Parlando: Musical Matters with Vivien Schweitzer

The composer, pianist and climate activist Gabriela Lena Frank talks about the environmental damage caused by the music industry, how her significant hearing loss has impacted her career,  the issue of cultural appropriation, and how the music industry's "emphasis on perfection leads to a perfect imperfection of soul." Gabriela on her hearing loss: “I don't know what it's like to have normal hearing. And there are advantages. I like working in silence. To me, not being able to turn your ears off is like not being able to close your eyes. Imagine if you had sight on all the time. It's kind of horrifying to me.”  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra composer-in-residence Tarik O'Regan and  executive director Courtney Beck discuss the "fetishization of new music," Tarik's upcoming opera and Concerto for Oud,  how to properly compensate and commission composers, and "the dirty truth" of why many composers prefer writing for period-instrument orchestras.   "I think with this fetishization of new music, we've got into this rather needy thing. When you look at a lot of marketing around contemporary music, a lot of it is based around how much you're going to like it. And I think that's a very dangerous way to go because inevitably some people don't like it." 

Two passionate educators - Dr. Kevin Johnson, instructional supervisor at Education Through Music, and Anne Fitzgibbon, founder and executive director of the Harmony Program - discuss the value of music instruction, the disruptions of the pandemic, and the many social and academic benefits that kids reap from a solid music education. 

"I felt it was too easy to just post a black square on Instagram."  The violinist Augustin Hadelich talks about his quarantine videos of Black composers, racism in the classical music world, the Bach album he recorded for Warner Classics during lockdown, the surprising benefits to being his own accompanist,  why he keeps his politics private, and the hostility he encounters when programming contemporary music. http://augustinhadelich.com/

The violinist, composer and teacher Daniel Bernard Roumain  discusses his work as a social justice activist, his Trump-loving older sister, how the opera and classical music world need to change, the importance of open dialogue, and some of his recent and upcoming musical projects. https://www.danielroumain.com/