Podcasts about Seattle Symphony

Mark Bernat is a double bassist currently living in Austin, Texas. His groundbreaking recording and edition of the Six Bach Cello Suites were driving forces that led to their wider adoption in the double bass world. Mark studied at Juilliard and is a former member of the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony. He has taught at the Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Texas at Austin, and Emory University. In Austin, he formed the all-volunteer Red River Ensemble, which aims to bring music into high-stress hospital environments.   We dig into Mark's background, how his approach to practicing Bach has changed over the years, the remarkable accomplishments of his daughter Nina, and much more. Enjoy, and be sure to check out Mark's latest recording of all six Bach Cello Suites on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music!   Image credit: Photon Corral Photography   Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!   Connect with us: all things double bass double bass merch double bass sheet music   Thank you to our sponsor! Upton Bass - From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today! theme music by Eric Hochberg

Sarah Viens is Principal Trumpet of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Symphony Tacoma, and is an active performer in the Pacific Northwest. Sarah frequently performs with the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Auburn Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theater, and the Seattle and Portland Operas. She is Second Trumpet with the Sunriver Music Festival, and has performed with the Britt Festival Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Oregon Bach Festival.In this episode, we discuss the trappings of academic careers, orchestral careers, and orchestral economics! Tune in for part 2 with Sarah later this month!

A 17-year-old double-bassist plays an excerpt from a lyrical sonata. We meet a teen composer who writes music based on her life experiences, including her journey with cancer. We hear her work performed by the Seattle Symphony that was inspired by a backpacking trip.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We reconnect with Seattle Symphony's Assistant Principal Cellist and From the Top alum Nathan Chan who joins Peter and our teen cellist for a Shostakovich polka. We also meet an accomplished young violinist who demonstrates some difficult bowing and a teen guitarist from Portland plays a rare duo with Peter.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Composer Alexandra Gardner creates music for varied instrumentations and often mixes acoustic instruments with electronics, drawing inspiration from topics including mythology, the natural sciences, and her training as a percussionist. Her music is performed extensively throughout the U.S. and in Europe at venues such as the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Beijing Modern Festival, The Library of Congress, and The Kennedy Center. She was a visiting composer for two years at the Phonos Foundation in Barcelona, Spain, and served as composer-in-residence for the Seattle Symphony. Recent projects include the string quartet Watershed, commissioned by Tesla Quartet, which explores the ways climate change is affecting the Chesapeake Bay region, and Time Unfolding, a concerto for alto saxophone and wind ensemble inspired by photographs from the James Webb Space Telescope. In addition to her composing activities, Alexandra maintains a private teaching studio and consulting business. She helps composers lead creative and fruitful musical lives through consulting, mentoring, and teaching essential business and communication skills. She presents masterclasses and workshops at colleges and universities around the U.S. and facilitates dialog and discussion related to artistic career development and the nature of creativity.   You can check out Alexandra's website for more information!     Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical!  Theme music and audio editing 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!    

Trombone-playing singer-songwriter Aubrey Logan hails from the picturesque surroundings near Seattle, WA. Raised by her two music-educator parents, she began her artistic endeavors as a child singing in theatre and in church, Thoughtful songwriters like Billy Joel & Carole King influenced her early childhood via her singing mother and trumpet-playing father, as well as the soulful musicianship of American horn bands such as Chicago, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Steeley Dan, and more.  Things took an intriguing turn when she picked up the trombone at the age of 12, igniting her passion for the jazz tradition. Aubrey possesses a distinct yet truly unique voice, able to take a song from practically any era or genre and really make it her own, through surprising vocal melisma, scatt jazz interludes, and a blissful warm tone that expands over her entire catalog of originals to innovatively-arranged hits. Her accolades are as impressive as they are extensive, from clinching victory in the prestigious Shure Montreux Voice competition in 2009 to securing a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she stands as an alumna. Notably recognized as a top trombone player by Downbeat magazine, Aubrey has graced stages globally, touring alongside renowned artists like Dave Koz & Postmodern Jukebox. For as much success as Aubrey has had in her career, she doesn't take herself too seriously. You'll catch her often making highly entertaining and humorous jabs at her own craft on stage or posts on her social platforms parodying overly serious jazz musicians, overplayed Christmas music, or social media trends. Aubrey attained the #1 Billboard spot for contemporary jazz with the Dave Koz & the Summer Horns album, "From A to Z," alongside the success of her own album "Where the Sunshine is Expensive." Aubrey's musical footprint can be traced from Seattle to Boston to LA, and now Austin, TX, where she continues to captivate audiences with her extraordinary vocals and unmatched Jazz finesse. A seasoned performer, Aubrey Logan has toured extensively with her band across Europe and the US, performing her music to students and fans alike through engaging clinics and performances at various institutions. Her musical prowess has also led her to collaborate with symphonies and orchestras nationwide, with both her original compositions and covers being brought to life by esteemed orchestras like the Seattle Symphony, Boston Pops, and Cincinnati Symphony. In a recent heartwarming ode to motherhood, Aubrey is gearing up to release a single in honor of Mother's Day, reflecting her newest role as a mom. Looking ahead, she is also currently immersed in creating her debut big band album set to be unveiled in late 2024, promising yet another dimension of her artistry to be enjoyed by music enthusiasts worldwide. Exuding lively youthfulness mingled with veteran musical maturity, Aubrey has a voice that seamlessly weaves through her songs with raw and natural elegance.

The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, interviews Nathan Chan, Assistant Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony. They talk about the incredible social media following he has built over the years by creating insightful, interesting and amusing videos around the cello. Nathan also shares his experience working towards the goal of winning a position in a major symphony orchestra and much more.For more information on Nathan Chan check out his website: https://nathanchan.com/You can also find Nathan on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube: @Nathanchancello If 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 

In this special in-person episode, host James Newcomb sits down with Manny Laureano, principal trumpeter with the Minnesota Orchestra. They dive deep into Manny's musical journey - from his early inspirations growing up in East Harlem, early gigs with Earth, Wind and Fire to the Seattle Symphony - to his esteemed career with the Minnesota Orchestra (which is soon coming to a close!) Discussed in-depth is Manny's philosophy on trumpet playing, the importance of musical integrity, and anecdotes from his illustrious career. Alongside valuable insights into the world of orchestral music, listeners can enjoy stories about renowned musicians, teaching moments, and Manny's unwavering passion for music.Episode Highlights:00:57 Early Life and Musical Beginnings01:54 Military Service and Musical Journey05:07 Professional Career and Influences08:06 Teaching and Mentorship10:18 Philosophy and Approach to Music23:45 Memorable Performances and Reflections30:33 Globalization of Orchestras31:43 Changing Traditions in American Orchestras34:40 The Evolution of Audition Standards36:23 The Role of Individuality in Music45:04 The Rise of Internet and Solo Careers47:31 The Impact of Gimmicks in Music53:45 Personal Reflections and Inspirations57:02 Concluding Thoughts and GratitudeConnect With the Guest:Manny's blogYou've been listening to Trumpet Dynamics, telling the story of the trumpet, in the words of those who play it. To learn more about the show, and to join the Trumpet Dynamics tribe, visit us on the web at trumpetdynamics.com.And be sure to tap the subscribe button on your phone so you're always up to date with new episodes as they release.Thank you for listening!

What’s Trending: King County and Seattle are suing over the natural gas initiative because apparently the voters voted the ‘wrong’ way. Guest: New Seattle Pacific University president Deana Porterfield. // LongForm: GUEST:  Jeffrey Barker with the Seattle Symphony gives a preview of what they have in store this holiday. // Guest: Snohomish County business and community leader Jerry McCann.

In this episode, Daniel Chiva Sanz shares his journey of mastering musical auditions by focusing on technical precision and intonation. Two years ago, after a failed audition at the Seattle Symphony, he realized that his practice method needed restructuring. The result is 'The School of Patience,' an exercise series that develops the intonational security required to develop a professional level of playing and win auditions. Subscribe to the podcast to get these interviews delivered to you automatically!   Connect with us: all things double bass double bass merch double bass sheet music   Thank you to our sponsors!   Upton Bass - From Grammy Award winners and Philharmonic players like ME Max Zeugner of the New York Philharmonic, each Upton Bass is crafted with precision in Connecticut, USA, and built to last for generations.  Discover your perfect bass with Upton Bass today!   Carnegie Mellon University Double Bass Studio is a valued part of an innovative fine arts community in a top research university. Students receive weekly private lessons and solo classes with Micah Howard, and Peter Guild teaches weekly Orchestral Literature and Repertoire. They encourage students to seek lessons and guidance from local bassists. Members of the Symphony, the Opera, and the Ballet provide annual classes and individual attention. Visit Micah's website to sign up for a free online trial lesson here. theme music by Eric Hochberg

Boggs served eight years in the U.S. Army as a regular officer and was honorably discharged. She was also one of the first women to receive a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. After law school, Boggs returned to Washington D.C. where she worked as an U.S. Army officer and attorney at the Pentagon and White House Office of Legal Counsel. From 1987 to 1988 Boggs served on the Iran-Contra Legal Task Force for which she earned the Defense Meritorious Service Award and Presidential Service Badge. In 1988, Boggs became an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of the State of Washington, where she prosecuted fraud and regulatory crimes and twice earned the U.S. Department of Justice Special Achievement Award. Working as a trial lawyer specializing in corporate civil litigation, Boggs was in 1995 named the first African American female partner of Seattle, Washington's Preston Gates & Ellis LLP. In 1997, she became Dell Corporation's first African American female vice president. She returned to Seattle in 2002, serving as Starbucks Corporation's first African American Executive Vice President, when she became general counsel and board secretary, a role she held until 2012. Boggs formed the Paula Boggs Band in 2007 releasing albums in 2010, 2015 and 2017. She founded Boggs Media, LLC in 2013. Boggs was honored with the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence in 1994, the 2006 American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award, the 2008 Wiley A. Branton Award from the National Bar Association and the American Bar Association Notable Member Award in 2013. In 2014, Boggs earned the Song of the Year© Award for “Look Straight Ahead” and is a voting member of the Recording Academy (The Grammys©). In addition to her legal and music careers, Boggs was a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions from 2010 to 2012, and the President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities from 2013 to 2017. She served on the boards of School of Rock LLC, Seattle Art Museum, public radio station KEXP, Johns Hopkins University and served as Legal Aid for Washington (LAWFUND) board president from 2006 to 2008. She serves on the boards of Avid Technology Inc., Seattle Symphony and American Bar Association Board of Governors. Boggs was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University ROTC Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the Seattle Mayor's 2018 Arts Award.

SynopsisSummer music camps offer young talent a chance to rub shoulders with seasoned professional musicians and to perform both old and new musical works. On today's date in 1977, American composer, conductor and educator Howard Hanson led the premiere of his Symphony No. 7 at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. Hanson subtitled his Seventh A Sea Symphony, and it includes a choral setting of passages from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. For 40 years, Hanson headed the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. And years later, Eastman professor Augusta Read Thomas follows in Hanson's footsteps as composer-in-residence at various summer music camps. On today's date in 2001, at the annual Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, her piece Murmurs in the Mist of Memory received its world premiere.Speaking of music in general, Thomas says, “Music of all kinds constantly amazes, surprises, propels and seduces me into a wonderful and powerful journey. I am happiest when listening to music and in the process of composing music. I care deeply that music is not anonymous and generic or easily assimilated and just as easily dismissed.”Music Played in Today's ProgramHoward Hanson (1896-1981): Symphony No. 7 (A Sea Symphony); Seattle Symphony and Chorale; Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Delos 3130Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964): Wind Dances; Louisville Orchestra; Lawrence Leighton Smith, conductor; Albany/Louisville First Edition 010

Data is one of the most powerful tools you can use in arts management to increase patron retention. But how do you know which metrics to track? How do you find the time to stay on top of key performance indicators? Over several years of experience, from my first job at the Seattle Symphony to becoming an executive director and developing the 'Long Haul Model', I can now identify the main, underlying problem most arts organizations run into when thinking about their data. And I brought in some folks to help me talk about it. In this bonus episode, I interview special guests Sune Hjerrild and Jan Pilgaard Carlsen, co-founders of Artelize, a company that eats, sleeps, and breathes using data in the arts. We talk about how to harness your data to retain more patrons, what key metrics are important to monitor to know if your retention efforts are working, and why most CRMs make patron retention challenging, either because extracting the data and reports you need is tricky, or because it just takes too much time — and what to do about it to make it a million times faster.Tracking and understanding your data doesn't have to be a pitfall for your organization. Enjoy this special bonus episode to carry you through until the podcast starts again this fall.Resources:The Long Haul Model articleRethinking Audience Engagement Panel Hosted by Artelize

Wayne Horvitz is the leader and principal composer for a number of groups including The Snowghost Trio, Sweeter Than the Day, the Gravitas Quartet, and The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble. He's also written for groups like the Kronos Quartet, the Seattle Symphony, and he composes music for film. He also owns and operates the club The Royal Room in Seattle's Columbia City.  Host Stephen Anthony Rawson spoke with Horvitz last week at his Seattle home about a number of music projects he's worked on over the years, as well as his musical style and people and collaborators who've been with him along the way.

Join us as we sit down with Aubrey Bergauer, dubbed “the Steve Jobs of classical music” and “the Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony.” Known for her data-driven, customer-centric approach, Aubrey has transformed major institutions like the Seattle Symphony and California Symphony. We discuss her passion for arts management, her innovative strategies for growth, and insights from her new book, “Run It Like a Business.” Don't miss this inspiring conversation on driving success in the performing arts! Learn more about our guests and sponsors, and get more resources at: https://www.femfortepodcast.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/femforte/message

Simon Woods brings more than 30 years of experience working with orchestras to his leadership role as president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras.Simon is known throughout the world of classical music as a highly trusted mentor and advisor to orchestra management professionals.His leadership includes regular columns in professional periodicals about the future of orchestras, as well as lectures and speaking engagements at conferences and orchestra boardrooms around the country.  I was fortunate enough recently to host a panel discussion with him on the subject of the presentation of classical music.Prior to joining the League in 2020, Woods served as CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he was interim executive director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, president and CEO of the Seattle Symphony, chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as serving the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Born in London, England, Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He currently serves on the boards of Astral Artists and the Performing Arts Alliance.

It is a privilege to welcome Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-nominated recording artist and actress N'Kenge to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast.  The New York Times praised her as “a classically trained diva that can stretch from Broadway to Pop, Soul and Opera.” N'Kenge trained at the Julliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, has five octave vocal range and can sing in 11 different languages. She made her Broadway debut in Sondheim on Sondheim. She slayed the game on Broadway, originating the role of Mary Wells in Motown: The Musical, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. Motown founder Berry Gordy described N'Kenge as “the most versatile artist I know.” The New York Post called her performance of Mary Wells “Electrifying.” N'Kenge was also a cast member on Broadway in the revival of the Tony Award-nominated and Olivier Award-winning musical Caroline, Or Change. She portrayed “The Moon,” her first aerial role. The show ran from October 27, 2021, to January 9, 2022, at the legendary Studio 54.As a vocal soloist, N'Kenge performed at world-renowned venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, and Madison Square Garden. She headlined pop and opera concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. She also sang for many Presidents and foreign dignitaries, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.Currently, N'Kenge is immersed in a variety of projects. She is spearheading the Broadway-bound DANDRIDGE, a production that pays tribute to the life and legacy of Dorothy Dandridge. Additionally, she has created and written Forever Summer – a Tribute to Donna Summer. On top of that, she is in the process of developing a new TV musical series called BLACK BUTTERFLY, a project she co-wrote with award-winning writer Mary McCallum and TV producer Gina Goff.  In this edition of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, N'Kenge spoke about being mentored by Berry Gordy and receiving high praise from the late Aretha Franklin. She also talked about bringing DANDRIDGE to life.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

 My guest for this episode is Aubrey Bergauer. Aubrey is known for her results-driven, customer-centric, data-obsessed pursuit of changing the narrative for the performing arts. A “dynamic administrator” with a drive for innovation, she's held offstage roles managing millions in revenue at major institutions, including the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As chief executive of the California Symphony, Aubrey propelled the organization to double the size of its audience and nearly quadrupled the donor base.  Aubrey helps organizations and individuals transform from scarcity to opportunity, make money, and grow their base of fans and supporters. Her ability to cast and communicate vision moves large teams forward and brings stakeholders together, earning “a reputation for coming up with great ideas and then realizing them” (per the San Francisco Classical Voice).  With a track record for increasing revenue and relevance, leveraging digital content and technology, and prioritizing diversity and inclusion on stage and off, Aubrey sees a better way forward for classical music and knows how to achieve it.  A graduate of Rice University, her work and leadership have been covered in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, and Southwest Airlines magazines, and she is a frequent speaker spanning TEDx, Adobe's Magento, universities, and industry conferences in the U.S. and abroad. Aubrey's first book, Run It Like A Business, was just published (February 2024).  Here's what to expect during the episode: Why is it essential for nonprofit organizations to consider running their operations with a business-like approach? How can adopting a business mindset benefit a nonprofit organization? What are some common misconceptions people might have when suggesting that nonprofits run like a business, and how can these be addressed? What practical steps can be taken to overcome workplace silos?  What aspects of business culture could a nonprofit organization potentially adopt to enhance its overall effectiveness and impact? Connect with Aubrey Bergauer! Website: https://www.aubreybergauer.com/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/aubreybergauer/ Link for 6 Steps You Must Know to Unleash the Potential of Your Nonprofit Board. You can get that by going to Mary's website:  https://www.hilandconsulting.org/ Mary's book is available on Amazon or wherever books are sold:  Love Your Board! The Executive Directors' Guide to Discovering the Sources of Nonprofit Board Troubles and What to Do About Them. Be sure to subscribe to Inspired Nonprofit Leadership so that you don't miss a single episode, and while you're at it, won't you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated!    Let us know the topics or questions you would like to hear about in a future episode. You can do that and follow us on  Facebook. Connect with Mary! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhiland Inspired Nonprofit Leadership Facebook Group: https://tinyurl.com/inspirednonprofitleadership Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilandconsulting Website: https://www.hilandconsulting.org  

Cw: police brutality, description of injury, death, suicidal ideation, disassociation, warfare, emotional manipulation in a relationship,  We build the WORLD'S STRONGEST AU to start this (unfortunate rerecord episode). The barricades are up and (surprise!) we're already facing death. Enjolras shows us what leadership means to him, Hugo has a lot of hope for the future (yikes), and Marius tests our patience as he goes to find his death. WHO-HOO! EEEE!! Song used: Music Director Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony perform "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 by Edvard Grieg at Benaroya Hall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMUr8Rt2AI  This podcast was produced by Nemo Martin and Julian Yap. The audio direction and intro composing is by JDWasabi. It is a Captain's Collection Creation. Bread & Barricades (@LesMisPodcast) | Twitter Bread & Barricades | Tumblr Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/lesmispodcast  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LesMisPodcast

Margaret Brennan on the latest in the Middle East and the upcoming Iowa Caucus //  Feliks Banel with "All Over The Map" - A long-forgotten TV show set in Seattle is revisited // Paul Holden on the weekend residency of film composer Joe Hisiashi with the Seattle Symphony // Ellie Krieger, registered dietitian and nutritionist on how to reduce sodium intake // Dave's Commentary on the environmental impact of brewing coffee // Daily Dose of Kindness: A grateful waitress in New York gets a big tip // Gee Scott on the rumors of Kalen Deboer leaving UW // Chris Sullivan with the latest on the FAA's investigation on Boeing // Matt Markovich on the most talked about bills being discussed in the legislature

Poetry has long served as a point of inspiration for classical composers. Just think of Beethoven's magnificent setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy," Schubert's cinematic take on Goethe's "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel," or Ned Rorem's soulful songs based on the words of Frank O'Hara. And now there's a new work to add to this storied tradition from composer Brian Raphael Nabors. In Upon Daybreak, premiered by the Berkeley Symphony in late 2022, Nabors turns to a poignant poem by the late Maya Angelou, "A Brave, Startling Truth." Rather than set the poem's text to music, however, Nabors distills Angelou's visionary call for a great "day of peacemaking" into a powerful orchestral work that imagines a utopian world without hatred or malice. "In the poem, [Angelou] talks about all the chaos, war, and dystopia that come about from us being humans and destructive," Nabors says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "But also all the beauty that comes from humanity and what we're able to offer. It talks about this day when all this war mongering ends finally and we realize that the true wonders of the world are ourselves and life itself." Commissioned by New Music USA as part of its Amplifying Voices program, Upon Daybreak has been performed by the Detroit Symphony, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra since its Berkeley premiere, and the work will make its way to the Seattle Symphony in 2024.  In this episode, Nabors and I talk more about composing Upon Daybreak and what it was like working with the Berkeley Symphony's music director, Joseph Young, on a host of community engagement projects leading up to the premiere. Plus, he shares the important part his spiritual life plays in maintaining the energy to compose, how video games help him overcome creative blocks, and why skin care is always a top priority in his wellness routine. — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Classical Post® is created and produced by Gold Sound Media® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performing arts industry. Explore how we can grow your audience to make a lasting impact in your community.

Have you ever dreamed of being famous? Imagined what it would be like to have all your dreams come true? Recognition, adoration, basking in the limelight. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But dig a little deeper and you'll find that “The Road To Fame” is a prickly path, filled with twists & turns, backstabbing & betrayals. Experience a captivating journey into fame as the performers of Letters Aloud bring to life personal and illuminating letters from renowned figures like Stephen King, Dorothy Parker, Vincent Van Gogh, Emily Dickinson, Bruce Lee, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Hanks, and explore the steep cost and evolving nature of what it means to be “famous” from those who have traversed its path. A riotously funny, movingly poignant, and thought-provoking experience brought to life by a gifted ensemble of professional actors, with live musical accompaniment, and a dynamic slide show, “Before They Were Famous” is a show that leaves audiences with smiles on their faces and much to discuss on their drive home. Letters Aloud is a performing arts company that brings to life intimate, thought-provoking, and often humorous stories hidden within private letters of the past. Their performances are a unique combination of literature, theatre, and live music that celebrates the beauty of the written word and the human experience. (If you take NPR's Selected Shorts, cross it with The Moth podcast and add just a pinch of the old A Prairie Home Companion, you pretty much have their show…except, of course, with letters.) They believe that letters are more than just pieces of paper; they are windows into the past, bridges between people, and tools for empathy and connection. Reading them aloud in front of an audience makes for a truly unique and powerful collective experience. Whether you're a fan of literature, history, or simply good storytelling, we invite you to join us on a journey through the written word. Letters Aloud is a celebration of the human spirit and we look forward to sharing it with you. About the Performers: PAUL MORGAN STETLER Paul is the creator and curator of Letters Aloud and a co-founder (and former Co-Artistic Director) of Seattle's multi-award-winning New Century Theatre Company. A well-known Seattle actor, Paul has appeared on numerous local stages over the past 20 years, including ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, Intiman Theatre, and Empty Space Theatre, as well as numerous regional theatres across the country. He holds a BA in English Literature at Cal State Northridge and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Penn State University. BASIL HARRIS Basil Harris is a Seattle actor and musician who has worked extensively on stage and in film and media. As a voice actor, he's a regular contributor to the audio dramas of Jim French's Imagination Theater. He also plays in the alt-pop band “Awesome”, which will be appearing here at Town Hall in December. More at basilharris.com CLAUDINE MBOLIGIKPELANI NAKO Claudine is an actor out of Seattle, Washington, and a core company member of the prestigious ACT Theatre where she has appeared in numerous plays and is a two-time Gregory Award Winner for her work on stage. Film/TV credits include Everything Sucks!, Raising Dion, and Outside In (Netflix); Three Busy Debras on HBO Max and Grimm on NBC. Up next: directing Stew by Nora Howard at ACT Theatre, March 15-31. RAY TAGAVILLA Ray Tagavilla is a UW Drama Program graduate and a recipient of the 2012, 2014 Gregory Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jesus Hopped the A Train and A Small Fire and 2016 for Lead Actor for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. His most recent theater credits were Two Mile Hollow at Intiman Theater, Titanish at Seattle Public, and recent film credits were Three Busy Debras with Adult Swim/HBO Max. ALEXANDRA TAVARES Alexandra Tavares is one of Seattle's most treasured theatre actors. She most recently portrayed Caliban in Seattle Rep's The Tempest, as well as The Winter's Tale, The Odyssey, Constellations (nominated for Outstanding Actress), Three Tall Women, and The Great Moment at Seattle Rep. She is a co-founder of The Seagull Project and has performed with them as Nina in The Seagull, Masha (nominated Outstanding Actress) in The Three Sisters, and Yelena in Uncle Vanya. She holds an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Washington. JAMIE MASCHLER Jamie is a musician, music director, educator and ambassador of the accordion. She is co-founder of the Brazilian bands Foleada, En Canto, and the accordion duo Creosote. She has been heard with the Pueblo Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Seattle Philharmonic. Jamie has also played the role of Nelly Friedman in Paula Vogel's award-winning play, Indecent, twice.

What happens when you combine a favorite film and a live symphony orchestra performance? An amazingly entertaining concert experience. For all ages. And for fans of both film and music alike. As a lifelong lover of film scores, join CH this week as she recaps her recent viewing of the The Harry Potter Film Concert Series as performed by the Seattle Symphony, and how it is an inspiring, unique (and dare we say hip?) way to experience an orchestral music performance (especially if you have never thought about going to one). Show Notes For more information on The Harry Potter Film Concert Series, check out HarryPotterInConcert.com for the current films being played by symphony orchestras worldwide. For additional information on The Seattle Symphony and Benaroya Hall, check out SeattleSymphony.org The Holiday can be rented or viewed on most streamers.

Lee Mills is internationally recognized as a passionate, multifaceted and energetic conductor. In naming Mills as the ‘New Artist of the Month' for March 2022, Musical America praised his ‘omnivorous musical temperament eager to try out highly contrasting musical styles and approaches.'As you'll hear, Lee left his mark wit the Seattle Symphony during the COVID pandemic, stepping in at crucial times. The League of American Orchestras selected Lee Mills for the 2018 Bruno Walter National Conductors Preview where he conducted the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. In 2017 he was selected as a semi-finalist in both the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition and the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege International Opera Conducting Competition. In addition, he conducted alongside David Robertson in the highly acclaimed U.S. Premiere of John Cage's Thirty Pieces for Five Orchestras with the Saint Louis Symphony.    At the invitation of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop, he received the prestigious BSO-Peabody Institute Conducting Fellowship in 2011. Under the tutelage of Gustav Meier and Marin Alsop, Mills received his Graduate Performance Diploma and Artist's Diploma in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Institute. He was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen during the summers of 2012 and 2013, working closely with Larry Rachleff, Robert Spano and Hugh Wolff. Lee Mills graduated cum laude from Whitman College, where he studied with Robert Bode.

Margaret Brennan on the possible government shutdown // Feliks Banel with All Over The Map - the history of the Ship Canal Bridge // Paul Holden on the Seattle Symphony's newest special concerts on iconic video game music // Dose of Kindness -- A member of the New Orleans Saints makes the day of kids in Louisiana // Ursula Reutin on the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, and the need for police accountabilitySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Andersson is an Internationally recognized, Grammy-winning conductor and producer. Named by British music critic Norman Lebrecht as “America's most watched Symphony Orchestra Conductor,” Andersson has been praised for her dynamic musicality, expressive technique and cross genre repertoire. She has toured to over twenty-two countries conducting concerts and recording sessions in symphonic, operatic, film, musical theatre and video game genres. She has appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Morning News, CBS Evening News and has garnered press coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Variety, Forbes, and Huffington Post. Andersson is founder and conductor of Orchestra Moderne NYC, which debuted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and has won critical acclaim for her charismatic and visionary accomplishments as creator and conductor of Women Warriors: The Voices of Change, a live-to-picture symphony production and documentary film. Women Warriors has won over twenty-four international film and music awards including four Telly Awards, a Hollywood Music in Media Award, a GRAMMY in “Best Classical Compendium, a 2022 BMI “Impact Award,” a 2023 SCL “Jury Award” and has screened at film festivals in more than twelve countries, including the Fimucité International Film Music Festival in Tenerife. Known for her commitment to the music of living composers, she has conducted the works of composers Neal Acree, Elitsa Alexandrova, Peter Boyer, Nathalie Bonin, Jessica Curry, Miriam Cutler, Anne-Kathrin Dern, Greg Edmonson, Isolde Fair, Sharon Farber, Steve Jablonsky, Grant Kirkhope, Penka Kouneva, Bear McCreary, Martin O'Donnell, Kol Otani, Starr Parodi, Lolita Ritmanis, Garry Schyman, Yoko Shimomura, Jeremy Soule, George Strezov, Chance Thomas, Nobou Uematsu, Jack Wall, and Austin Wintory, among others, either on the concert stage or in recording sessions. Andersson has made guest appearances the St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Spanish Philharmonic, Berliner Symphoniker, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Stockholm Concert Orchestra, Spanish National Youth Orchestra, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Classic FM Radio Orchestra of Bulgaria, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Neiderrheinsche Symphoniker, LOH Orchestra Sonderhausen, Giessen Philharmonic, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Macedonian Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, National Orchestral of Mexico, and at free-lance orchestras in Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and Ireland. Andersson regularly conducted opera productions in Germany at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, National Theater of Mannheim, Stadttheater Aachen, Weikersheim Opera Festival, Rheinsberg Chamber Opera, and Schlosstheater Schwetzinger. In 2017 Andersson completed a two year, world tour of the live-to-picture concert Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. Andersson is a devoted teacher and educator and known also for her work with youth orchestras. She was adjunct conducting faculty at the Universität der Künste Berlin, music director of the famed CPE Bach High School of Performing Arts in Berlin, and adjunct faculty in Media and Film Scoring at Brooklyn College/Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. In Germany she conducted the Rheinberg Chamber Opera Festival and Weikersheim Opera Festival for four summer seasons of productions that featured rising opera singers and youth orchestras. She is currently conducting faculty at the USC Thornton in the Screen Scoring department, and the Hollywood Music Workshop in Baden, Austria. Current projects include Andersson as co-Executive Producer on the soon to be released film (2023)Tahlequah The Whale: A Dance of Grief, by filmmaker Daniel Kreizberg, featuring the music of Lolita Ritmanis. She is also conductor and co-producer of the soon to be released soundtrack.

"In choir we have a chance to learn to embody a different culture through its language. When you're singing pieces in another language, there's a moment where you have to feel that you speak that language if only for a few words, if only a few moments. I think that has the capacity to create a kind of empathy regardless of whether that's your culture or not. To embody it does create this empathy that I really believe in as a way to make our world a little closer for the right reasons."Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail's life and music was profiled on Season 3 of PBS Great Performances series Now Hear This, as well as Frame of Mind, a podcast from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Esmail divides her attention evenly between orchestral, chamber and choral work. She has written commissions for ensembles including the Los Angeles Master Chorale,  Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Kronos Quartet, and her music has featured on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, including The Singing Guitar by Conspirare, BRUITS by Imani Winds, and Healing Modes by Brooklyn Rider. Many of her choral works are published by Oxford University Press.Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 2020-2025 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and was Seattle Symphony's 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. She also holds awards/fellowships from United States Artists, the S&R Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Kennedy Center.Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM'05) and the Yale School of Music (MM'11, MMA'14, DMA'18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazumdar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers.Esmail was Composer-in-Residence for Street Symphony (2016-18) and is currently an Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting music traditions of India and the West.She currently resides in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.To get in touch with Reena, you can find her on Instagram (@reenaesmail) or check out her website: https://www.reenaesmail.com.Choir Fam wants to hear from you! Check out the Minisode Intro episode from September 16, 2022, to hear how to share your story with us. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels

Today we talk to Jonathan Rosoff, an entrepreneur, business leader, marketer, social impact strategist, and now the CEO and founder of Formative, a venture capital firm focused on investing in technology startups that are making a positive impact on society. Jonathan shares his insights on technology and social impact, the evolution of his definition of success, and his advice for finding meaningful work that feeds your soul.KEY TAKEAWAYS [01:34] - Dino introduces Jonathan Roseoff, his old friend and colleague who founded Formative, an agency that blends marketing, technology, and policy expertise to design and launch social good campaigns for purpose-driven brands. They also help tackle significant global health issues for clients such as Microsoft.[02:13] - Formative's role in flattening the Curve at the beginning of the COVID Pandemic. [03:00] - Jonathan talks about his journey to where he is now and the things that form who he is and inform what he wants to do. [05:12] - From telling dad jokes to wearing his heart on his sleeve Jonathan shares his natural evolution, what authentic leadership means to him, and learning from his successes and failures.[06:44] - Jonathan discusses what he thought a leader would be (compared to now) and shares his secrets for building trust.[08:45] - What genuine authenticity looks like in a corporate environment and the ingredients it needs to be effective.[10:23] - Dino emphasizes the importance of marrying authenticity with additional values. [11:37] - True authenticity reveals who people are; Jonathan shares the need to motivate positive change.[12:33] - Jonathan shares the motivation behind starting his own agency and the challenges and rewards of competing against larger firms and solving complex global problems.[15:43] - How Formative's work with the Seattle Flu Study informed decision-making during the pandemic.[18:00] - Jonathan reveals Formative's secret to success and the core values that drive everything they do.[19:45] - Jonathan shares what type of people Formative hires and how the company helps people grow in their careers. [21:45] - How Formative uses employee surveys to reinforce its core values and how market conditions have affected them. [22:54] - What makes up Formative's core values, and why Jonathan believes productive debate drives great work.[26:06] - The pros and cons of bringing business skills to social impact work and the challenge of creating partnerships that incorporate the countries that will be recipients or collaborators in developing solutions.[28:21] - Jonathan talks about how his definition of success has changed over the years.[29:34] - Why impact matters, and Jonathan's advice for finding opportunities that align with your passions and your way into places where your heart is.[32:30] - If you want to learn more about Jonathan and Formative, visit their website or drop him a line. [33:05] - Jonathan shares his passion for music outside of work, including singing with the Seattle Symphony and a dad band in dive bars. [35:13] - Jonathan shares the "humble brag" expression that he feels is inauthentic.[36:53] - How the Ukrainian group DakhaBrakha is making incredible original music and using it to raise awareness for what's...

Synopsis In Toronto on today's date in 2017 violinist James Ehnes gave the world premiere performance of a new violin concerto by the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis. The work was written specially for Ehnes and was a joint commission from orchestras in Toronto, Seattle, Dallas, and Melbourne. Shortly after the Toronto premiere, Ehnes performed the new concerto in Seattle with the Seattle Symphony and conductor Ludovic Morlot. A live recording of that Seattle performance was released on compact disc and was awarded not one, but TWO Grammy Awards in 2019: it was chosen as “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” and snagged the highly-competitive “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” prize. The three movements of Kernis Violin Concerto demand incredible virtuosity from the soloist, and Ehnes was up to the challenge. “James Ehnes is a truly spectacular musician and collaborator,” said Kernis. “James took everything I threw at him with good humor and generosity, and made the knuckle-busting passages and everything else I gave him sound absolutely dazzling.” As part of the commissioning agreement, Ehnes was granted exclusive performing rights of the new concerto for five years – so audiences will have to wait until March 2021 to hear if other violinist choose to tackle the demanding new Kernis Concerto! Music Played in Today's Program Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) Violin Concerto James Ehnes, violin; Seattle Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, conductor. Onyx CD 4189

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 72.  We hope you enjoy the show! Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.   IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Patricia Ward Kelly Patricia is an accomplished writer, scholar, freelance journalist, and the widow and official biographer of Gene Kelly.  She and Kelly met at the Smithsonian in 1985, when he was the host/narrator for a television special for which she was a writer.  Soon after, he invited her to California to write his memoirs, a job for which she recorded his words nearly every day for over ten years. They were together until his death in 1996. Currently, Patricia serves as Trustee of The Gene Kelly Image Trust and is the President and Creative Director of The Gene Kelly Legacy, Inc.  She lives in Los Angeles where she is completing a book about her late husband. As part of this work, she is preserving and cataloging The Gene Kelly Archives — an extensive collections of letters, manuscripts, photographs, scripts, interviews, essays, poems, holograph notes, and memorabilia that will eventually be the basis of additional publications and, ultimately, the core of an innovative, virtual Gene Kelly “experience.” Mrs. Kelly has recorded commentary for the DVDs of An American in Paris, The Pirate, Words and Music, Xanadu, and Hello, Dolly!, and is frequently called upon to introduce Gene's films in theaters and at festivals, including two years at the TCM Classic Film Festival. She has been interviewed extensively on TCM and has represented her husband's legacy on numerous PBS specials and pledge drives and on the popular television shows So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars.  She regularly hosts scores of dancers and other artists from around the world at her home, sharing insights about the life and work of her late husband through an intimate tour of The Gene Kelly Archives. Patricia has appeared in An Evening with Mrs. Gene Kelly in several cities around the world and her one-woman tribute — Gene Kelly: The Legacy, An Evening with Patricia Ward Kelly — sold out two nights at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on the occasion of Kelly's centenary in 2012 and has been touring across the United States and abroad the past four years, with sold-out performances at Lincoln Center, The Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, the Sedona Film Festival, and many, many more. In two weeks - Friday, March 17th through Sunday, March 19th - Patricia will be in Seattle to host another one of a kind event, this time at Benaroya Hall - Gene Kelly: A Life in Music.  Gene Kelly dancing on the big screen accompanied live by the Seattle Symphony!  Patricia joined us now from her home Los Angeles.   Connect with Patricia and keep up on the latest Gene Kelly news: On Instagram On Facebook On Twitter On Linkedin

We open this edition of Midday with music by Gustav Holst ("Mars," from his "Planets" Suite), in a performance by the Seattle Symphony under the direction of Jonathon Heyward. Mr. Heyward, to borrow a phrase, is young, gifted and Black. And next season, he will become the new Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. A 30 year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, he is the first person of African descent to lead the BSO, and only the second Black conductor to lead an American top-tier orchestra. Jonathan Heyward has guest-conducted orchestras in America and abroad, and he has served as the chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Germany. Here's asample of some of his work with that ensemble, performing the music of Franz Joseph Haydn... Jonathon Heyward's historic tenure at the BSO begins with the orchestra's 2023-24 season this fall. He joins Tom today in Studio A… Jonathan Heyward and Tom Hall will continue their conversation Monday evening at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall here in Baltimore. They'll talk more about his plans for his inaugural season as the BSO's Music Director, in an event that will include some performances by members of the orchestra. Doors open at 7:00, and the program begins at 7:30pm. Click the event link above for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 71.  We hope you enjoy the show! Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.   IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Kayla Boye Photo Credit: Kachi Mozie Kayla Boye is the writer, producer, and star of the one-woman show Call Me Elizabeth, chronicling the early life of Elizabeth Taylor. Set in May 1961, the play is inspired by Taylor's conversations with writer Max Lerner as they discuss plans for a biography.  Through a morning session with Lerner at The Beverly Hills Hotel, Taylor rediscovers her sense of self following her 1961 Academy Awards triumph and recovery from a nearly fatal battle with pneumonia. The play examines Taylor's career, life, and loves, chronicling her survival in the face of adversity and tragedy, and illuminating the core compassion of her character that inspired her later activism in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  Kayla is a Chicago-based artist whose credits include productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Mercury Theater Chicago, Music Theater Works, BrightSide Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Capital City Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse, and The Huron Playhouse. As an arts administrator, she has worked in development, marketing, and finance for Goodman Theatre and Writers Theatre, and she has served as a producer for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage Rep series.  As a consultant for the Artistic Fundraising Group, her portfolio included work for Arts of Life, BrightSide Theatre, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Chicago Mosaic School, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Snow City Arts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as Executive Director of The Youngstown Playhouse and she holds a BA in Professional Writing & Editing from Youngstown State University. Kayla is also a Certified Nonprofit Professional through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance.  You can find out more about her work at kaylaboye.com and about the show at callmeelizabeth.com.  Kayla joined us from Old Town Pasadena.   COMING UP NEXT EPISODE: Patricia Ward Kelly Make plans to join us again in two weeks, Friday March 3rd, when we'll welcome to the show Patricia Ward Kelly, widow and official biographer of the truly marvelous Gene Kelly.  Patricia will be in Seattle March 17-19th to host a one of a kind event at the Seattle Symphony, Gene Kelly: A Life in Music.  Get your tickets now at seattlesyphony.org and don't miss Ep 72 on Friday, Mar 3rd.

Synopsis On today's date in 1934, the audience at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City demanded—and got—50 curtain calls for the cast and conductor of the new opera that had just received its premiere staged performance. The opera was Merry Mount, based on a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story set in a Puritan colony in 17th century New England. The music was by the American composer Howard Hanson. The performers for Met Opera's premiere included the great American baritone Lawrence Tibbett as the Puritan preacher Wrestling Bradford, sorely tempted by the Swedish soprano Gösta Ljungberg in the role of Lady Marigold Sandys, his VERY unwilling leading lady. Despite its setting in Puritan New England, Hanson's opera included plenty of the lurid sex and violence that fuels the all the best Romantic opera plots, and the score was in Hanson's most winning Neo-Romantic style, with rich choral and orchestral writing, capped by a fiery conflagration as a grand finale. What more could an opera audience want? Strangely enough, despite its tremendous first-night success, Merry Mount has seldom—if ever—been staged since 1934. To celebrate the centenary of Hanson's birth in 1996, the Seattle Symphony presented Merry Mount in a concert performance conducted by Gerard Schwarz. Music Played in Today's Program Howard Hanson (1896-1981) Merry Mount Suite Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor. Delos 3105

Nina Shekhar is a composer who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and “surprises and delights aplenty” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by numerous leading artists. Since 2021, Shekhar has been the Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. Host Stephen Anthony Rawson sits down to talk with Nina about the recent performance of her piece Lumina at the Seattle Symphony, exploring identity through remixing and sampling, mental health, and much more.

The job of the Christian church is to be salt and light in the world by believing, preaching, and living out the uncompromised gospel that Jesus Christ is Lord over all. As the Seattle Symphony sang, “He shall reign forever and ever.” That this sounds too extreme to most pastors (!) today accounts for a recent meme that says, “If Paul were around today, the church would be getting a letter.” These texts from Revelation and Hebrews contain a letter of sorts, reminding us that the church has been overtaken by sin before and called to repentance, just as we need to be today. This message focuses on the state of the church in our country but includes exhortations for us locally

Synopsis In all, the American composer David Diamond wrote 11 Symphonies, spanning some 50 years of his professional career. The last dates from 1991, and the first from 1940, completed after his return from studies in Paris shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Diamond's first Symphony was premiered on today's date in 1941 by the New York Philharmonic led by the famous Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos. Despite winning awards and positive comments from fellow composers ranging from Virgil Thomson to Arnold Schoenberg, for years Diamond struggled to make ends meet by playing violin in various New York City theater pit bands. More than one fellowship grant, however, enabled him to live abroad for extended stays, where, he said: “I can make my income last and live extremely well with my own villa and garden at a cost that would provide a hole-in-the-wall, coldwater flat in America . . . There is a spiritual nourishment, too, in that cradle of serious music [and] quiet for concentration that could never be found in an American city.” Defending his more traditional approach, Diamond wrote: “It is my strong feeling that a romantically inspired contemporary music, tempered by reinvigorated classical technical formulas, is the way out of the present period of creativity chaos in music... To me, the romantic spirit in music is important because it is timeless.” Music Played in Today's Program David Diamond (1915-2005) Symphony No. 1 Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor. Delos 3119

Synopsis On today's date in 1955, the Boston Symphony was celebrating its 75th anniversary season with the premiere performance of a brand-new symphony—the sixth—by the American composer Walter Piston. At the time, Piston was teaching at Harvard, and his association with the Boston Symphony went back decades. Even so, Piston paid the orchestra an extraordinary compliment, crediting its musicians as virtual partners in its composition: “While writing my Sixth Symphony,” Piston wrote, “I came to realize that this was a rather special situation. I was writing for one designated orchestra, one that I had grown up with, and that I knew intimately. Each note set down sounded in the mind with extraordinary clarity, as though played immediately by those who were to perform the work. On several occasions it seemed as though the melodies were being written by the instruments themselves as I followed along. I refrained from playing even a single note of this symphony on the piano.” This symphony may have been tailor-made for the Boston players, but Piston was practical enough to know other orchestras would be interested, and so added this important footnote: “The composer's mental image of the sound of his written notes has to admit a certain flexibility.” Music Played in Today's Program Walter Piston (1894-1976) Symphony No. 6 Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor. Delos 3074

Our Special Guest Today is - - -CAROL SWARBRICK - Writer/Actress Her film is: Miss Lillian: More Than A Presidents Mother Website:
misslillian.com On Facebook: The Lillian Carter Story Purchase the film: geni.us/MissLillian or on misslillian.com Principal Cast: 
President Jimmy Carter, 
Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter
, Sam Donaldson
, Tommy Lasorda
, Carol Swarbrick 
For the past several decades, Carol has made her living principally by performing on Musical Theatre stages around the world, having leads on Broadway in 42nd STREET, SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM, and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. She has also starred in television series and specials, Movies of the Week, and feature films. Concerts and cruise ships have offered her opportunities and she was thrilled to be one of 5 soloists in a Steven Sondheim Tribute with The Seattle Symphony conducted by Marvin Hamlisch! She is so darn cool - Carol Swarbrick! There is a film I want to tell you about. “Miss Lillian: More Than A President's Mother,” tells the inspiring story of Lillian Carter, the matriarch of the storied Carter family of Plains, Georgia, and mother to United States President Jimmy Carter. The film centers around rare interviews with historical figures of the Carter era, including former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the late Los Angeles Dodger legend Tommy Lasorda, longtime ABC White House correspondent Sam Donaldson, and of course her son, Jimmy. Miss Lillian is portrayed in the film by actress Carol Swarbrick. In candid moments, President Carter reflects on his remarkable mother, who passed her deeply held humanitarian values on to each of her children. She lived a life of service, and worked for equality and respect, ultimately impacting a nation through her influence on Jimmy. To watch the film on a streaming platform or to own your copy of “Miss Lillian: More Than A President's Mother,” go to misslillian.com and enter the Contact Us page.

Meredith Broderick, MD is a neurologist specializing in sleep medicine and behavioral sleep medicine. She is one of the only physicians in the country to hold this trifecta combination of board certifications. Her career has included academics, private practice, urban and under-served areas. She has spent most of her career practicing in the Puget Sound region. In 2021 she started Sound Sleep Guru, a holistic boutique sleep medicine practice located in Bellevue, WA and with telehealth reaching WA, CA, and AK. In her personal life Dr. Broderick is passionate about the performing arts and has been a longstanding patron and fundraiser for the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera. She is also an experienced recreational climber and has been on mountaineering expeditions to Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Denali, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and summited peaks such as Mt. Whitney via the East Face and Mt. Blanc just to name a few.

The composer used his knowledge of synthesizers and was able to present many cues in a mock-up form before he recorded them with the Seattle Symphony. This is information that Kyle has decided needed sharing. Email: roughnightpodcast@gmail.com

Synopsis On this day in 1904, in Cologne, Germany, Gustav Mahler conducted the first performance of his Fifth Symphony. It was not a success. Applause was light, with loud hissing from some in the audience. Even Mahler's wife, Alma, complained so much about the orchestration that Mahler kept tinkering with the score until the last year of his life. Despite this inauspicious beginning, Mahler's Fifth has become a popular showpiece for virtuoso orchestras and its slow movement, marked Adagietto -- supposedly Mahler's musical love to Alma -- has become one of Mahler's best-loved pieces. The American composer Jerome Moross also had a symphony premiered on today's date. The year was 1943, Moross was 30 years old, and Sir Thomas Beecham conducted its premiere performance with the Seattle Symphony. Unlike Mahler, Moross wrote only ONE symphony, and the American hobo tune inspired the slow movement of his “The Midnight Special.” Jerome Moross is best known his work in Hollywood. His 1958 score for “The Big Country” was nominated for an Academy Award. Moross also wrote the music for “Wagon Train,” a popular TV Western. As Moross once said: “a composer must reflect his landscape and mine is the landscape of America. I don't do it consciously, it is simply the only way I can write.” Music Played in Today's Program Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 5 Chicago Symphony; Claudio Abbado, cond. DG 427 254 Jerome Moross (1913-1983) Symphony No. 1 London Symphony; JoAnn Falletta, cond. Koch 7188

Synopsis On today's date in 1944, a 29-year-old American composer named David Diamond had his Second Symphony premiered by the Boston Symphony under the famous Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Diamond says he had written this music for the charismatic Greek maestro Dimitri Mitropoulos, then the music director of the Minneapolis Symphony. “Mitropoulos had given a fine performance of my First Symphony,” said Diamond. “When I showed him the score of the Second he said, ‘you must have the parts extracted at once!' As these were readied, I asked him whether he was planning to perform the work. He then told me he thought he would not stay on in Minneapolis, but said, ‘Why don't you send it to Koussevitzky?' I did so, and Koussevitzky [invited me to a] trial reading at Symphony Hall. When it was over, the orchestra applauded like crazy. Koussevitzky turned to me and said, ‘I will play!'” Successful as Diamond was back in 1944, for many decades thereafter his neo-Romantic symphonic scores were neglected until Gerard Schwartz's CD recordings of some of them with the Seattle Symphony sparked a revival.  By then, Diamond was in his 70s, and commented: “The romantic spirit in music is important because it is timeless.” Music Played in Today's Program David Diamond (1915-2005) — Symphony No. 2 (Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond.) Delos 3093

Kinan performed three musical pieces and spoke about his work as a composer.Originally from Damascus, Syria Kinan Azmeh is a soloist, composer, and improvisor. He has performed in places such as the Opera Bastille, Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, Damascus Opera House, and more. Kinan's compositions include several works for solo, chamber, and orchestral music, as well as music for film, live illustration, and electronics. His resent works were commissioned by The New York Philharmonic, The Seattle Symphony, The Knights Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Elbphilharmonie, etc. He has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Dusseldorf Symphony, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra among others, and has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Marcel Khalife, John McLaughlin, Francois Rabbath Aynur and Jivan Gasparian. Kinan Azmeh is a graduate of New York's Juilliard School as a student of Charles Neidich, and of both the Damascus High institute of Music where he studied with Shukry Sahwki, Nicolay Viovanof and Anatoly Moratof, and Damascus University's School of Electrical Engineering. Kinan earned his doctorate degree in music from the City University of New York in 2013. Created & Hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikra Edited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/About Quartertones:QuarterTones is a music show. It is an opportunity to listen to music, across genres, from musicians of and from the Arab world. This series is similar to NPR's All Songs Considered that is focused on the Arab world. afikra will be inviting musicians of all genres, as well as music historians, to help better understand the music that they perform or study. In this series, the guests will be invited to talk about their work and play their music, whether live or recorded, in three segments. The series will host current musicians who play contemporary and modern, including alternative scene or hip-hop, electronic, classical music, among other genres. The musicians will also be from different geographies.Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp   FollowYoutube - Instagram (@afikra_) - Facebook - Twitter Support www.afikra.com/supportAbout afikra:‎afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on  afikra.com

Tour guides from New Orleans examine the historical, musical, and culinary elements that make their city one of the most exceptional places anywhere in North America. They also share their top recommendations for exploring the city and discuss the merits of a pay-what-you-like model for city walking tours. And an associate conductor with the Seattle Symphony gives us a view from the conductor's podium while describing some of his favorite US venues for reveling in live classical-music performances. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Jamie Maschler joins Mary and Wyatt to talk about love, music, creativity, and a question that our listeners are always curious about: How is Lawrence Welk responsible for the public image problem that plagues the accordion? Jamie shares her memory of first meeting Mary, and it is funny as hell. "Jamie Maschler, knows the versatility of the accordion better than most. She has played the instrument since she was four and spent years perfecting and competing. Talents like her seem to be increasingly valuable.“  -The AtlanticJamie is a musician, music director, educator and an ambassador of the accordion. She is co-founder of the Brazilian bands Foleada, En Canto, and the accordion duo Creosote. She has been heard with the Pueblo Symphony, Seattle Symphony and Seattle Philharmonic. Jamie has also played the role of Nelly Friedman in Paula Vogel's award winning play Indecent twice.In 2018, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) feature Jamie in their  Museum of Making Music exhibit titled  “Accordions: Expanding Voices in the USA”. Jamie is based in Seattle, WA where she studied accordion under three-time Latin Grammy Nominee Jovino Santos Neto at Cornish College of the Arts.Jamie works for accordion manufacturer Petosa Accordions, where she is able to share her passion and actively participate in the reinvention and face of the traditional Instrument.

On this episode we dish in person about our recent podcast retreat! For our interview we welcome Seth Krimsky, Principal Bassoon of the Seattle Symphony! This podcast is brought to you by Chemical City Double Reeds (www.chemicalcityreeds.com), Reedesign(www.reedesign.io), Barton Cane (https://www.bartoncane.com/), and RDG Woodwinds Inc. (rdgwoodwinds.com)! Thank you to our wonderful sponsors!

Chris and Sridhar discuss session gigs, band education, Chris' dream of becoming a piano salesman, Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, Gerard Schwarz, the Seattle Symphony, and the art of conducting. Join the discussion: Tweet us @shreggz and @chris_arkin Episode clips on Instagram @impolitemedia Useful links: Pierre Boulez with hula girls Karajan conducts Sibelius: Finlandia Karajan conducts Smetana: The Moldau Karajan conducts Wagner: Overture to Die Meistersinger Wayne Bergeron Malcolm McNab Movies Jim Walker has played in Ratatouille - Wall Rat (Jim Walker flute solo) Alexander Malofeev plays Rachmaninoff - Lilacs Gerard Schwarz conducts Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2 Howard Hanson - wikipedia Hanson Symphony No. 2 - wikipedia Gerard Schwarz - wikipedia Bernstein plays Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue Aaron Copland: Duo for Flute and Piano Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man Claudio Abbado conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral" András Schiff: Schubert documentary Seattle Symphony on YouTube Trumpet player disagrees with Bernstein - BBC Symphony Leonard Bernstein rehearses Elgar's Enigma Variations

All of us are made with unique gifts—ultimately so we can bless the world. But how can we discover our gifts and lean into our calling? Join host Richard Dahlstrom as he talks with John Carrington, the Principal Harpist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, the Bellevue Philharmonic and the Auburn Symphony.  Seattle native John Carrington appears regularly with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera where he was Guest Principal Harpist for several seasons. He performs with the Fifth Avenue Theatre Orchestra and has worked as solo harpist on Cunard Line's "Queen Elizabeth 2" performing for its World Cruise on six continents John's classical background includes performances with such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz, Asher Fisch and John Rutter. His popular music experience is equally notable, as he has shared the stage with Tony Bennett, José Carreras, Josh Groban, Olivia Newton-John, Rita Moreno, Doc Severinsen, and James Taylor, to name a few. In addition, John is a sought-after recording artist, participating in over 200 motion picture soundtracks and including “Mr. Holland's Opus”, “The Wedding Planner,” and several Disney and Hallmark Hall of Fame productions. He's also performed on video game soundtracks including "Halo" and "World of Warcraft." He received his Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music after earning his Bachelor of Music from the University of Washington.

Composer Nina Shekhar joins us to chat about her work exploring identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter in her work and her process for exploring such complex aspects of humanity in seemingly mundane experiences, such as the car horns on the streets of India. We talk about how she approaches the business side of a professional career in composition, and how her work as a flutist, saxophonist, and pianist has informed her comfort with a wide array of compositional styles. And we speak about how we can all be more mindful to empower and promote the agency of composers and performers from marginalized communities and avoid the risks of exploiting any individual's otherness. Nina Shekhar is a composer who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and “surprises and delights aplenty” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by leading artists including LA Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, New York Youth Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, ETHEL, violinist Jennifer Koh, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, Ensemble Échappé, Music from Copland House, soprano Tony Arnold, Third Angle New Music, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Lyris Quartet, Ray-Kallay Duo, New Music Detroit, and Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra. Her work has been featured by Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA Phil's Noon to Midnight), Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, National Sawdust, National Flute Association, North American Saxophone Alliance, I Care If You Listen, WNYC/New Sounds (New York), WFMT (Chicago), and KUSC and KPFK (Los Angeles) radio, ScoreFollower, and New Music Detroit's Strange Beautiful Music. Upcoming events include performances by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic (joined by soloists Nathalie Joachim and Pamela Z), Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and her Hollywood Bowl debut with the LA Philharmonic. Current projects include commissions for the Grand Rapids Symphony, 45th Parallel Universe Chamber Orchestra (sponsored by GLFCAM), and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) (sponsored by LA Phil and New Music USA). Nina is the recipient of the 2021 Rudolf Nissim Prize, two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (2015 and 2019), and the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award, funded by the Bernstein family. The transcript for this episode can be found here. For more information about Nina Shekhar, please visit her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Synopsis Today's date marks the birthday of a significant American composer with an intriguing name, sounding at once both French and Slavic. Henri Lazarof was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 12, 1932, and began his musical studies at the age of 6. He graduated from the Sofia Academy at the age of 16, studied composition in Rome with the Italian modernist Goffredo Petrassi, came to the United States in 1957 for further study, and eventually settled in California, securing a teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he taught not only composition, but French language and literature as well. Lazarof organized L.A.'s first festival of contemporary music in 1963 and has continued enthusiastically promoting new music. In a Festival brochure, Lazarof once wrote that his music series was “dedicated to the presentation of the entire broad range of this historically evolving art without adopting a single ideology but the one of continuity – accepting tradition and altering it in terms of contemporary experimentation, which in turn is to become the legacy for the next generation to alter." Music Played in Today's Program Henri Lazarof (1932 - 2013) — Violin Concerto (Yukiko Kamei, violin; Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond.) Naxos 8.559159