Podcast appearances and mentions of orlando philharmonic

“Seventeen was that age when we were realizing… we have to do something about this.” That poignant reflection echoes the emotional heart of SEVENTEEN, a powerful narrative work for orchestra created in response to the tragic 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida—an event that claimed the lives of seventeen students. Composer Ron Ramin was moved to begin work on this piece soon after, eventually collaborating with librettist Portia Kamons, and later joined by Jamie Bernstein. Together, they crafted a deeply human and artistically compelling response to an American tragedy.In this two-part conversation, I sit down with Portia and Ron to talk about the creation of SEVENTEEN and the many layers involved in bringing it to life.In Part 1, we begin with an overview of the piece itself, followed by a deeper dive into each of its four movements. Portia shares how the libretto was built from the actual words of young people, giving voice to a generation affected by gun violence. We also discuss how Ron and Portia came together to write the piece, the collaborative process behind their work, and how their shared vision took shape. We wrap up the first half of our conversation with the story of how the premiere performance came about, thanks to the support of the Orlando Philharmonic and its music director, Eric Jacobsen.[Subscriber Content] Part 2 opens with a look at the practical challenges behind producing a project of this magnitude, especially the complexities of securing funding. This leads to a conversation about future performance opportunities and what lies ahead for SEVENTEEN. From there, we step back to learn more about Portia and Ron's individual careers, and I pose a classic creative question: do artists need to feel inspired to do meaningful work, or can the work happen without inspiration? Their answers are thoughtful and revealing. And finally, we close with a broader reflection as I ask both of them how hopeful they feel about the future.This episode offers a moving and thoughtful exploration of how art can respond to tragedy—and how music can become a powerful form of activism, remembrance, and healing.DoricoProfessional music notation and composition software from Steinberg. Download a free 30-trial today!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Would you like more inspirational stories, suggestions, insights, and a place to continue the conversations with other listeners? Visit anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com to learn more! As a Contributing Listener of "Anthony Plog on Music," you'll have access to extra premium content and benefits including: Extra Audio Content: Only available to Contributing Listeners. Podcast Reflections: Tony's written recaps and thoughts on past interviews, including valuable tips and suggestions for students. Ask Me Anything: Both as written messages and occasional member-only Zoom sessions. The Show's Discord Server: Where conversations about interviews, show suggestions, and questions happen. It's a great place to meet other listeners and chat about all things music! Can I just donate instead of subscribing? Absolutely! Cancel at anytime and easily resubscribe when you want all that extra content again. Learn more about becoming a Contributing Listener @ anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com!

Ron Ramin was born and raised in New York City. He earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University, where he majored in music and studied privately with composer Milton Babbitt. Upon graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he composed music for 20 Primetime television series and 30 movies/telefilms. Ron is the recipient of a CableACE Award, a Primetime EMMY nomination, and TV/Film Awards from BMI and ASCAP. In recent years he has shifted his focus to composing for the concert hall. This includes "Golden State of Mind," a symphonic suite depicting the beauty & drama of the California landscape and its cultural diversity. “Greetings!" was given its world premiere performance in 2016 by the Marin Symphony, conducted by Music Director Alasdair Neale. His latest work, SEVENTEEN, is a narrative work for orchestra and six on-stage Gen Z narrators. Days after the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, librettist Portia Kamons and Ron began to work on an artistic response to the relentless plague of gun violence in American schools and communities. Their attention soon focused on the rising generation of young people channeling their grief and anger into deliberate and effective action. They were bringing extraordinary commitment, determination, and energy to multiple challenges of their time. Ron & Portia were also determined to bring classical music audiences together with young people for an orchestral performance and thoughtful discussion. From the beginning they committed to employ verbatim text from the young Americans themselves. SEVENTEEN is their story, told in their own words. The Orlando Philharmonic commissioned it and gave the premiere performance Nov 8, 2024. Eric Jacobsen, their innovative music director, conducted the performance and Jamie Bernstein directed the six young on-stage narrators. The orchestra, to its credit, made this a free community event that included a thoughtful discussion and Q&A following the performance. A former Board member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, Ron currently resides in Northern California and New York City.   Portia Kamons is a producer and librettist working with newly commissioned pieces in theatre, live events, music and feature film. With composer Ron Ramin, she is the co-creator and librettist for SEVENTEEN, a narrative work for Orchestra that received its world premiere by the Orlando Philharmonic on 8 November 2024. She was the Executive Producer for Virtua Creative on the US WW1 Centennial Commemoration narrated by Kevin Costner, as well as Exec Producer for "Visions of Peace" a special project for the WW1 Centennial with President Jimmy Carter. Portia was the lead producer of Tennyson Bardwell's feature film DORIAN BLUES which won 14 awards at festivals worldwide. She was a founding member and the first General Manager of Primary Stages Theatre in New York City, and a Producer for the NextWave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For many years she worked for as a producer with En Garde Arts in New York City, and the London International Festival of Theatre in the UK where she lives. She is a regular consultant to Danish web-based documentary platform, OTHER STORY.     website: www.seventeeninamerica.com Instagram: @seventeen_in_america  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561439852395 email: hello@seventeeninamerica.com Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review!  Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical!  Theme music by DreamVance. You can join my email list HERE, so you never miss an episode! I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a short discovery call from my website.   I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there!  

The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, interviews Cellist and Conductor Eric Jacobsen. Eric is a cellist in Yo-Yo Ma's SilkRoad Ensemble, the Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Knights Chamber Orchestra and also the Music Director of the Virginia Symphony and the Orlando Philharmonic. They talk about his incredible career on the cello and how he transitioned to a conducting career. Eric shares stories about working with Yo-Yo Ma, starting multiple musical ensembles, and studying with the legendary cellist Harvey Shapiro at Juilliard. For more information on Eric Jacobsen check out his website: http://www.jacobseneric.com/about#conductorYou can also find Eric on Instagram: @ejacobsenmusic Facebook: JacobsenEric.com  YouTube: @ericjacobsenconductor7573To hear the performance of "Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur" with Eric conducting the Greater Bridgeport Symphony: https://youtu.be/0OzUpZRytvkIf you are looking for in person/virtual cello lessons, or orchestral repertoire audition coachings, check out www.theCelloSherpa.comFollow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Bluesky @theCelloSherpaFor more information on our sponsor: www.CLEAResources.com 

Thursday – Do you have special terms for your job? Could you disappear in today's tech world? Date Night Guide with Dani Meyering with date night ideas like Mid Drive Dive, the Orlando Philharmonic at Bok Tower Garden, Sak Comedy Lab, Truffles and Trifles, Bourbon & Steak at Hard Rock Cafe, Boxi Park, Eagle's Edge golf, Rocco's Tacos, a circus, drone war and more. Check the link for more. Attorney Glenn Klausman with Flag Day Trivia for Colbert Court. Plus, WOKE News, JCS Trivia & You Heard it Here First.

Date Night Guide with Dani Meyering with date night ideas like Mid Drive Dive, the Orlando Philharmonic at Bok Tower Garden, Sak Comedy Lab, Truffles and Trifles, Bourbon & Steak at Hard Rock Cafe, Boxi Park, Eagle's Edge golf, Rocco's Tacos, a circus, dron war and more. Check the link for more. https://www.orlandodatenightguide.com/things-to-do-22853/

Coincidentally, long-time friends Aoife O'Donovan and Dawn Landes both have new albums with strong feminist themes, so I (Cindy) wanted to interview them together and talk about WOMEN. Aoife's album, All My Friends, is specifically centered around Carrie Chapman Catt, a prominent leader in the Suffragist Movement, and her work in the fight for the 19th Amendment. Inspired by speeches and letters, one song, War Measure, is even based on a letter of support from Woodrow Wilson to Chapman Catt. This album also marks the biggest project Aoife worked on with her husband Eric Jacobsen, who conducts the Orlando Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. It's also the first record she's released since becoming a mother. Of her Daughters song she says she sings "as a modern woman, not wanting to leave the fight to the daughters of our daughters."Dawn Landes, also a mother, has a more broad focus with her new album The Liberated Woman's Songbook. The album features songs from the 1971 songbook of the same title to inspire second wave feminists' women's liberation movement and modern feminism of the 1970's. The songs on Dawn's album span from 1830 (Hard is the Fortune of All Womankind) to 1970 (There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie as well as Liberation, Now!) showcasing how women of the past expressed political activism in the struggle for gender equality.Both Aoife and Dawn released their albums during Women's History Month, which leads to a discussion of what that means to each of them. We also talk about what is on their protest signs at the march, the Taylor Swift movie, gender stereotypes and, of course, all the waves of feminism. When thinking about the 19th amendment, we acknowledge that this only allowed WHITE women to vote. That leads to talk of how suffragists and feminist protest songwriters, like Meredith Tax, contributed to and gleaned inspiration from the civil rights movement. Aoife and Dawn are legends! We start with what their internal dialogue was like at first when undertaking these ambitious and important projects and end with Aoife putting Barbie on blast. All and all, this one's a winner. Follow Basic Folk on social media: https://basicfolk.bio.link/ Sign up for Basic Folk's newsletter: https://bit.ly/basicfolknews Help produce Basic Folk by contributing: https://basicfolk.com/donate/ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

On this episode, Carmel Holt welcomes back singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan to SHEROES to celebrate the release of her fourth solo album, All My Friends: a timely and ambitious new collection of songs whose origins began with a commissioned work for the Orlando Philharmonic to honor of the centennial of the 19th amendment and inspired by one of the central figures in the women's suffrage movement, Carrie Chapman Catt.

Orlando's own professional orchestra has served over 187,000 patrons, 85,000 children and families and 1 million students for the last three decades. The orchestra is comprised of musicians from around the world. Riff On This sat down with founding board member and French hornist Mark Fischer and clarinetist Seok Hee Jang, a fairly new member of the orchestra who moved to Orlando this year, holding the second chair. Fischer has been with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra since its inception and recalls how different it was back in the early 90s. “When we began in 1993, we started as an orchestra that was really a service organization and our attitude was very entrepreneurial,” Fischer said. “It started very small, just performing Chamber Orchestra works in churches and it was about three years before we could build up enough financial capital to be able to present our first concert in the Bob Carr Theater”. Working closely with the Orlando Opera Company and Orlando Ballet as well as the school systems, the OPO was able to grow and expand over the years. “So here we are, 30 years later, and now we walk into the new Steinmetz Hall, where I still pinch myself,” Fischer said. “Every time I walk on the stage, I look at the look up at the hall, I think this is unbelievably beautiful.” Jang shared a similar sentiment about the new Steinmetz Hall. “For me as a new musician in the orchestra, I can't imagine being here at a better time starting at a better time than our 30th anniversary season,” Jang said. “It's such a piece of work, a piece of art, really, it makes us sound so much better. It's a privilege to play in the hall.” Jang said the move to Florida has been amazing and everyone has been extremely welcoming. He's excited to work alongside the amazing musicians at the OPO. Fischer said starting out on the administrative side of the orchestra and doing the business side of things for so many years, that now he is back playing with the orchestra it's been nice to appreciate the artistic side of things again. “I think Gil Yamaha said it best. He said, ‘This hall is an instrument. It's not just a room. It's an instrument.' It's a spectacular space. And in the future, I believe that this venue will cause the Orlando Philharmonic to become a more refined ensemble over time and already has in their first season, but it is a real joy to make music there,” Fischer said. Be sure to listen to the latest episode of Riff On This to hear more about how Fischer and Jang got started as a classical musician along with more amazing stories from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. You will also get the latest on the rest of the season, plus a little inside information on what to expect next season as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first day of Pride Month, I wanted to bring you an episode about how we can spread love and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.Today, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with two remarkable individuals, Gidget Galore and Ginger Minj, who share their personal journeys and shed light on the power of drag.Gidget Galore educated us on the world of Drag Queen Story Hour—a program that sparks love and acceptance in young hearts. She shares her firsthand account of the profound influence it has on shaping young minds and fostering inclusivity.The LGBTQ+ community still faces intolerance and misunderstanding. In the face of adversity, Gidget Galore and Ginger Minj will share their stories of resilience and strength, reminding us all of the power of celebrating diversity and respecting one another.Get ready to be moved, motivated, and inspired by the transformative potential of embracing one's true self!Stay empowered,JenLet's keep the conversation going! Find me at:Jen Rafferty | Instagram, YouTube, Facebook | LinktreeAbout Ginger Minj: Originally hailing from small-town Leesburg, Florida, Ginger Minj made her first splash on the global stage as a finalist on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7. As a fan favorite and triple threat she was invited back for Drag Race All Stars 2 and made it to the top 3 of All Stars 6. She has starred in the Anne Fletcher helmed “Dumplin” for Netflix alongside Jennifer Aniston and Dove Cameron, in the Netflix series “AJ & The Queen”, and most recently in the Disney + Original Movie,  “Hocus Pocus 2”.  When she is not touring the world or appearing in movies and live theatrical shows, Ginger can be heard on her three studio albums, Sweet T, Gummybear and her newest EP, Double Wide Diva!About Gidget Galore:Gidget Galore has been working in the entertainment industry for as long as he can remember. He has costumed, wigged, and dressed many shows and special events in and around Central Florida at theme parks and theaters including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, Hard Rock Live, House of Blues, The Orlando Repertory Theatre, The Winter Park Playhouse, The Orlando Opera and The Orlando Philharmonic. Gidget has worked on the wardrobe team for entertainers including Donna Summer, Diana DeGarmo and The Jacksons. He has even created fabulous looks for the one and only Ginger Minj for Ru Paul's Drag Race! Gidget has also designed for and performed in the Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival for many years. Currently,  He took on the role of Rose, from the hilarious Golden Girls television hit series in 2018 when Gidget and Ginger decided to dive head first into the theatrical parody world of the “Golden Gals” and hasn't stopped laughing since. Gidget Galore has been a professional Orlando female impersonator since 2006. Gidget has enjoyed entertaining the night club circuit, corporate galas, public (and private) events and, most recently, was honored by the Mayor of Orlando with his Matching Grant as the hostess of “Drag Queen Story Hour” reading to the wonderful youngsters of Orlando at the gay and lesbian center.Connect with Ginger and Gidget:Ginger's IG: @gingerminjGinger Minj's cookbookGidget's IG: @gidgetgaloreSew FierceI Am What I Am single

In today's episode, I welcome Natalie Cordone & Shawn Kilgore! This incredibly dynamic duo have amazing stories to share about the show that introduced them to each other, the creation of their own tribute show to Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and all the adventures in between. (Fun fact: the cover image for this episode is of Natalie & Shawn!)   Get in touch with Cordone & Kilgore: www.cordoneandkilgore.com Support Artfully Told: www.paypal.me/elevateart Artfully Told links: www.facebook.com/artfullytold | www.artfullytold.podbean.com | elevateartskc@gmail.com Get a free audiobook through Audible!  http://www.audibletrial.com/ArtfullyTold Schedule your own interview as a featured guest with Artfully Told! https://calendly.com/artfullytold/podcast-interview   Episode 54 - Natalie Cordone & Shawn Kilgore Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to Artfully Told, where we share true stories about meaningful encounters with art. [00:00:06] Krista: I think artists help people have different perspectives on every aspect of life. [00:00:12]Roman:  All I can do is put my part in to the world. [00:00:15] Elizabeth: It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect ever really. I mean, as long as you, and you're enjoying doing it and you're trying your best, that can be good enough. [00:00:23] Elna: Art is something that you can experience with your senses and that you just experiences as so beautiful.  [00:00:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Artfully Told. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am so very excited to have as my guests today, Shawn Kilgore and Natalie Cordone. They are a performing duo that has been producing, writing and touring around the country for almost a decade. And they are currently the hosts of "Live! With Cordona and Kilgore." And I am so excited to chat with them about their artistic journeys and what they're up to now. I know their whole focus on is on positivity and light, and I'm just so excited that they're here. So thank you, Sean and Natalie, so much for being here today. [00:01:14] Shawn Kilgore: Thanks for having us. This is very exciting. I'm excited to be here. [00:01:18] Natalie Cordone: Yeah, we're thrilled to be here. Thanks, Lindsey. [00:01:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. And it sounds like we have some guest artists as well. [00:01:25] Shawn Kilgore: Yes. I apologize for the, for the hounds in the background. [00:01:29] Lindsey Dinneen: It's all good. I have two dogs too. They might make a sound appearance at some point as well. [00:01:36] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. I'm not making any promises on my end, either. The pup is-- he's being good right now, but you just never know. [00:01:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. You never know when they'll have to defend the house against the UPS driver. You just never know. [00:01:46] Shawn Kilgore: Exactly. [00:01:47]Lindsey Dinneen: Well, okay. So I would just love if you two wouldn't mind just sharing a little bit about your backgrounds, maybe how you got into art in general, into your specific fields, how you guys met, and maybe a little bit about what you're up to now, which is I know a tall order, but we'll just dive in and I can't wait to hear. [00:02:07] Shawn Kilgore: Absolutely, Natalie, go ahead. [00:02:09] Natalie Cordone: Sure. So my artistic journey actually began in a tutu when I was about three. So I started dancing in tap and ballet lessons like most of us did, and I was a dancer up until I was in college, but along the way, I joined the theater and became an actor and then didn't find my voice as a singer until I was in college, really, which is an odd journey and kind of very different from Shawn's. But then I started singing mostly opera and I sang with the Orlando Opera and got my Master's Degree in Acting, and became a professional actor right away and started dancing and singing in musicals. And along with singing with the opera, and along that journey is when I met Shawn. But let's have him tell you a little bit about him before we talk about how we met. [00:03:00] Shawn Kilgore: For me, I started singing from a very young age, mostly in church, and I was very involved in music all through school. But it wasn't really, until I was in eighth grade, I was about to be a freshman in high school when my mom took me to see my first big musical. And from the second that it started, I knew exactly that that's what I wanted to do. So I immediately got involved in theater, you know, and, and musical theater in, in high school. And that continued that on through my college years. That's what I studied both at a school in Ohio and then later at a school in New York City. And then I moved to Florida, South Florida, worked professionally for many, many years in regional theater throughout the state and then moved to central Florida. And that brings us to where Natalie and I connect. [00:03:43]Natalie Cordone: Oh, it's a good story. So, so the, the real story of how we met begins with Shawn's singing with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. He was doing this fantastic version of "Carousel," where he played Billy Bigelow. He was the big man on campus and it was a very coveted role and super exciting, singing with a full orchestra and in the midst of it, I was moving back from New York City. And we both got cast in a show together. So Shawn had been cast in the musical from the beginning and his partner in the show was supposed to be another actress. The show is called "Baby," and in the show, our two characters are desperately trying to get pregnant. I think that's a nice way of putting it. So in that show, we spent most of our time in a bed. That was our set. And so we got to know each other very closely, very quickly... [00:04:39] Shawn Kilgore: Yeah, a lot of intimacy from the day we met. [00:04:41]Natalie Cordone:  And I just thought he was the most wonderful actor. And the only reason why I was cast in the role was that this whole time, the storyline it's really about how this couple cannot get pregnant. And the actress who was supposed to play the role, got pregnant. And so she was going to be five months and showing on stage, which would have made absolutely no sense. She's a wonderful actress and it's the only way she could have possibly lost the role. And so as I was coming back from New York, that theater called me and asked if I would do the show. And so I was thrilled to get a chance to work with Shawn and, and have it be my sort of return to this regional theater that I'd worked at many times. And so we did get onstage and, and get pretty close, pretty fast. And in the midst of that, I was doing a solo show. And Shawn said, you know, "Would you want to do a cabaret show with me?" And I'd done quite a few of them. And I said, "Yes, I'd love to work with you again, but can we do something even bigger and better than a cabaret?" And from there we put a band together and we got charts and we found that we loved the same kind of music. And so we loved singing together. And I couldn't imagine not working with him and having him in my life every day. And so we started creating theatrical concerts. And they got really popular pretty quickly. And so we created, we created well over a dozen shows at this point. And, and we started touring them around the country. So that's how we met. [00:06:10] Shawn Kilgore: And while we were doing that, we also became, because of Natalie, had also done a show with the Orlando Philharmonic. So we had sort of cultivated this relationship with, with that local orchestra here. And so we maintained that relationship and that brought us once they saw that we were what we were doing, they invited us to be guest vocalists. So then we would start to appear with the Orlando Philharmonic on a semi-regular basis for pops concerts and those kinds of things. And, you know, between the shows that we were producing and performing and the shows with the Philharmonic, our audience members would always come up to us and say that we reminded them of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. [00:06:47] Natalie Cordone: Yes. [00:06:48] Shawn Kilgore: So that led really sort of catapulted us into our next venture, which was creating a tribute show to, to those really incredible artists at the time. You know, we knew who they were, we had heard the names before and not really, you know, very well versed, you know, in their careers though. But now, you know, we have been-- that show, that's our longest running show. We've been touring with that show for almost eight years now. I think that show has played, you know, from everywhere to Las Vegas, to, to Miami. And so, so that show really has sort of been the biggest, the, the biggest thing that we've, that we've been focusing on over the past couple of years, but it's been great. We learned a lot about Steve and Eydie. They were really incredible entertainers and they both had incredible individual careers. And when they came together, for those out there that, that remember them, know that it was just magic and there was nothing like it. So for us to be able to sort of try to recreate that a little bit, we're not, we're not impersonating them. We are, we are simply tribute artists where, you know, we're, we're out there as ourselves singing their music. So that is sort of what we, that's what led us to this point now where we are now. [00:07:55] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. And we're about to do that show again, coming up as we come out of everything that's happened recently, it's super exciting to get to kick off our season with it. And while we were waiting to do that show again, is when we started our live with Cordone and Kilgore show, which is an online show where we are the interviewers. And we bring on a different guest every week because we found that what we really wanted to do during this time was just accentuate the positive as much as possible. One of the things that I love about Shawn so much, and I think what made us click from the beginning, is that we really both like to air on the sunny side of whatever's going on in any situation. And we found that anytime we would jump online and just sing a song or the rare occasions, when we got to sing together, people really were resonating with the fact that we were bringing some kind of light and positivity to the world and we wanted to be able to bring other people in to do the same. [00:08:55] So that's when we started our live interview show where we have it kind of like Regis and Kathy Lee back in the day, if they were to have sung together, which we do on every show, we get a chance to, to sing together, whether that's old footage of the last 10 years of our shows, or if we get to do it live and in person. And we get to bring on great guests, everyone from artists to dog rescues to people who are making drinks and bakeries and anything that makes us, you know, feel good. Yeah, and brings us positivity. [00:09:30] Shawn Kilgore: Yeah, we say, we say our goal is to accentuate the positive. Yeah, like, like she said every week. And so it's a, it's a nice thing to do. We talk about, you know, good news stories. We're talking about good things that have happened to us. We invite our guests to share, you know, stories of what's happened in their weeks that might've been positive or good. Yeah, so we're really enjoying it. So not only so people can join us live for that when we do it live, but it is also available as a podcast currently on Spotify and Stitcher, and hopefully coming soon to all other podcast platforms. [00:10:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. That is so cool. I am so enamored with your stories. Oh my word. And the way that they intersected and I just love what you're bringing to the world. I think this is just so cool. And yes, this whole time I've been smiling because what great stories you guys have to share about, you know, how, how you all got started. And I, I resonate with you, Natalie, about getting started in a little tutu. I started dancing when I was four, but it wasn't for the dancing itself. It was for the costumes. Let's be real. [00:10:32]Shawn Kilgore: That's the one thing you guys have a lot in common. Natalie changes gowns I think maybe eight to 10, maybe 12 times in the show. [00:10:40]Natalie Cordone: I do have, I hope you do too at this point, but I'm so lucky that my work wear is actually two full closets of gowns in my house. 'Cause that's what I get to get dressed up in to go to work. So I'm with you on the sequins and rhinestones front for sure. [00:10:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh yeah, yeah, no completely. I, I still get extremely excited to put on a tutu and tiara. Still a wonderful moment. So yes, I resonate and yes, I do have actually in my house because you know, I also have a professional dance company. We have, I think, three closets that are fully devoted to dance costumes. It's ridiculous. But here we are. Yeah. [00:11:22] Shawn Kilgore: That's it, but I've actually worn a tutu one time. [00:11:25] Lindsey Dinneen: What, why? [00:11:27] Shawn Kilgore: It happened once. It was actually in high school, believe it or not. I can't believe I did it. And I can't believe I'm still alive after doing it. It was in a show. It was like, you know, our show choir was doing a Best of Broadway thing and we did the number "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" from "Gypsy." And it was the two women came out to do the first two. And I came out and I was the ballerina butterfly. I was Tessitura. [00:11:50] Natalie Cordone: Okay. So the only time that this gets weird is that Shawn and I have once in our lives played the same role in a musical two different musicals, but we both-- [00:11:59] Shawn Kilgore: Two different productions, yeah. [00:12:00] Natalie Cordone: That's right. In the same musical, in "Nunsense." We both played Sister Mary Amnesia at two different times. He played it. I played it in "Nunsense" and he played it in "Nunsense Amen." so we've actually shared-- the three of us have all shared the experience of a tutu. And two of us have actually experienced being the same role on stage, which as a soprano and a baritone makes absolutely no sense, but we did it. We've done it. [00:12:22] Shawn Kilgore: I'm actually on the national cast recording of "Nunsense Amen," which is also available on Spotify, you know, out there that as Sister Amnesia on the recording. [00:12:30] Lindsey Dinneen: What! That is so cool. Oh, my word. You two. I love it. Okay. So I just, I was really tickled when you were talking about, you know, the first time you met and it was like, "Well, here we are. We're going to get to know each other real fast." Was that ever, and I guess I'm just curious about this in general, you know, not as an actress, I, is that ever just super awkward and difficult when you have to kind of jump into those roles and you're like, "Well, we're going to be up close and personal for awhile." [00:12:59] Shawn Kilgore: It really, it really depends on the other actor. And I think, you know, for me, I feel really lucky. From the moment I met Natalie, I knew that I was going to be friends with her. That was that it was going to go beyond. I had not in my wildest imagination could have dreamt that we would be where we are today. But I knew that we were going to be friends and we were going to be in each other's lives for a while. So you get lucky. So you get lucky with that casting, you know, it's, it's all about the other person in that situation 'cause it could have been a nightmare. You know what I mean? It really could have been a nightmare from day one. But thankfully, you know, we really, we connected and, and, you know, it turns out to be the show itself was a, it was an incredible show and we got to do some really wonderful moments together. We got to play the happiness of, of being a couple into the, the heartache of, you know, thinking you are pregnant and then finding out that you're not, again. You know those scenes were pretty powerful and to get to go through that together every, you know, eight times a week for however many weeks, it was, I think that's something that, that bonded us also, you know, [00:13:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, for sure. [00:13:58] Natalie Cordone: Yeah, for sure.  I was just going to say that chemistry piece of it is one thing that you can't make up, right? It's genuinely liking someone and then getting to fall in love with them over and over again. It's really special and I've, I've been lucky that I've never had a bad experience, but I've definitely had ones where you do sort of walk out and go, "Oh my gosh, I can do this eight times a week with this person. And it will be just a joy every night." It's so easy. And when you meet Shawn, everyone falls in love with Shawn. There's just no person that's ever not immediately been enamored with him. So I was very, very lucky on that front, but I think that it can be super awkward if you don't enjoy the person you're with. So I think that that was one of the things where, because we both had been professional actors for a long time, we both knew that when we met, it was like, "Oh, this is different. Like, this is special. Thank goodness. This is going to be fun." You know? [00:14:54] Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. And I can, I can relate to that just on the dancer level of when you're doing partnering, it is so physically close. I mean, you're, you're literally touching each other so that you can be supported in pretty cool ways in these different lifts and all sorts of different things. And I, I relate to the fact that sometimes I've worked with partners where it felt like a lot more work. I mean, I was also always lucky to have people who were awesome to work with, but yeah, when I met the, the guy who is currently my dance partner was like a very similar experience of, "oh, this is easy." And this is a lot of fun versus, you know, like, feeling like it's more of a job. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And so your tribute show, I'd, I'd love to delve into that a little bit more. I think that is such a cool thing that you guys have developed and, and obviously you've gotten to tour with it and do all sorts of wonderful things.  How long of a process was that to sort of write the show and, you know, come up with all of the different components. I mean, I, I can only imagine from my production experience, but I feel like this is a whole 'nother level when you're doing something to be a tribute to people who came before you essentially. [00:16:08] Shawn Kilgore: Yeah, absolutely. We sort of live, we sort of lived in their, in their music for a good period of time. Right? Not only like we listened to almost everything and like we went through there, you know, as much as possible. And to really try to, you know, look at every video we could find and read everything we could find.  I mean, we, we fell in love with them, you know? And so then when we get to the point where we're creating the show, it really made us want to do them justice, you know? [00:16:35] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. And knowing that they were such a special couple for those of you guys that don't know Steve and Edyie were, they worked together and they lived together and were married for 55 years. So, and they were on over 90 albums between the two of them both together and separately. And they had hugely successful solo careers, but they also were one of the best known duos at the time. And we're friends with Frank Sinatra and toured with him and on the Carol Burnett Show, people knew them from the Carol Burnett Show. Yeah, it's a legacy. Yeah, all of that music that it was really hard for us to whittle it down to just a 90 minute show. I mean, that was part of the hard part was going in and saying, "But we love all of this stuff." How do we try to make, you know, how do we try to do them justice and tell their story in a way that resonates with ours. And also get to do this incredible music that spans so many decades, but still has a real through line of sophisticated pop music. That's really what they were known for. [00:17:41]And so that was the easy part was being able to sit back and sort of go, "Oh, what's good? Well, everything's good." Now the hard part is how do you pick what to do, what to do? And so, like Shawn said, we really did live in their world for a long time and, and touring with the show, one of the things that's been really great is that we've met a lot of people that were either related to, or were friends with, or worked with Steve and Eydie along the way. Everyone from like roadies, we had a guy who told us that he was, he worked backstage and that Edyie Gormé would sit there at a table Pac-Man that she used to travel with, like back when Gameboys, right, were a thing, or you couldn't put an app on your phone, she used to have one of those full tabletop things that they, she would sit and she'd have her hair in curlers with like a martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other, playing this tabletop. And you can't find that, right, in an interview with Johnny Carson. You can only find that from people who knew them. So that's been really cool too, to sort of live in that space and have people resonate with the show so much that we always try to do, you know, some kind of a talk back with the audience if we can, after the show. And they've taught us just as much as we've entertained them. So that's been a really neat thing to, to add to our repertoire along the way. [00:18:55] Shawn Kilgore: It is. That's one of my favorite things about it is, is getting to meet the audiences afterward and getting, getting to meet the people who did work with them or they, they knew them. And getting those stories like that story that Natalie just told, like she said, not anything you would ever find on the internet. We would never know that if we didn't come across that person. And now that story is in the show, we tell that story in the show. So when people see the show, they're getting to hear, you know, the things that they knew and loved and remember about Steve and Edyie, but also some of these more personal touches that we're weaving into the story that we tell, you know, so it's, that's a really cool thing about it and, you know, see there's, their story really is probably, I would venture to say, even to this day, one of the greatest Hollywood love stories there is. They met on the original Tonight Show, you know, way, way back in the day when they, they were very young, they were cast as singers side by side-by-side with Steve Allen. They met there, you know, they fell in love. They were together for over 55 years and they managed to stay married and work together that closely for that long is, is really a remarkable thing, you know? [00:20:01] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. And what they did so beautifully too, was that onstage, they jabbed at each other, like only a married couple really can. And that's something that I think we're really lucky to be able to bring sort of that wit and humor into the show because it keeps it alive and fresh for us even after all these years, because I think we might have a very similar dynamic to what Steve and Edyie had on interviews and stuff just as people. So that's been fun to recreate too. People, our audiences swear that we're married. I mean, they, you know, they can't believe it when we tell them, we don't really tell them in the show, but if people ask us afterwards, you know? [00:20:38] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that is so fun. I mean, but, okay. So then to be compared to, to such an iconic couple and yeah, what a feat in general, let alone with the pressures of being super famous and having these amazing careers and things like that. So kudos to them, but was it ever incredibly intimidating at all to sort of think like, "Oh my goodness, people are comparing us to them. How do we do this justice?" [00:21:05]Shawn Kilgore: I would say it's not really because we've never tried to impersonate them in any way. We really are going out there. We're singing in our own voices.  We're talking as ourselves. We're not putting on their persona in any way. But we feel very good about the, the way that we're honoring them and their careers and their lives and what we've put together and our audience, you know, based on what the audience is say, you know, it's, it's a good-- we feel, we feel good about where we are with it and how it all just sort of came together. It all full sort of feels like it was meant to be for us.  Maybe some might think a weird thing to say, but you know, the way our stories connected and how similar it is to their story, they met when they were cast on a show together, you know? So did we and we are doing this because people told us, you know, when they saw us perform together, that we reminded them of them. And so it just feels like the universe has told us this is what we're supposed to be doing. [00:21:59] Natalie Cordone: Yeah, the only time I can say I was intimidated was when we were doing our show, we sat down in Vegas for awhile and we found out afterwards that Steve Lawrence's people had sent people to come see the show. And I talked to them on the phone afterwards and they, they loved the show. They thought it was great. I'm glad I didn't know they were in the audience the night they were there. But knowing that they had like sent people to make sure that the show was-- because they'd heard, well, I mean, we had, we had told them we were coming and they had they come to sort of vet the show and it was nice to hear that they, they enjoyed the show-- but that I'm glad I didn't know ahead of time, I would have been a ball of nerves if I had known that they were listening to me saying her iconic songs on stage. [00:22:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that makes complete sense to me. That is, that is so cool. Definitely meant to be, it sounds like. And now, I'm excited to hear that you guys are going to be able to go back to performing again. I know COVID sort of threw a curve ball at many different people, especially performing artists, but tell me a little bit more about your show that you're doing now, these live productions that interview people and things like that sounds like an incredible way to bring, like you said, positivity to the world. I'm just super curious how that came about and how that's going. [00:23:13] Shawn Kilgore: The funny thing is it came about. So after like eight months about of not being together, not singing any of our tunes, we were both feeling good. We got together, we had maybe a bottle, maybe a bottle and a half of wine. And we were like, "Hey, let's play Russian roulette with our songs and see what we remember." And we decided to do it live on Facebook.  [00:23:34] Natalie Cordone: I'm glad that we know each other well enough that we were okay. If things didn't go well, because it was good, it was fun. It wasn't always good. I guess that's a good... [00:23:43] Shawn Kilgore: That's a perfect way of saying it, but even when it, yeah, even when it wasn't, it was still fun, you know, so that's kind of how it all started. We enjoyed it. We had, you know, we got great feedback from that and that's sort of pushed us in the direction of trying to do something on a more regular basis. And, and now we're sort of, have delved into this world of podcasting and podcasting with video, and I'm really excited about the, about the direction, the direction of it. [00:24:08]Natalie Cordone: And Sean and I had both expected along the way that we would be broadcast journalists. It's odd. That was where we kind of had both begun thinking our careers would end up and it's fun to have brought it full circle where that's really sort of what all podcasters and video podcasters are doing now. And it's neat to come back to that sort of love of ours that we had to put aside while we were touring all over the place for the last umpteen years together. [00:24:33] Shawn Kilgore: And we really are about sort of modeling the show after sort of, so it is sort of modeled after that sort of Live with Regis. And I always say Regis, but... [00:24:41] Natalie Cordone: I like the Regis and Kathie Lee and we can stick with that one. We can go old school, Shawn, that's alright. [00:24:46] Shawn Kilgore: Kathy Lee would sing sometimes, but she would not have Regis sing with her. [00:24:50] Natalie Cordone: No, that's for sure. I think she might've pushed him off the stage, but she wouldn't have the bottom line. [00:24:54]Shawn Kilgore: So we sort of modeled after that kind of field. So it has a very fun lighthearted, we wanted it to be very conversational. We didn't want it to be about any one particular topic so that we could have, you know, it seems like, you know, even like how you're doing, you know, you have a variety of people in the arts, which is awesome. But yeah, so we sort of like, we, like Natalie said, we next week are having a, a baker on the show. And then, you know, we were having some other podcasters on the show and we have had musicians and like Natalie said, pet dog rescues. We've had, so open to just anything that would make anyone feel good or lift them up after, you know, a long day. Or a long year... [00:25:31] Natalie Cordone: Yeah, that seems to drag out. [00:25:33]Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, that's fantastic. I'm so glad you guys are doing that. And so, and I'm sure I have more questions, but I'm sure that there are people who are super interested in following your journey and connecting with you and, and, you know, getting to experience these live shows. Is there a way for people to find you and connect with you and, and support you? [00:25:54]Shawn Kilgore: Absolutely. [00:25:55] Natalie Cordone: They sure can! They can find us on Facebook. They can find us on YouTube and they can also find us on our website. And you can always look us up as Cordone and Kilgore. So if you find us on Facebook, it's Cordone and Kilgore, Instagram: Cordone and Kilgore, YouTube: Cordone and  Kilgore, and then on the web it's cordoneandkilgore.com. So super easy. We are very unimaginative when it comes to naming things. So you can just always find us as. [00:26:22]Shawn Kilgore: It's just us. That's what, you know, this is a beautiful thing. It's just us. [00:26:26]Natalie Cordone: All the time everywhere. Our show, as of right now is streaming live at 7:00 PM Eastern time, 4:00 PM Pacific on most Mondays. And you can always find it after the fact on those channels as well. [00:26:40] Shawn Kilgore: Absolutely. And they are also posted to IGTV because we're not able to go live to Instagram, so they are edited and then posted to IGTV. And then again, you know, we take then the audio from it and then do an edit of that for audio podcasts that are currently available on Spotify and Stitcher. And then and again, hopefully we'll be expanding that audience pretty soon as well. [00:27:02] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Perfect. Well, that's, that's very exciting. I am personally delighted to follow your journey and also to support this live show in particular, because that just sounds fantastic. I can't wait to tune in, but yeah. So I'm, I'm just curious. I'm sure this has happened to you both on multiple occasions, but are there any stories that stand out to you? Where either somebody was experiencing art that you were creating or, you know, a show or something like that, or that you personally got to witness that was really impactful? It was kind of this moment to remember, like, I, I need to file this away because this is really special. [00:27:44]Shawn Kilgore: Yeah. [00:27:45]Natalie Cordone: From my own personal experience and watching someone else create that really moved me in a way that I'll never forget. I've seen so many shows, both my friends and other professionals' work, but the one that hit me, the strongest that I can sit here and put myself right back in the theater was-- I watched Audra McDonald do "110 in the Shade." And there is a song called "Old Maid" towards the end of the first act, I believe. And, and she ripped me to shreds. And I just remember, I'm still, I'm getting chills, just thinking about it as I'm sitting here. And it was the way that she connected to the material that she was singing. And it was that she was, she's a brilliant vocalist, but she was really experiencing that, the moment in a way that I could feel in my own body and my own soul, the way that she was experiencing that moment for that role. And I was sobbing in the audience and the audience was completely full.  [00:28:54] I had gone to theater by myself, which I do often, and I didn't know either of the people sitting next to me and I know they thought I was nuts. I kept getting like those sideways glances of ,why is this? Why are you crying? Now the whole entire audience wasn't sobbing. And it, for me was one of those pinnacle moments of great art that I got to experience and is something that no one will ever get to do again, if you weren't in that theater. And I think that's what I love so much about live performance is that it is temporal. And when it's done, it's done. And any time I get to experience live performance, dance, music, if it's being made in front of you, that's something that no one can take away from you, right? My house could burn to the ground. I could lose everything I have, but no one can take that experience for me. And that's one of the things that I love so much about art and about live performance. [00:29:50] Shawn Kilgore: That's a great answer. I feel like that's why we as artists and why everybody who loves art comes back to it because you're always, I don't know. It's sort of like, when you have a moment like that, you want another one, so you seek it out. And so you're, it's like trying to chase that high. Yeah. I love it. So that, but that was a great answer, I think, but for me, I've had many impactful moments with art. My most recent one though, however, was getting to see a Bette Midler performance of "Hello, Dolly" in New York City for me now that I can tell you why I sobbed, not all the way through, but there were moments where, I mean, I, and not for, because it was, it was just the most amazing-- I don't know. And I'm getting chills thinking, just thinking about it, talking about it. Cause it was, you felt like I don't even know how-- I can't even put it in words. I'm at a loss for words, trying to even explain what it was, how it was, but... [00:30:45] Natalie Cordone: Well, I know that when they came out for "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," and I know we've talked about this, when they did the "Parade of the Costumes," it's what you've wanted every musical to ever be in all the world. And I know, I remember you talking about how she just touched you so much and I, I can feel it listening to you talking about it. [00:31:04] Shawn Kilgore: Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. Like, and after that iconic, the iconic "Hello, Dolly" number and just the roar of the, you know, in full Broadway theater. And as everyone like stood up and I, I swear it went on for like five minutes or more the, the standing ovation, like it was, yeah. I just love it. I love, yeah, that was awesome. [00:31:28] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, of course. That is so cool. Well, yeah, you both have incredible stories about art being impactful and really like the, the idea of the art addict. [00:31:38]Natalie Cordone: We might have to make a t-shirt. [00:31:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Thankfully it's the healthiest addiction you can probably have, right? Oh, man. I feel like that needs to be explored further. We might, you know, that's fantastic. [00:31:52] Natalie Cordone: Art might make you poor, but it'll definitely get you high. [00:31:53]Lindsey Dinneen: This is perfect. I love it. Oh my gosh. And I totally resonate with what you were both talking about with live theater. I mean, I'm so grateful that there are so many avenues nowadays to view art virtually whether it's a, you know, it's a musical or something else, but there's nothing that compares to live theater, even as a performer. I feel, you know, if you're taped it's, it's nice. I mean, I'm glad to have that so I can go back in and see it again. But there's nothing like that feeling of just being on stage and looking out into the audience and hopefully it's a super dark theater, so you don't see anyone's face, you know? Oh, that's awesome. That's so exciting. So when's your first live performance back? [00:32:40]Natalie Cordone: We are so lucky that we will be performing at the Grand Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin coming on June the 11th. It's a Friday night and there'll be a live broadcast of it as well that's completely free. So if this happens to air before June 11th than anyone wants to watch it, if you go to the, if you Google the Grand Oshkosh or watch any of our shows, we always try to put up a link for it. That night you can watch the free live broadcast of the show along with the 50 or so people that are going to be allowed into the house that are going to be socially distanced in the balcony for the night, but we get to have our three piece band with us. We're going to get to actually tour up there again. [00:33:19]Shawn Kilgore: And it will be a really nice stream too. It's going to be a three camera shoot and that's all thanks to, I believe a sponsor, right, Natalie? Somebody, a corporate sponsor, that's sponsoring these, the stream so that we can share the show with, you know, an even broader audience, which is awesome. [00:33:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that is fantastic. You know, it's so interesting because again, in so many ways artists have had to really switch gears or be a little bit differently innovative, I would say. I think in general artists are very good at adapting, but yeah, I do like the fact that it's kind of opened the world to some of our artistic endeavors that might not necessarily get to see. Like, I wouldn't necessarily get to see that show, but now I can. And that's, that's really exciting, you know, and just to have those opportunities. So yeah. [00:34:06] Shawn Kilgore: Absolutely. There've been some crazy-- I just finished a project where it was eight actors, all in different states, all working with green screens. And it was a sketch comedy show, and that would have never happened, you know, if this didn't happen. So yeah, absolutely. There have been some, some good, some really interesting and cool things to come out of it, for sure. [00:34:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, your stories are just so fantastic. And I literally have been sitting here smiling the whole time. So this has been fantastic and wonderful. And I do have three questions that I always like to ask my guests if you two would be up for that. [00:34:44] Shawn Kilgore: Sure. [00:34:45] Natalie Cordone: Oh yeah! [00:34:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. So first of all, how do you personally define art or what is art to you? [00:34:52]Natalie Cordone: Ooh. I feel like we should have studied. All right. So what is art to you? Apparently we answered this earlier and the answer is like a drug. I think art to me is self-expression in a way where you're attempting to communicate something that is incommunicable to another person. [00:35:10] Shawn Kilgore: That's good.  I think for me, it's the opportunity to escape. [00:35:16]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And then what do you think is the most important role of an artist? [00:35:23]Shawn Kilgore: To keep it alive, to keep it going. [00:35:26]Natalie Cordone: I think for me, it's to tell the truth, whatever your truth is in that moment, to be vulnerable enough, to be honest, in a way where you are sharing something real, sharing a piece of yourself with people that you might never meet or really get to know. [00:35:46]Lindsey Dinneen:  Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. And then my final question, and I'll define my terms a little bit, but do you think that art should be inclusive or exclusive? And what I mean by that is inclusive referring to artists who put their work out there and provide some context behind that, whether it's, you know, as simple as a title, or whether it's show notes, whether it's the context behind it, the inspiration sort of that, that prompted it. Versus exclusive referring to artists that put their work out there, but don't provide the context and basically leave it solely up to the viewer to determine what they will. [00:36:22]Shawn Kilgore: I, for me, I think inclusive because it should be also about the educational piece of it and to let young people growing up today know how it all works, you know, and hopefully to be able to inspire.  [00:36:37] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. I think for me it can be, it can be valid in either direction. I think it's really up to the discretion of the artist as to what they want that experience to be for their viewer or their audience. I know for myself, I much prefer to make what would be considered inclusive art. And I think for the most part, I prefer to be the viewer of it as well. But I think that both of them are valid. It just depends on what the project is. I think, I know that wasn't really an answer, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick D, all of the above. [00:37:13] Shawn Kilgore: That's always the best-- if it's an option, I'm going with it. [00:37:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Right, right. No. And, and you're absolutely right. You're both right. I mean, there's value in both. And, and I think it's, it's really interesting to hear the answers to that particular question, because everyone has a different, you know, opinion, just like art is subjective, so is that question. I love it. Well again, thank you guys so very much for being here today. I'm just so thrilled to hear your stories. And I'm, I'm very excited about what you guys are doing. I'm going to mark it in my calendar to catch that live stream, because that's really exciting to me too. And, you know, with your, with your live shows that you're doing weekly, I think-- I just know that what you bring to the world brings so much positivity and light and value. And I just commend you two for doing that. And for choosing to look on the bright side, choosing to highlight the good that's happening, because that is so needed. And I just know that what you're doing is making a tangible difference in people's lives. And so I just want to commend you for that. And thank you for that because you know, it, it does take you time and effort and I appreciate it. So thank you. [00:38:29] Shawn Kilgore: That's very nice, Lindsey. Thank you so much. This was really a lot of fun. [00:38:33] Natalie Cordone: Yeah. Thank you. And we hope that you will be a friend of our show. We would love to have you on as a guest, not to put you on the spot, but we would love to have you. And so hopefully we'll get a chance to collaborate again because your spirit is so open and kind, and the work that you do here to, to gain the following of the people who rely on getting to hear you every week. We just were glad that we were able to share. [00:38:54] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, of course. And, oh my gosh, yes! I would absolutely love to be a guest. That would be a huge honor. [00:39:01]Natalie Cordone: We'll have our people call your people. [00:39:04]Lindsey Dinneen: Oh my gosh. Well, thank you again so much. I'm very much looking forward to that opportunity as well, but also, thank you so much for everyone who has listened to this episode. And, oh my goodness, if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I would just love if you would share this episode with a friend or two and we will catch you next time. [00:39:26] If you have a story to share with us, we would love that so much. And I hope your day has been Artfully Told.

In this episode Alaina & Casey interview Simone Silé, Music Librarian to the Orlando Philharmonic. Throughout their conversation they learn about the process of auditioning for the job, the workload, and how the orchestra is being forced to experiment in the current COVID world. As one of the 20% of American orchestras that started their 2020-2021 season, Simone gives insight on how the Orlando Philharmonic is adjusting to meet the needs of their audience and their performers.  Simone's Personal Instagram: @sincerely.sile  Simone's Business Instagram: @peppers.bindery Questions for Simone about becoming a music librarian? email her at Simonesile2@gmail.com Candace's Instagram: @CandaceCanCreate Mozart y Mambo by Sarah Willis Theme Music by The Maplewaves

On this episode of Baring It All with Call Me Adam, on the Broadway Podcast Network, I chat with three-time Grammy Nominee Ryan Shaw. In addition to his original music, Ryan is known throughout the Broadway community for his portrayals of Stevie Wonder in Motown: The Musical, being the soul of Michael Jackson in Thriller Live in London's West End, and most recently as "Judas" in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's U.S. premiere of the critically acclaimed London/Regent’s Park’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Ryan is getting ready to release his NEW album, Imagining Marvin, featuring Marvin Gaye hits alongside five of Ryan’s original songs. Imagining Marvin will be released by Broadway Records, on Friday, November 27, 2020. Order it here! In this interview we discuss: What it is like to portray music icons Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson His new album Imagining Marvin Working with the legendary Valerie Simpson Rapid Fire questions End with Ryan "Baring It All" with something he's never talked about before Connect with Ryan: https://www.ryanshaw.com Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Like What You Hear? Join my Patreon Family for advanced notice of interviews & exclusive behind-the-scene perks Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Visit: https://callmeadam.com for more interviews Special Thanks: My Patreon Family for their continued support: Angelo, Reva and Alan, Marianne, Danielle, Tara, and The Golden Gays NYC. Join the fun at https://patreon.com/callmeadamnyc. Theme Song by Bobby Cronin (https://bit.ly/2MaADvQ)  Podcast Logo by Liam O'Donnell (https://bit.ly/2YNI9CY)  Edited by Drew Kaufman (https://bit.ly/2OXqOnw) Outro Music Underscore by CueTique (Website: https://bit.ly/31luGmT, Facebook: @CueTique) More on Ryan: Ryan Shaw is a three-time GRAMMY-nominated artist. He recently appeared as Judas at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in the U.S. premiere of the critically acclaimed London/Regent’s Park’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which won the Olivier for Best Musical Revival. He starred as the original Stevie Wonder in Motown: The Musical on Broadway, and on London’s West End as the Soul of Michael Jackson in Thriller Live. As a recording artist, Shaw has released three solo GRAMMY-nominated projects to date: 2008’s THIS IS RYAN SHAW, 2011’s IT GETS BETTER, and 2014’s REAL LOVE. He has toured the world and shared the stage with such artists as Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, Joss Stone, John Legend, B.B. King, Bruce Hornsby and Jill Scott, to name a few. On television, Ryan has been a guest artist on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen’s Really Big Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, and The Martha Stewart Show. His music has been featured in television on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance and ABC’s Dancing with The Stars, Grey’s Anatomy, and Lincoln Heights, as well as in films My Blueberry Nights and Bride Wars and the Sex and the City soundtrack. As a concert soloist, Shaw made his Radio City Music Hall debut at the Dream Concert benefit to build the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. His Carnegie Hall appearances include Elton John and Bernie Taupin Tribute, A Celebration of The African American Cultural Legacy, curated by Jessye Norman, and a recent Nat King Cole centennial concert with the New York Pops. His concert schedule also includes Nat King Cole at 100 with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center, and A Tribute to the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin with numerous major orchestras throughout North America. Shaw continues to be a return featured special guest with the Houston Symphony, as well as performing with the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philly Pops, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Utah Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Helena Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and numerous others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 123: Lisa Bielawa, composer and vocalist. Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan. In this podcast Bielawa talks about a recent project called Broadcast from Home, work with Philip Glass, time at Yale, various major projects and much more. Composer, producer, and vocalist Lisa Bielawa is a Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition and takes inspiration for her work from literary sources and close artistic collaborations. Her music has been described as “ruminative, pointillistic and harmonically slightly tart,” by The New York Times. She is the recipient of the 2017 Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and was named a William Randolph Hearst Visiting Artist Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society for 2018.  Bielawa consistently executes work that incorporates community-making as part of her artistic vision. She has created music for public spaces in Lower Manhattan, the banks of the Tiber River in Rome, on the sites of former airfields in Berlin in San Francisco, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Her music has recently been premiered at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, SHIFT Festival, and Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, among others. She will have her second residency as a performer/composer at John Zorn’s venue The Stone in March 2020. Orchestras that have championed her music include the The Knights, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Composers Orchestra, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Premieres of her work have been commissioned and presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Rider, Seattle Chamber Music Society, American Guild of Organists, and more.  Bielawa began touring as the vocalist with the Philip Glass Ensemble in 1992 and in 2019 she became the inaugural Composer-in-Residence and Chief Curator of the Philip Glass Institute at The New School. In 1997 Bielawa cofounded the MATA Festival, which celebrates the work of young composers, and for five years she was the artistic director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus.  She received a 2018 Los Angeles Area Emmy nomination for her unprecedented, made-for-TV-and-online opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser, created with librettist Erik Ehn and director Charles Otte. Vireowas filmed in twelve parts in locations across the country and features over 350 musicians. Vireo was released on CD/DVD in 2019 (Orange Mountain Music) and she is also recorded on the Tzadik, TROY, Innova, BMOP/sound, Supertrain Records, Sono Luminus, and Cedille labels. For more information about Lisa Bielawa please visit: www.lisabielawa.net © Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Orlando Sentinel Now afternoon update for Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Florida coronavirus update for Aug. 12, 2020 (:29) Orlando City sets sights on home matches after MLS tournament loss (1:52) Columnist Scott Maxwell Florida ignored voter mandate for small classes. Now social-distancing is even tougher. | Commentary (6:01) Orlando Philharmonic returns money after flap over Pulse sensitivity (9:19) Death of Theatre Downtown's Frank Hilgenberg (12:42)

Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown jabbers with Paul Hostetter, the Ethel Foley Distinguished Chair in Orchestral Activities for the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. He has conducted the New York City Opera, the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Naples Philharmonic, the Syracuse Symphony, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra among many others. His 53 commercially released recordings have received honors including a Grammy Award, a Downbeat Critics Award, five stars for performance in the BBC Music Magazine, and two NY Times Top Five annual listings.

Connect with your Orlando arts communities and live a more creative life. Here's what's happening "This Week In Art".- This Saturday & Sunday, Bach Festival Society of Winter Park presents Haydn's "The Creation", described as the “chaos” of a non-existent world, the bliss of Adam and Eve, and the humor of a creeping lowly worm.- Saturday, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra presents Beethoven's 5th, Rei Hotoda, leads your Orlando Philharmonic in the most iconic piece in all of classical music.- Friday & Saturday, Central Florida Community Arts performs A Hero’s Journey. Place yourself in the center of the story as we reflect on what it means, how it sounds, and how it feels to be a hero.- Starting Saturday, Orlando Shakes opens Miss Nelson is Missing!, a musical about a classroom in peril after their teacher goes missing, running through November 16.- Starting Wednesday, Mad Cow Theatre opens Boesman and Lena. The human need for kindness, hope, and compassion is on display during a particularly violent era of governmental racism and suppression, running through November 17.Don't forget, IMMERSE's The Worlds Of CORKCICLE & Architects Of Air are open all this week. Get your ticket at creativecityproject.com/corkcicle2019

* Micah and Andrew attend A Celebration of Harry Potter in Orlando * We try Butterbeer tequila at Antojitos in Universal CityWalk * Cast Q&A with Natalia Tena (Tonks), Stanislav Ianevski (Krum), James & Oliver Phelps (Weasley twins) and Bonnie Wright (Ginny) * Pottermore announces a new Quidditch Through The Ages audiobook * Harry Potter: The Exhibition is headed to Milan in May * Guests were treated to a great performance from the first four films by the Orlando Philharmonic * The Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle debut at the Wizarding World * Micah tries hot Butterbeer… and Dragon Scale ale… and Hog's Head Brew * On Saturday we hit the expo floor to check out all of the vendors * The original Goblet of Fire and the Hogwarts letter spitter were among the special effects on display from the Studio Tour in London * We caught up with MinaLima, the graphic designers of the Harry Potter films, demoed the new Hogwarts Mystery mobile game and got a virtual reality tour of Newt's suitcase * Scholastic gave us a glimpse at some concept art for the 20th anniversary editions as well as let us step inside a life-size version of Sorcerer's Stone * Just what in the world is Globus Mundi? Andrew hopes to be a trendsetter this November! * We touch on how we think the celebration can be improved in future years, including more Fantastic Beasts integration * Be sure to check out our newest sponsor BrightCellars.com/MuggleCast for an amazing offer

It's been a busy and eventful year for Central Florida's arts organizations. And none more so than the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. This year, the orchestra appointed a new concert master and delved into the world of opera which it plans to continue doing in 2011.

The Orlando Philharmonic and the Orlando Ballet are the subjects of a documentary - produced by a former UCF student - and shown at the Central Florida Film Festival.

The Orlando Philharmonic teams up with the Mad Cow Theatre for Carmen. How a partnership between two major arts organizations is keeping opera on stage in Central Florida.  We speak with representatives of both the Philharmonic and Mad Cow about the production and its world-class cast.

One orchestra and three choral ensembles combined into one? Sounds like the perfect recipe! UCF Choral Director Dr. David L. Brunner shares how the Orlando Philharmonic is joining forces with UCF, The Orlando Chorale and the Orlando Opera Chorus to perform Beethoven's “Symphony No. 9” - and why now, more than ever, “Ode to Joy” is so vitally important.

The Orlando Philharmonic presents Rags to Riches - The Birth of Jazz and Jazz-Inspired Classics. There are two concerts - a free one Saturday, 4/18 at 7pm at St. Lukes Lutheran Church in Oviedo, and Monday, 4/20 at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center.

We talk to Tamas Kocsis, the concertmaster of the Orlando Philharmonic, who will be the soloist Saturday night in the Brahms Violin Concerto. Also, another quick look at the UCF Orlando Jazz Festival which runs Friday & Saturday night.

Saturday night, the Orlando Philharmonic will give the premiere of a new work by Stella Sung, a composer and professor in UCF's Digital Media department.  The concert is at 8pm at the Bob Carr PAC.

This weekend you can hear the finals of the Young Composer Challenge, a competition for teenage composers sponsored by local philanthropist Stephen Goldman, the Orlando Philharmonic and UCF CREATE.