Dave Bennett began his national touring career at the age of 14. He has been a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops and he has performed with 35 other US and Canadian orchestras including Nashville, Houston, Detroit, Rochester, Omaha and Toronto. Some of his annual appearances include The Elkhart Jazz Festival, The Suncoast Classic Jazz Festival, The Arizona Classic Jazz Festival, The Sacramento Hot Jazz Jubilee, The Clambake Music Festival, and The Redwood Coast Music Festiv...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 147
Behzod Abduraimov’s performances combine an immense depth of musicality with phenomenal technique and breath-taking delicacy. He performs with renowned orchestras worldwide including Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouworkest, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB). Regular festival appearances inclu...
Jun 22, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 146
Ken Ludwig’s first play, Lend Me a Tenor , was produced on Broadway (1986) and in London by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post . His Crazy For You was on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. It has been revived twice in the West End and is currently touring Japan. His shows have been produced in over 20 languages in more than 30 cou...
Jun 13, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 145
In the words of The New Yorker , Charles Neidich “is an artist of uncommon merit -- a master of his instrument and, beyond that, an interpreter who keeps listeners hanging on each phrase.” Charles is the artistic director of the Wa Concert Series at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York, which he founded with his wife, clarinetist Ayako Oshima, in September 2017. This concert series is inspired by the Japanese concept “wa”— meaning circle, but also harmony and completeness; each performance i...
Jun 01, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 144
Having grown up in Atlanta, with a long lineage of preachers and connections to gospel music to inspire him, GRAMMY-nominated Carlos Simon’s music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles, to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. Carlos is the current composer-in-residence for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and he frequently composes for its National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. This past season featured the prem...
May 24, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 143
Kathleen Marshall Kathleen began her Broadway career as an assistant to her brother Rob, the choreographer of Kiss of the Spider Woman, in 1993. The two also collaborated on S he Loves Me , Damn Yankee s , Victor/Victoria and Seussical . She was the artistic director for the Encores! series of staged musical revivals from 1996 through 2000. During that time, she choreographed The Boys from Syracuse, Li'l Abner and Call Me Madam and she directed and choreographed Babes in Arms and Wonderful Town....
May 08, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 142
Daniela Candillari grew up in Serbia and Slovenia. She holds a Doctorate in Musicology from the Universität für Musik in Vienna, a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and a Master of Music and Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the Universität für Musik in Graz. She is also a Fulbright Scholarship recipient. Daniela is in her fourth season as principal conductor at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In celebration of its 50th anniversary season...
Apr 25, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 141
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He has performed in the world’s great opera houses and symphony halls. In June 2024, he began his tenure as the general director and president of Opera Philadelphia. His most recent album, Anthony Roth Costanzo & Justin Vivian Bond: Only an Octave Apart was released in January 2022. His first solo album, ARC was released in September 20...
Apr 13, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Freya’s music is characterized by contrasts between earthy rhythmic play and fragility, luminous spaces, and a sense of the otherworldly. She has been commissioned by numerous institutions and ensembles Her current season includes Mother Tongue , a new four movement work for the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Ed Gardner; a new work for the Archipelago Collective’s 10th anniversary festival on San Juan Island WA; and a new work for classical orchestra for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenm...
Apr 05, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 139
Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation. His works have received over 800 public performances by more than 300 orchestras, and tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the world/ Listen, as we discuss Peter’s major work Ellis Island: The Dream of America, for actors and orchestra. It has become one of the most-performed American orchestral works composed in the last 25 years, with over 300 performances by 125 o...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 138
Brent Assink served as executive director of the San Francisco Symphony for 18 years, a term during which the symphony significantly grew its artistic profile and community engagement. His creative partnership with then-Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas produced celebrated projects such as the American Mavericks festivals, the Keeping Score multi-media series and SFS Media, the first orchestra-run record label in the U.S. Brent joined the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s artistic operations depar...
Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 137
The King's Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world's greatest stages for over fifty years. They are renowned for their unrivalled technique, versatility and skill in performance, and for their consummate musicianship, drawing both on the group's rich heritage and its pioneering spirit to create an extraordinary wealth of original works and unique collaborations.
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 136
Kathleen van Bergen is in her 14th season as CEO and president of Artis—Naples. In that time, she has been recognized throughout Southwest Florida and the greater arts community as an example of leadership geared toward prudent growth and relationship building. Named one of Musical America’s “Top 30 Professionals of the Year” in 2019, she is described as “a woman with a mission, a vision and a board to support both.” In 2022, she was named among Gulfshore Life magazine’s “Forces of Philanthropy,...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda is also one of the world’s most sought-after conductors, recognized equally for his artistry in the concert hall and the opera house. Gianandrea’s award-winning recordings are distributed by LSO Live, for whom he also records as principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. His discography spans over 80 recordings. He became general music director of the Zurich Opera House in September 2021 and he reached an impor...
Jan 26, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 134
Over the course of 34 years, Thomas W. Morris worked at the top levels of the symphony orchestra world, running two of the biggest and most famous, the Boston Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra. Throughout, though, he developed a sense of institutional malaise, on how classical music is presented these days. He capped his career becoming artistic director of California's Ojai Music Festival. There, Thomas reimagined music experiences by challenging all aspects of making music and producing con...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 133
Daniele Rustioni is a major presence at leading opera houses and symphony halls. In 2022, the International Opera Awards named him “Best Conductor.” His opera repertoire numbers over 70 works spanning over centuries and ranging from Italian to French, German to Russian, and more. This coming season he concludes his eight-year tenure as music director of Opéra National de Lyon. He was principal guest conductor of the Bavarian State Opera until October 2023. Daniele has led performances at the nea...
Dec 28, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 132
Jan Vogler’s distinguished career has brought him together with renowned conductors and internationally acclaimed orchestras around the world. In addition to his classical concert activities as a soloist, Jan is constantly looking for new ways to combine music with other arts. In February 2024, he gave a highly acclaimed concert with inaugural-poet Amanda Gorman, performing her contemporary poems with cello suites by J. S. Bach in the Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall. They appeared on the...
Dec 15, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Sharon Isbin was named Musical America Worldwide’s 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year, the first guitarist ever to receive the honor in its 59-year award history. She was inducted into the 2023 Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame and received its Artistic Achievement Award. She is “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time”, the winner of Guitar Player magazine’s Best Classical Guitarist award, and numerous other awards. Sharon has appeared as soloist with over 200 orchestras and has given sold-...
Nov 24, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 130
“If I ever stop finding music challenging and life-altering, I’ll quit and become an accountant.” Not to worry. Pianist Jonathan Biss, a world-renowned educator and critically-acclaimed author, cannot stop finding music challenging and life-altering. Listening to him speak about Beethoven — or even Verdi, one gleans an obsession with greatness. At the age of 17, Jonathan attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Leon Fleisher, which proved a phenomenal learning experience. Wh...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 129
Andreas Landin, Swedish baritone has worked, since his graduation from the Opera Academy at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, as an opera singer in Scandinavia and in other theaters in Europe. He has specialized in contemporary opera repertoire and has had more than 20 contemporary opera roles written for him, mostly by scandinavian composers and performed in the opera houses in Copenhagen, Malmö Opera and Gothenburg Opera among others. He has also appeared in modern classic parts such as the count...
Oct 27, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 128
The musical Kristina is based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century. On October 12, 1996, a concert version with the original cast was presented, in Swedish, in Minneapolis , Minnesota, as an opening event of the Plymouth Music Series (now Vocal Essence) 1996–1997 season in Orchestra Hall , and the next day in Chisago Lakes High School in Lindstrom, Minnesota – the area where much o...
Oct 13, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 127
Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists. He is also the recipient of both the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Jeremy is known for his interpretations of the music of American composer Charles Ives. He is also known for his original and insightful writing on music. His New York Times best-selling memoir, Every Good Boy Does Fine was published to universal acclaim by Random House in 2022. His lates...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 126
Sarah Hicks is the in-demand conductor across an array of genres, and as an educator, arranger, producer, writer and speaker committed to creating connections through music. Sarah has worked extensively with all the major orchestras in the US and abroad. She is a specialist in film music and the film in concert genre. Sarah has acted as advisor on numerous projects for Disney Music Group and is a consultant and frequent collaborator at Disney Concerts. Since 2020, she has been the primary host a...
Sep 15, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 125
The Winchendon Music Festival is a non-profit concert series held in Winchendon, Massachusetts. The Festival showcases performances by international artists from a variety of genres including classical, folk, jazz, historical performance, and world music. Concerts are free to the public, thanks to support from several local cultural councils, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation, the Winchendon History & Cultural Center, and the First Congregational Church o...
Sep 02, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 124
Cello playing is at the center of Matthew Barley’s career, while his musical world has virtually no geographical, social or stylistic boundaries. His passions include improvisation, education, multi-genre music-making, electronics, and pioneering community programs. Matthew is a world-renowned cellist who has performed in over 50 countries. Matthew’s new music group, Between The Notes undertook over 60 creative community projects with young people and orchestra players around the world. Matthew ...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 123
The 2023/24 season marked Chad Goodman’s inaugural year as music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra—only the fifth leader in the orchestra’s prestigious seven-decade history. Chad also serves as artistic director of IlluminArts, Miami’s art song and chamber music concert series. He curates site-specific classical music programs in collaboration with the leading museums, art galleries, and historic venues of Miami. From 2019 to 2023, he was the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony, w...
Aug 11, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 122
Peter works extensively as a director of theater, musical theater, opera and new work development. He is the producing artistic director at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. We recorded this conversation in January 2023, as he assumed that position. Peter and I spoke on Episode 27 when he was artistic director of Theater Latté Da, a Twin Cities-based company. Since the Theater Latté Da’s inception in 1992, Peter directed 92 main-stage productions, including 14 world premieres and 14 ...
Jul 26, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 121
Teddy Abrams, Musical America’ s 2022 Conductor of the Year, starts his tenth season as music director of the Louisville Orchestra in the fall of 2024. Teddy has been the galvanizing force behind the orchestra’s extraordinary artistic renewal and commitment to innovative community engagement since his appointment in September 2014. Teddy is also a prolific and award-winning composer. We’ll hear an excerpt from his piano concerto written for his regular collaborator Yuja Wang, with whom he and th...
Jul 13, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 120
Monet Sabel was born and reared in Redondo Beach, California. She grew up heavily participating in her local community theater, The Norris Theatre, to which she attributes all of her success. Monet moved to New York to attend NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned her BFA in Drama from the New Studio on Broadway. After college, Monet was cast in the Off-Broadway Barrow St. revival of Sweeney Todd , as the standby for Johanna, the Beggar Woman, and, notably, the male role, Adolfo Pirelli....
Jun 29, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 119
Ben West is a musical theatre artist and historian. His book, The American Musical, chronicles a detailed and comprehensive history of the art form’s artistic evolution. Ben also created 20 “Timeline Wall” exhibits for the Museum of Broadway, that trace the history of the Broadway stage from 1732 to 2021, and spotlight more than 500 productions and 100 artists. He has worked in various capacities on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally, and created and directed Unsung Carolyn Leigh for Lincoln...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 118
