Soundboard: Recent Episodes
Steinway & Sons
Soundboard features conversations on artistry and craftsmanship between Ben Finane, Editor in Chief at Steinway & Sons, and distinguished pianists, musicians, artists, and creatives. Soundboard seeks out inspiration, hones in on the creative process, parses influences, and attempts to diagnose artistic greatness.
Steinway Artist Andrew Rangell discusses the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. His latest — of many — Bach releases is The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II on the Steinway & Sons label.
Steinway Artist Dr. Karen Walwyn speaks to the legacy and vibrancy of African American composer Florence Price.
Steinway Artist Rufus Wainwright takes us behind his live album with Amsterdam Sinfonietta.
Steinway Artist Jean-Yves Thibaudet discusses his latest album, CARTE BLANCHE, his ultimate goal of making the piano sing, and the utility of the sostenuto pedal.
Steinway Artist Kristhyan Benitez discusses the rich diaspora of Latin American piano music.
Branford Marsalis joins Soundboard to discuss his Emmy®–nominated score for the History Channel documentary TULSA BURNING: THE 1921 RACE RIOT.
Pianist Tiffany Poon discusses bringing humanism back to classical music via YouTube — and expresses her love for Robert and Clara Schumann.
The pianist Khatia Buniatishvili speaks to the intimacy of performance, finding her own rhythm, and her love for Schubert and Liszt.
Composer Daniel Felsenfeld wonders at the brilliance of Steinway Artist Alfred Brendel.
Steinway Artist and Emmy Award–winning composer Kris Bowers takes us inside penning the soundtracks to such projects as GREEN BOOK and BRIDGERTON.
Steinway Artist Mahani Teave hails from Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. Teave is the first professional concert pianist from Rapa Nui. But after years spent concertizing all over the world, she returned to her island and founded a music school.
Ann Mincieli is owner and operator of Jungle City Studios in New York City and longtime recording engineer for Alicia Keys. She takes us behind the scenes of a session in her studio.
Steinway Artist Jeanne Golan takes us inside her latest release on the Steinway & Sons label, ‘It Takes One To Tango.’
Steinway Artist Ray Angry takes us on his journey from classical pianist to polymath producer.
Comic book artist and writer Sandy Jimenez pens illustrated stories about the South Bronx. He joins Soundboard to discuss his craft.
Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and Steinway Artist John Corigliano talks about improvising at the keyboard, his compositional process, and a legacy of teaching.
Young Steinway Artist Amir Siraj is completing a dual degree in astrophysics and piano performance. His research has explored the moon, comets, asteroids, black holes, and, of course, Beethoven.
The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter speaks on arts advocacy, Beethoven, John Williams, and her process behind learning new music.
The fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi sees fashion as telling stories of women’s lives. He discusses the intersection of music and fashion, couture vs. QVC, his new concert series — and becoming himself.
The Grammy Award–winning composer and conductor discusses how he writes choral music — as well as his influences and technological ventures.
Singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist-rockstar-designer Lenny Kravitz talks inspiration for his music and for the Kravitz Grand Limited Edition from Steinway & Sons.
New York City–based playwright Kenneth Jones discusses his craft — and the streaming premiere of his 2015 play ALABAMA STORY at Oak Ridge Playhouse.
Writer, novelist and columnist Drew Magary talks about the twenty-first-century shift in the media landscape and the launch of Defector, a new subscription-only sports blog and media company.
The composer Christopher Tin, on the occasion of his latest release — To Shiver The Sky (Decca Gold) — speaks to keeping your music in listeners’ ears.
The pianist Michael Gallant discusses how he creates solo-piano covers of rock classics.
Vera Anselmo, founder and artistic director of The Piano School of New York City, discusses music education for the underserved.
Step Afrika! founder and executive director C. Brian Williams holds forth on the tradition of stepping, a dance form that uses the body as an instrument.
Composer and Steinway Artist Chad Lawson unpacks his philosophy behind his minimalist aesthetic.
Steinway Artist and NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis reveals how he has benefited from remaining open to what could be.
Steinway Artist Anny Hwang talks about making classical music more flexible and getting her Gershwin to groove.
Pianist, composer, arranger, and producer Peter Bence discusses his approach to pop covers and composition — and how he built a YouTube following of millions.
Steinway Artist Connie Han talks jazz influences and the importance of a jazz language we can all comprehend.
Steinway Artist Matt Rollings discusses lessons learned from the many legends he has worked with over the course of his illustrious career as a pianist, composer, arranger and producer.
Steinway Artist Pascal Rogé reveals why there is always more to say about Claude Debussy.
Steinway Artist Vijay Iyer talks influence, responsibility, jazz, hip-hop, and the importance of right now.
Steinway Artist Ric'key Pageot discusses performing with Madonna — and introduces us to speakeasy-soul / prohibition-funk.
Stephen Brown is an avid crafter and crafty fellow who created Glitterville, which offers handcrafted ornaments for every occasion.
Steinway Artists The 5 Browns are five sibling pianists who are also five Juilliard–trained pianists. They discuss playing together on their latest album, Christmas with The 5 Browns, available on the Steinway & Sons label.
Grammy Award–winning composer Mason Bates speaks to the wedding of classical music and electronica.
Steinway Artist Harry Connick, Jr. takes us inside his new album — True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter — on which he plays piano, sings, orchestrates, arranges and conducts.
Jazz trumpeter and composer Ralph Alessi talks about the practice of improvisation and the art of jazz.
Steinway Artist Robert Glasper launched the Soundboard podcast. In honor of the multi–Grammy winning jazz pianist's October takeover at Blue Note New York, we offer a prequel interview with Glasper, live from the Steinway Factory in New York City.
Steinway Artist Jesse Carmichael took a year-and-a-half hiatus from the chart-topping pop-rock band Maroon Five to pursue studies in music and the healing arts. During this time, he started a musical side project called 1863. He speaks to Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane about his influences, and writing and performing music.
If you still think of Stewart Copeland as the progressive drummer for the seminal rock band The Police, that’s so “four operas ago.” His second act as a film composer and performing-arts collaborator has been unfolding for over thirty years. He speaks to Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane about his experiences in and lessons gleaned from orchestral music.
Steinway Artist John O'Conor discusses his love for Haydn Sonatas and John Field Nocturnes with Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane at New York City's Steinway Hall.
Steinway Artist David Fung discusses his forthcoming album of Mozart sonatas for the Steinway & Sons label with Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane in New York City.
Steinway Artist Regina Spektor talks about her creative process in advance of her five-concert retrospective on Broadway. The Soviet–born American singer–songwriter spoke to Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane at New York City's Steinway Hall.
Steinway Artist Olga Kern, who won the eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001, speaks to Soundboard producer/host Ben Finane at New York City's Steinway Hall about her love for the music of Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff.
Steinway Artist Scott Price is the musical director for Céline Dion, one of the best-selling artists of all time. Price takes us behind-the-scenes of working with the diva superstar.
Michael Idov's fortunes as a writer dramatically changed for the better following the publication in 2005 of “Bitter Brew”, an article he penned for Slate.com about his failed business venture to launch a café in New York City.
Sean Jones, trumpeter and bandleader for NYO Jazz (Carnegie Hall’s Jazz National Youth Orchestra), talks jazz, race, and music education.
Steinway Artist Simon Mulligan is the most recorded pianist for the Steinway & Sons Spirio, the world’s finest high resolution player piano. Mulligan discusses his arrangements for the instrument, including songs by Queen, with Soundboard producer and host Ben Finane.
Pianist/composer and Steinway Artist Moira Lo Bianco explores the imaginative possibilities of improvisation across musical genres and styles.
Jazz alto saxophonist Tim Berne's latest release — along with guitarist David Torn and percussionist Ches Smith — is SUN OF GOLDFINGER on ECM records. Berne is also the frontman for the jazz quintet Tim Berne’s Snakeoil. He speaks with Soundboard producer and host Ben Finane on finding your groove in improvisation.
Reid and Sara Farrington are a husband-and-wife, director-and-playwright New York City theater team. Their current work in progress is BrandoCapote, based on Truman Capote’s 1957 New Yorker Magazine profile of Marlon Brando, “The Duke in His Domain.” The play is the Farringtons’ follow-up to the 2017 Drama Desk–nominated “CasablancaBox.” With host Ben Finane, the Farringtons discuss Marlon Brando, Truman Capote, and creating theater from unlikely sources.
Natasha Paremski discusses tackling Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and premiering Fred Hersch's Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky — and speaks to the greatness of Sviatoslav Richter.
Marc-André Hamelin discusses the music of Debussy, Feinberg, Haydn, Liszt, Ives and more.
Davell Crawford discusses the rich jazz tradition of New Orleans, the fall of New York, moving forward, and employing the multiple personalities that live within you.
Bill Murray discusses American letters, Mark Twain, James Thurber, absurdity vs. ridiculousness, failure, getting to work, writing vs. acting, rhythm and flow, and improvisation.
Steinway Artist Billy Joel talks about the staying power of his music, the alchemy and process of songwriting, the origins of his aesthetic, Beethoven and The Beatles, and what he's trying to learn now.
On this episode of Soundboard, Ben Finane speaks with English pianist and Steinway Artist Paul Lewis on Beethoven, Schubert, their musical personalities, taking a deep dive, the trials of chamber music and the magic of Mussorgsky.
On this episode of Soundboard, Ben Finane speaks with jazzman and Steinway Artist Robert Glasper on crossing over, showing all your sides, Radiohead, jazz reference points, hip-hop and the ancient art of the loop, and Thelonious Monk.