project.
"Seek out people who you are really on the same wavelength with," Bognár shares on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast, "or you may not have the same values that can connect you with others you'll resonate with. This is a world of business, as much as we don't like to think in those terms. Identify the people whose qualities you trust."
In this episode, Bognár and I talk more about the early days of Living the Classical Life — when it was simply called Zsolt Bognár and Friends — as well as the mix of hard work, luck, and opportunity that helped the show take off, and the importance of strategic introductions, no matter your industry.
Full disclosure: I have a very close relationship with Living the Classical Life. I'm a member of the Board of Directors and have regularly advised Bognár on the show's branding, outreach, and marketing over the past 10 years. It's been my absolute pleasure to see how Living the Classical Life has grown over the past decade, and I hope this deep dive into the show's evolution inspires you in your own creative journeys.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
After more than two decades as one of New York City's busiest freelance oboists, James Roe decided to pivot his career.
He packed up his oboe case, reed knife, and metronome to take on leadership positions at two of the ensembles he had regularly performed with. First he spent two years as president and CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving into his current role as president and executive director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, where he's been since 2015.
How did 25 years of performing in symphony orchestras prepare him to lead one himself? For Roe, his seat in the oboe section gave him a strategic vantage point — one that allowed him to see thousands of concerts play out on the faces of audience members in real time.
"You could see when something was hitting, that look in someone's eye that meant the music was meaningful to them," Roe says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "I've taken that into my leadership role because it shows that, as musicians and musical organizations, our mission is not fulfilled on stage — that's only the beginning. The mission is fulfilled in the hearts, minds, ears, and spirits of people in the audience."
At the helm of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Roe oversees more than 70 concerts per season in 20 venues across New York City, as well as a host of education and community programs that help make classical music more accessible for every New Yorker. And through it all, Roe's guiding principle is to ensure "the audience is the focus of everything we do."
In this episode, we talk more about the Orchestra of St. Luke's current season — including the Carnegie Hall premiere of Florence Price's Piano Quintet with Marc-André Hamelin and the third year of the ensemble's DeGaetano Composition Institute, where three emerging composers work with composer-mentor Anna Clyne on new pieces to be premiered by OSL.
Plus, Roe shares how reading during his daily commute supports his well-being, the inspiration he gets from the "wonderful crackle of anticipation" before a concert begins, and his favorite Manhattan restaurant when he's craving Basque cuisine.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
In business, marketing strategies often revolve around defining your ideal customer. What specific interests and demographics do they represent? The more specific you are in your targeting, the better.
But Time for Three proves just how wrong that approach to building an audience can be. Performing their unique blend of Americana, modern pop, and classical music, the acclaimed string trio has grown a large fan base that defies demographics — people who are just as likely to listen to Brahms as bluegrass and the Beatles.
And now the members of Time for Three — violinists Charles Yang and Nick Kendall and bassist Ranaan Meyer — are celebrating their latest achievement: a Grammy Award for Letters for the Future, the Deutsche Grammophon album they recorded last year with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
For Yang, the nominations carry a comforting sense of validation. "As a group as eclectic, and unique, and weird as we are, we've had to swim upstream at times in this industry. So this was a nice way of saying, finally: What we're doing is right, and we went with our heart."
In this episode of the Classical Post podcast, the members of Time for Three and I talk more about the album and the Olympic training mindset that helped them thrive while recording Letters for the Future in Philly. Plus, they share how therapy sessions can often serve as creative sessions and their picks for the best Thai and Japanese food in Manhattan.
Listen to Letters for the Future on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
When British saxophonist Jess Gillam refers to her Carnegie Hall debut as "a real dream come true," she's being literal. Since the age of 12, she's dreamt of taking to New York City's fabled stage and sharing her passion for the saxophone with the audience.
Gillam's dream became reality in October, when she and pianist Thomas Weaver performed a wide-ranging program of music — from Telemann and John Dowland to Meredith Monk and Barbara Thompson — at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. For Gillam, it was important that her program not only reflected the capabilities of her instrument, but also allowed her to forge meaningful connections with the audience.
"It's important for me to play music that I really resonate with, music that really speaks to me so that I can tell the story well and share that story with the audience," Gillam says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "That was my main aim last night — to create an atmosphere and a place for the audience to exist."
That insatiable drive to share her excitement about classical music has led to a bevy of remarkable opportunities and honors. At just 24 years old, Gillam remains the youngest presenter to host a BBC Radio 3 program — the wildly popular This Classical Life — and in 2018 she was a soloist at the Last Night of the Proms, perhaps the biggest and most prestigious event in British classical music. She was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service to British music and was the first saxophonist to be signed to Decca Classics. And her debut album, Rise, hit the top spot on the UK Classical chart in 2019.
In this episode, Gillam and I talk more about her Carnegie debut and the projects she has lined up for 2023 — including the premiere of a new concerto written for her by Anna Clyne, which she'll perform with the Detroit Symphony. Plus, she shares how film, fashion, and nature fuel her creativity, her fanatical love of Nairn's oatcakes, and why there's nothing more important to her than "being as kind as possible."
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
Few careers in classical music read as illustriously as that of pianist Wu Han. For more than 50 years, her life has centered around the concert stage, delivering performances of the highest caliber in nearly every corner of the globe.
She once viewed that jet-setting lifestyle as a symbol of success earlier in her career. But these days, in her work as artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, La Musica Chamber Music Festival, and the Society of the Four Arts, Wu Han's mission is to develop the next generation of classical musicians.
"Every time I hear young people with a new idea they're trying to explore, it reminds me of myself when I was their age," Wu Han says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "It really makes me feel the responsibility and the inspiration to want to move this art form forward. The next generation, their devotion and love for classical music, is where I find a lot of inspiration."
That drive to create incredible performance opportunities for young musicians is clear when looking at the artist roster for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Winter Festival. Over the course of five concerts exploring the music and profound legacy of Franz Schubert, a mix of seasoned performers and rising stars will share the stage — including pianist Gilbert Kalish, violist Paul Neubauer, singers Joélle Harvey and Nikolay Borchev, and the Escher String Quartet.
In this episode, Wu Han and I talk more about the Winter Festival and her unique approach to programming and artist curation. Plus, she shares how ballet and the art of Renaissance Italy inspire her creativity, her favorite place in New York City's Chinatown for Cantonese fried crab, and the very important role bacon plays in her household.
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Classical Post® is a leading podcast based in New York. Our content uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music through dynamic deep-dive interviews with prominent artists in the world today.
We are powered by Gold Sound Media® — a creative studio providing omnichannel marketing and public relations services for the classical music industry.
1983 proved a pivotal year in violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky's life. That was the year the Azerbaijan-born musician became a U.S. citizen, married his wife, and bought the Stradivarius violin he still plays to this day. It was also the year he discovered Glenn Gould's final recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations.
That album inspired Sitkovetsky to arrange the Baroque keyboard masterpiece for string orchestra — a project that would forever change the trajectory of his career as a musical artist.
"My transcription gave me a whole other life parallel to my performing career," Sitkovetsky says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "I'm the fourth generation of professional musicians [in my family], so it was pretty much determined I should play violin and become a concert artist. But that year changed that a great deal. I diversified."
Now, 40 years later, Sitkovetsky has become a multi-hyphenate to the nth degree. In addition to his work as a solo violinist and transcriber, he's a sought-after conductor, music director, and educator; founder of the New European Strings Chamber Orchestra; and host of Medici.tv's interview series It Ain't Necessarily So — where he's sat down with some of the greatest musicians of our time, including Yefim Bronfman, Barbara Hendricks, and Sir Neville Marriner.
In this episode, we discuss how being a student of history informs Sitkovetsky's music-making and what's in store for his final season as music director of the Greensboro Symphony, an ensemble he's led for 20 years. Plus, he shares the earphones he can't live without while traveling, his favorite New York City restaurant for feasting on sturgeon and caviar, and how he sees his career as being "a keeper of the flame" for classical music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
From dinosaurs dancing to The Rite of Spring in Disney's Fantasia to a tuxedoed Bugs Bunny performing Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, classic cartoons have long been a delightful entry point for kids of all ages to get to know classical music.
That's a tradition composer and jazz pianist Joel Pierson is breathing new life into as artistic director of The Queen's Cartoonists. Working at the crossroads of classical music, jazz, and the golden age of animation, The Queen's Cartoonists perform the scores of classic animated films from around the world, perfectly synchronizing their brilliant jazz-band arrangements with the films projected on stage.
Winning audiences over with their madcap humor and a musical palette that mixes Rossini and Strauss with Carl Stalling and Raymond Scott, the ensemble has sold out venues from the Blue Note Jazz Club to the Konzerthaus Berlin. For Pierson, the group's mission is simply to show that anyone can discover a love for classical music and jazz, given the right introduction.
"I always say we're essentially tricking people into liking classical music and jazz," Pierson says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Of course we're playing a lot of [that] music, but that's not really how you get people in. The hook is that this is a bunch of animated films with a highly synchronized live performance by some excellent New York musicians, and people really like that."
In this episode, we talk more about Pierson's process for arranging the wide variety of music The Queen's Cartoonists performs, and he gives us a sneak peek at the group's latest project — a wildly inventive reimagining of Mozart's Requiem. Plus, he shares how travel fuels his creativity, his favorite basement beer bar in New York City, and why a bidet attachment is truly, in his words, "a life-changer."
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The Spanish pianist Javier Perianes is racking up quite a lot of frequent flyer miles these days.
This season alone, his concert schedule has him zigzagging the globe to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dallas Symphony here in the States, Europe's Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic, and a whirlwind trip to Australia for concerts with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, among many other engagements.
And while the thrill of making music with friends and colleagues around the world is a key driver for Perianes's career, his extensive travels also provide a key element that fuels his creativity: new life experiences.
"When you're with a piece, you have big emotional landscapes — death, pain, suffering, hope, joy," Perianes shares on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Where can you get all those feelings to convey? You can't get that from others' lives. You can't imitate them. You have to have them deep inside you."
That authentic approach to performance has served Perianes well. A prolific recording artist, he's released 20 critically acclaimed albums on the Harmonia Mundi label — and he's performed with many of today's leading conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Barenboim, and Vladimir Jurowski.
Next up for Perianes are three performances of Saint-Saëns's Fifth Piano Concerto — also known as "The Egyptian" — with the LA Phil and conductor Gustavo Gimeno. In this episode, we talk more about how he's preparing the Saint-Saëns concerto and what he hopes audiences in Los Angeles will enjoy about this seldom-heard work.
Plus, Perianes shares how short siestas and long walks to work are part of his wellness routine, the Manhattan restaurants he seeks out whenever he's performing in New York, and how defining success for him is simply to "Do what you love."
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
In early 2012, the coloratura soprano Marie-Eve Munger received an offer every opera singer dreams of — a lead role in a Mozart opera.
But there was a catch. It wasn't a role in Don Giovanni, or The Marriage of Figaro, or any of the popular Mozart operas performed every season across the globe. The opera was Il sogno di Scipione, which Mozart wrote when he was just 16 years old.
Munger had never heard of the opera before, but learning and performing it that year piqued her curiosity. How could Mozart write a compelling theatrical work like this at such a young age? And why was no one performing this music?
Now, a decade later, that interest in exploring Mozart's early operas has blossomed into a new album from the French-Canadian soprano, Maestrino Mozart — a program of rarely heard arias Mozart composed between the ages of 10 and 16, which Munger performs with Les Boréades de Montréal under the baton of Philippe Bourque.
"What I discovered in Il sogno di Scipione were incredible moments of musical depth and dramatic sense, an incredible mastery of the bel canto," Munger says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Even at that early age, he was able to really capture the essence of what it is to be human."
Over the course of the 12 arias featured on Maestrino Mozart, Munger shows us how the popular assumption that Mozart's earliest works are too simple or juvenile is just not the case. In these teenage works, one can clearly hear the maturity the composer would develop over the next 20 years.
"[This music] sheds an interesting light on his later works as well. You can hear the seeds of Giovanni. You can hear the seeds of the Queen of the Night and Pamina. All of that is really in there already, and you can hear it. It's a very interesting way to rediscover a composer we think we know."
In this discussion, we talk more about the new album and the parallels Munger sees between performing classical music and gastronomy. Plus, she shares how her yoga practice helps her cultivate her voice, the iPad app that's transformed her life as a traveling musician, and her pick for the best burger joint in New York City.
Listen to Maestrino Mozart on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you download or stream music.
Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
For violinist Hilary Hahn, finding success as an international soloist has never been about sticking to the same menu of concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius. Now in the fourth decade of her storied career, the three-time Grammy Award winner has consistently worked to expand the scope of the violin canon — commissioning a slate of new works from composers like Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Higdon, and Lera Auerbach.
But on Eclipse, her latest release on Deutsche Grammophon, the centerpiece of the album isn't a work written for her. In fact, it's not even by a living composer. It's the violin concerto of Alberto Ginastera — a work that's seldom performed, and one Hahn immediately fell in love with when she first heard it years ago. Ever since then, she knew she had to record it.
"It felt like one of those pieces I needed to take on for my own reasons, but also that it wasn't played very much," Hahn says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "I was enamored with the work, felt like it was written for me, even though I never met the composer. It's exactly what I like to dive into emotionally in music, and it requires a very specific relationship to the instrument that I feel is a strength of mine."
Part of the reason Hahn was eager to record the work was not only the chance to add to the concerto's story with her performance — but also to allow everyone who listens to contribute their personal perspective to the work.
"Music is a way to connect you with your own experience. As a listener, you are part of the interpretation of that music's history. When you listen to a piece, you add to the diversity of stories that it tells, just by being present in its space."
In this discussion, we talk more about Eclipse and why another work on the album, Dvořák's Violin Concerto, deserves much more time in the spotlight as well. Plus, she shares how her wellness routine is all about tuning into the daily ebb and flow of her body, and the facial massage stone that helps her undo the neck and jaw tension that comes with years of playing the violin.
Listen to Eclipse on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Conductor Gary Thor Wedow has often found inspiration for his music-making in the visual arts. But a recent visit to an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gave Wedow, a specialist in Baroque opera, an altogether new view of ancient Greek and Roman art — and early music.
"We used to think all Classical Greek and Roman statues were all virginally white marble," Wedow says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "But [historians] have learned that most of them were painted with a bright array of colors, which made me think so much about early music. We used to think of it as something remote, restrained, but now I feel as performers we have to find more colors and more variety."
Wedow will soon have ample opportunity to find colors and chiaroscuro — strong contrasts between light and dark — in Handel's seldom-performed opera Atalanta. Beginning on November 9, Wedow leads singers from the Juilliard Opera and the school's period-instrument ensemble, Juilliard415, in three performances of this delightful but seldom-performed work. A mythological opera written in 1736 to celebrate the wedding of England's Prince of Wales, Wedow likens Atalanta's plot to that of Hallmark Channel rom-coms, filled with comical misunderstandings, love at first sight — and a whole lot of sunny, exuberant music.
In this episode, Wedow talks more about the joy of working with young artists at Juilliard, where he serves on the Vocal Arts faculty, and how he sees the role of a conductor as "bringing the ship safely into harbor through a storm."
Plus, he shares a slew of recommendations for exploring the Queens borough of New York City — from his favorite spots for Mexican, Japanese, and eastern European food, to drinks at the Museum of the Moving Image and a trip to the grave of Mozart's notorious librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Many classical music ensembles have only recently begun to prioritize programming works by underrepresented composers who've been unjustly lost to the sands of time. But for 20 years and counting, that's been the sole focus and mission of the ARC Ensemble and its artistic director, Simon Wynberg.
The ensemble-in-residence at Toronto's Royal Conservatory, the ARC Ensemble is among Canada's most distinguished cultural ambassadors. And since day one, its musicians and leadership have been dedicated to presenting the work of composers suppressed and marginalized under the 20th century's repressive regimes — an overwhelming mountain of music still waiting to be rediscovered.
"The thing I've taken back from all the work we've done is how much music there is to explore," Wynberg says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "All of these chamber works are there, waiting for someone with a bit of imagination — and some financial backing, too — to put these things together. There's really just a huge amount of unknown music which deserves to be incorporated."
The Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble's latest album in its acclaimed Music in Exile series on Chandos Records shines a light on the chamber music of Alberto Hemsi, a composer and ethnomusicologist whose "whole identity was one of exile," Wynberg shares. A Sephardic Jew born in the Ottoman Empire and musically trained in Italy, Hemsi was forced into political exile multiple times throughout his lifetime. And according to Wynberg, that regular immersion in new cultures — albeit not by choice — forced Hemsi to reinvent himself as an artist, resulting in music of incredible depth and variety.
"He operated entirely outside of the European tradition. As a Sephardic Jew, he was inspired by the traditional Jewish melodies he collected, and then he infused his works with that music. So you get this astonishing new sound in a way. It's extraordinary."
In this episode, we talk more about the ARC Ensemble's unique mission and take a deeper dive into the lives of Hemsi as well as two composers recently profiled in the group's Music in Exile series: the Ukrainian nationalist Dmitri Klebanov, and Walter Kaufmann, who became a celebrated scholar of Indian classic music after fleeing to modern-day Mumbai from Nazi Germany.
Listen to Music in Exile, Vol. 5: Works by Alberto Hemsi on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
French-Canadian baritone Etienne Dupuis is a big fan of television, especially Ted Lasso. So much so that he's adapted a key phrase from the comedy-meets-philosophy series — "Football is life!" — as a mantra to stoke people's interest in opera.
"Now I always say, 'Opera is life!'" Dupuis shares on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Bohème, Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro, they just feel so close to life sometimes. Opera allows us to emotionally connect together."
For Dupuis, building a larger fan base for opera means showing people that a night at the opera isn't about wearing the fanciest dress or worrying about clapping at a "wrong" moment — it's about taking part in a shared emotional experience.
"If you're so sad that you're in tears or so happy and elated that you want to stand up and clap and yell bravo, it's noble to feel that way, it's part of the experience. I always say opera should be as close to the human experience as it can be."
In this discussion, Dupuis talks more about how opera can return to its 17th-century roots as a relaxed social event everyone could enjoy, and what's on tap for him this season — including singing the title role in John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer with the composer himself on the podium. Plus, he shares the ways brainstorming and synergy can lead to creative breakthroughs, why Fisherman's Friend lozenges are in fact a singer's best friend, and where to find the best pork buns in New York City.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The life of composer Robot Koch is a study in contrasts.
Raised in the same area of Germany as the Brothers Grimm — with its foggy forests and medieval castles — he now lives among the sunny splendor of Los Angeles. And although Koch leads a monk-like spiritual practice of yoga, meditation, and pranayama breathwork, he relies on digital technologies to produce the lush, atmospheric sounds of his electronic music.
That unique perspective — balancing ancient tradition with modern innovation, spirituality with science — lies at the heart of Koch's new album, The Next Billion Years (Foam and Sand Reworks). An ambient reimagining of the orchestral songs Koch originally released in 2020, the album is a testament to Koch's evolution as an artist and the many ways we can engage with music.
"I like to experience all aspects of how sound can be portrayed and presented, and let the audience experience it in different ways," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Be it with eyes closed listening to a Dolby Atmos mix on headphones, or at a planetarium show, or in a philharmonic venue, I think there's not just one way music can be or should be experienced."
Koch's approach to making music is clearly resonating with listeners across the globe. His music has been streamed more than 75 million times and can be heard on numerous films and television shows — including Netflix's hit series You, ABC's How to Get Away With Murder, and Amazon's We Children from Bahnhof Zoo.
In this discussion, we talk more about the new album, and how discovering a speech by the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau on a second-hand cassette tape inspired him to create an album exploring the long-term future of humanity. Plus, Koch shares how his daily meditation practice makes him feel like he gets to live two days in one, his fascination with quantum physics and cosmic consciousness, and his favorite breakfast spot in New York City's East Village.
Listen to The Next Billion Years (Foam and Sand Reworks) on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Icelandic composer Gabríel Ólafs has become a poster child for the German term wunderkind. At age 14, he wrote the song that landed him his first record deal. At 19, he released his debut album, Absent Minded, which has been streamed millions of times.
Now 23, Ólafs is celebrating two massive achievements. Earlier this year, he co-founded the Reykjavík Recording Orchestra, Iceland's first dedicated studio orchestra, which has recorded music for Netflix, Apple TV, and Deutsche Grammophon. And this summer he released Solon Islandus, his major-label U.S. debut on Decca Records.
With its visual aesthetic inspired by film, fashion, and photography, Solon Islandus brings to mind another German term: Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art." For Ólafs, every project has to consider musical and visual aesthetics in equal measure.
"I take a directorial approach, so as I begin a new project I like to have the visuals from the get-go," Ólafs says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "The visual side, for me personally, is an essential part of the whole project. I don't look at it as, 'I have this music and now I need to take a couple of photos.' It's 50-50."
From the fascinating variety of instrumental colors Ólafs creates, to the album's film-noir cover and the stunning music video for its title track — featuring members of the Iceland Dance Company and fashion from Iris Van Herpen — Solon Islandus is an incredible release that positions Ólafs as one of the most important musicians to watch today.
In this discussion, we talk more about the new album and how his first job in a recording studio sparked his obsession with the recording process. Plus, he shares how daily soaks in a geothermal hot tub stimulate his creativity, and why a perfect day in Reykjavík should involve soup, a soak, lots of licorice, and late-night house music.
Listen to Solon Islandus on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The idea of preservation is on tenor Timothy Fallon's mind a lot lately. He recently bought a house in New England that dates to 1740 — which, he's quick to point out, means Bach was still alive when the house was built.
And away from the renovations he's managing to preserve the charm of his new abode, Fallon — who will spend the next two seasons as a house singer with Vienna's Volksoper — has been thinking about the role of preservation in music-making. This summer he released Crepuscolo, a new album of art songs by Ottorino Respighi that Fallon recorded with Ammiel Bushakevitz, his longtime recital partner.
Although the Italian composer is popular for big orchestral works like Pines of Rome, performances of his songs are extremely rare. Connecting new listeners with the array of colors and emotions these songs convey appealed greatly to Fallon and Bushakevitz.
"Does the market need another Schubert album from someone who's not so well known?" Fallon says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "We thought this could be a preservation project, because Respighi's songs aren't widely recorded. I found it very inspiring to try to make an album that could be a reference for other people in the future, to go and listen to this music in one place."
In this discussion, we talk more about the new album, the recording process, and how the project served as a musical lifeline for Fallon at the height of the pandemic. Plus, he shares how being a nosy person is a good thing for musicians, why his house always needs a box of Malden sea salt on hand, and his go-to spots for martinis, dumplings, and sesame pancake sandwiches in New York City.
Listen to Crepuscolo on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream and download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
When most musicians join me to record the Classical Post podcast, they need a few minutes to settle in. This makes sense — whether they're an instrumentalist, singer, or composer, they're used to communicating through a medium outside of their speaking voice. So it can take some time to shake off the nerves.
But the moment I sat down with pianist Klaudia Kudełko to discuss her stunning debut album, Time, she was fired up and ready to dive into her personal artistic mission: to connect people with classical music.
"It's made such a huge impact on my life, and I would love to share it with more and more people," Kudełko shares at the top of the podcast's latest episode. "Even if they don't know classical music but they're open to it — I'm very happy to introduce them."
In many ways, that desire to connect and make introductions positions Los Angeles as the perfect home for this emerging star of the piano world. It's a cultural powerhouse of a city that thrives on networking and knowing the right people. But Kudełko doesn't want to just introduce people to the likes of Schubert, Chopin, and Grazyna Bacewicz — the three composers she performs on Time — she wants to show people how relevant their music is to the lives we lead today.
Take Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude, which Kudełko recorded as a dramatic music video that's received more than 514,000 views since its release on May 31. Written in 1831 after the bombing of Warsaw by Russian military forces, the blisteringly intense work held many parallels to the conflict in Ukraine when Kudełko filmed the video weeks after the invasion began.
"I felt like it was very important to release that and record it in that moment. Given the circumstances of the new times, we can really interpret it in a relevant way — in this case, very painfully relevant. Even though it's a very popular piece, it still means a lot."
In this discussion, Kudełko and I talk more about the creation of her debut album, the ways ballet and fashion inspire her work, and how yoga has helped her overcome post-performance insomnia. Plus, she shares her favorite spot in Beverly Hills for truffle ravioli and the Tom Ford perfume that can immediately transport her to Italy's Amalfi Coast.
Listen to Time wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
With composition titles like In the Cause of the Free, Ellis Island: The Dream of America, and Balance of Power, it's easy to tell Peter Boyer has more than a casual interest in American history. In fact, it's something that's inspired him throughout his career.
But the Grammy Award-nominated composer-conductor isn't merely looking to memorialize America's past — he wants his music to connect with people today, and make a meaningful contribution to the musical legacy of the United States.
"There is an American sound in an orchestra that a composer who is American can attempt to deliver," Boyer says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"There is a tradition or a legacy that one can hear in the music of composers who preceded me that I think is evident in [my] music. Hopefully there's a tangible connection to that American symphonic tradition that comes through when one hears this music. That is the hope."
Although Boyer speaks with bashful humility about his work, it's clear his desire to connect with today's listeners has become a reality. One of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers, Boyer's music has been performed more than 600 times by 200-plus orchestras around the world. Ellis Island alone has received 250 performances, including a filmed concert broadcast nationwide on PBS's Great Performances series.
And his latest album for Naxos American Classics, Peter Boyer: Balance of Power, represents a new contribution to the American symphonic tradition. Featuring Boyer on the podium leading the London Symphony Orchestra, the album showcases eight of his most recent orchestral works, including Fanfare for Tomorrow, which was commissioned for President Biden's 2021 inauguration.
In this episode, we talk more about the new Naxos album and what it takes for Boyer to put self-criticism aside and send a new work into the world. Plus, he shares his lifelong love for English Breakfast tea, the best place in LA for classic Italian food, and what it was like writing a "humorous symphony" for Henry Kissinger.
Listen to Peter Boyer: Balance of Power wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The cover art for most classical albums usually relies on a glamorous studio shot of the artist or a generically tranquil landscape that hardly relates to the music we're about to experience.
But that's not at all the case on the cover of The Strange Highway, the debut album from composer Gity Razaz. A pencil and ink drawing depicting a cloaked figure with an arrow through the heart, whose head is a series of celestial orbs and auras, this artwork from Daniel Martin Diaz not only draws us in — it perfectly captures Razaz's sound world, one inspired by the Surrealism art movement of the early 20th century.
"I am a visual person, and my music has a tendency to be visual," Razaz says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "My current obsession is Remedios Varo — her works unfold over broader, mystical, and metaphysical realms."
And like Varo and her fellow Surrealists, who balanced rational takes on everyday life with fantastical elements rooted in the dreams and nightmares of the subconscious mind, Razaz's compositions find her translating her intellectual and metaphysical curiosities into vivid, incredibly gripping music.
"I usually write visceral music that's dramatically supercharged and energetic, but I also try to balance that with some lyricism and mystery. I feel it's a byproduct of living in our time, where there's this sense of being disconnected from reality. I feel like my music attempts to bring some peace and connection to reality, to the present."
In this conversation, we discuss more about her BIS Records album, which brings together a wide variety of work she's composed over 15 years. Plus, she shares the prebiotic/probiotic powder that helps her jumpstart her mornings, how finding inspiration is as simple as watching her three-year-old daughter at play, and her go-to place for incredible oysters and martinis in New York City.
Listen to The Strange Highway wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The savviest arts administrators know that putting a concert season together is more than programming popular repertoire or bringing big-name soloists to town. For Jeremy Geffen, executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, bringing to life all of the organization's artistic and educational activities — about 80 events per season — centers around ideas of building and serving communities across the Bay Area.
Since arriving on the Berkeley campus in 2019 — and during his 12-year tenure as senior director and artistic adviser of Carnegie Hall — Geffen has worked tirelessly to transform the people he serves through the power of the performing arts. That means, first and foremost, making introductions to emerging artists whose new ideas can spark meaningful conversations.
"Who you choose to present is what defines you as a presenter," Geffen says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "The bigger risk [for presenters], and where one demonstrates the level of connection to one's community, is determining which artists to introduce — artists who are at the beginnings of their careers or may not have had exposure in the Bay Area."
As Geffen points out, even the biggest artists with the longest relationships with Cal Performances — including Yo-Yo Ma, Jordi Savall, and the Mark Morris Dance Group — weren't always stars. When they were just starting out, it was Cal Performances that helped to give them a toehold. And Geffen sees fostering growth in the artistic powerhouses of tomorrow as one of the most gratifying aspects of his role.
"If you demonstrate confidence in someone, more often than not that confidence will be reciprocated and expectations will be exceeded. It gives me great gratification to watch artists I saw something in early on grow into their full potential."
In this conversation, we discuss Cal Performances' upcoming season and how its marquee Illuminations series will explore technology's many roles in creative expression and human communication. Plus, he opens up about why he sees classical music as "a type of regenerative spiritual health," how therapy has helped him tap into the creativity of the subconscious mind, and why he heads to Manhattan's East Village when it's time to celebrate with sake in New York City.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Some classical musicians choose to follow a specific lane throughout their career, either as an orchestral musician, a chamber player, or a concert soloist. But Stewart Goodyear can't confine his career to one lane — he demands an entire highway.
As a concert pianist, composer, arranger, and improviser, Goodyear has built one of the most multifaceted careers of any musician today. His recitals thoughtfully place works of Debussy and Liszt next to his own compositions and new pieces from Jennifer Higdon and Anthony Davis. And his ever-expanding discography shows incredible depth — from the complete concertos of Beethoven to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Goodyear's transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.
This eclectic approach to music-making is the result of an artist who finds inspiration in everything life has to offer. "The more I'm not boxed in, the more there's room to create and think outside that box," Goodyear says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
In this conversation, we discuss the many exciting projects on the horizon this season — including his second year as the inaugural Artist in Residence at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, the world premiere of his Piano Concerto with the Grammy Award-winning Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto premiere of Callaloo, Goodyear's suite for piano and orchestra that pays homage to his Trinidadian background.
Plus, he shares more about the ways positivity and optimism fuel his wellness routines, the similarities he sees between cooking and orchestration, and how finding a great restaurant in New York City can be as simple as "letting your feet take you where you want to go."
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Among the countless projects classical music presenters have had to delay over the past two years, perhaps none has been more eagerly anticipated than that of Omar, a new opera from Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels.
Originally slated to premiere in May 2020, Omar finally received its long-awaited opening this summer at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. Based on the life and 1831 autobiography of Omar ibn Said, a Muslim scholar stolen from his homeland of Senegal and twice sold into slavery in the Carolinas, Giddens and Abels' new opera probes largely unexplored truths in modern American discussions of slavery.
For Abels, Omar's history — one of strength, resistance, and religious conviction — is not only timely, given the U.S.'s continued reckoning with its history of slavery, but it also makes for compelling storytelling on the operatic stage.
"This story is great fodder for opera, which tackles social issues, satire, commentary, and irony so well," he says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"It's really a piece about the power of faith to transcend one's physical circumstances and to provide hope in a situation that's otherwise hopeless. How faith can connect people who otherwise would not even see eye to eye ... Whereas we often think of differences in faith as causing friction, it can actually provide a source of commonality and healing."
Abels, who has received incredible accolades for his genre-defying film work — most notably his scores for Jordan Peele's Get Out and Us — brings that same sense of wide musical exploration to Omar, which The New York Times hailed as "an unforced ideal of American sound: expansive and ever-changing."
In this conversation, we discuss more about Omar and Abels' collaboration with Giddens, and take a deep dive into his creative process, in which he strives to be "both a channel and a recipient of ideas." Plus, he shares how architecture inspires his composing, the ways a daily bike ride can be good for the soul and the body, and his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles for traditional Italian cuisine.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
So much of the way classical musicians perform or even think about music is informed by the work of past generations. But what happens when history books omit certain musicians, often due to their gender, race, or sexuality? How can those gaps in music history — and our shared musical legacy — be restored?
These questions form the foundation of a new album from classical guitarist Berta Rojas, Legado, which means "legacy" in Spanish. On the album, Rojas — one of the world's most acclaimed classical guitarists and professor at Boston's Berklee College of Music — honors the music of two trailblazing women of the guitar who have been long overlooked.
"Legado came out of a question I had," Rojas says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Why is it that when you talk about the history of the guitar, you rarely mention the women who also made the history of the instrument?"
Although the names Ida Presti and María Luisa Anido are unfamiliar to most, their incredible talent and unforgettable performances made them some of the premier figures of 20th-century classical guitar, alongside Andrés Segovia and Julian Bream. However, the fame and recognition they enjoyed evaporated soon after their deaths.
But with her breakthrough recordings, Rojas is working to restore these remarkable women guitarists to their illustrious and influential place in history.
"A way to bring them into the conversation is to play their music, and also the music that was dedicated to them, that they inspired with their artistry. I would love for people to research them, and more women who are part of the history of the guitar."
In this conversation, we discuss more about Rojas's album and why she believes being a great musician means "bathing in the fountains of culture." Plus, she shares how taking long walks with no destination has brought a greater sense of freedom to her life, the ways Paraguayan culture inspires her creativity, and her favorite place to get a carne empanada in New York City.
Listen to Legado on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity behind exceptional music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Many classical musicians turn to art, architecture, or literature to inspire their creativity and inform their performances. But for others, it's all about the music. Grammy Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux falls into that second category — especially when it comes to J.S. Bach.
"A Bach score has everything I need or want," Vieaux says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "He's the greatest. You could argue that there really hasn't been another composer who has surpassed him."
The bigwig of the German Baroque is the focus of Vieaux's new album, Bach Volume 2: Works for Violin. Released 13 years after his first volume, which explored Bach's music for solo lute, the new album gave the Cleveland-based guitarist plenty of opportunities to share with listeners everything he loves about the composer's work and legacy:
"The greatness, the all-knowingness, the comfort ... It can be so many things to so many people."
In this conversation, we discuss the new album, why meditation and scheduling rest have been so important throughout his career, and the drink special he craves when he visits his favorite New York City jazz club.
Listen to Bach Volume 2 on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream your music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Classical musicians are incredibly passionate about their work. But that doesn't mean they can't make room in their hectic lives for other passion projects. For harpist Yolanda Kondonassis — one of the world's greatest soloists and head of the harp departments at the Cleveland Institute and Oberlin Conservatory — earth conservation has been the focus of her activism for more than 20 years. And it's led her down some fascinating roads both inside and outside the music world.
In 2012 she published her first children's book, My Earth, My Home: A Kid's Book About Why Protecting Our Earth Matters. She also founded Earth at Heart — a nonprofit organization that serves to increase earth conservation awareness and action through the arts.
Yolanda's latest album, Five Minutes for Earth, is a perfect example of the way she connects her many passions. A collection of 15 five-minute works for solo harp she commissioned from some of today's most dynamic compositional voices, Five Minutes for Earth is more than an album, she explains in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast: "It's a project with some long-reaching goals."
"Once all of these pieces are released and premiered, they'll be available to harpists all over the world. And for each verified performance — by any harpist, anywhere in the world — an automatic donation will be made to one of a list of really worthy, vetted earth conservation organizations through Earth at Heart."
In addition to prompting awareness and action about the climate crisis, Yolanda's project also looks to empower musicians to play a part in the earth's future, given that the financial constraints of an artist's life often make it difficult to donate monetarily.
"I wanted to explore the idea of giving musicians a way to contribute through their performance, through their service, when discretionary income may not permit them to write a check to a worthy organization for a very dire cause."
In this conversation, we learn more about Yolanda's album and activism, and hear why she defines success not only by what she's done but by how she's done it. Plus, she shares the homeopathic anti-inflammatory she can't live without, the ways visual arts inspire her music-making, as well as the New York City eateries she turns to when she's craving steak frites or the best lobster roll outside of Maine.
Listen to Five Minutes for Earth on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
For classical musicians, the process of exploring and learning new repertoire never ends. That's especially true for pianists, who have a titanic amount of literature available to them — from seminal keyboard works of the Baroque to the freshly inked compositions of today.
Climbing that mountain of music can be intimidating — but not for Orion Weiss.
Although his student days at Juilliard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Pianofest in the Hamptons are well behind him, it's the piano's incredible wealth of literature that fuels his inspiration to create music.
"I have an insatiable hunger for discovering the musical literature," Weiss says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "It's endlessly enriching to have this repertoire to work through and try to understand and grow with ... I won't ever feel like I'm not a student anymore — I'm striving to achieve something I haven't yet."
Weiss's endless curiosity has served him well throughout his career, and it's the foundation for his latest album, Arc I. The first installment of an ambitious trilogy — what Weiss playfully refers to as his "Lord of the Rings of the piano" — the new album features piano works by Granados, Janacek, and Scriabin written during the frantic build-up to World War I, an unsettling time that sees many parallels to today.
"When I was recording the album, I was trying to understand feelings and the world today. It's hard to know what the future is, but connecting to periods where people were more stressed than normal and had reason to be, somehow makes me feel like the music can explain something to me — how to proceed, how to deal with it, how to understand emotionally what's going on."
In this conversation, we discuss future installments of the Arc trilogy, the ways Weiss sees music as a form of time travel, and how a career in classical music is a lot like climbing an endless Stairmaster. Plus, he shares more about his personal wellness and fitness routines, his favorite spots for the spiciest Szechuan food in New York City, and the power of dark chocolate when he can't muster the energy to practice.
Listen to Arc I on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
How does a storied summer music festival thrive in the 21st century? Especially one located in a town best known for its 19th-century gilded glamor and magnificent mansions?
For Newport Classical's executive director, Gillian Friedman Fox, it's all about finding ways to respect history and tradition while forging new paths for access and inclusion. "For Newport Classical, people are looking for a classical music and arts experience that you just can't find anywhere else," Friedman Fox says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast.
"On one hand, [Newport's] charm and glamor is a one-of-a-kind experience and is so glamorous. We feed into that, right? But on the other hand, I really want classical music to be welcoming and I want it to be accessible. We don't want people to feel deterred by what can feel like a really formal experience."
Beginning July 1, the 2022 edition of Newport Classical will showcase 32 artists and ensembles in 24 performances across 11 of the town's most beautiful venues, including the iconic Breakers, the "summer cottage" of the Gilded Age's famous Vanderbilt family.
But under Friedman Fox's leadership, Newport Classical isn't just about fabulous locations and big-name performers. It's about shining a light on underrepresented artists who deserve a wider audience. This summer's programming offers a strong focus on women and BIPOC composers, including works by more than 40 women and the world premiere of a new solo piano work from critically acclaimed composer Shawn Okpebholo, commissioned by Newport Classical.
According to Okpebholo, his new work looks to explore the long history of Black music not only in America, but in Newport specifically: "Black classical music matters, and it's not a new thing. It's been going on since this nation was created. We are part of the musical heritage of America."
In this conversation, we speak with both Friedman Fox and Okpebholo about what's in store for Newport audiences this summer. Gillian talks about what inspires her artistic leadership, how Newport's history and architecture inform the festival's programming, and she offers her recommendations for the best places to eat and drink in New York City and Newport. Then, we talk to Shawn about how he approached his Newport Classical commission and what he hopes audiences take away from the new work.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Longevity and chamber music don't often go together. For every Emerson String Quartet that spends decades performing together, there are scores of chamber ensembles calling it quits every year. So when a group like the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet reaches its 40th anniversary, it's a cause for celebration.
So what's the secret to their continued longevity? For founding member William Kanengiser, it all comes down to a foundation of friendship and gratitude.
"It's really interesting that we were friends first, and then bandmates," Kanengiser says in the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "Like any group, we've had our trials and tribulations ... but we've left a legacy that we're proud of. We've had fun doing it and we've hopefully given people a little bit of joy and solace as we've gone along. We have a lot to be thankful for."
That sense of celebration and gratitude is at the heart of LAGQ's new album, Opalescent. The Grammy Award–winning ensemble's 14th album finds the quartet exploring ideas of light, color, and sound through a wide range of works by composers they've worked with throughout the years.
In this conversation, we discuss the new album, how the joys of human connection inspire William's music-making, and the important role wellness plays in his personal and professional life as a co-founder of the Thornton Musicians Wellness Committee at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.
Plus, Bill muses on his favorite espresso and the central role coffee plays in the LAGQ, his passion for cooking as a creative outlet, and how New York City's restaurants served as his gateway to the world while growing up in suburban New Jersey.
Listen to Opalescent wherever you stream or download music.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
In the social media age, the life of a classical musician can appear glamorous — a steady stream of concerts across the globe, album releases, residencies, and black-tie receptions.
But what are the ups and downs we don't see once the cameras are gone? And what roles can wellness and community play in the life of a performing artist today?
Author Rebecca Fischer — who for 18 years performed as first violinist in the Chiara String Quartet — explores those questions and more in her new book, The Sound of Memory: Themes from a Violinist's Life.
"I'm hoping to share a really honest account of what a musician's life is like from the inside," Rebecca explains on the latest episode of the Classical Post Podcast. "I really wanted to expose my own vulnerabilities — as a human, as a mother, as a woman — and invite others to celebrate their own vulnerabilities."
A collection of essays written over two and a half years, The Sound of Memory sees Rebecca meditating on the life of a performing artist in the 21st century, growing up in a musical family, and how she balances wellness with the anxieties — and joys — that go into maintaining a classical performance career.
In this conversation, we discuss Rebecca's book, why her definition of "success" is always evolving, and get a host of great recommendations for places to eat, drink, and enjoy life in New York City.
She shares why she heads to the Bronx when it's time to enjoy a beer but stays in her Manhattan neighborhood for the perfect Negroni, as well as the German chocolate her family can't live without — and the importance of spontaneous living-room dance parties.
Grab your copy of Rebecca's book on Bookshop.org.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The American conductor Ryan Bancroft joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, where we speak about his new appointment as the Chief Conductor Designate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Beginning in the 23/24 season, it’s a very important role at one of Europe’s premier orchestras.
Growing up in California, Ryan made his way to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he discovered conducting. He then shot into the spotlight in 2018 when he won the prestigious Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. He was appointed Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2019, won the RPS Conductor Award in 2020, and now is appointed Chief Conductor Designate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Trio con Brio Copenhagen joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, which was recorded earlier this spring when they were on tour in the US. Right off the heels of winning the German Record Critics' Award, we spoke particularly at a time when many organizations had been grappling with presenting music written by Russian composers due to how their audience views the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Near the end of the episode we dive into this topic.
Trio con Brio Copenhagen are actually all related. The violinist and cellist are Korean sisters (Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong), and the Danish pianist, Jens Elvekjaer, married the cellist. Now based in the gorgeous European city of Copenhagen, it’s a convivial family that plays a vital role in the cultural life of Denmark.
We hear of an excellent Korean restaurant in Manhattan you definitely should try out, and as in many of our episodes, more wine recommendations.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Soprano Laura Strickling joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss her Grammy nominated album, Confessions. Calling the U.S. Virgin Islands home, she tells the story of managing a mammoth commissioning project from the Caribbean while in lockdown.
Before the pandemic began, she launched a large undertaking called “The 40@40 Project,” where she commissioned 40 composers to write 40 new works, celebrating her 40th birthday. Even though the pandemic hit right after the project began, creating these new works fed her soul artistically and kept her connected even while live venues were shut. Now, the project is ongoing. More commissions are happening and numerous albums will be released, the first one potentially in early 2023.
The fun takeaway from this episode, though, is how she’s become “classical music's finest rum runner” — according to her own labeling. As one of the Caribbean’s most loved exports, this is a humorous tangent.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
It’s not everyday you hear about a vibraphonist, but today you will on the Classical Post podcast. Calling in from his home in Luxembourg, we spoke with the fascinating vibraphonist, composer, and producer Pascal Schumacher. He has a new album out on the Neue Meister label called LUNA. We dig into the background of creating this, including the accompanying gorgeous music videos.
We also explore his passion for wine from Luxembourg and Austria. He has several excellent recommendations, by the way. And, hear how wellness centers with lots of saunas have become popular in his country, and contribute to mental and physical wellness, taking a queue from Scandinavia.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
The Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet joins us on the Classical Post podcast today to discuss their latest album, UNCOVERED Volume 2, featuring the music of Florence Price. The star pianist Michelle Cann is also on the show as this album was a collaboration with her.
The quartet’s UNCOVERED project is a multi-volume set of albums released on Azica Records. The initiative celebrates beautifully crafted works by artists who have been overlooked and sidelined in classical music, especially because of their race or gender. Volume 1, released last year, includes the string quartet and quintets of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Stewart Goodyear. Volume 2 just came out this year and features music by Florence Price. Volume 3 and beyond will feature Coleridge-Taylor, Perkinson, William Grant Still, and George Walker, among others.
As a side note, violinist Abi Fayette was not on the podcast, but you will hear the other quartet members — violinist Karla Donehew Perez, violist Paul Laraia, and cellist Karlos Rodriguez — and the pianist Michelle Cann.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Zachary Carrettín and Mina Gajić are the dynamic duo on the podcast today. Zachary is music director of Boulder Bach Festival and Mina is its artistic and executive director. They have just released a chamber music album on the Sono Luminus label — Confluence — featuring a fascinating juxtaposition of Balkan dances and tango. I know tango speaks deeply to me, so I was very intrigued to hear the backstory of how this album came to be — seemingly disparate styles, but dovetailing so cleverly into a strong artistic statement in this album.
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Classical Post uncovers the creativity that exists behind great music. Dive into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Film director Ted Braun joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss his new documentary ¡Viva Maestro! that chronicles two of the most challenging years in the life of Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel, famously known as the music director of the LA Phil.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, lifestyle, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut this month led by Anthony Parnther. The concert features Jon Batiste, who just won five Grammys at this year’s ceremony, including the highly-coveted title, “Album of the Year”.
The debut of this orchestra at Carnegie is important because it spotlights the work of the Gateways Music Festival, which celebrates the contributions of classical musicians of African descent, bringing together professionals from leading orchestras across the country to perform and inspire communities through the power of music.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Anthony ahead of this major New York appearance. He’s conducted artists spanning every musical genre — from Kanye West to Joshua Bell. It’s particularly profound what he said near the end of our chat about what he hopes people takeaway after listening to this concert at Carnegie. He specifically wants to debunk the myth that there is a lack of Black talent in the classical space. Quite the contrary; there is plenty of talent. So stay tuned later in the episode for this discussion.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Our guest on the Classical Post podcast today is Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Upstate New York. The venue is most notably the summer home to the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Ballet. It also presents Live Nation concerts that feature the likes of Josh Groban and the Dave Matthews Band.
You will find our conversation insightful simply because of Elizabeth’s wealth of experience. She spent three decades at IMG Artists managing careers of glossy names like Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Renee Fleming, James Galway, Evgeny Kissin, and Kiri Te Kanawa. She also was most recently president and CEO of Universal Music Classics immediately prior to now leading Saratoga Performing Arts Center (or SPAC for short).
Listen to our discussion on the magic of synchronicity as a leader; how meditation in the morning and boxing at night helps to sustain well-being; and the important work of the Philadelphia Orchestra programming the works of Florence Price.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
The Swedish folk jazz duo — Elise & Tobi — just released their award-winning music video Je te verrai, which is the French translation based off of the American classic song from 1938, “I’ll Be Seeing You”.
The backstory is quite interesting, however. They discovered a French translation of “I’ll Be Seeing You” from 1945 and found that the French lyrics had been forgotten. A recording of the song was nowhere to be found, even though they found clear evidence that “Je te verrai” was extremely popular when it was first released in the 1940s.
In order to ”give the song back” to France, they decided to make a new recording of it. The short film was made to reinforce the song’s message and to put it in today’s context.
Apart from winning “Best Music Video” at Toronto Indie Shorts, the film has also been selected for the Montreal Independent Film Festival and has already been screened at the Berlin Short Film Festival.
They also recorded the original song, “I'll Be Seeing You”, which will be released as a part of their album this fall.
Elise & Tobi combine music production with film-making. Their first project together was a short film that was awarded the first prize in a Dutch film competition organized by the Heimans and Thijsse Foundation in Amsterdam. Between 2014 and 2016, Elise & Tobi were the producers, photographers, screenwriters and music composers of the documentary An Axe and a Blade of Grass, which was broadcasted twice on Dutch national television. The film music was written by Elise & Tobi and performed by them, as well as the internationally renowned Swedish baroque orchestra REbaroque and the Stockholm-based chamber choir Adolf Fredriks kyrkas kammarkör. In 2019 the duo released their first album, Tales of the Cobblestone, a musical tribute to the street as a public space and the people who roam it.
In the summer of 2020, Elise & Tobi had planned a tour in Paris, which had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Instead, they built a mobile scene on wheels where they gave a concert tour in multiple locations on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.
Listen to this episode of the Classical Post podcast as we discuss the release of their music video, where they find inspiration as artists, and how they approach life.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
There’s a zany book published several years ago by British author and photographer Ben Schott that has “invented words” using the German language. This book — Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition — inspired composer Eric Nathan (who teaches at Brown University) to write an 84-minute magnum opus — Missing Words — that now has its world premiere recording. Released on New Focus Recordings, the album and how it came to be is quite out-of-the-box with a synergistic collaboration between many artists and ensembles such as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Brass Quintet, cellist Parry Karp and pianist Christopher Karp, International Contemporary Ensemble, Neave Trio, and Hub New Music.
Both Ben Schott and Eric Nathan join me on the Classical Post podcast to discuss how this project came to be, along with random miscellany that is delivered with witty charm.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
German composer Sven Helbig is part of a new generation of composers for whom there are no longer any barriers between the classical world of the orchestra, experimental art, and pop music. He composes choral, orchestral, and chamber music for the classical concert stage and tours solo performing electronic music.
He is 'Composer in Residence' at the German National Theatre in Weimar, at the University of Leipzig and the National University San Martin in Buenos Aires. Sven is also a co-founder of the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, the first European orchestra devoted solely to the performance of contemporary music.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Sven on the Classical Post podcast. Most notably, he details his childhood in the East German city of Eisenhüttenstadt and how those formative years created a non-compartmentalized philosophy toward music.
People in classical music often silo themselves off from the rest of the world, unfortunately. But Sven, having had this unique background in a pre-planned East German city — growing up in the 70s and 80s — saw music as one.
Now as he reflects on his career having recorded for Deutsche Grammophon — one of the top shelf labels in classical music — and collaborating with the likes of Snoop Dog, his philosophical approach is really fresh and exciting for anyone who’s into art in the broadest sense of the word.
Be sure to check out his new album Skills on the Modern Recordings label. The work is a dissection of what it really takes to acquire a skill—from dedication, to repetition, despair to transfiguration.
For those of you who love truly aesthetic-driven short films, Sven’s music comes alive in a series of artful videos on YouTube. Watch this one in particular that he references in this podcast.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Classical Post is an ambassador for NED, a wellness company. Get 15% off their products like CBD oil and many other health-based products by using our code CLASSICALPOST at checkout.
Composer Danaë Xanthe Vlasse recently received a Grammy nomination for her album Mythologies featuring sopranos Hila Plitmann and Sangeeta Kaur. The album is a collection of works inspired by Ancient Greek myths. Danaë’s father Marcus (née Vlassopoulos) grew up on the island of Ithaca, once ruled by Homer’s legendary hero, Odysseus. Centered on vocal works, Mythologies celebrates some of the most lasting myths of history and invites listeners to ponder long-standing cultural concepts, such as idolized heroism, divine power, crisis of faith and morality, and the junction of fate and free-will.
We spoke with Danaë on the Classical Post podcast about creating this album. Now that it is Grammy-nominated you should certainly take note of it. We’ve added one of the tracks to our new Fabuluxe playlist on Spotify. So go and check that out, too.
One of the standout concepts from our interview with Danaë was exploring “cultural patience” — the need to be more self-reflective as a society. We also speak on the similarities between the ancient Greek hero’s journey and the American dream.
Below are the various recommended products/places we discussed on this episode.
Doubledown Cosmetics
Letterpress Chocolate
Milk Frother, BODUM brand
The Comedy Cellar
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Patrick Cassidy joins us on the Classical Post podcast today. You will certainly know his music from the Ridley Scott film, Hannibal, starring Anthony Hopkins. Patrick wrote the famous aria, "Vide cor Meum", that was written as a “mini” opera for this film.
The aria has been presented at both the Oscars and Emmy Awards ceremonies, and it has appeared in multiple top 10 lists and essential collections throughout the world including Warner Classics album, 40 Most Beautiful Arias.
Patrick’s newest work The Mass, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices, was released in November 2019. Now in 2022, he’s released the same work, but this time for choir and organ.
Keep listening to hear where this composer finds inspiration to create some of the most glorious music. I know when I listened to his Mass, it has such a pathos and controlled grandeur to it, giving me goosebumps!
Also, stick around to hear how he views his accomplishments. He cites the truism, which I know I’ve tried to pursue in my own life, and that is: “Do what you love and you will never work another day in your life.”
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Our guest today on the Classical Post podcast is the conductor Luke Frazier. He is the founder and music director of The American Pops Orchestra, which is now heard regularly on PBS around the country. He’s done 12 major PBS concert specials that have all been filmed and broadcast during the pandemic. And, they’ve reached 40 million viewers with these concerts. It’s an incredible feat.
We speak with Luke on what it’s like to collaborate with some of the biggest names in music and what it’s like to prepare for their next PBS special, premiering on March 6th: “An Evening with Lerner and Lowe — Broadway in Concert”.
We also speak of his passion for antique portraits, some favorite New York restaurants, and how he maintains highly-focused energy while leading a busy life.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
French conductor Chloé van Soeterstède is one of the very prestigious Dudamel Fellows this season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s working with Gustavo Dudamel, but also with other conducting legends like Michael Tilson Thomas and Zubin Mehta. It’s quite an honor for a young conductor to have this experience and really helps set them up for future success as a music director of a major orchestra.
I spoke with Chloé on the Classical Post podcast where we explore her new experience as a Dudamel Fellow, but also how she created her own London-based orchestra—Arch Sinfonia—which celebrates their 10th anniversary this year.
Comprised of excellent players from other London ensembles like the great Philharmonia and the London Philharmonic, this dynamic organization is named after the idea of building metaphorical bridges—like an “arch” connecting things. In this case, Arch Sinfonia is building unique connections between the audience and the orchestra—even having audience members sit amidst the players, such as right in front of the timpani. The audience even votes at the end of each concert to shape the next concert program. This type of real dialogue has bode well for Chloé and her team, and provides an interesting idea for future discussion.
We also speak of how female conductors among the top 25 American orchestras are extremely rare. And, how she just might be on the cusp of something great now that she’s working at the highest level.
For some fun lifestyle recommendations in this podcast, you’ll hear of Chloé’s love of silky sleeping masks, Pad Thai in London restaurants, and a propensity for modern art.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
I had the pleasure of speaking with violinist Sean Lee and pianist Peter Dugan about their new digital EP featuring nine of the Paganini Caprices, each with accompanying music videos. It’s a really fantastic project and I hope you listen to it.
For context, here’s a bit of background on these two guests.
Sean Lee is one of few violinists who dare to perform the complete 24 Caprices of Paganini in concert, but he’s just done this in New York at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. It’s the first time this happened in that organization’s 52-year history.
Our other guest on the show today is pianist Peter Dugan. You probably know his voice as the radio host on NPR’s From the Top. Also, he’s collaborating with Joshua Bell this month on a recital tour.
On this episode of the podcast, we explore how finding energy from past rejection propels you forward, but equally anticipating the future can do the same. We also hear of their mutual interest for bird watching in Central Park, which I really found to be unique. Plus, we discuss their new Paganini X Schumann album and how they created it. There’s also a special section of really great products they recommend such as aged gin from Bootlegger in Upstate New York and the benefits of a Screaming Meanie alarm clock.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Cellist Laura van der Heijden won the BBC Young Musician competition at just 15 years old. She’s gone on to make a name for herself, graduating from Cambridge University, and now on to releasing her second album called Pohádka: Tales from Prague to Budapest, which **explores the rich folk melodies of Janáček, Kodály and Dvořák.
Here’s our chat about her aesthetic inspiration outside of the music world, her love for NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts, and why she chose to record this album, which comes out later this month.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
Multi-Grammy Award nominee, violinist Philippe Quint is internationally recognized for his unique and insightful approach to standard repertoire, championing and rediscovering neglected repertoire and embarking on imaginative, exciting journeys of explorations and collaborations with artists of different genres.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Philippe on this episode of the Classical Post podcast. We discuss his fabulous album, Chaplin’s Smile, that commemorates the 130th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s birth. The recording now has over 600K plays on Spotify.
We talk about how he finds deep inspiration to create his art, where to find the best sushi in New York, and his keen interest in the metaverse. Finally, learn about his fascinating new project, Astor Piazzolla at 100: Between Angels and Demons.
Follow the Classical Post podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists in the world today. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive editorial and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
My guest today on the Classical Post podcast is singer, cellist, and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson who makes her debut at Madison Square Garden as part of Andrea Bocelli's US tour this December. I'm sure you realize the significance of someone debuting in front of a crowd that could be upwards of 20,000 people. It's an incredible feat.
One of the really beautiful things that Bocelli has done for other artists is brought them on tour with him, which gives them enormous levels of recognition they might not get otherwise simply because of the vast amount of people that crowd into these stadiums to hear him sing.
Ayanna, who joins me today in the Classical Post studio, finds herself with that exciting opportunity—on stage with Bocelli, making a very important splash in New York's iconic venue, Madison Square Garden.
I personally find her artistry so vibrant, exuding a light that is just exciting to be around. We discuss her musical origins that are very much grounded in numerous genres—coupled with her education as being a seriously trained classical musician at Manhattan School of Music—and producing a sound that is uniquely hers, flavored with alternative R&B.
This sound world is particularly evident on a new single called "Flow My Tears", recently arranged by John Aram, but originally, the music was written by John Dowland in 1596. Yes, you heard that correctly. It's over 400 years old. Ayanna brings to life Mr. Aram's arrangement of an atmospheric, beat-driven ancient song, now built for streaming online.
I hope you enjoy this conversation with Ayanna Witter-Johnson and that it inspires you to explore this artist who will certainly light up Madison Square Garden this month.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
I know many of you have seen Breaking Bad, the globally popular show. Today's guest has some tracks that are featured on it. He's also got music on Netflix's reboot of the anime series Cowboy Bebop that was just released.
From the beautiful European city of Copenhagen, composer, pianist, and producer Asger Baden joins us on the Classical Post podcast. Also with us in the same virtual studio, the famous Danish Illustrator, John Kenn Mortensen. The two artists actually collaborated on a recent album of Asger's music, released on the Neue Meister label. John did the cover art illustration.
I thought it would be fascinating to have a discussion on creativity and making space for it in our lives. Too often our physical space (at home or at the office) is not conducive to the type of work we do -- that is, to maximize our quality output.
Many in the corporate world have now realized this working from home. But having a comfortable work space is part of how people in the arts have functioned for years. My guests today speak to carving out a zone that helps you produce your best work.
We also speak on how John and Asger view success and their differing viewpoints, as well as their collaboration on this new album.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
We all remember the royal wedding of Prince Harry to the American actress, Meghan Markle, in 2018. I remember getting up early to watch it streamed live as I know many Americans did. Serendipitously, a classical cellist performed in the ceremony that day to a global audience of 2 billion people, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
That cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, has since charted a meteoric rise to prominence. This month, he makes his New York Philharmonic debut. He's also just released an album with his sister, the brilliant pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason.
Both Sheku and Isata join me on the Classical Post podcast today to discuss this new album called Muse, released on the Decca Classics label, featuring gorgeous works by Rachmaninoff and Barber.
Listen to this discussion about how these siblings create art together. But also, hear a brief snapshot into Sheku's New York Philharmonic debut and what it was like for him performing at the royal wedding.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Mark Ainley has become quite an authority in historic recordings of classical pianists. His highly-regarded Facebook page, The Piano Files with Mark Ainley, delves into how pianists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries played the instrument. Concurrently, he is a consultant in the Chinese art of Feng Shui and has been helping people integrate principles of nature to create a sense of balance in their homes and businesses.
I spoke with Mark specifically on how you could draw parallels between these two worlds -- the Western art of classical music and the Eastern art of Feng Shui. To my surprise, there are more related ideas than you might think.
Mark articulates both art forms in a way that is digestible, and I hope it stimulates your own thoughts as you approach your work. I know I personally find value in being able to look at something that might seem disparate, but draw parallels. That drive for curiosity keeps me fresh and I hope it will for you, too.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem just released his first-ever solo album called Shall We Gather. It's a collection of American art songs that celebrate resilience and togetherness. His wife, Irina, the dynamic collaborative pianist, joins him on this album.
For those of you who might not know, Lucas Meachem is one of the most in-demand opera singers right now. He opens this season at LA Opera in Tannhaüser, then later appears at the Metropolitan Opera in La Bohème, followed by London's Royal Opera House in Madama Butterfly. It's certainly one of those high-gloss, jet-set lives, but he's so down to earth.
Both Irina and Lucas join me on the Classical Post podcast today where we discuss the profound questions that their album poses. For example, it makes you question: Should we connect? Should we physically be together? Should we be distanced?
As Irina points out, music is here to heal and to inspire. As the performing arts continue to return and gain traction again with larger audiences around the world, this album is a poignant milestone to contemplate. It's a type of cathartic unpacking of the turbulent period we all just experienced.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
Berlin-based composer-producer-pianist Meredi joins me on the Classical Post podcast to discuss the musical fusion of German nightclubs with a classical music backbone. In essence, this is her new album called Trance, released on the label Modern Recordings. As an artist who has garnered millions of streams online between all of the various digital services, ELLE magazine declares, "Meredi composes music which shines like stars."
Electronic music in its various iterations is ubiquitous now, but there's a slice of this known as trance that I remember experiencing in Europe on a number of occasions in London, Paris, and Vienna. It takes you to a higher mental state, perhaps even altering your mind in a positive way.
Meredi takes her classical training and approaches this very European nightclub sound, resulting in a passionate recording to let others experience a different state of mind, lose a sense of time, and become one with their surroundings.
In this episode, we speak on getting "high" on music, differences between the European and American nightclubs, and how she hopes to shatter the stereotype of composers today.
Listen to the podcast to learn about the trance genre and tap into energy emitted from this music that could just get you through your next hard day at work.
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Classical Postexplores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
My guest today is the cellist and composer Peter Gregson, whose music you've most likely heard on Netflix's crazy-popular Bridgerton, and HBO's The New Pope starring Jude Law and John Malkovich. His output even reaches the heights of haute couture in campaigns for Balenciaga, Burberry, and Dior.
He's now released his fifth studio album called Patina on the premier label Deutsche Grammophon. It's an unusual album in that it explores the theme of absence, particularly with the posed question, "What happens when you remove a melody?"
Patina is his most expansive and expressive work to-date, featuring an astonishing array of analogue electronic instruments, a string ensemble, and his unique solo cello.
This is the type of art that makes you pause and reconsider reality. It's not something that is just casual, but rather forces you to understand what is happening through a heightened awareness.
My conversation in this podcast explores numerous examples in which Peter articulates this "hyper-awareness" through subtraction: from Disney's Pixar and the concept of "uncanny valley" to Paul McCartney's recordings to photography in a Phaidon coffee table book.
While this might seem very philosophical, it really is quite relatable when you think about Andy Warhol's work focusing on Campbell's soup cans or his icon-type paintings of Marilyn Monroe.
Examples abound of this hyper-sensitivity to the subject matter, not the subject's existence in the real world. It's the representation of reality versus reality itself.
Listen to Peter Gregson's full story in this episode. I hope it gives you a new sense in which to experience life—and most likely a certain angle that you haven't explored.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
In this episode of the Classical Post Podcast, concert violinist Alexi Kenney shares his experience of releasing a visual album (Paul Wianko’s X Suite for Solo Violin) earlier this year that was filmed in wine country at a fabulous estate in Sonoma, California.
The Donum Estate was founded 20 years ago on 190 idyllic acres. Today, 91one those acres are planted with grapes such as pinot noir and chardonnay. But more interestingly, the grounds are dotted with an incredible sculpture collection of modern art.
The resulting series of videos from this album — that you can watch on YouTube — features Alexi playing amidst this dynamic landscape of Vineyard-bliss and contemporary sculptures.
He commissioned the composer Paul Wiancko to write this work called X Suite for Solo Violin. The visual album pairs the seven movements with seven sculptures at this vineyard. The work originally premiered at London's prestigious Wigmore Hall in 2019. But now this is the recording premiere in multiple formats — the video on YouTube and audio recordings you can find on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
Alexi is one of those people that sees art as "total art", encompassing not just what you hear, but what you see and experience in the physical world. I know I personally value this and want the classical music world to move in this direction. But for now, I want to highlight his viewpoint on just that — creating art music that's not in a vacuum, but inextricably tied to the visual experience.
How is this valuable to you?
Some might find art music esoteric, but I'm here to showcase Alexi's work as something that's approachable just as you would approach a wine pairing at a fine restaurant. To take the analogy further, imagine a summer's night on Nantucket. You've just had dinner with the sun setting over the water. You've had a fine bottle of champagne. And now you're getting ready to leave and have a cigar by the fire, now that the cool breeze is sweeping off the coast.
All of these elements are uniquely beautiful — the food, the view, the champagne, the fire — but if you eliminate one of these, it's still beautiful, but not as complete. That's the best way I can describe this discussion of art we have in this podcast episode.
The total package becomes transcendent, picking us up from the mundane and placing us in a state of elevated consciousness.
I hope you enjoy my chat with Alexi Kenney who The New York Times calls “spellbinding".
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
Our podcast guest today is Danielle Eva Schwob. The New Yorker hails her as a “notable cross-genre composer”, who writes concert works, experimental electro-rock, and film scores. Many listeners should care about her work because she is redefining what it means to be a "serious composer". Notable presenters have featured her work, like Lincoln Center and Le Poisson Rouge, and she has received commissions from the American Composers Forum and New Music USA. But unlike many composers who run in these circles, she has her finger on the pulse of music for big name Hollywood movies. She's worked on the music team for Manhattan Night starring Adrien Brody, and the film Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence. We discuss her work and more on this episode, including her new album, Out of the Tunnel, featuring PUBLIQuartet.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
Countertenor Randall Scotting is carving out a path that is uniquely exciting in the opera world. Singing to sold-out crowds at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House and working on a newly filmed production at Seattle Opera, he’s operating at a level that has positive momentum, using fitness as meditation, and grounded in his roots as a “Colorado boy”. Listen to our interview with him on the Classical Post Podcast. Or read the full transcript, edited for clarity.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
Elena Urioste is a musician, yogi, writer, and entrepreneur who has appeared as violin soloist with all the top orchestras in the U.S. — New York Philharmonic, LA Phil, Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras.
She is the co-director of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, which is an Associate Ensemble of London's prestigious Wigmore Hall.
She is the co-founder of Intermission, a program that combines music, movement, and mindfulness, aiming to make music-making a healthier, more holistic practice for students and professionals alike through yoga and meditation.
Our conversation highlights her vibrant energy from her multi-cultural background and how that infuses her everyday style. I particularly enjoyed hearing her travel recommendation to Germany's Schloss Elmau hotel and spa, which needs to be on everyone's dream hotel list.
We explore how she expanded her career into yoga and started an organization that even has an app!
Interestingly, she recounts her perspective on the importance of fulfillment and not just success. I found this emphasis to be quite profound.
Finally, we conclude our chat with how her new studio album came to be — out of the depths of lockdown and building a large digital community around that shared experience. The album, #UriPosteJukeBox, features her husband, pianist Tom Poster, and will be released on the Orchid Classics label this September.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
My guest today is Simon Goff. You've probably heard his work on the film, Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Simon was a recording engineer working alongside the composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. The film ended up winning the Oscar for Best Original Score.
You've also heard his work on the HBO miniseries, Chernobyl, where he won a Grammy as a recording engineer.
He's got a new album out called, Vale, that you certainly should listen to!
Simon's extraordinary accomplishments led us to a fascinating conversation in this episode. Keep listening to hear how the downtown music scene of 1960s New York, the Bauhaus movement, and minimalism have influenced his aesthetic choices.
Take notes on a certain Italian red wine he recommends and also which Japanese whiskey to buy. Plus, gain insight into why we all should be protagonists of the creation process.
Connect with Simon on Instagram.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
Having recently performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel, pianist David Fung joins us on the Classical Post Podcast for an intriguing conversation highlighting his design and style aesthetics. He speaks on the wabi-sabi approach to minimalism and a dream house of raw material. Plus, hear if he prefers to spend a day in Biden or Rhianna’s shoes. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR DISCUSSION Favorite cocktail: Manhattan with Luxardo cherries
Style icons/movements: Marie Kondo, minimalism, wabi-sabi (finding beauty in imperfection)
Architecture preference: Mid-century modern, Frank Lloyd Wright
Dream aesthetic: Raw material, austerity, massive space
Fashion: Issey Miyake, Cartier, Dior, Uniqlo
Recommended products: Aesop
Whose shoes would you walk in for a day? Toss up between Biden or Rhianna
What does success mean to you? Success is being able to do what you love on a day-to-day basis and being able to share this.
What's one important trait in the workplace? A simpatico professional environment is very valuable.
Learn more: davidfung.com, Instagram, Facebook
Praised for his “ravishing and simply gorgeous” performances in The Washington Post, pianist David Fung is widely recognized for interpretations that are elegant and refined, yet intensely poetic and uncommonly expressive. Declared a Rising Star in BBC Music Magazine, Mr. Fung regularly appears with the world’s premier ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the San Diego Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony, as well as the major orchestras in his native country of Australia, including the Melbourne Symphony, the Queensland Symphony, and the Sydney Symphony.
Mr. Fung garnered international attention as laureate of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels and the Arthur Rubinstein Piano International Masters Competition in Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv, he was further distinguished by the Chamber Music and Mozart Prizes, awarded in areas in which Mr. Fung has a passionate interest. Mr. Fung is the first piano graduate of the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles and is a Steinway Artist.
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Classical Post explores the intersection of classical music, style, and wellness, diving into meaningful conversations with leading artists from an array of different backgrounds. Based in New York City, Classical Post is a touchpoint for tastemakers. Visit our website for exclusive articles or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified of new content.
American baritone Jarrett Logan Porter joins us on the Classical Post Podcast for a candid look at his inspiration from the worlds of design, interiors, fashion, and global travel. Speaking with a level of poignant depth beyond his years, he shares how minimalism, sentimentality, form, light, and a major nod to Japanese and Danish aesthetics influence him. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or other platforms.
HIGHLIGHTS OF DISCUSSION
Style icon: Jeff Goldblum
Interior design inspo: Minimalism — should be timeless and classic, mixed with earthiness. Not stark minimalism, but Danish, Japanese style/design; Charles and Ray Eames aesthetic.
Favorite place: Kyoto — smell, wetness of the trees. Anything that brings back those memories.
Dream aesthetic: A sharp focus on sentiment, form, and light.
What does his style say about him: Focus…that he cares. Put together, but not fussed over.
Recommended products: Lulu Lemon, Acne Studios, J.Crew, Comme de Garcons, Aesop.
What energizes him: Being around people where you can be real, knowing different levels of who you are.
Whose shoes would he spend a day in: Yo Yo Ma
Learn more: jarrettporter.com / Instagram
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Praised for his “imposing baritone” and “supple vibrant baritone that he deploys with unaffected lyricism and manifest honesty” by Opera News, American baritone Jarrett Porter is quickly making a name for himself with a fearless talent and commanding intellect. Porter is currently a member of the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at The Juilliard School.
Bass-baritone Dashon Burton joins us on the Classical Post Podcast to discuss style, wellness, and his successful career that won him Grammy Awards. Serendipitously, we actually recorded this interview two days before he won the second Grammy for his work on Smyth: The Prison.
Here are some highlights of what we discussed on the podcast.
Style icons: Thundercat, Amy Sedaris
Dream home: At least a Tesla in the driveway. The aesthetic should also be one that connects people and draws people together.
Style philosophy: Style is about inviting people into your community.
Product recommendation: You Need a Budget (YNAB), the Marie Kondo of budgeting.
Guilty pleasure: "…nothing wrong with RuPaul's Drag Race.”
What energizes him: Connecting with students who don't normally have access to classical music, as well as anyone who’s curious to learn more in life.
How does he define success: Success is feeling comfortable in your own shoes.
Greatest career moment: Attending the Grammy Awards ceremony with his mother and sharing that success of winning with her.
Learn more: dashonburton.com
Remember to follow Classical Post on Instagram and Facebook. Visit our website with insightful content on classical music, style, and wellness. Hit the subscribe button wherever you're listening to this podcast to be notified of new episodes!
Brooklyn-based artist Nealy Hauschildt joins us on the Classical Post Podcast and here's some of the things discussed.
Style icons: Miles Redd (for his use of color), Mark Sykes (for his traditional interiors mixed with antiques and floral prints), McGrath 2.
Recommended online store: Coco Shop
Recommended product: Supergoop (sunscreen)
Dream day: All-day beach day, picnic, lots of friends and family, bonfire, and stay for the whole day!
Happy place: Nantucket
What does success mean to Nealy? Following your gut. As long as you're happy doing what you're doing.
Her artistry: Painting is tied to nature, color, psychology, and how these make you feel.
Where to find her art: The Collective in Dallas, Texas. Her art is coming soon to a gallery in New York.
Learn more at nealyhstudio.com.
Instagram @nealy.hauschildt
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Born and raised outside of Boston, MA, Nealy received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been selected for publications such as CandyFloss Magazine, and is part of private art collections across the country.
Nealy’s work explores our personal relationship with nature through color, line, and form. Employing a range of mediums, her style is highly expressive. Using luminous watercolor washes and gestural pastels, she aims to capture the shifting light, colors, and shapes of our environment. As planned as it is exploratory, Nealy’s process begins with intentional compositions, leaving room for the natural tendency of the medium to evolve on page.
Nealy hopes for her work to provide a moment of reflection, a moment of escape; to reconnect us with land, sea, and sky and the feelings we experience when surrounded by nature.
Swedish composer Jacob Mühlrad joins us on the Classical Post Podcast as our first guest. He’s just released a major album on the Deutsche Grammophon label called Time, exploring themes of mortality, the supernatural, and creating a “sound for god” — if god could be contained to music. Jacob is a serious artist who’s making a big splash in the music world that’s underscored by the complexity of this new album, encompassing about 10 years worth of his compositional work.
In this podcast, we discuss the album more in-depth, but particularly gain insight into Jacob Mühlrad’s inspiration as an artist. Here are just some of the unique individuals he draws inspiration.
Music On his playlist now: FKA twigs, ASAP Rocky, Drake, Cardi B
Architecture Le Corbusier (Swiss-French architect, designer, and pioneer of modern architecture)
Fashion Virgil Abloh (Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton and fashion designer/CEO of Off-White)
Art/Design James Turrell (Artist known for work in Light and Space Movement)
Richard Serra (Artist heavily involved in the Process Art movement)
Esoteric Minimalism
Scandinaivan Style
Jacob collaborated with Alexander Wesley (music producer for Swedish House Mafia) to create the official music video of his new album Time. One of the salient points to be made about this music video is the “totality of art”. Not only thinking of the music, both Jacob and Alexander wanted to create complete integration of the visual and aural worlds. Watch the video here to see what they’ve done.
The topic of success was one of the most insightful things drawn from this interview. When posed the question what success means for him, Jacob simply responded by saying it’s the “opportunity to influence”. Certainly his accomplishments will garner him a platform to influence many others in art music and other realms for years to come.
Follow Jacob Mülhrad’s journey on Instagram and his website.
Listen to the Classical Post Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube.