Muse Mentors: Recent Episodes
Karen Kevra
Has there been a time in your life where you’ve looked to someone to guide you? Grammy-nominated flutist Karen Kevra is a musician whose life was changed by her mentor. Join her for engaging interviews of artists as they share personal stories of deep connection that will warm your heart and inspire you....whatever you do and wherever you are on your path.
Fredrich Kuhlau (1786–1832) was a Danish composer of the late Classical and early Romantic periods who wrote prodigiously for the flute. The final movement of his Fantasie for Solo Flute in D major, "Arietta and Variations" is charming, virtuosic, and fun! The aria "Bati, Bati" from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni is the theme. The operatic spirit shines in this 4 minute long gem.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra, flute
Georg Friedrich Händel, Suite No. 5 in E Major, HWV 430: IV. Air con Variazioni "The Harmonious Blacksmith" performed by Murray Perahia, piano
Franz Schubert's Theme, from the Introduction, Theme, and Variations on "Trockne Blumen", D. 802 performed by Karen Kevra, flute and Jeffrey Chappell, piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Overture from Don Giovanni, K. 527, Hans Vonk, Staatskapelle Dresden
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Aria: "Batti, batti, o bel Masetto", Cecelia Bartoli, soprano, Wiener Kammerorchester
Friedrich Kuhlau, Fantasie for Solo Flute in D major (Op. 38, No. 1), movement 3, "Arietta and Variations", performed by Karen Kevra, flute
Support the show
Composer Katherine Hoover's Winter Spirits is a musical tribute to the American Desert Southwest. This 5 minute piece was inspired by Marie Buchfink's artwork picturing a cross-legged native American flute player: A colorful cloud of tiny beneficent spirits rises from the flute into a cloud. Elements of dance, chant, and drumming combine to create a mystical, magical soundscape.
Katherine Hoover, Kokopeli
Katherine Hoover, Winter Spirits
performed by Karen Kevra, flute
Support the show
In this encore episode from Christmas eve 2020, we celebrate the life and legacy of Tony Barrand who died on January 29, 2022. Tony Barrand was born in England in 1945 but has lived most of his life in southern Vermont in the vibrant town of Brattleboro—a place that shines all the more brightly because of him. This Cornell PHD and Professor Emeritus of Boston University is not just an academic, but also a singer, dancer, and story-teller. What first grabs you is his way with words—he can give them weight, or make them sparkle depending on the point he is trying to make, but he uses words to greatest effect when he sings. His handsome tenor voice really shines when joined by his singing comrades (John Roberts, Fred Breunig and Andy Davis) from the band Nowell Sing We Clear. This is top-notch exuberant music-making in a traditional style that will have you singing along, dancing, and entranced by the magic of the story-telling. Guaranteed to brighten your days during this darkest time of year.
Special thanks to:
Andy Davis, Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, Amanda Witman, Peter Amidon, Sue Dupre, Kari Smith, Carole Crompton, and Rachel Bell
Music, courtesy Golden Hind Music
Click here to order Nowell Sing We Clear: Songs & Carols for Midwinter & Christmastide
Photo: BU Photography
Support the show
Pianist Jeffrey Chappell reflects on his life and his formative mentorships first with pianist Jane Allen, and later with the legendary Leon Fleisher. In this encore episode, Jeffrey reveals his early childhood genesis story with the piano; his studies at the Curtis Institute and Peabody Conservatory, and path that led him to an astounding last minute substitution for Claudio Arrau with the Baltimore Symphony. He addresses overcoming challenges and adversity and speaks about his lifelong meditation practice and his book Answers from Silence.
Support the show
Edgard Varèse is one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century and was called "The stratospheric Colossus of Sound." He lived life with intensity and composed the same way. Varèse lived most of his composing life in New York City and made music out of the compelling cacophony of NYC street noises: sirens, firetrucks, river sounds, foghorns, and even skyscraper construction.
Density 21.5 was composed in 1936 (and revised in 194) at the request of Georges Barrère to inaugurate his new platinum flute. (21.5 is the density of platinum.) Density 21.5 breaks the stereotype of typical French music. This 4 minute-long ground-breaking piece offers free tonality, an immense dynamic range, surgically precise rhythms, steely and wispy colors, and it showcases Varèse's love for percussion.
Varèse was more interested in the nature of sound rather than the aspect of melody. Listen with curiosity to the sounds and enjoy the emotional ride.
Music:
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12 for solo flute by Karen Kevra
Edgard Varèse -Poème électronique Kees Tazelaar, Edgard Varèse & Institute for Computer Music
Jacques Offenbach - Barcarolle from Tale of Hoffman, Sir Neville Mariner
Frédéric Chopin - Ballade #4, Opus 52, Alfred Cortot
Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No. 1, Philippe Entremont
Edgard Varèse - Amériques, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Edgard Varèse, Ionisation, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Edgard Varèse - Déserts, Choeurs de Radio France, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez
Claude Debussy - Syrinx, Karen Kevra
Cécile Chaminade - Concertino, Karen Kevra
Edgard Varèse - Density 21.5, Karen Kevra
Support the show
Flight of the Bumblebee from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"--is at the heart of a fantastical tale which includes a large cast of characters including a king and a queen, a magical swan, and a prince turned bumblebee. It's a dazzling colorful encore piece, instantly recognizable and adopted by all kinds of instrumentalists, from string players, to pianists and of course flutists. The buzzier and the faster, the better!
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12 for solo fluteby Karen Kevra
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Flight of the Bumblebee by the Russian National Orchestra
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Op. 35 - I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship, André Previn · Rainer Küchl · Wiener Philharmoniker
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Flight of the Bumblebee by Karen Kevra
photo credit: Karen Kevra
Support the show
Pierre-Octave Ferroud wrote "Jade"- a tropical work for solo flute in July of 1921. There are two musical features in this Asian-styled French piece that give it its distinctly far eastern flavor. The first is the pentatonic scale-- the five pitches are tied to five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The second feature is a rhythmic one --the ever present dotted rhythms give the piece a bubbling dance quality. This is imaginative music so close your eyes and travel to a tropical beach with waterfalls, ancient canopied banyan trees, fluttering butterflies and the glittering jade colored sea...
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Bergère Captive
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Jade
All flute pieces performed by Karen Kevra
photo credit: Karen Kevra
Support the show
One of the things that really sets Gabriel Fauré apart is the singing style of his music. He was an exceptional and prolific composer of song so it's no wonder that we hear that singing quality even in his instrumental works. Fauré's "Morceau de Concours" is an incredibly special tiny gem. Don't be fooled by the title. Though he wrote it as a sight-reading examination piece for students at the Paris Conservatory, it is a poetic lullaby. -A musical balm for this most dark time of year.
MUSIC:
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra
Gabriel Fauré, Sicilienne, Op. 78, performed by Karen Kevra
Frédéric Chopin, Waltz in E flat major, performed by Jeffrey Chappell
George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue, performed by George Gershwin, piano with Paul Whiteman and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra (Recorded June 10, 1924)
Gabriel Fauré, Violin Sonata no.1, op. 13, Allegro molto, performed by Arthur Grumiaux, violin, and Paul Crossley, piano
Gabriel Fauré, Piano Trio No. 1, Allegro molto moderato, performed by Marguerite Long, piano, Jean Pasquier, violin, Pierre Pasquier, viola, Etienne Pasquier, cello
Gabriel Fauré, Piano Trio No. 1, Scherzo: allegro vivo, performed by Marguerite Long, piano, Jean Pasquier, violin, Pierre Pasquier, viola, Etienne Pasquier, cello
Adjutant's Call/French Foreign Legion March, US Marine Band
Gabriel Fauré, Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11, performed bythe Cambridge Singers, Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia
Gabriel Fauré, Morceau de Concours, performed by Karen Kevra
Support the show
Muse Mentors host Karen Kevra discusses Beethoven's transcendent Hymn of Thanksgiving from the Op. 132 A minor string quartet with Nicholas Kitchen, the first violinist of the Borromeo Quartet.
Credits:
Beethoven, Hymn Of Thanksgiving (String Quartet Op. 132, Movement III)
Borromeo Quartet - Nicholas Kitchen, Violin; Kristopher Tong, Violin; Mai Motobuchi, Viola; Yeesun Kim, Cello)
Use this link to hear and see the entire performance by the Borromeo String Quartet
Support the show
CPE Bach was the second son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara Bach and to say he was a prolific composer is putting it mildly. CPE Bach wrote loads of flute music--sonatas, chamber music, and dazzling concerti. The tremendous output of flute music had to do with the fact that he had a flutist for a boss--Frederick the Great of Prussia. His touching Sonata in A minor for solo flute was composed in Berlin in 1747 and the opening movement is a palate of fall colors --golden yellows, reds, mahogany, and conifer green. This piece is a kind of meditation on the fall--it has an intimate quality unlike any other and it expresses the sadness of the passing of summer, the gratitude for the harvest, and the quality of turning inward as we light our fires and face the winter.
MUSIC:
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra
C.P.E. Bach, Cello Concerto in A minor, Allegro assai, performed by Alison McGillivray, and The English Concert
C.P.E. Bach Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, Allegro, performed by Jean Rondeau, with Sophie Gent, Louis Creac'h, Fanny Paccoud, Antoine Touche, Thomas de Pierrefeu, Evolène Kiener
C.P.E. Bach Flute Concerto In D Minor, Allegro Di Molto, performed by Jean-Pierre Rampal-flute, Pierre Boulez-conductor
C.P.E. Bach Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied flute, performed by Karen Kevra
Robert Frost recites "Reluctance" -included for educational purposes
Photograph: Cornwall, Vermont backyard by Karen Kevra
Support the show
Fredrich Kuhlau was admired by Beethoven and is known as "the Beethoven of the flute." He wrote his gorgeous Fantasy in D major for solo flute in 1820 during a four-month stay in Vienna. Perhaps the Danube river provided inspiration for this silky, rippling Romantic music...
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra
Fredrich Kuhlau, Fantasy, Op. 38 in D major, Adagio, performed by Karen Kevra
J.S. Bach, Fantasia in G minor, BWV 542, performed by Hans-André Stamm-organ
Beethoven, Choral Fantasy, Op. 80, performed by Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir, Eudenice Palaruan, Choral Director, Tengku Irfan, piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AXnA7-TD4Q
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" - I. Adagio sostenuto performed by Maurizio Pollini-piano
Beethoven, Symphony #6 "Pastorale" - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor
Please support the show.
Artwork: Danube landscape near Regensburg, by Albrecht Altdorfer
Support the show
Frenchman Johannès Donjon 8 Etudes de Salon are whimsical and summery music. His miniature "Song of the Wind", "Elegie", and "Will-O'-the Wisp" require sure-footed technique. Even so, this fun music oozes with color, expression and imagination.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
Johannès Donjon, Song of the Wind, Elegie, Will-O'-the Wisp
Performed by Karen Kevra.
Support the show
It's been a period of intense news and worldwide stress. At times like these you've got to turn it off and turn to music. Czech composer Jindřich Feld's 1957 Meditation is a sublime 2.5 minute work that offers a respite from the news. Try the simple meditative approach for a deep listening experience.
Ray Chen-violin, and Julio Elizalde-piano perform Jules Massenet Meditation from ThaisKaren Kevra-flute, performs Jindřich Feld's Meditation.
Support the show
Pierre-Octave Ferroud wrote his "Bergère Captive", a gorgeous and plaintive work for solo flute in July of 1921. You've probably never heard of Ferroud because he died a grisly pedestrian death when he stepped out into an oncoming car and was killed at the age of 36. It's a tragedy because if you listen to his colorful and inventive music you will understand why he won the attention of Prokofiev, Poulenc and Stravinsky! His "Captive Shepherd" is musical storytelling at its best--full of imagination, a summery rainbow of colors, and deep emotion.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Jade
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Bergère Captive
All flute pieces performed by Karen Kevra
Support the show
Johann Sebastian Bach was incredibly generous with the flute. He wrote several full scale sonatas, gave the flute has starring roles in two of the Brandenburg concerti, and beautiful obbligato parts in countless arias, but there is just one solo partita. The slow movement from his A minor flute Partita-a Sarabande -is a dance form with both Arab and Spanish origins and has a silky, sensual quality. Imagine a kind of "dance of the seven veils. " Way back in 1583, King Philip II of Spain had the Sarabande banned because it was said to ‘excite bad emotions’.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto #5 in D major, BWV 1050 mmt. 1 AllegroKaren Kevra-flute, Lucy Chapman-violin Elizabeth Metcalfe-harpsichord
J.S. Bach "Schafe können sicher weiden" (Sheep may safely graze) from his Cantata BWV 208. Hyunah Yu-soprano, Karen Kevra & Kenichi Ueda-flutes
J.S. Bach, Prelude from Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV1007, Edward Arron-cello
All flute pieces performed by Karen Kevra
Manuscript of J.S.Bach's Partita in A minor.
www.capitalcityconcerts.org
Support the show
"THE CHILDREN ARE PLAYING" is a tiny fairy-tale of a piece for solo flute written by Denmark's best-known composer Carl Nielsen in 1920 as incidental music for a play called "The Mother." The whimsical music is a tip of the cap to Hans Christian Andersen and sounds like kids on playground on a spring day--leaping and laughter and teasing and taunting with a mix of sun and clouds.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
Claude Debussy, Syrinx
Carl Nielsen, The Children are Playing
All flute piece performed by Karen Kevra
Frank Loesser, I'm Hans Christian Andersenperformed by Danny Kaye
Artwork: Sibylle von Olfers, Mother Earth and Her Children
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In this encore episode James Pease Blair, one of National Geographic's legendary photographers talked about love, life, and legacy.
Jim began his 32 year career at the National Geographic Society with a splash as staff photographer on board Jacques Cousteau's Calypso in 1962. As a photography student in the fifties at the Institute of Design in Chicago, he studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, but it was his years as a summer intern with Roy E. Stryker, at the Pittsburgh Photographic Library that made the biggest impression on Jim. Jim Blair's artistry and empathy brought a new kind of humanity to National Geographic which went from being a travel and culture magazine to a journal which included social and environmental images that revealed the soul of planet and its inhabitants.
Don't miss this powerfully moving episode on the 91st anniversary of his birth.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Composer/flutist/pianist Louis Moyse's Pastorale was written in 1925 when he was just 14 years old. Louis was the son of the great French flutist Marcel Moyse, and he grew up steeped in Parisian culture and with the sound of the flute in his ears and his heart. That influence shows in this evocative, oh-so-French piece that sounds like a marriage between Impressionism and springtime in the French countryside.
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12, performed by Karen Kevra
Louis Moyse, Pastorale, performed by Karen Kevra
John Lunn, Downton Abbey Theme, The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
J.S. Bach, Gavotte, performed by Karen Kevra
Cecile Chaminade, Concertino, performed by Karen Kevra
Sakura, traditional Japanese folktune, performed by Karen Kevra
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major, Allegro aperto, performed by Marcel Moyse
Igor Stravinsky, Petrouchka, Wiener Philharmonic
Cab Calloway, Jumpin' Jive
Duke Ellington Orchestra, Jubilee Stomp
Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, Berlin Philharmonic
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Composer Katherine Hoover's Winter Spirits is a musical tribute to the American Desert Southwest. This 5 minute piece was inspired by Marie Buchfink's artwork picturing a cross-legged native American flute player: A colorful cloud of tiny beneficent spirits rises from the flute into a cloud. Elements of dance, chant, and drumming combine to create a mystical, magical soundscape.
Katherine Hoover, Kokopeli
Katherine Hoover, Winter Spirits
performed by Karen Kevra, flute
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In this first full episode of the FLUTE STORIES MINI-SERIES host and flutist Karen Kevra explores Claude Debussy's magical mythical Syrinx, the finest gem of the solo flute repertoire.
Claude Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Claude Debussy, Syrinx
CPE Bach, Poco Adagio from Sonata in A minor for solo flute
Karen Kevra, flute
Albert von Tilzer, Take Me Out to the Ballgame,
Mark Herman, organ
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Muse Mentors host Karen Kevra is your guide in Flute Stories--These short episodes weave performances of flute music with the stories behind them.
All performances by Karen Kevra
Georg Philipp Telemann, Fantasie #12 in G minor
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Flight of the BumblebeeJoachim Anderson, Etude in G major, #3, Op. 15Louis Moyse, PastoraleClaude Debussy, SyrinxJules Mouquet, Pan and the BirdsEdgard Varèse, Density 21.5Carl Nielsen, The children are playing
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Nicholas Kitchen, one of the country's leading violinists is a founding member of the Boston-based Borromeo String Quartet. Nick is perhaps the most important protégé of the great Polish violinist Szymon Goldberg. Nick has been loaned his teacher's violin-- the Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona, ca. 1730, "Goldberg-Baron Vitta" to play throughout his career. In his musical life, Nick was first nurtured by his musically hands-on parents and later through his mentorship with Goldberg. Nick's rich and profound musical life is a beautiful paradox of old and new technology.
Music credits:
Schubert, Death and The Maiden String Quartet, Borromeo Quartet JP Sousa, Semper Fidelis, The President's Own Marine Band
Beethoven, Violin Sonata, Op. 24 "Spring", Szymon Goldberg-violin, Lili Krauss-piano
JS Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, Hans-André Stamm-organ
Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, mmt. 3 Rondo, Henryk Szeryng-violin, Hans Zender-conductor
Schubert, Mass No. 5 in A Flat Major, D.678 - 4. Sanctus Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge
JS Bach, Fantasia and fugue in G minor BWV 542 - Van Doeselaar
Beethoven, String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 1, Borromeo Quartet
JS Bach, Adagio, BWV 1110, Nicholas Kitchen
Kreisler, Liebeslied, Fritz Kreisler
Handel, Op. 1, No. 13 mmt. 1 D Major Sonata, Szymon Goldberg-violin, Gerald Moore-piano
Polish folksong for mandolines
JS Bach, Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042: I. Allegro, Syzmon Goldberg-violin
Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, mmt. 1, Syzmon Goldberg-violin
Mozart, Sonata for Piano and Violin in E Minor, K.304 - Tempo di minuetto, Syzmon Goldberg-violin and Radu Lupu-piano
Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K219, mmt. 1
Beethoven, String Quartet, No. 13, Op. 130, Borromeo Quartet
Louis Moyse, Second Sonata, Scherzo, Karen Kevra-flute, Paul Orgel-piano
Strauss, Don Juan, Op. 20, Berling Philharmonic, Von Karajan
Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, mmt. 3 , Adagio molto e cantabile, Furtwängler
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Tony Barrand was born in England in 1945 but has lived most of his life in southern Vermont in the vibrant town of Brattleboro—a place that shines all the more brightly because of him. This Cornell PHD and Professor Emeritus of Boston University is not just an academic, but also a singer, dancer, and story-teller. What first grabs you is his way with words—he can give them weight, or make them sparkle depending on the point he is trying to make, but he uses words to greatest effect when he sings. His handsome tenor voice really shines when joined by his singing comrades (John Roberts, Fred Breunig and Andy Davis) from the band Nowell Sing We Clear. This is top-notch exuberant music-making in a traditional style that will have you singing along, dancing, and entranced by the magic of the story-telling. Tony Barrand offers tales of his mentors and mentees, and plenty of music in this episode. Guaranteed to brighten your days during this darkest time of year. This is an encore episode from Christmas eve 2020.
Special thanks to:
Andy Davis, Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, Amanda Witman, Peter Amidon, Sue Dupre, Kari Smith, Carol Compton, Carole Crompton, and Rachel Bell
Music, courtesy Golden Hind Music
Click here to order Nowell Sing We Clear: Songs & Carols for Midwinter & Christmastide
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In this short anniversary episode, Muse Mentors host Karen Kevra looks back on a year with a podcast, and a year without concerts. She previews an upcoming concert by Boston's Borromeo Quartet and discusses Beethoven's transcendent Op. 132 A minor string quartet with Nicholas Kitchen, the first violinist of the Borromeo quartet.
Credits:
Kuhlau, Fantaisie in D major, Adagio - Karen Kevra-flute
Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
Beethoven, Hymn Of Thanksgiving (String Quartet Op. 132, Movement III) - Borromeo Quartet - Nicholas Kitchen, Violin; Kristopher Tong, Violin; Mai Motobuchi, Viola; Yeesun Kim, Cello)
Beethoven party hat image: Sharon Su
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Encore episode: Rob Mermin ran off to join the circus in 1969 at the age of 19. He clowned with renowned European circuses, including England’s Circus Hoffman, Sweden’s Cirkus Scott, Denmark’s Circus Benneweis in the famous Circus Building by the Tivoli, and many more. It was his long mentorship with the iconic French mime Marcel Marceau that shaped him as a performer and inspired him to dream and make plans. In 1987 he founded Circus Smirkus, the embodiment of Rob -- the touch of wonder, the charm, the story line, the mime and the humor. An enthralling story-teller, Rob Mermin make you laugh and he'll make you cry with his stories of discovery and loss, and of course mentoring--first as a protégé and later through his own rich legacy of mentorship of some of the greatest circus performers on earth.
The accordion music was provided by Rachel Bell and includes Susan Kevra-clarinet, and Karen Axelrod-keyboards.
Mozart PianoConcerto #21 licensed by Creative Commons.
Rob Mermin's Parkinson's Pantomime Project.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In this encore episode of Muse Mentors, pianist Jeffrey Chappell reflects on his life and his formative relationship with his mentor the legendary Leon Fleisher. He addresses overcoming challenges and adversity through the lens of his teacher's career-altering medical condition. The episode closes with the voice of Leon Fleisher who offers powerful words to live by.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Kerrin McCadden's new collection of poems called American Wake is made of the stuff of life --subjects like family, divorce, raising children, love and even her brother's tragic death by drug overdose are poignantly bound together by her strong Irish Heritage and her family's immigrant story. American Wake, is an actual term that refers to a kind of "Irish wake-style" farewell party that was thrown for Irish families the night before before they set sail for America. A lot of us dabble in ancestry and build family trees, but Kerrin McCadden has made it a way of life. Kerrin is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow and has received the Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Award, the Vermont Book Award, the New Issues Poetry Prize, and the Button Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, New England Review, and more. Her books are American Wake (2021), Keep This To Yourself (2020), Landscape with Plywood Silhouettes (2014). Her mentors are poets David Budbill and Ellen Bryant Voigt.
MUSIC CREDITS:
Liz Carroll, The Drunken Sailor
Liz Carroll, A Day and An Age
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Lou Kosma was a bass player in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 36 years. He grew up in Philadelphia in the fifties in a blue collar Italian American family - a loving home where the sound of Italian tarantellas played on guitar and accordion spilled from the windows, and the smell of frying meatballs and Roma tomato sauce filled the air. Little did his working class family know that their son would one day ascend to one of the greatest orchestras in the world! But that full-time job wasn't quite enough for Lou Kosma who has been, for his whole life, a generous teacher, conducting an array of youth and community orchestras with warmth and passion. Lou was shaped by his mentor Edward Arian, a Renaissance man who had three remarkable careers including a 20 year tenure as a bass player with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Arian lead an eight-week strike that got the musicians their first guaranteed 52- week salary. Lou Kosma learned a thing or two from his mentor--determination, integrity, generosity, and love of music.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
James Pease Blair, one of National Geographic's legendary photographers talks about love, life, and legacy.
Jim began his 32 year career at the National Geographic Society with a splash as staff photographer on board Jacques Cousteau's Calypso in 1962. As a photography student in the fifties at the Institute of Design in Chicago, he studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, but it was his years as a summer intern with Roy E. Stryker, at the Pittsburgh Photographic Library that made the biggest impression on Jim. Jim Blair's artistry and empathy brought a new kind of humanity to National Geographic which went from being a travel and culture magazine to a journal which included social and environmental images that revealed the soul of planet and its inhabitants.
Now in this late chapter of his life, Jim is contending with a lung condition that his reduced him to 35 percent breathing capacity, and yet he continues to live life with eyes and heart wide open. Don't miss this powerfully moving episode.
MUSIC:
Taps- Bugle Call: USMC Drum & Bugle Corps
Happy Birthday-Jazz Piano Arrangement by Jonny May
Chicago- Frank Sinatra
Juke- Little Walter
Government Camp Song-Mary and Betty Campbell, Shafter FSA Camp, August 9, 1941
There's a Pawn Shop on The Corner -Guy Mitchell
PittsburghTown-Pete Seeger
The Aquarium, Carnival of the Animals-Camille Saint-Saens
Calypso-John Denver
National Geographic 1964 - 1987 Full Theme
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
It can sound hyperbolic to make the claim that a person has changed the world and made it a better place. In the case of Eli Newberger, it is utterly true.
Eli Newberger is equal parts music man and medicine man. He was the key prosecution witness in the trial of Louise Woodward, the British nanny convicted of second-degree murder in the death of an 8-month-old in Boston in1997. Later during the Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal, he offered his expertise on the effects of abuse on children and their families. Eli Newberger's ground-breaking work resulted in the formation of the child-protection program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and he's the author of many publications including an important and accessible book on the development of character in boys called The Men They Will Become.
Before Eli became a doctor, he was a musician. And perhaps it's because of music, that he became a doctor...Hear his inspiring origin story about his mentorship with the late New York Philharmonic principal tuba William Bell; his professional career in music, including his long tenure as a founding member of the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, and work with pianists Butch Thompson and Bob Winter; and his inspiring and generous work developing an El Sistema music program in the Berkshires.
MUSIC:
Carolina Shout: James P. Johnson, piano
Cyrus the Great: US Air Force Band
Overture to Candide: New York Philharmonic
Yankee Doodle: Vivian Williams, Phil Williams, Howard Marshall, John Williams
Franck: Symphony in D minor: Berlin Philharmonic
Vaughan-Williams, Bass Tuba Concerto in F Minor: II. Romanza: Walter Hilgers
I'm Just Wild About Harry: Butch Thompson, Eli Newberger, and Jimmy Mazzy
Carnival of Venice Variations: Carol Jantsch
Issa Keita, balafon (marimba) virtuoso, Bamako, Mali
Bugle Boy March: New Black Eagle Jazz Band
Arturo Márquez: Danzón Nº 2: Gustavo Dudamel at the Proms
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Paula Robison was born in Nashville to an extraordinary family of actors, writers, dancers, and musicians. She grew up in Los Angeles not only playing the flute, but studying dance with Bella Lewitzky and theater with Jeff Corey. When she was twelve years old, music claimed her heart and she knew she wanted to be a flutist. Trained at the Juilliard School, she also studied flute with the great French flutist Marcel Moyse during her time in NYC. Marcel's singing approach and metaphorical and animated teaching style set Paula on fire and shaped her as a musician. Her trademark joie de vivre really shines in this episode which is chock full of music.
To see photographs of Paula Robison and Marcel Moyse, go to: https://musementors.com/
MUSIC:
George Frederic Handel, Flute Sonata in F Major, Op. 1, No. 11, HWV 369: Allegro (Paula Robison-flute, Timothy Eddy-cello, Kenneth Cooper-harpsichord)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Flute Concerto No.1 in G major, K.313, Allegro maestoso, (Paula Robison-flute)
Apanhei-Te, Cavaquinho! (Paula Robison-flute, and Romero Lubambo, Tiberio Nascimento, Sergio Brandão, Stanley Silverman, Cyro Baptista)
Robert Beaser, Cindy, from Mountain Songs for flute and guitar (Paula Robison-flute, Elliot Fisk-guitar)
Robert Beaser, Quicksilver, from Mountain Songs for flute and guitar
Ol' Man River, Paul Robeson
Wade in the Water, Fisk Jubilee Singers
Robert Beaser, Barbara Allen, from Mountain Songs for flute and guitar
Benjamin Godard, "Valse" from Suite De Trois Morceaux, Op. 116 (Paula Robison-flute)Astor Piazolla, "L'Histoire du Tango": Nightclub 1960 (Paula Robison-flute, Elliot Fisk-guitar)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "Voi che sapete", from The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 arranged for flute and string quartet by Nicholas Kitchen (Paula Robison-flute, and the Borromeo String Quartet)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Flute Concerto No.2 in D major, K.314, Allegro aperto (Marcel Moyse-flute)
P.O. Ferroud - Bergere Captive from Trois pièces pour flûte seule (Marcel Moyse-flute)
Albert Hammond - It never rains in Southern CaliforniaCamille Saint-Saëns, The Swan, Carnival of the Animals, (Marcel Moyse-flute, Louis Moyse-piano)
Camille Saint-Saëns "Voliere" from Carnival of the Animals (Paula Robison-flute with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Giuseppe Verdi, Il Trovatore, (Marcel Moyse-flute, Louis Moyse-piano)
J.S. Bach Trio Sonata in G major Moyse Trio, BWV 1038, Largo (Marcel Moyse-flute, Blance Moyse-violin, Louis Moyse-piano)
Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, "Sisters" from White Christmas
Theobald Boehm, Variations sur un Air Tyrolien (Marcel Moyse-flute, Louis Moyse, piano)
Claude Debussy, Syrinx (Paula Robison-flute)
Georges Hüe, Fantasie (Marcel Moyse-flute, Georges Truc)
Jean-Louis Tulou, Air Ecossais (Marcel Moyse-flute, Blance Moyse-violin, Louis Moyse-piano)
Claude Debussy, "Prélude à l'aprés-midi d'un faune" (Paula Robison-flute)
J.S. Bach BWV 244-58 Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben, BWV 244, from the Saint Matthew Passion, Herbert Karajan conducting
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In what could be the most important Muse Mentors episode ever, author and climate activist Bill McKibben (who wrote The End of Nature one of the first books on global warming for the general public) talks about his childhood, teen-aged years as a journalist; and, before he even graduated from Harvard, an invitation from the late great editor William Shawn to write for The New Yorker Magazine. McKibben also discusses the impact the arts has in furthering the climate change movement, reflecting on his appearances on The Colbert Report, David Attenborough's recent magnum opus film "A Life on Our Planet", and a celebration of Richard Power's cri de coeur novel The Overstory. Here's a chance to hear Bill's origin story, and to discover how he has become a muse and mentor the world over!
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
The New York Times called David Dworkin, the maestro who "sparkles with high-spirited virtuosity." This Jersey boy got his start in high school in the late 1940s with clarinet lessons at The Williamsburg (Brooklyn) Community House where he met his mentor the late Metropolitan Opera Orchestra clarinetist Ben Armato. That relationship nurtured David who went on to play in both the American Symphony and Met Orchestras, as well as to conduct orchestras across America and abroad. In 2002 he created the acclaimed exercise program CONDUCTORCISE®, where "you feel the beat as well as the burn” (Times-Picayune) which has received rave reviews across the globe, and has been featured in the New York Times, Town & Country Magazine, and NBC’s Today Show. CONDUCTORCISE® was named one of North America's six most innovative active aging programs by the International Council on Active Aging.
Music:
Mozart Clarinet Quintet: Musicians from Marlboro (ensemble), Anthony McGill (clarinet)
Brahms Clarinet Quintet: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Support the show through our Patreon page.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Tony Barrand was born in England in 1945 but has lived most of his life in southern Vermont in the vibrant town of Brattleboro—a place that shines all the more brightly because of him. This Cornell PHD and Professor Emeritus of Boston University is not just an academic, but also a singer, dancer, and story-teller. What first grabs you is his way with words—he can give them weight, make them sparkle, or swirl depending on the point he is trying to make, but he uses words to greatest effect when he sings. His handsome I-cannot-get-enough-of-it tenor voice really shines when joined by his singing comrades (John Roberts, Fred Breunig and Andy Davis) from the band Nowell Sing We Clear. This is top-notch music-making in a traditional style that will have you singing along, dancing, and entranced by the magic of the story-telling. Tony Barrand offers tales of his mentors and mentees, and plenty of music in this episode. Guaranteed to brighten your days during this darkest time of year.
Special thanks to:
Andy Davis, Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, Amanda Witman, Peter Amidon, Sue Dupre, Kari Smith, Carol Compton, Carole Crompton, and Rachel Bell
Music, courtesy Golden Hind Music
Click here to order Nowell Sing We Clear: Songs & Carols for Midwinter & Christmastide
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Vermont visual artist Katie Runde was raised by Medievalist parents. This millennial with a Midas touch has been drawing as long as she was able to hold a crayon, playing saxophone since age eight, and theologizing since that day somewhere around age eleven when Mass stopped making neat story sense. An alum of the Eastman School of Music, she also holds a masters in religious studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School, a BA in folklore/ethnology and music from University College Cork in Ireland, and undertook two years’ apprenticeship with master realist painter Evan Wilson...and yet it seems it is her mother who is her most enduring and important mentor.
Visit Katie Runde's instagram page, her website and the Muse Mentors website to see her artwork.
Support the show through our Patreon page.
Thumbnail image of Katie Runde by Caleb Kenna
Aria, from The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 of JS Bach performed by Jeremy Denk at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston, Massachusetts, Creative Commons license
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Rob Mermin ran off to join the circus in 1969 at the age of 19. He clowned with renowned European circuses, including England’s Circus Hoffman, Sweden’s Cirkus Scott, Denmark’s Circus Benneweis in the famous Circus Building by the Tivoli, and many more. It was his long mentorship with the iconic French mime Marcel Marceau that shaped him as a performer and inspired him to dream and make plans. In 1987 he founded Circus Smirkus, the embodiment of Rob -- the touch of wonder, the charm, the story line, the mime and the humor. An enthralling story-teller, Rob Mermin make you laugh and he'll make you cry with his stories of discovery and loss, and of course mentoring--first as a protégé and later through his own rich legacy of mentorship of some of the greatest circus performers on earth.
The accordion music was provided by Rachel Bell and includes Susan Kevra-clarinet, and Karen Axelrod-keyboards.
Mozart PianoConcerto #21 licensed by Creative Commons.
Rob Mermin's Parkinson's Pantomime Project.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
Philadelphia-based illustrator Armando Veve is a Forbes 30 Under 30 list designee. He has been awarded three gold medals from the Society of Illustrators and gained international recognition when he was named an ADC Young Gun. His breath-taking and whimsical art has been commissioned by The New York Times, The New Yorker, National Geographic, the New Republic, Penguin Random House, the Poetry Foundation, Scientific American Mind, Smithsonian Magazine, Village Voice, and Mother Jones. That's just the short list. And, boy can he play the piccolo! He talks about the intersection between life, art, and music in delightful and inspiring ways.
Visit Armando Veve's instagram page and the Muse Mentors website to see his artwork.
Click on these links to see the artwork discussed in the podcast:
New York Times Baby Heart Monitor image
Truly Mango Lemonade images
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) recruitment poster
Mechanical Botanical
Special thanks to composer Mike Mower and Franceso Viola, whose brilliant piccolo playing graces this podcast episode.
Widor, Romance for flute and piano, Karen Kevra-flute, Jeffrey Chappell-piano
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In the first full episode of Muse Mentors, pianist Jeffrey Chappell reflects on his life and his formative mentorships first with pianist Jane Allen, and later with the legendary Leon Fleisher. Jeffrey reveals his early childhood genesis story with the piano; his studies at the Curtis Institute and Peabody Conservatory, and path that led him to an astounding last minute substitution for Claudio Arrau with the Baltimore Symphony. He addresses overcoming challenges and adversity and speaks about his lifelong meditation practice and his book Answers from Silence.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)
In this brief introductory episode, Muse Mentors host Karen Kevra weaves a personal story of mentorship and invites listeners to join her for engaging and inspiring interviews.
Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42335511)