Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, Hilary Hahn, Kronos Quartet with Reena Esmail and veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, and  leading orchestras such as my own National Arts Centre, to name but a few. You’ll hear about her childhood, and how she became a d...

Tasha Warren  is an acclaimed clarinetist who has premiered over one hundred solo clarinet and chamber works. In this podcast you’ll hear excerpts from her album “Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed” a fantastic collaboration with cellist Dave Eggar of newly commissioned and premiered Bass Clarinet and Cello works, which earned two Grammy nominations. If you listened to my episode with Meg Okura last year, you heard a bit about this ...

Tal Yahalom is an award-winning jazz guitarist and composer and you’ll be getting a preview of his compelling quintet album Mirror Image  with  refreshingly unique instrumentation: violin, cello, percussion, sax and flute and both nylon-string and electric guitar. You’ll be hearing excerpts from the album and hear about Tal’s creative process and collaborators including percussioninst Rogerio Boccato and David Leon on sax and flute...

Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield are wonderfully inventive musicians who have formed a duo. This podcast episode is shining a light on their recently released album “Speaking in Tongues”and you’ll hear some of this textured and dynamic music that really pushes the boundaries of a duo,  along with insights into their creative process and their varied career paths. 

  John Hadfield  is a phenomenal percussionist, drummer, and composer...

Fern Lindzon is a Canadian multi-style pianist, vocalist, composer and improvisor. She recently released a great album with her newjazz trio project Tryptique with Colleen Allen and George Koller ,and we’re featuring music from that album as well as some of her other work, including her Juno-nominated album Two Kites. We talked about her mother, the artist Rose Lindzon, many mentors and influences including Don Thompson, Alan Bern ...

Naomi Moon Siegel is an award-winning trombonist, improvisor, composer and educator. In this episode we’re highlighting her beautiful sextet album Shatter the Glass Sanctuary, and you’ll hear her reflections on the valuable mentorship process with Allison Miller and brilliant collaborators including Marina Albero and Ray Larsen. Naomi reflected on her journey finding a supportive musical community, overcoming injury, and how she’s ...

Anthony Brandt is an acclaimed composer who is also a multi-disciplinary researcher. Dr. Brandt is a Professor at Rice University and co-founder and Artistic Director of Musiqa. Like many people worldwide, I had first learned of his work as co-author with neuroscientist David Eagleman, of the amazing book “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World”. We started this episode with an overview of that book, and Tony’s...

Samantha Ege is both a leading scholar and interpreter of Florence Price. In this interview, she talks about her recent book “South Side Impresarios: How Race Women Transformed Chicago’s Classical Music Scene”. I was fascinated to learn about this compelling history of Chicago’s Black Renaissance with women such as Nora Holt,  Margaret Bonds, and Katherine Dunham.  Dr. Ege shared how the scholarship side of her work informs both he...

Ian Maksin holds a special place in the hearts of his fans worldwide,  with his unique concerts of cello and songs in over 37 languages. It was really interesting to learn about how he has forged a unique path as a solo touring performer, and he shared his insights on finding commonalities between cultures, mindfulness practice and how he stays healthy with such an intense touring schedule. You’ll hear about his childhood, his need...

Jean Rohe  is an acclaimed song-writer and singer, as well as a devoted  mentor, working with incarcerated song-writers,as well as at the New School and privately. She writes powerful narrative songs, and is widely known for her "National Anthem:  Arise! Arise!" an aspirational alternative which has been performed extensively across the US. She shared with me her perspectives on love, grief, identity, community and creativity.   On...

Edwin Barker is recognized as one of the most gifted bassists on the American concert scene. In this wide-ranging interview, you’ll hear about how when he was still a student, he won a job with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and then at age 22, he was appointed to the position of Principal Bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has now held for nearly 50 years. He shared memories of his mentors, and his valuable pers...

Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. In this wide-ranging conversation you’ll be hearing about her early career, touring with Darol Anger at age 14, the bands Croooked Still, Hawktail and Punch Brothers with Chris Thile. She reflected on the challenges and thrill of a touring life, the Nashville scene, her teaching through Artistworks, and dynamics of being a woman in Bluegrass...

Cellist and composer Dorothy Lawson is one of the founding members and Artistic Directors for ETHEL, ‪ a string quartet celebrating 25 years of setting the standard for contemporary concert music. In this episode, you’ll hear about many fascinating and meaningful collaborations with musicians including Alllison Loggins-Hull, Robert Mirabal, and Layale Chaker. It was really inspiring to hear how they got started with adapting the co...

Katherine Needleman is a wonderful oboe player, who has been the principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony since 2003. She’s also active as a solist and chamber musician, and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. She is a champion of music of our time and you’ll find her recordings and many projects on her website. To many listeners in the Classical Music world, she’s probably better known for her Substack articles and p...

Shakura S'Aida, acclaimed Americana roots soul singer and songwriter has thrilled global audiences in 31 countries over many years. Donna Grantis who performed with Prince for several years, is Shakura’s longtime co-producer and co-writer. Donna praises the three-time Juno Award nominee as a "powerhouse vocalist whose artistic vision continually inspires me.” I trust you’ll find this week’s episode an inspiring and uplifting conve...

Yann Passabet-Labiste is a French violinist with a beautiful warm intensity to his playing, and in this episode we’re focussing on his album “Robert Schumann et son univers” with pianist Bertrand Giraud. Yann talks about some of his mentors in France and Switzerland, many interesting and inspiring musical highlights and his perspectives on how music has helped him through some difficult challenges.  

YouTube video of this episode,...

Ida Gillner is very special musician based in Sweden, and in this episode you’ll hear the powerful story of her personal journey, embracing different cultures, and also the comforting power of music.  Ida is a multi-instrumentalist and composer; her main instruments are soprano saxophone, piano and voice.  In the first part of this episode we focus on her project Shtolstse lider, her songs set to the poetry of some of Yiddish’s gre...

DeWitt Fleming Jr. is a multi-talented and brilliant performer, renowned for his tap dancing, choreography and acting, and is also a singer and drummer. As he said to me in this interview “when I’m tap dancing I’m drumming”. You’ll hear about his experience growing up in the Projects, the importance of attending an Arts high school, the usefulness of theatre training for musicians, and insights into memorization, mindset and perfor...

I was honored to be able to record this wide-ranging interview with violinist Yale Strom, who is the leading ethnographer-artist of Klezmer music and history, and also has done many years of research among the Roma communities. He speaks to us about some of his many inspiring experiences during over 75 research expeditions to Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. To prepare for this episode, I read several of his books, inclu...