I believe that everything that I do, the through line is storytelling. So whether I'm using words or whether I'm using music, whether I'm creating the music or interpreting the music, I believe that we should be taking on a journey and we should. be experiencing a mood or a series of moods or something that is going to speak to us, the listener. And obviously it has to speak to me before I can try to translate that to the
listener. Yeah, I think that that is definitely the through line is just I want to express ideas or tell a story in some way. This season finale episode of The Pianopod will move you and leave a lasting impact throughout the summer. I had a pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Maria Thompson Corley, a Juilliard -trained pianist, composer, novelist, poet, and educator whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of classical music.
In collaboration with Juneteenth LP and Celebration of Juneteenth, this powerful conversation explored creativity across disciplines and what true inclusion really means. Not just representation on paper, but lasting. joyful presence in the classical music world. I mean, the true inclusion would be when we're not thinking about this anymore. And it's not that we're not thinking about it anymore because we don't want to think about it or we're ignoring it. There's no willful ignorance
involved or blissful ignorance. It's just we don't have to think about it anymore because, I mean, it's just like the obvious thing that should have happened in the first place is happening. Now, will that happen? You know? I mean, we can hope we get to the point where, like I said, we're not thinking about it anymore. And everybody's like, that's equity. And diversity is because there are a diversity of people. And you say there's no one who inherently doesn't belong.
So that's where the diversity comes in. When you have these disproportionate things and inclusion, of course, is part of that. Don't miss this grand season finale episode, The Fullness of Being. maria thompson corley on art inclusion and creative legacy tonight tuesday june 17th at 8 p .m eastern time on our youtube channel the audio episode will also be available on your favorite podcast platforms see you tonight