Ceara Conway is an Irish contemporary vocalist and visual artist, and this episode features music from her album CAOIN as well as excerpts from some of her other projects. I find Ceara’s curiosity about so many important topics around arts and culture really inspiring and this conversation circled around to her explorations of different languages and cultures as well as her rootedness as an Irish speaker. The podcast, video and transcript are linked here.

EmmoLei Sankofa is a an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work spans music, visual media, and fine art. In this episode we focused on her original music for Hulu's The Other Black Girl, the film score for Three Ways and her project Geometry, and we talked about her unique use of morse code in her compositions, and the benefits of limitations in creative work, and so much more! The podcast and video versions of this interview along with the transcript are all linked here.

This week’s episode is with the award-winning GRAMMY-nominated harpist and composer Kirsten Agresta Copely. Kirsten has had a really diverse career, starting with rigorous classical training as a young child, an illustrious career as an internationally touring solo harpist, and then a contrasting career performing with pop and rap icons such as Beyonce, JayZ, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and so many more famous artists, lots of studio work, and as a composer and arranger. In this wide-ranging conversation we talked about dealing with grief, ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, and many insights from Kirsten’s unique path through the music industry, including as an educator and mentor. This episode features a lot of her beautiful and soothing music.

This week’s episode is a special double episode with the jazz piano duo of Peter Hum and Steve Boudreau, who have recently released their album Nonlinear Blues. Peter and Steve performed three of their original tunes for this podcast and we’ve also included some of their other compositions from their respective discographies, and in terms of the conversation, it was a wide-ranging dialogue with interesting insights from their contrasting careers, Peter primarily as a music and food journalist, and Steve as an educator and performer across many different styles. We got into restaurant culture, how to memorize music, and the importance of encouraging creativity and individuality. At it's core, this is an episode very much about the importance of supporting and encouraging each other.

Violinist Jeremy Mastrangelo is a wonderful colleague of mine in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He’s known in our greenroom as a great storyteller, onstage as an excellent musician, and having heard him give brilliant masterclasses I can attest to his excellence as an educator as well. This episode is infused with Jeremy’s wit and wisdom as well as a couple of beautiful violin performances. We talk about violin shopping in Cremona, teenage life at Interlochen Academy, the difficulties and joys of a career as an orchestral musician, family, and the benefits of deepening our understanding of the composers we play. You will find that one of the wonderful stories in this episode, reveals an unexpected discovery!

In-depth interview with accordion virtuoso Michael Bridge; the podcast and video versions feature a lot of great music and the transcript is linked here as well. In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael spoke to me about how best to engage with audiences, the subtleties intrinsic to programming digital accordion sounds, and how to forge lasting relationships. Michael was awarded his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Toronto, and is a prize-winning soloist and chamber musician who tours worldwide. This is also an episode which features many novel sounds you won’t have heard before from an accordion, and also music with the groups Bridge and Wolak and the Ladom Ensemble.

Today’s guest is the Emmy-winning songwriter, singer, and producer Kat Raio Rende. Together with her husband JP Rende she has a successful songwriting and production company Earworm Music company. This episode is a fascinating window into the world of music for children’s tv shows, jingles, working with celebrities, and music production in general. Kat’s infectious delight in music, composition, and singing as well as her personal story and perspectives as a parent will fascinate listeners everywhere.

Margaret Maria is a wonderful cellist who’s a unique composer. Her compositions are all written by layering cello lines in some gorgeous and emotive aural tapestries. Her personal story is interesting and moving: she started the cello as a teenager, was admitted to the University of Toronto at age 16 without graduating from high school, and was then admitted to the prestigious Curtis Institute. She went on to have a successful career as a member of the Vancouver Symphony and then Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, which is how I came to know her. She gave up her job with the NAC after a few years, and embarked on a new life as a composer, meanwhile continuing to teach. Some of her work as an educator has been with the Orkidstra program, which she has been involved with since it’s inception in 2007. It’s a social development program that serves over 650 youth from over 62 linguistic and cultural backgrounds by building community through free music programs. This episode has a lot of powerful music, and inspiring insights on musical education and expression.

In this episode, you get to hear the brilliant and engaging keyboard player and composer Kait Dunton in both conversation and a mini theory workshop on her hit tune This One’s For You! In this wide-ranging conversation, we talked about her early days with Snarky Puppy, recording the soundtrack to A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, her love of vintage keyboards and the challenges they present, and her unique approach to teaching which has been influenced by her mentor John D’earth. Kait has gained a huge following on social media like Instagram and TikTok, so I was curious to get her perspectives on connecting with her fans, and dealing with necessary boundaries. Kait’s new album Keyboards features the sounds of the 1970s and we got into some of her influences and her personal journey to becoming a full-time performer.

The Canadian performer and composer Jack Hui Litster has developed a satisfying creative career after some interesting twists and turns. In this episode, you’ll learn about his experiences as a jazz drummer, his pivot into international development, and his path back to composing, producing and recording music in different styles. There is a lot of music featured in the episode as well; the podcast, video and transcript are all linked here.

Jah’Mila: Rooted in Reggae and Connecting with New Audiences

Linked here are the podcast, video and transcript for this in-depth interview with the Reggae artist Jah’Mila which also features tracks from her album Roots Girl.

Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are composers with Bleeding Fingers Music and together wrote with Hans Zimmer the acclaimed score to the incredible tv series Prehistoric Planet. I was so impressed by this series, and the first part of this episode digs into the unique instruments that were created for this powerful score, and the other part of this episode is a personal and in-depth conversation with Kara and Anže about their lives. They shared their individual stories about challenges, mentors, and have great advice for younger composers. You can listen to the podcast, watch the video, read the transcript and check out the bonus tracks, all linked here.

I had a lot of fun stitching together some of the many highlights from this Season 3 so far, in a 10 minute compilation in which I've included clips from every full episode in 2023 so far! It’s time for my summer break, but the podcast will be back September 2nd with a special episode with two composers who are life partners and also work together with Hans Zimmer at Bleeding Fingers Music. Anže Rozman and Kara Talve will inspire you with both the music of Prehistoric Planet and their personal stories, insights and compositions.

 Bukhu Ganberged is an incredible Mongolian-Australian musician who is a master of both the Morin Khuur, the Horsehead fiddle,  and Khuumii, the Mongolian Overtone Throat Singing. This episode features a lot of special music, and  Bukhu’s personal story of growing up in Mongolia and emigrating to Australia. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video with Closed Captions, a transcript, and a podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Interview featuring the Venezuelan composer Sandro Morales-Santoro, who composes for film, television and new media, based in L.A. In this episode you’ll hear lots of music and our in-depth conversation during which Sandro tells the inspiring story of how he learned to read and write music while attending law school in Venezuela, then was accepted into the Berklee college of music, and was awarded their achievement scholarship, then how moved to L.A. and created community both professionally and personally. Sandro is on the Executive committee for the Composers’ Diversity Collective and we talked about biases in the industry and increasing exposure for composers from diverse backgrounds.

Kavisha Mazzella is a renowned Australian songwriter and singer who has won both an ARIA award and an Australia Day Honor. We talked about her work through the lenses of social justice, community building, and the search for deeper meaning and connection. This is a personal, in-depth conversation with lots of beautiful singing in both Italian and English.

Podcast and Video interview with lyra player Kelly Thoma. This episode has beautiful music and a wide-ranging conversation including Kelly’s personal story of becoming a musician after training as a dancer, Cretan culture, the influence of Ross Daly and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop which he founded in 1982. Kelly speaks so eloquently about her love of music and collaboration, I hope you will be inspired by Kelly’s perspectives and music!

It’s hard to sum up how important Verna Gillis has been for music lovers. First of all, she is an ethnomusicologist who recorded traditional music around the world .This episode will bring you along on some of these journeys. 25 of these recordings are available through Smithsonian Folkways and Lyrichord, and I’m very grateful to Smithsonian Folkways for allowing us to use some of these tracks for this specific episode. In 1979 Verna opened Soundscape, the first multi-cultural performance space in New York City, which put on hundreds of performances over 5 years. You’ll also hear Verna reminisce about her work on career development with phenomenal international musicians including Youssou N’dour from Senegal, Salif Keita from Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. As a producer, Verna was twice nominated for a GRAMMY award for two of the albums she produced with Roswell Rudd. She’s also a writer and spoken word performer. We’ve included in this episode one of her recent spoken word videos with British musician Jennifer Maidman. There’s so much more in this episode, and I hope a wide audience will be inspired by Verna Gillis’ reflections on her remarkable life in music.

I’m joined by my colleague in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, violinist Frédéric Moisan. Originally from the Breton town of Saint-Brieuc in France, he immigrated to Finland and then Canada. In this wide-ranging conversation we talked about wind-surfing,family, languages, different cultures’ approaches to education, the challenges of playing the violin, the original version of the Sibelius violin concerto (which was the subject of Fred’s Doctoral Dissertation), life balance, and fly fishing. We talked about the differences between being a freelancer to being an orchestra member; Fred has great advice for colleagues and students preparing auditions, and you can find these various topics in the timestamps.

Daniel Ramjattan is a phenomenal classical guitarist and this episode features some of his performances as well as many valuable insights in his work as a performance coach and educator,  and from his reflections on the significant challenges he has overcome in his life and career. Like all my episodes, this is available on your favourite podcast player, a video on YouTube, and the transcript.