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How has the classical music industry approached representation and how has the new music community forged new paths to embrace diverse musics? On tonight's episode of Obbligato on APEX Express, Isabel Li is joined by violinist Shalini Vijayan, who discusses her vibrant career and reflects upon the ways contemporary classical music can build community.  Violinist Shalini Vijayan, deemed “a vibrant violinist” by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times is an established performer and collaborator on both coasts. Always an advocate for modern music, Shalini was a founding member and Principal Second Violin of Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble, having recorded several albums with them including 2001 Grammy nominee, Absolution. Shalini was also a founding member of the Lyris Quartet, one of Los Angeles' most beloved chamber ensembles. With Lyris, she has performed regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Green Umbrella series, for Jacaranda Music and helped to found the Hear Now Music Festival in Venice, California, a festival dedicated to the music of living composers in Los Angeles.  Shalini performed for over a decade with Southwest Chamber Music and can be heard on their Grammy nominated Complete Chamber Works of Carlos Chávez, Vol. 3. She has been a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Chinary Ung's Spiral XII and Tan Dun's Water Passion, including performances at the Ravinia Festival. As a chamber musician, Shalini has collaborated with such luminaries as Billy Childs, Chinary Ung, Gabriela Ortiz, and Wadada Leo Smith on whose Ten Freedom Summers she was a soloist. Shalini joined acclaimed LA ensemble, Brightwork New Music in 2019 and also serves as the curator for Brightwork's Tuesdays@Monkspace series, a home for contemporary music and performance in Los Angeles. As a teacher, she has been on the faculty of the Nirmita Composers Workshop in both Siem Reap and Bangkok and coaches composition students through the Impulse New Music Festival.  Shalini received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from Manhattan School of Music as a student of Lucie Robert and Ariana Bronne. As a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, Shalini served as concertmaster for Michael Tilson Thomas, John Adams, Reinbert de Leeuw and Oliver Knussen. She was also concertmaster for the world premiere performances and recording of Steven Mackey's Tuck and Roll for RCA records in 2000. Shalini was a member of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra for ten seasons and also served as Principal Second Violin of Opera Pacific. She lives in Los Angeles with her son, husband and two dogs and spends her free time cooking Indian food and exploring the culinary landscape of Southern California.  Check out more of her work at:  https://brightworknewmusic.com/tuesdays-at-monk-space/  https://www.lyrisquartet.com/    Transcript  Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the APEX Express.    00:01:03 Isabel Li  You're listening to Obbligato, which is a segment about the Asian American Pacific Islander community, specifically in classical music.  00:01:11 Isabel Li  I'm your host, Isabel Li, and today joining me is Shalini Vijayan, who is a violinist, established performer, and always an advocate for modern music.  00:01:21 Isabel Li  Shalini is also a founding member of the Lyris Quartet, one of Los Angeles most beloved chamber ensembles. With Lyris, she has performed regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall on the Green Umbrella series for Jacaranda Music, and helped to found the Here and Now Music Festival in Venice, California, a festival dedicated to the music of living composers in Los Angeles. She joined acclaimed LA ensemble Brightwork New Music in 2019, and also serves as the curator for Brightwork's Tuesdays at Monk Space series. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her son, husband and two dogs, and spends her free time cooking Indian food and exploring the culinary landscape of Southern California.  00:02:04 Isabel Li  Well, Shalini, thank you so much for joining me in this conversation today.  00:02:09 Shalini Vijayan  I'm so happy to be with you.  00:02:11 Isabel Li  Awesome. I'd like to just get to know you and your story. How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  00:02:18 Shalini Vijayan  I use the pronouns she, her, and I. Um, I identify as South Asian. I grew up in an Indian family. My parents immigrated to the US in the sixties to teach at medical school. And I grew up with a great deal of Indian culture. And I've spent a lot of time going back and forth to India from the time that I was very young. You know, it's interesting because I feel like in LA, where I live and work specifically, there is so much overlap between all of our different musical communities. You know, I went to school in New York, and I feel like there I was much more, I'm very connected to the new music community in New York and felt really kind of entrenched in that at the time I was there. And after coming to LA, I realized that, um, there are a lot of musicians doing so many different things. That's one of the things I love about Los Angeles, actually. And, you know, I'm definitely very, very rooted in the new music community in LA. And that was where I made my first sort of connections when I first moved to Los Angeles. But I also, you know, worked in an orchestra when I first came to LA. I played in the Pacific Symphony for almost ten seasons, and so I became a part of that community as well. And you know, as the years went on, I also became much more involved in the studio music community of LA studio musicians playing on movie scores, playing on television shows, records, what have you, Awards shows, all sorts of things. And these are all very distinct communities in LA in music. But I see a ton of overlap between all of them. There are so many incredibly versatile musicians in Los Angeles that people are able to really very easily move from one of these groups to the other and, you know, with a great deal of success. And I feel like it gives us so much variety in our lives as musicians in LA, you don't feel like you're ever just in one lane. You can really occupy all these different kinds of spaces.  00:04:23 Isabel Li  Right, yeah. So you're classically trained, from what I know, and you describe yourself as an advocate for modern music. So why modern music?  00:04:33 Shalini Vijayan  That's a great question. I have have had to answer this question quite a bit over the years, especially to non-musicians. And it's always an interesting story for me. You know, as a violinist in particular, you know, we have such a storied history of repertoire and pedagogy, and there is such an incredible, um, library of music that we have access to from the very standard classical repertoire. And there is a great deal to be learned about the instrument and about music from playing all that repertoire. I think at some point when I was in high school, I started to become interested in more modern music. And actually I grew up in Davis in Northern California.   My parents both taught at the university there, at the medical school and in Sacramento. Nearby there was a festival of modern American music that I think still goes on to this day at Cal State University, Sacramento. And it was really a great festival. And at that time, you know, they would bring professional artists, they'd have composers, they'd have commissions, all sorts of things. But at the time that I was like in high school, they also had a junior division to the festival, and I was asked to play a couple pieces in the Festival of, um, Modern Works, and I can't remember at this time what the pieces were, but it left such a huge impression on me. And I think what I really took away from that experience as a kid is that in my studies as a violinist, I was always being asked to sort of live up to this history and this legacy of violin music and violin playing in Western classical music. And it's a very high bar. And it's, um, you know, of course, there's so much great stuff there. But there was something so freeing about playing this music that had either never been played or not been recorded. So there was nothing to reference in terms of listening to a recording, um, and listening to how you, you know, quote, should be playing it that it made me feel, uh, you know, all this, this freedom to really interpret the music, how I felt, rather than feeling like I had to live up to a standard that had been set for me, you know, decades or centuries before. And I think that really something really clicked for me with that, that I wanted to have that kind of freedom when I, when I was playing. And so from there on out, um, you know, when I went to college and I really sought out opportunities in new music as much as I could.  00:07:00 Isabel Li  So you were first exposed to new music when you were in high school. Did that influence your decision to become a musician at all? Or were you already set on becoming a musician and that was just part of what shaped your works over the years.  00:07:15 Shalini Vijayan  I think by that time, I had already decided that I wanted to be a musician. I mean, as you know, so many of us as musicians and I think particularly string players, we decide so young because we start our instruments at such a young age and we start studying so early. Um, that I think by that time I, I had decided I wanted to do music, but this sort of opened another door for me that made me realize that it wasn't just one path in music necessarily. I think it's very easy as a, as a kid and as a violinist to think you admire these great soloists that you see and, you know, people like Perlman and, you know, Isaac Stern, who were the stars of the time when I was growing up. But, you know, you get to be in high school and you realize that hasn't happened yet. It's probably not going to happen. And so, you know, what's then then what's your path forward? How do you find a life in music if you're not going to be one of these stars? And I think, you know, new music really opened up that opportunity for me. And yeah, made me look at things a little differently for sure.  00:08:18 Isabel Li  And currently you're in the contemporary classical music ensemble, Brightwork newmusic, and you curate the ensemble's concert series, Tuesdays @ Monk Space. So how do you go about curating concerts with music by contemporary or living composers? What do you look for?  00:08:33 Shalini Vijayan  Well, right now I'm really focused on trying to represent our new music community in LA at Monk Space, which is such, you know, we have such a diverse community of musicians, not just in the makeup of who the people are making the music or writing the music, but also in just the styles of music. And so I think I try to really represent a very diverse set of aesthetics in our season. Um, you know, everything from, you know, last season we had, uh, Niloufar Shiri, who is a traditional Persian kamancheh player, but she also she can play very in a very traditional way, but she also plays with a jazz pianist. And, you know, it does all this very improvisatory stuff. And, you know, then we would have other programs where everything is very much written out and very through, composed and you know, it's been a very wide variety. And, you know, when I try to build the season, I try to make sure that it's really balanced in terms of, you know, the different types of things you'll be hearing because not every audience member is going to want to engage with every type of music. Um, or, you know, if we if we really stuck to one style and it was just in that language for the whole season, then I feel like we would, you know, alienate potential audience members. But with this, I feel like if we can bring people in for one concert and they're really into it, then hopefully they'll come to something else that is new and different for them and be exposed to something that they may really get into after that. So yeah, I think diversity and variety is really where I try to start from.  00:10:09 Isabel Li  How does that engage the community? Have you observed audience reception to this type of new music when there are composers from all different types of backgrounds?  00:10:20 Shalini Vijayan  Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that each composer and each artist brings their own community into the space, which and so that's another. I feel like another strong reason why I try to make things very different from concert to concert. And, you know, we have some younger players who come in and bring in, you know, everyone from college students to, you know, their friends and family. And then, you know, really established composers. Like this season we have Bill Roper, who is kind of a legend in the music community in LA. Mult instrumentalist and composer who has been around for decades. And, you know, I think people will come out just because they want to see him and he's such a draw. And, um, you know, I, I also would love to be able to incorporate more world music into the series. Like I said, we did do Niloufar concert, which I felt like I really hoped would like engage with the Persian community in LA as well. And a couple seasons ago we had Rajna Swaminathan, who is, I just think, an incredible artist. Um, she plays mridangam, which is a South Indian percussion instrument, but she also writes for Western instruments, uh, and herself. And we had her and a pianist and then Ganavya, who's a vocalist who's amazing. And, you know, Ganavya had her own following. So we had and Rajna has her own following. So we had a whole full audience that night of people who I had never seen in the space before. And that was for me. That's a success because we're bringing in new friends and new engagement. And, um, I was really excited about that. When I'm able to make those kinds of connections with new people, then that feels like a success to me.  00:12:05 Isabel Li  Certainly.  00:12:06 Isabel Li  Let's hear one of Shalini's performances. This is an excerpt from the 10th of William Kraft's “Encounters”, a duologue for violin and marimba, performed here by Shalini Vijayan with Southwest Chamber Music.  00:12:20 [MUSIC – Encounters X: Duologue for Violin & Marimba]  00:17:18 Isabel Li  An excerpt from William Kraft's Encounters, the 10th of which is called Duologue for Violin and Marimba, that was performed by Shalini Vijayan, the violinist, with Southwest Chamber Music.  00:17:31 Isabel Li  And Shalini is here with me in conversation today. We've been discussing contemporary music and her involvement in the new music scene, specifically in Los Angeles.  00:17:40 Isabel Li  Music is all about community, drawing people together. So going back to how you describe yourself as an advocate for modern music, what are other ways that you have advocated for modern music besides curating the concert series?  00:17:53 Shalini Vijayan  Well, over the years, um, you know, I feel like in all the ensembles I've been in, there's been a real focus on commissioning composers and on performing works that have not been, uh, either performed or recorded before. And I feel like the only way to really get the music out there is to, obviously, is to play it and hopefully to be able to record it. We've worked especially with the lyrics quartet. We've worked with so many young composers in LA either just strictly, you know, contemporary classical composers or even film composers who, um, have works that they'd like to have recorded. And, you know, it's been great to see a lot of those people go on to really amazing things and to be a part of their journey, uh, and to help support them. And, uh, the other thing that the quartet has been heavily involved in and now Bright Work Ensemble has been involved in as well, is the Here Now music festival, which has been going on in LA for well over a decade now. We were involved in the first, um, seasons of that festival. We've been one of the resident ensembles since the very beginning, and that festival is dedicated to the music of LA and Southern California composers. And, um, we have a call for scores every year that we, the four of us in the quartet, are part of the panel that reviews all the scores, along with a lot of our other colleagues, um, who are involved with the festival, and Hugh Levick, who is the artistic director of the festival and has we've worked side by side with him on this for a very long time. And that's also been a fantastic avenue for, um, meeting new composers, hearing new works, having them performed. And the thing I always say about that festival every time it comes around, usually in the spring we have at least three concerts. It's this incredible coming together of the new music community in Southern California, where all these great composers and all these amazing players come together and play these series of concerts, because there's such a vast number of pieces that end up getting programmed. They can't rely on just like one group or one or two groups to play them. So it really pulls in a lot of players from all over town. And I don't know, it always just feels like a really fun time, a fun weekend for all of us to see each other and connect. And, um, and again, just build our community to be even stronger.  00:20:20 Isabel Li  That's really cool. How do you ignite interest in new music? Because this is a genre that I think is slightly underrepresented or just underrepresented in general in both the classical music community and the music industry as a whole.  00:20:35 Shalini Vijayan  That's a great question, and I think it's a really important question for our whole industry and community. How do you engage people in new music and get them into a concert? Um, you know, I think one of the biggest hurdles for classical music in general, I will say, um, when I talk to people about why they don't want to come to a concert or why they don't want to, you know, let's say, go see the LA Phil or, you know, wherever, whatever city they're in, the major cultural music institution. I think there is a misconception generally that, oh, it's, you know, I have to be dressed a certain way or I it's going to be really stuffy. And, um, I, you know, I don't know what to wear or I don't know how I'm supposed to dress or how I'm supposed to act when I'm in the concert. Am I going to clap at the wrong time? You know, is it going to be really long? And, you know, and I and I get it, you know, I mean, I understand why that would be uncomfortable for a lot of people.   And it's not, um, it's something that necessarily everyone has grown up with or that it's been a part of their life. So I think it's really up to us, as you know, when we're on the side of programming concerts or putting together festivals or whatever, um, that we make things more accessible in terms of, um, concert length and interaction with audience. And, um, you know, I think it's I know I've been told so many times and I really think it's important that I think audiences love it when performers talk to them, when they talk about the music and, and set things up for a listener. I think that puts a kind of context on things that makes it so much easier for perhaps a new audience member, someone who's never come to a concert before to feel at ease and feel like, okay, I know what I'm getting into.   One of our, actually our former executive director at Brightwork, Sarah Wass, who was fantastic, and I was very happy to work with when I was just starting out programming, Monk Space had the idea of putting on the program the running time of the pieces, and I think even that is just something that, like, can prepare people for what they're getting into when they're about to listen to something new. And in terms of the music itself, I think that if someone, especially a younger person, doesn't feel like they have any connection to Beethoven or Brahms or Mozart, they might actually feel more connected to someone who is their age or a little older.   Someone who has had similar life experiences to them, or grown up in the same era as them, rather than someone who grew up, you know, in the seventeen hundreds. You know, there can be more of a real connection there, and that that person is writing this music and reflection of their life and their experiences. And, um, you know, again, I think that kind of context is important for a listener. And yeah. And then just lastly, I would say also, I feel like our space at Monk space is very inviting. It's very low key. It's, um, you know, it's casual, it's comfortable. Role. Um, we have, you know, snacks and a bar and, you know, everyone is very relaxed at intermission and has a good time. And I mean, for me, every time we host one of those concerts, I feel like I'm hosting a little party, you know? That's what it feels like for me. And that's what I want it to feel like for the audience as well.  00:23:52 Isabel Li  That brings up a really good point in that new music can make classical music or a new classical music, contemporary music, more accessible to different audiences. And certainly I've definitely heard the complaint from people over the years about classical music being a little too uptight. Would you say that these are two different genres?  00:24:11 Shalini Vijayan  I think that there is overlap, and I think, you know, for an ensemble like ours, like Brightwork, we have chosen to make our focus new music. So that's our thing. That's what we do. Um, and, uh, all of our concerts and our programming reflect that. Very rarely do we do anything that's not considered a contemporary piece. Um, but, you know, if you do look at some of our major institutions, like I think the LA Phil and I think the San Francisco Symphony, um, earlier, you know, like in the nineties under MTT, really started to pave the way for incorporating contemporary music into a standard classical format. And, you know, I think that's been very important. And I think it's really changed the way that orchestras have programmed across the country. And there has been such a nurturing of contemporary music in larger spaces. Now that I think that kind of overlap has started to happen much more frequently. I think that in more conservative settings, sometimes there's pushback against that. And even even, you know, in some of the places that I play, you know, sometimes with with the lyrics quartet, um, we are asked to just purely program standard classical repertoire, and we will occasionally throw in a little short piece, you know, just to try and put something in there, you know, something that's very accessible. Um, and, uh, you know that we know the audience will like so that we can help them, you know, kind of get over that fear of connecting to a newer piece. And I, I think in some ways, that's where the path forward lies, is that we have to integrate those things, you know, in order to keep kind of the old traditions of classical music alive. I think we have to keep the newer tradition alive as well, and find a way to put them in the same space.  00:26:00 Isabel Li  I certainly agree with that.  00:26:01 Isabel Li  Let's hear more of Shalini's work in new music. This is a performance of the first movement of Atlas Pumas by Gabriela Ortiz. Violinist Shalini Vijayan is joined by percussionist Lynn Vartan.  00:26:18 [MUSIC – Atlas Pumas, mvt 1 by Gabriela Ortiz]  00:29:21 Isabel Li  The first movement of Gabriela Ortiz's Atlas Pumas played here by violinist Shalini Vijian, and Lynn Vartan plays the marimba.  00:29:30 Isabel Li  And Shalini is actually joining us here for a conversation about new music, performances, identity, and representation.  00:29:38 Isabel Li  Many Asian American Pacific Islander artists in music have varying relationships between their art and their identity. I was wondering, to what extent do you feel that perhaps your South Asian identity intersects or influences the work that you do with music?  00:29:54 Shalini Vijayan  Growing up, um, you know, I grew up in a in a university town in Northern California and, you know, a lot of highly educated and, you know, kids of professors and, you know, but still not the most terribly diverse place. And then going into classical music. And this was, you know, in the early nineties when I went to college, um, it still was not a particularly it was very much not a diverse place at all. And, um, there certainly were a lot of Asian students at, um, Manhattan School of Music where I did my my studies.   But I would say it was a solid decade before I was ever in any sort of classical music situation where there was another South Asian musician. I very, very rarely met any South Asian musicians, and it wasn't until I went to the New World Symphony in the early late nineties, early two thousand, and I was a musician there. I was a fellow in that program there for three years that I walked into the first rehearsal, and there were three other South Asian, I think, of Indian descent musicians in the orchestra, and I was absolutely blown away because I literally had not, um, other than here and there at some festivals, I had not met any other South Asian classical musicians.   So it was really like that was the hallmark moment for me. It was a really big deal. And coming with my family, coming from India, you know, there is such a strong tradition of Indian classical music, of Carnatic music and Hindustani music. And, um, it's such a long, long tradition. And, you know, the people who have studied it and lived with it are, you know, they study it their whole lives to be proficient in it. And it's such an incredible, incredible art form and something that I admire so much. And I did as a kid. Take a few lessons here and there. I took some Carnatic singing lessons, um, and a little bit of tabla lessons when I was very young. Um, but I think somewhere in middle school or high school, I kind of realized that it was, for me at least, I wasn't, um, able to put enough time into both because both of them, you know, playing the violin in a Western classical style and then studying Indian classical music require a tremendous amount of effort and a tremendous amount of study. And I at that point chose to go with Western classical music, because that's what I'd been doing since I was five years old. But there has always kind of been this longing for me to be more connected to Indian classical music. Um, I'll go back again to Rajna. When I presented Rajna Swaminathan on Monk Space a couple of years ago, it was a really meaningful thing for me, because that's kind of what I'd always wanted to see was a joining together of that tradition, the Indian tradition with the Western tradition. And, um, I'm so happy that I'm starting to see that more and more with a lot of the artists that are coming up now. But at the time when I was young, it just it felt almost insurmountable that to to find a way to bring the two together. And, um, I remember very clearly as a kid listening to this, um, there was an album that Philip Glass did with Ravi Shankar, and I thought that was so cool at the time. And I used to listen to it over and over again because I just again, I was so amazed that these things could come together and in a, in a kind of successful way. Um, but yeah, there is, you know, there there's a part of me that would still love to go back and explore that more that, that side of it. Um, and but I will say also, I'm very happy now to see a lot more South Asian faces when I, you know, go to concerts on stage and in the audience. And, you know, a lot of composers that I've worked with now, um, of South Asian descent, it's been, you know, I've worked with Reena Esmail and Anuj Bhutani and Rajna and, um, there's so many more, and I'm so glad to see how they're all incorporating their connection to their culture to, to this, you know, Western kind of format of classical music. And they're all doing it in different ways. And it's it's really amazing.  00:34:22 Isabel Li  That's fantastic.  00:34:24 Isabel Li  I was wondering if you could maybe describe what this merging or combination of different styles entails. Do you think this makes it more accessible to audiences of two different cultures?  00:34:36 Shalini Vijayan  For me, one example, before I started running the series at Tuesdays at Monk Space, Aron Kallay, who is our Bright Work artistic director, had asked me to come and do a solo show on Monk Space, which I did in November of 2019.  00:34:52 Shalini Vijayan  And at the time, I wanted to commission a piece that did exactly that, that, that, um, involved some sort of Indian classical instrument or kind of the language of Indian classical music. And so I actually did reach out to Reena Esmail, and she wrote me a very cool piece called blaze that was for tabla and violin. Um, and I really had so much fun doing that. And Reena, Reena really has a very fluid way of writing for the violin, which she actually was a violinist, too. So she's she's really good at doing that. But being able to write for any melodic instrument or for the voice, which she does quite a bit as well, and incorporating sort of the tonality of Indian classical music, which obviously has its own scales and, um, has its own harmonic, harmonic world that is different from the Western world, um, but finds a way to translate that into the written note notation that we require as, uh, Western classical musicians. And, you know, I think that's the biggest gap to bridge, is that in Indian classical music, nothing is notated. Everything is handed down in an oral tradition, um, over the generations. And for us, everything is notated. And in Indian classical music, you know, there's much more improvisation. And now, of course, with modern classical music, there now is a lot more improvisation involved. But in our old standard tradition, obviously there isn't. And in the way that we're trained, mostly we're not trained to be improvisers. And um, so it's it was great. She has a great way of writing so that it kind of sounds like things are being tossed off and sounding sounds like they're being improvised, but they are actually fully notated, um, which I really appreciated.  00:36:50 Isabel Li  Yeah.  00:36:51 Isabel Li  So your career has spanned orchestras, recording ensembles, chamber music. Having had so much experience in these types of performance, what does representation in classical music mean to you?  00:37:04 Shalini Vijayan  Well, representation is is very important because we're talking about a tradition that was built on white men from centuries ago, European white men. And and it's again, it's an incredible tradition and there's so much great repertoire. But I'm going to circle back to what you were saying or what you asked me about connecting to audiences and, you know, connecting to audiences with new music. It's I think people like to see themselves reflected in the art that they choose. They choose to consume. And, you know, whether that's movies or television or music, I think that's how you connect with your audience is by being a bit of a mirror.  I think the only way that we can really continue to connect with a diverse audience is by having that type of diverse representation on our stages and on our recordings. And again, also not just the people, but the types of music, too. You know, musical tastes run wide, genres run wide as well. And it's I think It's good for all of us to be exposed to a lot of different kinds of music, to figure out what we connect with the most. And, um, yeah, the only way we can do that is by really, you know, opening our arms to a, a much wider variety of styles of music. And so I, you know, I mentioned improvisation, improvisation earlier. And I think that is something that's now starting to happen so much more in modern classical music. And, you know, I think there's something about the energy that a player has when they're improvising that is maybe not something that an audience member could quantify verbally, but there's a looseness and a freedom there that I think, you know, for a lot of audience members, they probably really can connect to. And, you know, that's a lot of why people go and listen to jazz is because there's so much freedom and there's so much improvisation.   I've been very lucky to be able to work with, um, Wadada Leo Smith, who's a trumpet player and composer. I've worked with him for probably almost ten years now. And um, through Wadada, actually, I have learned to become much more comfortable with improvising on stage and not within a jazz language of any kind or any kind of harmonic structure necessarily, but within the language of his music, which is very unique and very open and very free and, um, but also has a really strong core in its connection to history. And, um, you know, he's written a lot of amazing works about the civil rights movement and about a lot of, you know, important moments in history for our country. And, um, that's been a real learning experience for me to connect with him in that, in that way and learn from him and learn to be more comfortable with improvisation. Because I think growing up, improvisation for me always meant jazz, and that was not a language I was comfortable in. And um, or even, you know, jazz or rock music or folk music or whatever, you know, it was just not something that came naturally to me as a kid to, I mean, I listened to all of it. I listened to everything when I was a kid, but I never played in any of those styles. And I think the older you get, the scarier it gets to start branching out in those ways. But, um, I think, uh, that's been a an incredible, like, new branch of my life in the last decade has been working with Wadada.  [MUSIC – “Dred Scott, 1857,” from Ten Freedom Summers, by Wadada Leo Smith]  00:42:23 Isabel Li  An excerpt of Wadada Leo Smith's music to give you a sense of the jazz influences in these types of contemporary new music pieces that also touch on pieces of history. This was an excerpt from his album, Ten Freedom Summers, which also consists of compositions based on pieces of American history. For example, what we just heard was from a piece called Dred Scott, 1857.  00:42:49 Isabel Li  Now that I realize that we've been having a conversation about new music, I realize that, hmm, when does new music really start? So if you take a look at maybe music history, when does new music really become new music?  00:43:07 Shalini Vijayan  I guess it depends on who you ask, probably. Um, it's it's pretty recent. You know, it has to be really legitimately pretty new. And, um, again, you know, if you ask an audience member, um, and I think of some of my friends or family who are maybe who are not musicians who come to concerts, and I'm always so interested in talking to them and hearing their opinions about things. Um, you know, they will listen to Bartok and say, oh, that sounds like new music to me. But, you know, Bartok, Bartok passed away a long time ago, and it's, you know, and for me, that's more like canon now. You know, that's like now for me, part of the the standard repertoire. But there was a time when Bartok was new music. And I think for, you know, maybe the listeners who are more comfortable with the very diatonic, you know, world of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, then something like Bartok really does sound so modern for me. Boy, maybe around the time that minimalism started, you know, John Adams and Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, all of that for me feels like maybe that's the older like the The edge of new music now even though that was that would be the eighties, probably seventies 80s, you know, but that we're talking about like, you know, fifty years ago. So yeah, I mean, it's not that new, but those are all still living composers. So maybe, maybe that's part of what it is for me is that it's the composers of our era, the composers who are alive, who we can communicate with and ask questions of. And, um, you know, at the very least, if you can't talk to John Adams, you can talk to somebody who has worked directly with him and get their impressions of how something should be played, um, as opposed to composers who have been gone for hundreds of years. And you can't have that level of communication with them. I think that, for me is what new music, new music is about. It's about working with living composers and, um, having that type of interaction.  00:45:15 Isabel Li  Yeah. So would the word or the phrase contemporary classical music, be a little oxymoronic in a sense?  00:45:26 Shalini Vijayan  No, I don't think so. I think it's still part of the same tradition. Um, yeah. I really do think it is, because I think there is a lineage there. Um, for a lot of composers, not all of them, um, that I mean, I think particularly if you're writing for, let's say, an orchestra or a string quartet or sort of one of these very standard classical ensembles. Um, even if you're writing in a very new language and you're writing in a very different way, I think there is still a through line to the canon of classical music. I guess for me, new music and classical music are not mutually exclusive. I think they can be the same. So I don't I don't think they're totally different. I think that there is a lot of a lot of overlap.  00:46:16 Isabel Li  For sure, considering how new music fits into the classical music or the classical music industry as a whole. Have you noticed any sorts of shifts in the classical music industry in the past several decades in regards to diversity, equity, inclusion? And have you just noticed any changes?  00:46:35 Shalini Vijayan  I have noticed some changes. I mean, I think that most organizations in this country are making an effort to be more inclusive in their programming now. And, um, you know, another another South Asian composer who I just think is fantastic is Nina Shekhar. And, um, she has had pieces played by the New York Phil for the last couple seasons. I mean, you know, so on on major, major stages, I feel like now I'm seeing more representation and that is definitely Encouraging and, um, you know, uh, same for Anuj and Rajna and Reena. They've all, you know, had their works done by major ensembles. And, um, I think I think there is definitely movement in that direction, for sure. I think it could always be more.   I think also for women and women composers, women performers, I think that has also always been a struggle to find enough representation of women composers and you know, especially if like as I mentioned before, when you're in a situation where an organization asks you to program a concert, like, let's say, for our quartet and wants much more standard repertoire than it does limit you, you know, how because there isn't much from the older canon. You know, there is. You know, there's Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann and, um, you know, I think in the last five to ten years they've both been played a lot more, which is great. But, you know, I think, uh, there's so many amazing female composers right now that I think are starting to get much more recognition. And I think that just needs to be more, more and more, um, but, uh, you know, that is why, again, like on those programs, sometimes we try to just sneak one modern piece in because it's important for those voices to be heard as well. But yes, I do see some forward movement in that direction with, um, classical programming. And, you know, you just have to hope that the intent is always genuine in those situations. And I think, um, you know, I think that's the most important thing. And giving a platform to those voices is really important.  00:48:59 Isabel Li  How would you go about arts advocacy during this current time when, well, the arts are being defunded and devalued by our current administration and how everything is going on right now?  00:49:10 Shalini Vijayan  Yeah, it's really, really difficult right now. And, um, you know, I think a lot of arts organizations are losing a lot of government funding. Obviously, I know of a couple projects that lost their NEA funding because of DEI, and which is so disheartening. And, um, I think, you know, there's going to be a lot of leaning on private donors to try and, uh, make up that difference or, you know, private foundations to make up the difference in funding, hopefully. And, um, uh, you know, it's yeah, it's scary. It's  a scary time. And I think, you know, even for private funding and, um, private donors, it's, you know, everyone is feeling stressed and feeling concerned about our future right now, just as a country. and there's so much uncertainty. And, um, but I think people who really rely on the arts for all the things that it can provide, you know, an escape and pleasure and, you know, stimulation of a different kind. And especially in a time like this, when you want to be able to get away from maybe what's going on around you, you know, I'm hoping we can find a way to really come together and, um, kind of, you know, rally around each other and find a way to support each other. But, um, I think it is going to be hard for the next few years if we can't find ways to replace that funding that so many people have lost. And I certainly don't think that anyone wants to back away from the progress that's been made with inclusion and representation, you know, just to get funding. So I know we have to be very creative with our path ahead and find a way to, to keep doing what we're doing in this current environment.  00:51:07 Isabel Li  Yeah, on a brighter note, I read about your work with Lyris Quartet earlier this year when you presented a concert with Melodia Mariposa called Altadena Strong with the Lyris Quartet, raising funds for those who have been affected by the LA fires. Can you talk a bit about the power of music? And we're going to end on a stronger note here about the power of music in bringing communities together and accelerating community healing.  00:51:31 Shalini Vijayan  Well, I have to say that concert was really a special one for us. You know, um, so many musicians were affected by the fires in LA. And, you know, I, I've lived in LA for over twenty years now, almost twenty five years and, um, certainly seen my share of wildfires and disasters, but this one hit so much more close to home than any of the other ones have. And, you know, I know at least twenty five people who lost their homes in between the Palisades and Altadena and Altadena in particular.   When I moved to LA, it was a place where a lot of musicians were moving to because you could it was cheaper and you could get a lot of space, and it's beautiful. And, you know, they really built a beautiful community there among all the musicians out there. And it's just heartbreaking, um, to see how many of them have lost everything. And I have to say, Irina Voloshina, who is the woman who runs Melodia Mariposa, and just an amazing violinist and an amazing, wonderful, warm, generous person. You know, she started that series in her driveway during COVID as a way to just keep music going during the pandemic, and it really turned into something so great. And she's, you know, got a whole organization with her now and puts on multiple concerts a year. And when she asked us if we would play that concert for the community in Altadena is, you know, there's no question that we were going to do it. I mean, we absolutely jumped at the chance to support her and support the organization and that community. And people really came out for that concert and were so excited to be there and were so warm and, um, you know, and and she talked to the crowd and really connected with everybody on a very personal level, because she also lost her home in Altadena and, um, you know, it was it was a really meaningful show for all of us. And again, those are the moments where you realize that you can use this art to really connect with people that you may have never met before and show your your love for them, you know, through music, as corny as that may sound, but it's true.  00:53:54 Isabel Li  Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much, Shalini, for sharing your visions, your knowledge with new music and community building with us today. Thank you so much for being on Obbligato.  00:54:07 Shalini Vijayan  Thank you so much for having me, Isabel. It was really a pleasure.  00:54:10 Isabel Li  What a wonderful conversation that was with LA-based violinist Shalini Vijayan. If you go to kpfa.org, you can check out more of her work. I put the links to two of her ensembles, Brightwork New Music and Lyris Quartet up on kpfa.org. And thank you for listening to our conversation here on Obbligato on Apex Express.  00:54:32 Isabel Li  We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important.  00:54:42 Isabel Li  APEX Express is produced by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, and Cheryl Truong. Tonight's show was produced by Isabel Li. Thanks to the team at KPFA for their support. Have a great night.  [OUTRO MUSIC]  The post APEX Express – 11.13.25 – Obbligato with Violinist Shalini Vijayan appeared first on KPFA.

This episode of The Other Side of the Bell, featuring trumpeter Aaron Smith, is brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass.  About Aaron : Aaron Smith is an active freelance trumpet player in Los Angeles, CA. He also writes, arranges, and publishes music through his small business, TrumpetSmith Publishing (ASCAP). In addition, he serves on the Hearing Board for the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 47 and on the Board of Directors for the Recording Musicians Association Los Angeles (RMALA).  Raised in an Army household with musician parents who played jazz and r&b, and later to receive classical conservatory training, Smith thrives on versatility, consistency, and accurate delivery of musical intent. As a trusted freelance musician in Los Angeles, he performs regularly for live orchestral events, musical theatre, films, independent recording projects, streaming, television, and video games.  He has recorded on film/tv projects for celebrated composers including Alan Menken, Bear McCreary, Branford Marsalis, Germaine Franco, Heitor Pereira, Kris Bowers, Rob Simonsen, and Terence Blanchard; on sound recordings for Adrian Younge, Austin Wintory, Charles Gaines, Dr. Dre, Joachim Horsley, John Daversa, and X Ambassadors. He has performed as a sideman in bands on the Academy Awards, Dancing with the Stars, Disney's Encore!, Ellen, the LATE LATE Show, and The Voice. He's also appeared as a sideman onscreen for films including Babylon and Joker: Folie à Deux; and tv commercials for Capital One and Microsoft. He's backed major artists including Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Common, Danny Elfman, Jennifer Holliday, Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson, Labrinth, Lady Gaga, Sigur Rós, Steve Lacy, and more. He has also performed for contemporary/new music ensembles and series including Alarm Will Sound, the Industry's Hopscotch Opera, Jacaranda, Southwest Chamber Music, wasteLAnd, WildUp, Green Umbrella, Monday Evening concert series, and Noon to Midnight Festival. In the L.A. theater world, Smith performs regularly at the Hollywood Pantages, Dolby, La Mirada Theaters and Pasadena Playhouse. Some notable shows from these theaters with Smith on solo trumpet include Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Color Purple, Jelly's Last Jam, Les Misérables, Moulin Rouge, Wicked, and the Wiz.  As a composer, Smith strives to curate a top-tier experience for brass players especially. The primary focus is exploring boundaries while expressing a story; both through adapted arrangements structurally sound to the composer's intent and through his own original compositions. His work has been performed internationally. He has also created original chamber music commissioned by Marissa Benedict for University of Minnesota, Jim Self for University of Southern California, also by the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Stomvi-USA.  Smith's training as a music performance major includes a Master of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Edward Carroll and John Fumo; and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music with professor James Thompson. He is also a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy with Stanley Friedman.

WTFU • Rivervibes • Unity Wagon Sessions • • One Earth Collaborative •September 8, 2024Featuring Steve Areen, Beth Robeson of Green Umbrella, Kristina Dessauer of Deviyoga, Marielle and the Flowers, Ra.Feke, Ánno Projecthttp://SteveAreen.comhttps://oneearthcollaborative.org/www.youtube.com/@marielletheflowers3961(0:00)Elf Intro sip(1:14) Ra.Feke I'm Plantedhttps://www.instagram.com/ra.feke?igsh=MXJkZTd4dmxubXl3NA==https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy-Hu_GNNJfXWl8A1sWEsYA(6:00) Elf introSteve Areen Unity Wagon and domegaia!WelcomeKristina Dessauer - DeviyogaBeth Robison -Green Umbrella To the Conversation (6:33) Steve Areenhttp://DomeGaia.comhttps://www.instagram.com/steveareen?igsh=OXJodDd3MzRlNHEzhttps://www.facebook.com/steve.areen?mibextid=LQQJ4d(19:40) Ánno Growing Flowershttps://www.theannoproject.com/(23:50) Beth Robeson Greater Cincinnati's Regional Climate Collaborative | Green Umbrella(26:18) Marielle Mycelium Memorywww.youtube.com/@marielletheflowers3961(28:00) Kristina Dessauer Tales of nature immersion experience.https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063582390876&mibextid=LQQJ4d(37:50)Marielle, look into the fire and remember (41:20) Beth Robeson - It Starts with a farmer(48:09)Sisters Of the River Vibes(48:50) Feel your Intuitions, Feels of Technology (52:28) Ànno, Marielle, Community Unity Wagon Vibes(56:27) Conversational wrap ups… gratitude all around.(57:20) Marielle Mother Moon(1:03:54) Ra.Feke I'm Planted reprisehttps://www.instagram.com/rivervibes_littlemiami?igsh=MThSupport the showSubscribe Everywhere Cause thats cool hahaha!Links to Doctor Bionic • Kalpataru Tree • Dirtwire • Aether Elf @wakethefarmup @maintaining_ground_podcastCouncil of Counsel@kastle_369 @ra.feke @alexhillchillPatrice Logan - Powrgurlz_entMore you know you---Ask how you could be involved in the show, yesSubscribe and Support the Show

Mr. Aaron Parker Listen below to hear Aiken high school students discuss justice and their jobs in environmental justice from this part summer. When we consider what “Democracy and Me” can mean, we must consider the idea of justice. Over the next few weeks, the Agriculture Career Tech Pathway Students and Community Partners of Aiken New Tech High School in the Cincinnati Public Schools will be contributing their perspective and voice on how they are taking action on issues of social justice, environmental justice, heath justice, financial justice, and food justice (sovereignty). Aiken New Tech High School is a grades 7-12 college and career preparatory high school. The Agriculture Career Tech Pathway is a vocational series of classes focusing on Agribusiness and Production that includes: Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources; Animal and Plant Science; Greenhouse and Nursery Management; and Global Economics and Food Markets. Students take part in the 3-Circle Model of Agriculture that is: 1. classroom as an interactive laboratory,, 2. Supervised Agricultural Experiences / Work-Based Learning, 3. Participation in Future Farmers of America. Situated on 61 acres of land, our Agriculture Campus includes a production farm of 35-raised beds, mushroom growing lab, coffee roasterie, 2 high tunnels, a greenhouse, orchard, 4 alpacas, 6 goats, 1 Zebu steer, and a collection of rabbits, quail, ducks, chickens, and Guinea fowl. Completing the Agriculture Campus are an on-campus forest and prairie as well as the adjoining Cincinnati Parks Preserve of Greeno Woods that supports habitat for wildlife. It is within Aiken's agriculture program that students are provided opportunities to take action on issues of social, environmental, health, financial, and food justice. The food we grow is to provide food security for the students and community members needing local, fresh, and nutritious food. Students source seed, plant, care for, harvest, and distribute food that is culturally valued by our community, so it is valued. Eggs hatched by students of quail, chicken, duck, and Guinea fowl are a source of protein so frequently missing from growing and active adolescent diets. The expertise and resources of the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, La Soupe, and the Society of St. Andrew - Ohio helps ensure food sovereignty for all. Financial security is achieved through students who perform and get paid for work-based learning during and after school as well as during the summer. Good paying Green jobs that are centered around sustainability and technical skill attainment provide resume building, employment skills, and income that is essential for both students and the families that money assists. Work-based learning occurs with the interest and support of Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Co-op Cincy, Cancer Justice Network, La Terza Artisan Coffee Roasterie, and Hamilton County Youth Employment. Health is improved through the mental wellness of having an outdoor classroom as well as access to the healthy food from our Aiken Farm and the Health Fairs and Vaccination Clinics organized by our FFA Chapter. Taking care of one's health requires eating well, practicing mindfulness, being active, and knowing how to navigate a complex and sometimes difficult health care system which our FFA students help educate as Health Navigators with Cancer Justice Network. Care for the air we breathe, water we drink, and land we occupy is monitored for sustainability through stewardship and engagement of community partners for environmental justice with Green Teams of Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Environmental Protection Agency and Green Umbrella as a Regional Climate Collaborative. Social justice is the diversity, equity, and inclusion we seek through an urban agriculture pathway that is in need of capitalizing on resources as well as being able to give back the community through service and value through the telling of our stories at Maketank Inc. and the dedication to inclusivity in our Cincinnati Public Schools. Through a series of blog posts and podcasts we aim to draw your attention to the selfless action of care that is embodied in justice that is layered throughout our Aiken New Tech High School Agriculture Career Tech Pathway.  Students sharing their perspectives and voices will raise awareness and ignite a fire of action in you in which they are the spark.  For a preview of what you can expect to read, hear, and see on “Democracy and Me,” we encourage you to visit a few resources: Aiken New Tech High School: https://aikennewtech.cps-k12.org Aiken Agriculture Weekly Newsletters: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pxceKYPKjjrHt6OkiBKM7UF3FbNhKDXA?usp=drive_link Aiken Agriculture Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AikenStudentGarden Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: Agriculture and Environmental Systems: https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Career-Tech/Career-Fields/Agricultural-and-Environmental-Systems Future Farmers of America: https://www.ffa.org Groundwork Ohio River Valley: https://www.groundworkorv.org Maketank Inc.: https://www.maketankinc.org Cancer Justice Network: https://www.cancerjusticenetwork.com Co-op Cincy: https://coopcincy.org Hamilton County Youth Employment: Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati: https://www.civicgardencenter.org La Soupe: https://www.lasoupe.org Society of St. Andrew - Ohio:

Fluent Fiction - Norwegian: The Tale of Ingrid and the Green Umbrella Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.org/the-tale-of-ingrid-and-the-green-umbrella Story Transcript:Nb: "I Bergen, der fjellene kysser skyene, bodde det en liten dame ved navn Ingrid.En: "In Bergen, where the mountains kiss the clouds, there lived a little lady named Ingrid."Nb: " Slik startet en Veldig Enkel Novelle.En: This is how a Very Simple Story began.Nb: Ingrid likte å gå rundt på den vakre Bryggen.En: Ingrid enjoyed walking around the beautiful Bryggen.Nb: I lommen hadde hun alltid et stykke brunost.En: She always carried a piece of brown cheese in her pocket.Nb: En koselig butikk på hjørnet solgte hennes favorittost.En: A cozy shop on the corner sold her favorite cheese.Nb: Men denne ettermiddagen var det noe som manglet.En: But this afternoon, something was missing.Nb: Det var paraplyen hennes.En: It was her umbrella.Nb: Bergen er kjent for sin regn.En: Bergen is known for its rain.Nb: Og denne dagen var intet unntak.En: And this day was no exception.Nb: Regnet smattret ned mens Ingrid hastet mot butikken.En: The rain drizzled down as Ingrid hurried towards the store.Nb: Hun var våt og kald.En: She was wet and cold.Nb: Brødskivene med brunost klissete i lommen.En: The slices of brown cheese sticky in her pocket.Nb: Ingrid kom inn i butikken.En: Ingrid entered the shop.Nb: Hun var gjennomvåt.En: She was soaked.Nb: Vanndråper falt fra hennes klær og lagde små pytter på gulvet.En: Water droplets dripped from her clothes, creating small puddles on the floor.Nb: Hun kjøpte brunosten og satte seg ved vinduet.En: She bought the brown cheese and sat by the window.Nb: Utenfor pøste regnet ned.En: Outside, the rain poured.Nb: "Å nei!En: "Oh no!"Nb: " ropte Ingrid.En: cried Ingrid.Nb: "Jeg har glemt paraplyen min!En: "I forgot my umbrella!"Nb: ""Ikke bekymre deg," sa butikkeieren.En: "Don't worry," said the shopkeeper.Nb: "Lån min.En: "Borrow mine."Nb: " Han rakte henne en stor grønn paraply.En: He handed her a large green umbrella.Nb: Det var den fineste paraplyen hun noen gang hadde sett.En: It was the finest umbrella she had ever seen.Nb: Den var så stor at den kunne tåle bergenske regnbyger.En: It was so big that it could withstand Bergen's rain showers.Nb: Ingrid takket og gjorde seg klar for å gå.En: Ingrid thanked him and prepared to leave.Nb: Men da stoppet hun opp.En: But then she stopped.Nb: "Hvordan skal du komme deg hjem?En: "How will you get home?"Nb: " spurte hun.En: she asked.Nb: Butikken var langt fra huset hans og regnet høljet ned.En: The shop was far from his house, and the rain was pouring down.Nb: Butikkeieren smilte.En: The shopkeeper smiled.Nb: Han pekte på en haug med paraplyer bak disken.En: He pointed to a pile of umbrellas behind the counter.Nb: "Jeg har alltid en ekstra paraply," sa han.En: "I always have an extra umbrella," he said.Nb: "Gå nå, før det blir mørkt.En: "Go now, before it gets dark."Nb: "Ingrid trådte ut i den mørke ettermiddagen.En: Ingrid stepped out into the dark afternoon.Nb: Nå var hun tørr under den store grønne paraplyen.En: Now she was dry under the large green umbrella.Nb: Det var som å ha sitt eget lille hus.En: It was like having her own little house.Nb: Regnet trommet mot paraplyen, men Ingrid forble tørr.En: The rain drummed against the umbrella, but Ingrid remained dry.Nb: Nå satt hun hjemme, spiste brødskiver med brunost og tenkte på den snille butikkeieren.En: Now she sat at home, eating slices of brown cheese and thinking about the kind shopkeeper.Nb: Han hadde hjulpet henne på en regnværsdag i Bergen.En: He had helped her on a rainy day in Bergen.Nb: Og så ble det tørt igjen.En: And then it was dry again.Nb: Ingrid gikk tilbake til butikken.En: Ingrid returned to the store.Nb: Hun returnerte den store grønne paraplyen.En: She returned the large green umbrella.Nb: Butikkeieren smilte igjen.En: The shopkeeper smiled again.Nb: "Tusen takk," sa han.En: "Thank you very much," he said.Nb: "Og husk, en paraply er alltid en god venn i Bergen.En: "And remember, an umbrella is always a good friend in Bergen."Nb: "Etter den dagen glemte Ingrid aldri paraplyen sin igjen.En: After that day, Ingrid never forgot her umbrella again.Nb: Hun hadde lært en verdifull lekse: alltid være forberedt på regn i Bergen.En: She had learned a valuable lesson: always be prepared for rain in Bergen.Nb: Da kan du alltid gå en tur, spise brødskiver med brunost og se på den vakre Bryggen, uansett været.En: Then you can always go for a walk, eat slices of brown cheese, and look at the beautiful Bryggen, no matter the weather.Nb: Og slik ender vår Veldig Enkle Novelle om Ingrid, en glemt paraply og en regnværsdag i Bergen.En: And that's how our Very Simple Story about Ingrid, a forgotten umbrella, and a rainy day in Bergen ends. Vocabulary Words:mountains: fjelleneclouds: skyenelittle: litenlady: damenamed: ved navnIngrid: Ingridsimple: enkelstory: novelleenjoyed: liktewalking: å gåbeautiful: vakrecheese: brunostpocket: lommencozy: koseligshop: butikkcorner: hjørnetfavorite: favorittmissing: mangletumbrella: paraplyrain: regndrizzled: smattrethurried: hastetstore: butikkenwet: våtcold: kaldsticky: klissetesoaked: gjennomvåtwater: vanndroplets: vanndråperfloor: gulvet

David Tilley, a University of Maryland Environmental Science and Technology Assistant Professor and entrepreneur, harnesses nature for innovative creations like the Green Umbrella, Green Wall, and the latest, Cool Green Bus Shelter.Reporter: Faiza Elmasry, Camera: June Soh, Editor: Philip Alexiou

Christina Robinson joins Chloë as she opens up about the challenges she faced during her childhood, how they shaped her mindset and limiting beliefs and how they fueled her to buyout SMMA owner of Green Umbrella. Discover her inspiring journey of becoming a single mom at just 19 years old and experiencing homelessness only a few years later after losing her job. Christina reveals the conversation that made her buy her boss' business and how Spencer Lodge changed her life unexpectedly. You'll learn why Christina is so driven by legacy and the importance she gives to the people in her circle. Watch until the end to see Christina's raw and heartfelt message to her younger self!Get Your Copy of Chloë's Book ► determinedanddangerous.com Subscribe to the Show ► https://youtube.com/@InspiredByShow / https://apple.co/44feNeVWatch on YouTube ► https://youtu.be/tBousr-qslg See all of Chloë's FREE resources here ► www.chloebisson.com Christina Robinson's Green Umbrella Marketing► https://www.green-umbrella.biz/  ADD US ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloebissonofficialTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@inspiredbyshow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloebissonofficial  About the host: Chloë Bisson is a #1 best selling author, award-winning entrepreneur, international speaker and visibility expert. After building her career in the corporate world, Chloë's success came to a sharp halt when she was diagnosed with severe clinical depression at the age of 25 and was told she would need to be on antidepressants for the rest of her life.  After starting her road to recovery, Chloë lost her job and despite the setbacks, she knew she was meant for more and began her journey of entrepreneurship in 2017.  Since then Chloë's built multiple successful businesses helping entrepreneurs to share their raw and real stories and elevate their status so they can inspire everyone around them. **DISCLAIMER** Our goal on the Inspired By show is to bring you raw and real conversations which may lead to discussion on sensitive topics, including abuse, disorders, addiction and mental health and therefore listener discretion is advised. The content shared is for informational purposes only and is not deemed to be taken as professional advice so if you require immediate assistance, please reach out to a qualified expert or emergency services. We acknowledge that discussions about these subjects can be triggering and distressing and it is important to prioritise your mental well-being while listening ❤️

Rob is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination.  Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob.  Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.”  Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida, and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world.  Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina.  Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc/index.cfm https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/01/pfas-forever-chemicals-rob-bilott-lawyer-interview https://time.com/5737451/dark-waters-true-story-rob-bilott/ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html https://www.taftlaw.com/people/robert-a-bilott  

James Miller is the Associate Principal Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a position he has held since 1999. His duties include performing on alto, tenor, and bass trombone; tenor tuba; and bass trumpet. His previous orchestral experience includes the North Carolina Symphony, the Long Island Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, and the Dallas Symphony. Miller earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Northern Iowa and his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student of Per Brevig. His playing experience includes performances with the Silk Road Ensemble, the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Ensemble ST-X, the Michael Bublé Big Band, and a variety of jazz, rock, ska, and Latin ensembles. He has been a participant in the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Ojai Music Festival as well as performing as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series. His solo career spans performing with orchestras and wind enssembles in the United States and Mexico. As a composer, he has had world premieres at New York's Lincoln Center and continues to perform his own works in solo performances throughout the country. He serves on the faculty of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Aspen Music Festival. Miller is a Conn/Selmer and a Denis Wick clinician and has released three CDs on All Barks Dog records: From Coast to Coast, Trio for Voice, Trombone and Cello and Delays, delays.

Christina Robinson – Recruitment Marketing Guru and Owner of Green Umbrella MarketingJoin Matthew and Megan, the hosts of Red Talks, for a series of inspiring conversations with successful people from all walks of life. We want to find out about people's journeys, what makes them tick and what advice they might have on starting or even changing your career. Bringing different perspectives, with voices from both Generation X and Generation Z, you can expect to find something for everyone in this podcast. Find out more about Red Recruitment at https://www.redconsult.co.uk/This podcast is recorded, edited and produced in Glasgow by Sparkling Studios - www.sparkling.scotMusic from Uppbeat: http://uppbeat.io/t/kidcut/jazzy-cookies License code: AKZD851A4QRVFVHC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Ikhenemoh is a GP, mental health specialist and author. He joins Christina in this episode to talk about how he found his passion for psychological health, what it means to have a mission in life and how you can help yourself, or others when they are struggling with their mental health. KEY TAKEAWAYS Starting medical school in Nigeria, Dr Ikhenemoh then spent some time in Russia, he left Russia for Holland where he continued his medical studies. ¼ people have an episode of depression in their life. Asking the right questions, in the right way for the individual, is essential when talking with an individual with mental health issues. Dr Ikhenemoh believes the word depression is often misused. All humans feel down sometimes, this is normal, but it doesn't mean you are depressed. In order to diagnose clinical depression, there are two questions you can ask a patient, if they have feelings of hopelessness combined with a lack of interest in life and they have been feeling this way for two weeks. There are conditions that can mimic depression, such as thyroid gland dysfunction, it's important to be able to distinguish when something physical is affecting a patient's mood. One of the upsides of the pandemic is that it lead to people talking more about mental health. It has become less stigmatised and more recognisable. Depression doesn't define the individual, Dr Ikhenemoh doesn't believe anyone was born to be depressed, he believes you have to find yourself outside of depression. You have to be able to recognise your own symptoms of low mood and/or depression. You can then start to deal with them, preventing spiralling.  BEST MOMENTS 08:05 “We are all human beings; we can't be happy all of the time” 18:08 “Depression is not you, it's a state, it's a condition, it's not you” 22:30 “No human being should suffer depression” 33:50 “Every second of every day, I have the power, I have the control, I have the responsibility to choose my state” VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/ ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME's since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today's world, it doesn't matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A short but informative solo episode with Christina. Christina talks about how you can build your Instagram audience, the mistakes you might be making and some quick wins to help you in your audience-building journey! KEY TAKEAWAYS Think about what you want to get out of your Instagram before then focusing on your content. Look at the past 10 posts and stories you have been using, are you being authentically you? Can you see the people behind the brand? Engagement is key, it's not just about likes but people meaningfully engaging with your content. Can you ask questions or deliver content that invites people to comment and respond to your posts? Think about where your audience engages with you already, is it on your stories, your grid or are reels going to build your audience faster for you?   BEST MOMENTS 00:45 - “Instagram requires a lot of effort and sometimes it feels like a lot of effort for not a lot of reward” 03:08 “We just have to be persistent…earn your audience, make it genuine” 05:55 “I know the things the people tend to engage with more” VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/   ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME's since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today's world, it doesn't matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Residents in the Beekman Corridor Climate Advisory Group convened by Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Green Umbrella and the City of Cincinnati drew up plans for addressing local impacts of climate change.

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

“It's kind of a scary thought. We've got these PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), you hear them now referred to as forever chemicals because these chemicals–none of these existed on the planet prior to World War II–they're fairly recent invention and they have this unique chemical structure that makes them incredibly useful in a lot of different products, manufacturing operations, but also that same chemical structure makes them incredibly persistent and incredibly difficult to break down once they get out into the environment, into the natural world, into our soil, into our water. They simply, many of them, particularly the ones with eight or more carbons in their structure, don't break down under natural conditions. Or it may take thousands or millions of years for those chemicals to start breaking down. But not only that. Once they get into us, they get into people, they tend to accumulate in our blood and build up over time. They not only persist, they bioaccumulate. Unfortunately, as the science has slowly been revealed to the world about what these chemicals can do, we are seeing that they can have all kinds of toxic effects And unfortunately, we're finding that those things can happen at lower and lower dose levels.”“I can't speak highly enough of Mark Ruffalo and what he was able to accomplish with the film. He just did an amazing job. He reached out to me after reading the story that appeared in The New York Times Magazine back in 2016 about this situation down in West Virginia along the Ohio River and was really shocked when he read about it because it was really highlighting an environmental contamination problem that had potentially nationwide, if not worldwide implications but that he had never heard of, and you know he was active in the environmental arena and active in water issues and was surprised that he had not heard of this before and really wanted to find a way to help bring the story out to a wider audience so that we could hopefully start seeing some change in the way type of situations not only develop but how we deal with them. He was able to team up with the folks at Participant Media, who, if you go on their website, and see the types of films they've produced are just incredible filmmakers. Teamed up with Todd Haynes who is an incredible director, and just a terrific cast. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and others. Really they were very dedicated to making sure they did the story and brought it to film in the right way, to show what really happened, not only legally and scientifically, but also to real people. What kind of impact these situations have on real people in real communities. What these people went through for 20 years in this community waiting for this process to unfold. So I think they did a tremendous job in taking a very complicated story that involves a lot of science and a lot of law and conveying it in a way that really impresses upon people why this is a story that matters to all of us and why this is a story that really is one that hopefully is inspiring because, as we discussed, it shows that things can be changed. Things that look impossible can be overcome.”Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

Rob Bilott is a partner in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky offices of the law firm, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, where he has practiced in the Environmental and Litigation Practice Groups for over 31 years. During that time, Rob has handled and led some of the most novel and complex cases in the country involving damage from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including the first individual, class action, mass tort, and multi-district litigation proceedings involving PFAS, recovering over $1 billion for clients impacted by the chemicals. In 2017, Rob received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” for his decades of work on behalf of those injured by PFAS chemical contamination. Rob is the author of the book, “Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont,” and his story is the inspiration for the 2019 motion picture, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. Rob's story and work is also featured in the documentary, “The Devil We Know.” Rob is a 1987 graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida and a 1990 graduate of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Rob also serves on the Boards of Less Cancer and Green Umbrella and is frequently invited to provide keynote lectures and talks at law schools, universities, colleges, communities and other organizations all over the world. Rob is a fellow in the Right Livelihood College, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and an Honorary Professor at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Rob also has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Ohio State University and New College. · www.taftlaw.com · www.oneplanetpodcast.org · www.creativeprocess.info

This week, Stephen Byers and Kyle Vath talk with Ryan Mooney-Bullock, Executive Director of Green Umbrella.Green Umbrella serves as the regional sustainability alliance of Greater Cincinnati, with hundreds of member organizations and individuals passionate about enhancing the environmental health and vitality of our region. The organization works in a 10-County Regional Footprint: Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren (in Ohio); Boone, Campbell, Grant, and Kenton (in Kentucky); and Dearborn and Franklin (in Indiana).Their Mission: "We lead collaboration, incubate ideas and catalyze solutions that create a resilient, sustainable region for all."Their Vision: "A vibrant community where sustainability is woven into our ways of life."Website: https://greenumbrella.org/IG: https://www.instagram.com/greenumbrellacincy/

Christina Robinson is an Online Marketing and Branding Specialist - she's the Managing Director of Green Umbrella Marketing. Working with Business Owners and Marketing Directors to educate them on how to maximise their online marketing activities to enhance their business, increase brand awareness and increase sales. In the following Christina discusses: -How social media plays a part in playing the field The power of social media! -Pet hates - what should we avoid doing on social media? -Is Clubhouse here to stay? Plus predictions for the future of social media Link to connect with Christina - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/ --------- This episode is sponsored by Hoxo Media - the leading marketing agency for recruitment businesses. For further details on their 8-week academy, contact Lysha (07855 778617) https://personalbrand.hoxomedia.com/lysha-holmes You can also watch this episode on our Youtube channel - https://youtu.be/8sfy6oKoXKg (https://youtu.be/8sfy6oKoXKg)

When you are creating a business, people will tell you that you need to think about your ‘mission’, ‘your why’ and your values’. This was trickier for Christina as she came into her business as an employee and then took the business over. Green Umbrella definitely have shared values but they have never been written down so Christina wanted to take some time to share her process in thinking and defining these. Sign Up For Jessens' Webinar Here: https://bit.ly/jessenct KEY TAKEAWAYS If you haven’t taken time to think about your company values and someone asks you the question it can be a little daunting. Take some time and work out a process of defining them as well as figuring out if they are coming across in your messaging; to employees, clients and on social media. To understand and recognise your values you need to ask yourself a series of questions and be totally honest in your answers. BEST MOMENTS 03:42: “Sometimes you may feel like your grabbing at buzzwords a little bit” 08:35: “Have you ever talked to someone and though oh wow what they’re doing has such an impact and I want to be part of that” VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Providing mobility options in the Cincinnati metro area that has over 200 different jurisdictions requires Andy Aiello of the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky and Wade Johnston of Green Umbrella to show how all those communities benefit both from working together and connection to each other.

For you today: an insight-packed gem of a conversation with LA Phil trumpet player and Honesty Pill founder, Christopher Still! This summer on the Mind Over Finger Podcast, I promise you fantastic time with wonderful guests! Every month I'm having a live Q&A with amazing musicians in my Facebook group, the Mind Over Finger Tribe and, as to be expected, much wisdom is being shared! We start with pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski, we continue in May with violinist Callum Smart, in June you'll hear from trumpet player Christopher Still from Honesty Pill, July will bring violinist Esther Abrami, and we'll spend time with guitarist Brandon Jack Acker in August. I hope you can join us live for the upcoming sessions. All of the details are in the Mind Over Finger Tribe at facebook.com/groups/mindoverfingertribe.  If you're enjoying today's content, take a screenshot as you're listening, share on social and tag me and my guest so we can thank you for tuning in!   MORE ABOUT CHRISTOPHER STILL AND HONESTY PILL: Website: https://honestypill.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-still-056423108/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd0_NS1GmKSc0viEcbyoQSQ?view_as=subscriber Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honestypill/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honestypill/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HonestyPill   CHRISTOPHER STILL joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007. Before coming to California, he was the Principal Trumpet of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. He has also held the positions of Associate Principal Trumpet of the Dallas Symphony and Principal Trumpet of the Charleston (SC) Symphony. Additionally, Christopher has served as Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in Chicago's Millennium Park and Guest Principal with the St. Louis Symphony. He has performed with numerous other orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia in La Coruña, Spain. He has appeared as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Northern New York and the Colorado and the Littleton (CO) symphonies. He can be heard on recordings with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Grant Park, Dallas, and Albany (NY) symphony orchestras. A Yamaha Artist, Christopher is a dedicated educator and an active clinician. Having grown up in a musical household, Christopher originally intended to become a band director and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Crane School of Music (SUNY – Potsdam). Switching to performance, he received his Master of Music Performance degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston. He was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1995 and 1996. Christopher's favorite aspect of his job is the orchestra's frequent performance of contemporary music, especially the Green Umbrella concert series. Christopher lives in Altadena with his wife, clarinetist Amanda McIntosh, and two children. He enjoys distance running, skiing, brewing beer, and hiking in the trails behind his house.   HONESTY PILL Honesty Pill is the project of Christopher Still, a trumpet player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Chris creates focused, actionable plans that help musicians and other creatives address the issues standing between them and their goals. Intermediate through professional instrumentalists and singers can benefit from Honesty Pill coaching. This includes motivated high school students, college students, serious hobbyists, and professionals of all ages and levels of accomplishment. Honesty Pill is for anyone who wants to master their art. Even if you've already achieved some level of success, Honesty Pill has information and tools that will help you take your musical life to the next level.   Join the Mind Over Finger Tribe for access to my weekly live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians   Visit www.mindoverfinger.com and sign up for my newsletter to get your free guide to an exceptionally productive practice using the metronome.  This guide is the perfect entry point to help you bring more mindfulness and efficiency into your practice and it's filled with tips and tricks on how to use that wonderful tool to take your practicing and your playing to new heights.   If you enjoy the show, leave a review on Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast provider.  I genuinely appreciate your support.     THANK YOU: A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who works really hard to make this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you. Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme.  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. Thank you to Susan Blackwell for the introduction.  You can find out more about Susan, her fantastic podcast The Spark File, and her work helping creatives of all backgrounds expand their impact by visiting https://www.susanblackwell.com/home.   MIND OVER FINGER: www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/

This episode is a little different as I'm talking to Christina Robinson from Green Umbrella about the upcoming Recruitment Marketing Congress. Both Christina and I are talking at the Congress and this is a quick chat about the lineup and our presentations. The Recruitment Marketing Congress is on 22nd April from 2 pm to 5.30 pm (UK BST) For more information go to: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/rmcongress?coupon=ThinkInCircles #MarketingRules Support for this podcast comes from Staffing Future For a free review of your current website visit www.staffingfuture.com/Rules To connect with Christina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinarobinson2/ Learn more about James and ThinkinCircles: https://thinkincircles.com/ https://www.themarketingrules.com/

It will soon be the two year anniversary of when Christina took over her marketing agency, Green Umbrella. It’s difficult for her not to reflect and think about all that has happened these past two years and so today she opens up about her experiences and what her aims for the future are as well as assessing where they are as a business after this first quarter of the year. Sign Up For Jessens' Webinar Here: https://bit.ly/jessenct KEY TAKEAWAYS Christina can truly say to her team that they are doing an amazing job. She knows that as a company they haven’t smashed every single target but they have achieved so much in a short space of time as well as thrived in a global pandemic! No matter if your business is big or small, or experienced in marketing or not at all, Christina can and wants to work with you. After the first quarter of this year, Christina analyses how close she is to long term goals as well as targets she set for the business and herself at the beginning of the year. It’s a great way to assess what is and isn’t working and to aid in making the tough decisions that are often needed. Having the patterns to successfully analyse, assess and create action is why Christina is having so much success in both her business and personal growth. Just a few simple questions can give you direction and purpose. BEST MOMENTS 01:09 - “I can stand proud, I can tell my team what a fantastic job we’re doing” 07:05 – “Maybe we’re allowing people to stay doing something their comfortable in rather than pushing them” 07:30 – “I have to have the balls to do it” 11:38 – “I’m really excited about where this business is going, I’m really excited about where my personal growth is going” VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Honesty Pill founder Christopher Still joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as SecondTrumpet in 2007. Before coming to California, he was the Principal Trumpet of the Colorado Symphony.He has also held the positions of Associate Principal Trumpet of the Dallas Symphonyand Principal Trumpet of the Charleston (SC) Symphony. Additionally, Christopher hasserved as Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra inChicago’s Millennium Park and Guest Principal with the St. Louis Symphony.Christopher has recorded extensively with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Grant Park,Dallas, and Albany symphony orchestras. Active in the Hollywood recording studios, hecan be heard on major motion picture and television soundtracks. He is a YamahaArtist, a dedicated educator, and an active clinician.Having grown up in a musical household, Christopher originally intended to become aband director and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Crane Schoolof Music (SUNY-Potsdam). Switching to performance, he received his Master of MusicPerformance degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston. He was aTanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1995 and 1996.Christopher’s favorite aspect of his job is the orchestra’s frequent performance ofcontemporary music, especially the Green Umbrella concert series.Christopher lives in Altadena, CA with his wife, Amanda McIntosh, and two children. Heenjoys long-distance running, skiing, brewing beer, and hiking in the trails behind hishouse.

Have you ever been involved in an acquisition of your recruitment company? As a marketer, did you play a role? In this episode with Amanda Davies, we talk about how marketers can/should play a much a bigger role in these due-diligence processes and what it can do for their career. Amanda and Glenn also talk upon the concept of 'blankpageitis' with regards to hitting a brick wall with content and what you can do about it. From marketing opportunities, to adapting your strategy through to managing your stress as a marketer - this is an episode with countless takeaways. We hope you enjoy. Oh, and Amanda used to dress up as a hippo. Thanks to Paiger for the sponsoring stuff as well. Always appreciated.

Today the shoe is on the other foot! It is Christina being interviewed by Paul Green, a friend of hers who also runs networking community group 'The Business Community'. Paul asked Christina if she would be interviewed by him for his Spotlight Series, the questions he asks her are far more about her development and philosophies and makes a really intriguing listen which is why she wanted to share this interview on the podcast. Sign Up For Jessens' Webinar Here: https://bit.ly/jessenct KEY TAKEAWAYS When buying a business, it’s important to be impartial. A good way to do this if you are already involved in the business you are buying is to take the figures to a third party to look at. Christina first joined Green Umbrella as a freelancer but progressed fast and ended up have a large responsibility for decisions and it was at this point she decided she wanted to buy the business. Although because of Covid many businesses have remote workers at the moment this is something Green Umbrella have been doing from the start in a really thought-leading way. They have various ways to ensure that productivity and creativity flows despite employees working remotely. Christina does admit though that creativity and problem solving can happen quicker in an office-based environment in some scenarios. It can be lonely to be a business owner. Having a mentor or being part of a community is a life line. There are very few business owners out there that have all the answers. Christina freely shares resources and information to people. She educates freely. She says if then clients decide to use her company what they are paying for is experience, expertise and time. The number 13 is unlucky for some but not for Christina. The number 13 has and continues to appear in so many areas of Christina’s life. Making noise on social media isn’t enough. You need to have a strategy, an objective and a purpose for each channel. BEST MOMENTS 02:15 - “You get to see what it’s like when I’m under a bit of pressure”. 09:45 – “I didn’t like where I was I either needed to go balls deep or get out”. 20:26 – “You need somewhere to go to ask those questions”. 27:48 – “Why not let them get the answer from you, build the trust with you”. 35:49 – “I’m a control freak therefore I don’t believe in luck”. VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter Website See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christina is talking marketer to marketer with Ben Kazinick about what’s happening now and likely to happen in the future from a marketing perspective. They discuss the importance of communication, trust and always taking the time to listen to what clients are saying along with the different ways as marketers they are providing advice on great content. When you are producing content, you have to be very clear about what you want to achieve and in this episode you can hear about identifying your ideal client and understanding where they will be hanging out on social media. Sign Up For Jessens' Webinar Here: https://bit.ly/jessenct KEY TAKEAWAYS In marketing, you learn about making small changes to optimise the result. There is an increasing understanding of the value of marketing as a vital ongoing part of business. Lots of people have never bought through their own website so they have no understanding of the end to end experience or about any points of fiction. Some changes are so small but so significant. You should reach out and talk to your customers, it’s the human interaction and the conversation that are really important. Trust is currently fragile and genuine communication is vital With content you have to be very clear about what you want to achieve with it. People don’t remember the first touch they only remember the last touch, the journey to contact with you may have begun some time ago. You have to understand who is your ideal client and where they are going to be hanging out on social media It’s important the social media platform used is the right one for the objective you are trying to achieve. Customer service is huge and people want responses and communication BEST MOMENTS 22:01 - “The Green Umbrella team do a live show every Thursday with content directed at those who know us” 36:19 - “online marketplaces are becoming huge” 45:21 - “I want people to know, like, love and buy-in on a deeper level” VALUABLE RESOURCES Christina Talks Podcast ABOUT THE HOST Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player. For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know how to use them! LinkedIn Twitter WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pianist Gloria Cheng discusses how she and her students grew closer together while facing the unique challenges of virtual music education, how incorporating new recording exercises provided surprising gifts, and how she returned to her own daily artistic practice during the pandemic. We also share memories of the late composer Steven Stucky, and how Gloria channeled her grief at his passing into a creative tribute, her album entitled "Garlands for Steven Stucky," which includes my composition, "Snowprints." Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pianist GLORIA CHENG has long been devoted to a process of creative collaboration, having worked extensively with such internationally renowned composers as John Adams, Terry Riley, Thomas Adès, and the late Steven Stucky. Ms. Cheng has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and Pierre Boulez, and on its acclaimed Green Umbrella series with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Oliver Knussen. She has been a recitalist at the Ojai Music Festival (where she first appeared in 1984 with Pierre Boulez), the Chicago Humanities Festival, William Kapell Festival, and Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Ms. Cheng inspired and premiered such notable compositions as Esa-Pekka Salonen's Dichotomie (of which she is the dedicatee), John Adams' Hallelujah Junction for two pianos (written for her and Grant Gershon), and Steven Stucky's Piano Sonata. Partnering with composers in duo-recitals, she premiered Thomas Adès's two-piano Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face and Terry Riley's Cheng Tiger Growl Roar. Ms. Cheng received a Grammy Award for her 2008 recording, Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutosławski, and a second Grammy nomination for her 2013 disc, The Edge of Light: Messiaen/Saariaho. On screen, Ms. Cheng's film, MONTAGE: Great Film Composers and the Piano — documenting the recording of works composed for her by Bruce Broughton, Don Davis, Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, Randy Newman, and John Williams — aired on PBS SoCal and captured the 2018 Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for Independent Programming. Her most recent disc, Garlands for Steven Stucky, is a star-studded tribute to the late composer by 32 of his friends and former students. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Stanford University, Ms. Cheng studied in Paris on a Woolley Scholarship and earned graduate degrees in performance from UCLA and the University of Southern California, where her teachers included Aube Tzerko and John Perry. Ms. Cheng now is on the faculty at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music where she has created courses and programs designed to unite performers, composers, and scholars. www.gloriachengpiano.com   Questions or comments may be shared on Julia Adolphe's YouTube Channel  

Did you miss Green Umbrella in action at this year's Recruitment Technology Showcase, where they discuss all you need to know about "Creating Content That Generates Leads"

"Music gives the human spirit a place to expand…a place to grow." – Guido Lamell In this very special conversation, Dr. Bob has the pleasure of talking with professional violinist Guido Lamell. They discuss many topics including Guido's incredible musical career and how important music is for children. There is a very special treat at the end of the episode that you absolutely will not want to miss. Enjoy! Violinist GUIDO LAMELL joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1979 under Carlo Maria Giulini, after having served for two years as associate concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra and for one year as concertmaster of the Mexico City Philharmonic. Lamell has performed frequently on the Philharmonic's Chamber Music Society and Green Umbrella series, and has appeared widely as a recitalist and orchestral soloist. He particularly loves playing in small ensembles and has enjoyed playing chamber music in his home with some of the Philharmonic's guest soloists, including Gustavo Dudamel, Emanuel Ax, Lynn Harrell, Joshua Bell, Sir Simon Rattle, and others. In addition, Lamell has been very active as a conductor. Having conducted various local ensembles for many years, he traveled to Kiev in 2000 with celebrated American violin soloist Eugene Fodor to record six concertos with the National Symphony of Ukraine. These recordings received critical acclaim and ultimately proved to be Fodor's last recordings. In recent years, Lamell has been coaching orchestras and conductors throughout Los Angeles through the Philharmonic's Youth Orchestra Partnership Program. This continued on the Philharmonic's tour to Caracas, when he coached two of the El Sistema youth orchestras and gave a conducting masterclass (in Spanish) to a group of El Sistema conducting students. In 2011, he produced and conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall as a benefit concert for Japan earthquake relief. This concert was honored with a reward of the American Prize. In 2012, Lamell was appointed Music Director of the Santa Monica Symphony and is active in his third season with them. He is excited about bringing Philharmonic-level ideals and enthusiasm to this orchestra in its 70th anniversary season. Visit smsymphony.org. How to contact Guido Lamell: https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/2981/guido-lamell https://www.smsymphony.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santamonicasymphony/ How to contact Dr. Bob: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChztMVtPCLJkiXvv7H5tpDQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drroberthamilton/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bob.hamilton.1656 Seven Secrets Of The Newborn website: https://7secretsofthenewborn.com/ Website: https://roberthamiltonmd.com/ Pacific Ocean Pediatrics: http://www.pacificoceanpediatrics.com/

We sat down with Christina to talk about how to navigate through the challenging times we are all going through at the moment. From shifting content plans (do you really need to), trying out new things and sometimes - just getting on with it. We all appreciate how difficult it is for people at the moment both at a company and personal level but we hope this episode gives you some guidance on how to keep the marketing wheels turning. Those that do will come out of the other side better for it. Stay safe, stay at home and keep on marketing. Thank you to Paiger for their continued support. Go check them out.

Los Angeles-based composer and pianist Thomas Kotcheff is joined by composer Sky Macklay, pianist and composer Eric Wubbels, and cellist Jay Campbell to discuss the first Green Umbrella program of the season, including new works by Macklay, Wubbels, Gabriella Smith, Marc Sabat, and Tristan Perich.   About This Performance: Adams and astonishing star-on-the-rise Jay Campbell present a scintillating cello-focused Green Umbrella.   Program: Gabriella SMITH - Carrot Revolution for string quartet Marc SABAT - Partite Requiem (world premiere, LA Phil commission) Eric WUBBELS - gretchen am spinnrade Intermission Sky MACKLAY - Swarm Collecting (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative) Tristan PERICH - Formations for solo cello and electronics     Artists: LA Phil New Music Group John Adams, Conductor Jay Campbell, cello Eric Wubbels, piano Co-curated by John Adams and Jay Campbell   TUE / NOV 5, 2019 - 8:00PM   Upcoming concerts: www.laphil.com/calendar Upbeat Live schedule, details, and speaker bios: www.laphil.com/ubl

This month we're extremely excited to have Christina Robinson, Managing Director of Green Umbrella on the show!. If you’re unfamiliar with Green Umbrella, they’re a digital marketing agency that specialises in offering social media support and training to recruitment teams, so we really couldn’t hope for a better guest to talk us through the latest social media hacks for recruiters! We all know how crowded the market is at the moment, so anything you can do to stand out and get noticed on social media will put you at a real advantage. Christina shares her thoughts on… · Christina’s go-to hacks for recruiting on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. · Tips for putting together a recruitment social media strategy that actually get you to your goals. · How to measure ROI of your social media efforts so you can identify what’s working and what’s not and learn from your results.

During the LA Philharmonic's 2018/19 season, they commissioned 50 new works from artists including Louis Andriessen, Unsuk Chin, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich, just to name a few. Composer and curator of the first of the LA Phil's new music series, entitled Green Umbrella, Andrew Norman talks about the Southern Californian composers that he's presenting. Hosted by Seth Boustead Produced by Sarah Zwinklis Music Omie Wise by Bryce Dessner Eighth Blackbird Codex Seraphinianus: Machinery, Anthropology, Games by Marcos Balter International Contemporary Ensemble Aheym by Bryce Dessner Kronos Quartet Templating Tranquility (excerpt) by Tyshawn Sorey Tyshawn Sorey Trio New York Tendaberry by Laura Nyro Renée Fleming, soprano; Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Billy Childs, piano The Manufacture of Tangled Ivory- Part II by Annie Gosfield Roger Kleier, electric guitar; Christine Bard and Jim Pugliese, percussion; Annie Gosfield, sampler Four Rosesby Annie Gosfield Ted Mook, cello; Annie Gosfield, sampler

Ryan Mooney-Bullock is a married mother of 4. If THAT isn't enough, she's also the Executive Director of The Green Umbrella here in Cincinnati - the leading environmental alliance in our region - putting Cincinnati on the map with our green space and sustainability efforts. She's set bold goals for our city, while raising a family and serving as a dedicated activist for her community...making her this week's Person of Interest!

In this episode of Take It Outdoors, REI’s Owen Nyswonger talks with us about Green Umbrella’s Great Outdoor Weekend. The weekend is an opportunity to sample many of the wonderful parks and nature organizations through free programs in the Cincinnati region.

Welcome to episode 99 of The PE Umbrella podcast! This week I am excited to bring you a truly wonderful Orienteering and Team building activity that will be a huge hit with your students! A twitter poll confirmed you wanted to hear more resources so here we are, this is the perfect start of year activity allowing students to work with others and solve problems. With an emphasis on the Green Umbrella (cognitive) and Red Umbrella (social) it is a corner stone for developing life skills that will put them in good stead for their life in and out of school! To assist you in your listening, head over to www.peumbrella.com and pick up the FREE accompanying PDF of Cone Orienteering on the resources page as well as the Umbrella reflection tool also mentioned in this episode! So what are you waiting for? Come on over, and join me under The PE Umbrella!

Concert: Green Umbrella: Contemporary Iceland Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive About the Speaker: Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is Iceland's leading musicologist and a renowned pianist, choral conductor, and music educator. Born in Reykjavík, he majored in piano performance and music history at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and received his PhD in musicology from Harvard University. He is currently Associate/Visiting Professor of Musicology at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, as well as being Artistic Advisor for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Ingólfsson has devoted much of his career to researching Icelandic music history. He has published widely in Icelandic and English, including an article published by Harvard University Press in the 2013 volume City, Chant, and the Topography of Early Music. His biography of the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs was nominated for the Icelandic Book Award and an English version will be published in 2018 by Indiana University Press. His most recent book, published in 2016, is the first comprehensive history of classical music to be written in the Icelandic language. Ingólfsson has given lectures at conferences in Europe and the United States, been Visiting Erasmus Lecturer at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, and has held visiting fellowships in musicology at Oxford University, Boston University, and Harvard. As a musician, Ingólfsson is primarily active as a collaborative pianist and choral conductor. He is the founder and artistic director of the Carmina Chamber Choir, which has appeared in various concerts in Iceland, England, Germany, France, and Sweden, as well as at the Reykjavik Arts Festival. On the Icelandic label Smekkleysa, he has produced three CDs with music from medieval Icelandic manuscripts, two of which won the Icelandic Music Awards for Best Classical CD of the Year. One of these CDs, Melodia, was also Editor's Choice in Gramophone. Ingólfsson has worked with a wide range of prominent musicians including composer Nico Muhly and singer-composer Björk, arranging several tracks for her 2011 Grammy-nominated album Biophilia.

Concert: Green Umbrella: All-Reich Upbeat Live provides historical and cultural context for many concerts, featuring engaging speakers, audio examples, and special guests. These events are free to ticket holders and are held in BP Hall, on the second floor, accessible after your ticket is scanned. For more information: laphil.com/upbeatlive About the Speaker: Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes “her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature's frozen objects are springing to life.” She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch, “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera's VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.” Her newest opera Ghost Opera, a dramma giocoso with libretto by André Alexis and The Old Trout Puppet Company, will première with Calgary Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in May 2019. Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Ensemble musikFabrik, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, and the Penderecki String Quartet. Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department.  She serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.

This month, I have the pleasure of attending an event called ‘How To Be The Number 1 Recruiter To Work For.’ It’s an annual conference and always a popular event – and why wouldn’t it be when the title promises so much! Who could resist?It started my brain whirring though, particularly with this Green Umbrella blog in mind. Maybe you’re not a recruiter but I wondered if the ingredients for being the best leader or business to work for are still the same? In my opinion as Managing Director of ISV Software and a performance coach, yes they are, at least there are certainly aspects which are transferable.So here are some of my top tips on how to be the best in your field to work with and to work for. Plus these are actually really useful marketing tips for your business too!To read the full article, please visit www.green-umbrella.biz/147