Like all my podcast episodes, you can watch the video on my YouTube and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/emmolei-sankofa EmmoLei Sankofa https://www.e-sankofa.com/ is a an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work spans music, visual media, and fine art. Detailed show notes below with timestamps! You can sign up for my weekly newsletter ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠to get access to Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests on my website ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠ where you can explore past episodes and support the show through my Ko-fi page: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ My socials are in my Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠ In this episode we focused on EmmoLei's original music for Hulu's The Other Black Girl, the film score for Three Ways and her project Geometry, and we talked about her unique use of Morse code in her compositions, and the benefits of limitations in creative work. I asked her about her experiences in HBCU marching band culture, at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and being part of a positive community of mentors and peers through the Composers Diversity Collective. With her background as a percussionist and her use of Morse code, I was interested to hear about her creative process, and also about some of her visual art projects and collaborative installations. EmmoLei’s discography encompasses many albums and singles, and often integrates soul, jazz, classical, and rhythm and blues. Her single, Don’t Fight, was included on Adult Swim’s OPUS compilation album. EmmoLei has collaborated with many award-winning filmmakers, and through her creative audio company, Bèl Son, has worked with brands like Nike, Buzzfeed and Kamala Harris for the People. At the beginning of this episode, we dig into EmmoLei’s unique score for The Other Black Girl, which I watched and recommend. It’s based on a best-selling novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris, and the show is an edgy thriller that’s a social commentary with humourous twists, and shines a light on the expeirence of Black women in corporate America, specifically in the publishing industry. Here's the link to the official Triangles Video (which is excerpted in the episode) ⁠https://youtu.be/5YGSMD547VE?si=1LS-y6EoFKP-SqGA⁠ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro(03:01) The Other Black Girl(11:49) using Morse code in EmmoLei’s compositions(17:10) marching band culture HBCU(20:52) SCAD Sound Design Masters(23:25) please help support this independant podcast!(24:04) Mentors and mentoring, the Composers Diversity Collective(33:37) African diaspora, Sankofa(36:33) Emmolei’s instruments and creative process(44:44) visual art, trip to South Africa(56:26) Geometry, filmmaking, producing(01:00:49) Three Ways(01:04:13) The Other Black Girl, Tonality vocal group, graphic scores(01:12:23) In Pursuit of Silence(01:17:30) EmmoLei’s well-rounded musical background

Welcome to Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman: This podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, or as a video on my YouTube. This week’s episode is with the award-winning GRAMMY-nominated harpist and composer Kirsten Agresta Copely. The video and transcript are linked on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kirsten-agresta-copely Kirsten has had a really diverse career, starting with rigorous classical training as a young child, an illustrious career as an internationally touring solo harpist, and then a contrasting career performing with pop and rap icons such as Beyonce, JayZ, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and so many more famous artists, lots of studio work, and as a composer and arranger. In this wide-ranging conversation we talked about dealing with grief, ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, and many insights from Kirsten’s unique path through the music industry, including as an educator and mentor. Very shortly after we recorded this episode, Aquamarine was nominated for a GRAMMY award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album. Kirsten has shared several tracks from Aquamarine and some of her other projects that are excerpted in this podcast, and if this music draws you in, please click on the link to her website: https://www.kirstencopelymusic.com/ Could you support this independant podcast with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Follow the podcast on social media, all those links are on the top of my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/leahroseman photo: Joseph Cartright Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:57) clip from I Am Water (03:15) the creation of Aquamarine, Kirsten’s mother (06:41) Kirsten’s musical education (09:32) intro to Naids (10:12) clip from Naids (11:06) production of Aquamarine (13:12) Kirsten’s development as a harpist, career choices (19:57) please support the podcast!  (20:35) the isolation of being a harpist, career advice (24:44) clip from Aquamarine (26:58) high school in Michigan, Star Age piano music (29:28) clip from Threads Star Age piano music (30:46) Nashville scene, move to Brooklyn (34:44) Suzanne McDonald (36:41) intro to Into the Mist (37:50) Into the Mist (41:46) dealing with stress, movivation for creating New Age music, Kirsten’s mother’s death (46:30) Tanzania trip witnessing the Great Migration (48:27) the Sphere Las Vegas  (52:16) performing with Beyoncé for President Obama  (54:12) Live 8, playing pop arrangements (57:47)how a pedal harp works (01:04:01) different aspects to Kirsten’s career: soloist, different albums, arrangements  (01:06:40) clip from Kirsten’s arrangement of Radiohead’s Creep  (01:08:10) arranging for harp (01:10:00) mentoring younger musicians, career advice

This week’s episode is a special double episode with the jazz piano duo of Peter Hum and Steve Boudreau, who have recently released their album Nonlinear Blues.  Peter and Steve performed three of their original tunes for this podcast and we’ve also included some of their other compositions from their respective discographies, and in terms of the conversation, it was a wide-ranging dialogue with interesting insights from their contrasting careers, Peter primarily as a music and food journalist, and Steve as an educator and performer across many different styles. We got into restaurant culture, how to memorize music, and the importance of encouraging creativity and individuality. At it's core, this is an episode very much about the importance of supporting and encouraging each other. Please check out the links to their websites linked below and on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/peter-hum-and-steve-boudreauwhere you will find linked the video version of this episode, the transcript, and you can sign up for my weekly podcast newsletter and get access to Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests. If you’re a jazz lover, I have featured a lot of wonderful jazz musicians and have well over 100 episodes to explore.  Below you'll also find detailed Timestamps to navigate the episode! https://steveboudreaumusic.com/ https://peterhum.com/ Please support the podcast here: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: Curtis Perry Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:23) jazz piano duo (10:25) intro to Irreversibly (11:35) Irreversibly (14:49) Steve Boudreau weekly online concerts, all of Monk’s tunes (20:42) Peter Hum’s journalism career, Herbie Hancock (24:52) please support the podcast (25:28) Peter’s father, debut recording A Boys’ Journey (29:26) Steve Boudreau learning and teaching different styles, Hindustani music (33:14) intro to Nonlinear Blues (35:44) Nonlinear Blues (41:27) tips on memorizing music, jazz ensemble skills (48:46) F8-Bit game console music (52:57) audio clip F8-Bit band (54:46) Peter Hum food critic, restaurant industry (59:44) intro to Bursting the Bubble, pandemic concerts (01:03:43) Bursting the Bubble (01:09:27) Ordinary Heroes album Peter Hum (01:13:54) Spare Hearts Peter Hum ensemble (01:23:27) Steve Boudreau George Gershwin (01:26:35) Gershwin Prelude 1 Steve Boudreau jazz trio (01:28:44) Steve Boudreau solo albums (01:30:50) positive habits (01:36:18) encouraging creativity in students, ease in writing

There’s such  a fascinating variety to a life in music; and this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music, with over 100 episodes to explore. For this week’s episode I was  able to add some additional music to a special re-release  with fiddler Alexis Chartrand who has shared 3 tracks for you to listen to. His Bandcamp and socials are linked below; so please go buy the tracks or albums if you like what you hear!  Alexis  talks very thoughtfully and about his background as a son of dancers, both groove and ornamentation in different traditional styles of fiddling, his explorations of tone colour with baroque violin, and some of his musical influences and inspiration. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, the  video of the original episode is on my YouTube, and the transcript is also linked to my website where you can sign up for my weekly podcast newsletter and get access to sneak peeks for upcoming guests. https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e5-s1-alexis-chartrand-fiddler Support the podcast with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Alexis Chartrand on Bandcamp: https://alexischartrandnicolasbabineau.bandcamp.com/ https://alexischartrandcolinsavoielevac.bandcamp.com/album/le-tranino Alexis Chartrand Social Media Linktree: https://linktr.ee/agchartrand?fbclid=IwAR28jaMhfGM2bO0-2rfbDxF81CYchtj9oGMYIKUyJ3VkZNdSKgE2cV3fMLU

Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman is available wherever you listen to podcasts. The video and transcript are linked here on my website, where you can check out my episodes catalog and sign up for Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jeremy-mastrangelo This week’s guest is violinist Jeremy Mastrangelo, who’s a wonderful colleague of mine in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He’s known in our greenroom as a great storyteller, onstage as an excellent musician, and having heard him give brilliant masterclasses I can attest to his excellence as an educator as well.  This episode is infused with Jeremy’s wit and wisdom as well as a couple of beautiful violin performances. We talk about violin shopping in Cremona,  teenage life at Interlochen Academy, the difficulties and joys of a career as an orchestral musician, family, and the benefits of deepening our understanding of the composers we play. You will find that one of the wonderful stories in this episode reveals an unexpected discovery! This independant podcast needs your support. Can you help with $3? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks so much! Timestamps:  (00:00) Intro (02:11) Jeremy’s brother Dave, his childhood starting violin (10:31) Bach Aria from Goldberg Variations (13:23) Dave Mastrangelo arrangements (15:05) orchestra audition process (19:11) working conditions, collective agreements, Syracuse orchestra experience, Sara Mastrangelo (27:21) please support the podcast! (28:00) different roles and chairs in the orchestra (30:31) Interlochen (34:13) intro to Piazzolla etude (35:45) Piazzolla Tango Etude no. 3 (39:34) dealing with uncertainty, pandemic Syracuse then Ottawa with Pinchas Zukerman (45:37) ideal orchestra experiences, role of conductor and players (50:15) Cremona with wife Sara, Italian heritage, Vittorio Villa (55:54) Jeremy’s violin teachers Rafail Sobolevsky, Bill Preucil, Hal Grossman, Paul Kantor (01:03:26) Rafail Sobolevsky story (01:10:13) Sally Thomas, James Ehnes (01:14:12) cooking (01:16:07) great books about composers and performers (01:20:37) solo experiences, stress dreams, benefits of knowing more about the composers (01:28:16) one final orchestra story

Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman is a weekly podcast with in-depth conversations featuring a fascinating variety of guests worldwide. Michael Bridge is an accordion virtuoso who performs in many styles on both concert accordion and digital accordion. In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael spoke to me about how best to engage with audiences, the subtleties intrinsic to programming digital accordion sounds, and how to forge lasting relationships. Michael was awarded his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Toronto, and is a prize-winning soloist and chamber musician who tours worldwide. This is also an episode which features a lot of great music, including many novel sounds you won’t have heard before from an accordion, and also with the groups Bridge and Wolak and the Ladom Ensemble. You can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the video on my YouTube, read the transcript, and use the timestamps to navigate the episode as needed: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/michael-bridge Can you help this channel and podcast with $3? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman ⁠Thanks!  Michael Bridge website: ⁠https://www.michaelbridge.ca/about ⁠ Michael's complete performance of Sofia Gubaidulina's Et Expecto is here, and starts at 17:40: https://youtu.be/KnXxjW4ayXo?si=qLRzkHMTajVRxhEo Timestamps (00:00)Intro (02:18) digital accordion (05:32) Bridge and Wolak “Petite Fleur” (12:23)digital accordion user programs (16:37) a selection of Michael’s digital accordion sounds (19:35) accordion technique (21:00) please support the podcast (21:17) Michael’s accordion studies, Joseph Macerollo, history of the accordion (28:27) growing up as an accordion player, going to the World Cup (33:17) Bach piece (34:29) accordiontechniques with Gubaidulina, quintuplet bellows shake (37:46) excerpt from Gubaidulina’s Et Expecto (39:20)  teaching accordion (42:34) Ladom Ensemble Brahms’ Hungarian Dance no. 5 (47:26) accordion scene in Europe, premiering new works for accordion (55:48) history of the accordion (01:01:49) Ladom Ensemble Bach Keyboard concerto no. 7 (01:05:37) Bridge and Wolak, Charles Cozens (01:08:24) professional relationship parrallels (01:11:08) Bridge and Wolak “Digital Stardust” (01:18:14) Bridge and Wolak, Ladom Ensemble (01:22:00) performance presentation skills (01:26:09) musical acoustics, arranging (01:30:40) digital accordion sounds demo (01:35:29) benefits and necessity of being analytical   photo: Sam Gaetz

This week I’m highlighting an episode from the archive: the charming and engaging Jack Everly, who is well-known to audiences throughout the United States and Canada for his Symphonic Pops programs and storytelling. We recorded this in 2021 when concerts had been mostly shut down for a year. It was so much fun having this opportunity to sit down and speak in depth with Jack. We had a lively exchange discussing his varied and distinguished career on Broadway, for the American Ballet Theatre, the challenges of syncing a live orchestra with the music of great films, and so much more. The video and transcript are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e16-s1-jack-everly-conductor I'm an independant podcaster, and I need my listners' help! Can you spare $3? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this episode! There’s such a fascinating variety to a life in music; and this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music, with over 100 episodes to explore. Many episodes feature guests playing music spontaneously as part of the episode or sharing performances and albums. I hope that the inspiration and connection  found in a meaningful creative life, the challenges  faced, and the stories from such a diversity of artists will draw you into this weekly series, with many topics that will resonate with all listeners. Please share your favourite episodes with your friends,  and do consider supporting this independant podcast. Have a great week!

Today’s guest is the Emmy-winning songwriter, singer, producer and composer Kat Raio Rende. Together with her husband JP Rende she has a successful songwriting and production company Earworm Music company. This episode is a fascinating window into the world of music for children’s tv shows, jingles, working with celebrities, and music production in general. We talked about writing for Sesame Street, including “Friends with a Penguin” featuring Billy Porter and “We Don’t Walk Alone”, Baby Shark, how to write for characters as opposed to singers, her big break that led to singing backup for big stars, the benefits and challenges of having ADHD, advice for setting up an inexpensive studio and learning production tricks, family/work balance, parenting, and most importantly, expressing emotions through music to help children.Kat’s infectious delight in music, composition, and singing as well as her personal story and perspectives as a parent will fascinate listeners everywhere. I'm an independant podcaster; could you help with a few dollars to keep this series going? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Like all my episodes, you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, (search Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman) watch the video on YouTube, read the transcript, and navigate with the timestamps: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kat-raio-rende Here are some videos we talk about during the episode, that Kat wrote the music for with JP Rende (her husband and colleague at Earworm Music https://www.earwormny.com/ )Billy Porter in Sesame Street's Friends with a Penguin, EMMY winning song: https://youtu.be/f-YxjLUnnP0?si=PPElVWAiKYR2Chie Sesame Street's We Don't Walk Alone: https://youtu.be/LNlAHNzd6WY?si=KHhBhHIA1pDKsWeX Cardi B in Baby Shark Does the Seaweed Sway: https://youtu.be/NHFLk7937dI?si=wyKbLWcN-uD6SQdN Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:23) writing for Billy Porter “Friends with a Penguin” for Sesame Street (06:56) clip from Friends with a Penguin (07:50) writing “We Don’t Walk Alone” for Sesame Street (10:43) clip from “We Don’t Walk Alone” (12:14) writing for Baby Shark, working with Cardi B (18:01) working with husband JP Rende, creative process (21:31) please support this independant podcast (21:47) writing songs for specific characters, creative process (25:39) Kat’s musical influences, singing backup and demos, SUNY Purchase (30:24) writing for Sesame Street, starting Earworm with JP, writing jingles (32:56) getting big breaks, singing backup in New York (39:05) benefits and challenges of ADHD, writing jingles, musicologist Sandy Wilber (47:26) parenting, kids shows (51:57) having to pitch, producing, advice for setting up an inexpensive studio (01:02:02) family/work balance working from home, helping kids learn music (01:11:00) Kat’s childhood music education (01:14:23) vocal producing and directing (01:21:31) expressing emotions through music to help children

Margaret Maria is a wonderful cellist who’s a unique composer. Her compositions are all written by layering cello lines in some gorgeous and emotive aural tapestries. Her personal story is interesting and moving: she started the cello as a teenager, was admitted to the University of Toronto at age 16 without graduating from high school, and was then admitted to the prestigious Curtis Institute. She went on to have a successful career as a member of the Vancouver Symphony and then Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, which is how I came to know her. She gave up her job with the NAC after a few years, and embarked on a new life as a composer, meanwhile continuing to teach. Some of her work as an educator has been with the Orkidstra program, which she has been involved with since it’s inception in 2007. It’s a social development program that serves over 650 youth from over 62 linguistic and cultural backgrounds by building community through free music programs. This episode has a lot of powerful music; you can use the timestamps to navigate. Like all the episodes in this series, this is available wherever you get your podcasts, as well as this video, and the transcript and show notes are all linked to my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/margaret-mariahttps://margaretmariamusic.com/home I'm an independant podcaster, and this podcast needs your help! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Timestamps (00:00) Intro(02:44) Teaching improvisation in Breno, Maribyllia, creative process(06:57) Marbyllia duo with Bill Gilliam, clip from Gravitational March(07:47) Margaret’s music education and evolution as a cellist and composer(12:52) intro to Blessing of Awakening and Margaret’s creative process(17:00) clip from Blessing of Awakening(18:03) Margaret’s personal story and evolution as a composer(19:46) please support this podcast(20:01) perfectionism, starting late, playing injuries(23:39) Curtis(27:05) more about Margaret’s personal story and evolution as a composer(31:32) Orkidstra and music education(34:26) Alice Kanack, the benefits of teaching improvisation (38:35) producing music with Craig McConnell, intro to Raging Red(41:24) clip from Raging Red with Craig McConnell(42:04) duo project with singer Donna Brown, rock opera with Julian Gracia Reig, getting grants(50:22) From Scars to Infinite Stars(55:19) where to find Margaret’s music(56:20) Margaret’s approach to teaching (01:05:49) reflections on her life, intro to Her Heart on a Platter(01:08:29) Her Heart on a Platter(01:14:39) Margaret’s sheet music(01:15:34) empath feeling others’ emotions, intro to Shame on an Angel, artist Angel Muriel(01:20:39) Sham on an Angel(01:25:52) Margaret’s creative process photo of Margaret: Bret Archangel Menezes

This is a bonus Catch-Up Episode with Julie Lyonn Lieberman. My original conversation with her is linked below (Season 2, Episode 7 if you're looking in your podcast player). Julie is an innovative multi-style violinist/vocalist, author, composer, producer and educator. In our original episode, we discussed her unique path through world music, some of her projects including You Are Your Instrument, which was the first book written about how to overcome and prevent musicians’ overuse injuries. We had also talked about her memoir, The Roaring Brook Fiddler. In today’s short episode, she’ll talk about the process of recording the audio-book, which is enriched with her music, and there’s an excerpt featuring an important experience from her childhood.  You can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the video on YouTube, and read the transcript. Everything is linked with links to Julie’s many projects on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/julie-lyonn-lieberman Support this podcast with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! https://julielyonn.com/ Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:19) creating the audio book of The Roaring Brook Fiddler (07:14) excerpt from The Roaring Brook Fiddler (09:58) please support the podcast (10:44) re-writing and updating  Blues Fiddle, Improvising Violin, You Are Your Instrument, The Roaring Brook Fiddler (11:14) Verna Gillis, soundscapes, music brings joy

In this  episode, you get to hear the brilliant and engaging keyboard player and composer Kait Dunton in both conversation and a mini theory workshop on her hit tune This One’s For You!  In this wide-ranging conversation, we talked  about her early days with Snarky Puppy, recording the soundtrack to A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, her love of vintage keyboards and the challenges they present, and her unique approach to teaching which has been influenced by her mentor John D’earth. Kait has gained a huge following on social media like Instagram and TikTok, so I was curious to get her perspectives on connecting with her fans, and dealing with necessary boundaries.   Kait’s new album Keyboards features the sounds of the 1970s and we got into some of her influences and her personal journey to becoming a full-time performer. This episode features some of her recorded work and she generously agreed to demonstrate as well; you can use the timestamps to navigate and you can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the YouTube video or read the transcript, everything is linked to the show notes on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kait-dunton with a gallery of images of Kate’s vintage keyboards as well. https://www.kaitdunton.com/  I’m an independant podcaster, and through this series I hope to inspire you with these stories of the incredible breadth and depth of a  life in music with my inspiring guests. This podcast needs your support to continue, and every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:09)recording for the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood  (04:28) 2023 album Keyboards and working with vintage keyboards (10:09) Richard Tee’s influence (13:28)Lunch Break from Keyboards (16:15)recording process, husband drummer Jake Reed, parenting (20:15) childhood musical education (22:30)John D’earth (26:29) Planet D’earth (26:28) call to action: support the podcast! (30:24) Snarky Puppy, North Texas, finding her way to a career as a performer (33:09)music marketing, social media (38:33) teaching music and theory (43:28) Kait demonstrates at the piano with some theory within This One’s For You (50:32)teaching and the importance and deeper meaning of music (56:35)playing concerts, marketing and social media (01:01:50) albums versus playlists, streaming versus buying music (01:09:22) Kait’s reflections on her journey to becoming a full-time performer and composer

This week’s episode is with the Canadian musician Jack Hui Litster, who has developed a satisfying creative career after some interesting twists and turns. In this episode, you’ll learn about his experiences as a jazz drummer, his pivot into international development, and his path back to composing, producing and recording music in different styles. The music included in this episode features two tracks from his album "Shining Suns”, a guzheng improvisation and an excerpt from his second opera “What is Love”. We talked about different ways to make a living as a musician, achieving a flow state, some of the positive impacts of technology, and the importance of finding a work-life balance. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, also as a video on YouTube, and the transcript with the show notes are all linked on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jack-hui-litster Please consider buying me a cofffee; I’m an independant podcaster and I need my listners’ help: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (06:34) Shining Suns album, Jack’s return to music (11:50) Awakener from Shining Suns (15:40) Jack’s musical education, start as a drummer (19:14) St Francis Xavier (21:05) learning different instruments (22:47) jazz scene (24:27) Chinese music explorations, Master’s degree (28:18) intro to guzheng piece (29:28) guzheng improv (32:29) creative process, how Jack started composing (34:41) influence of choral music (36:46) Jack’s operas (49:13) call to action: I need my listeners’ help! (49:29) intro to What Is Love (51:12) excerpt from What Is Love, the finale (55:21) Berklee online (58:55) Shining Suns, Mark Ferguson (1:03:09) Shining Suns with Hidden track (1:09:10) Jack’s career change, dealing with burnout, work-life balance (1:18:14) flow state, creative process (1:20:57) helpful technology photo: Curtis Perry

As a bonus, this track, which is a special version of "Roots Girl" has generously been provided by Jah'Mila. The interview with her also features two other tracks, within this fascinating episode. You can listen to it on your favourite podcast player, watch the video, or read the transcript. The shownotes are also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jahmila

Jah’Mila is a 🇯🇲 Jamaican-born  Reggae singer-songwriter based in Halifax, Canada. In this episode you’ll hear about both her youth in the countryside of Jamaica singing gospel and then her immersion in Reggae roots and Rastafarian culture in Kingston. Her father is the legendary Earl “Chinna” Smith who has performed extensively with the Soul Syndicate, been featured on over 500 albums, and also played with Bob Marley and the Wailers on the Rastaman Vibration album, Live at the Roxy, and the historic One Love Peace Concert of 1978.  Jah’Mila speaks so eloquently about being grounded in a strong sense of identity and purpose, her love of music and communicating with a wide audience and she has also generously shared two tracks from her album Roots Girl which are part of this episode,  and a special version of Roots Girl which is available as a bonus podcast.You can use the timestamps to navigate to any topics or musical selections, and you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, watch the video on YouTube or read the transcript;  everything is linked with the show notes on my website: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jahmila⁠ You may want to sign up for my newsletter to get access to exclusive sneak peeks for upcoming guests. Please also consider supporting this show with a tip: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ I met Jah’Mila in her role as  the Associate Artistic Director and lead singer  of the Reggae Roots program which is available to all 🇨🇦Canadian schools free of charge, created with Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and the National Arts Centre. If you missed my episode with Daniel in Season 2, you should have a listen: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e8-s2-daniel-bartholomew-poyser Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:39) Roots Girl album, and Jah’Mila’s dad Earl “Chinna” Smith (07:59) Nayabinghi Groundings rom roots Girl (09:58) Jah’Mila’s childhood (14:17) Jamaican culture and Patois  (17:04) performing with The Wailers (22:21) excerpt from Roots Girls (22:32) different audiences for Reggae (27:51) Reggae Roots with Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser (31:17) performances at the NAC (33:14) paying tribute to other artists (36:15) intro to Irie Meditation (38:39) Irie Meditation (42:17) new album, processing emotions through songwriting, journaling, gratitude (46:51) Rastafarianism and Jamaican culture (53:44) working with children (56:51) Influences of sound system culture (01:04:06) finding your niche and new audiences

This bonus track is connected to my in-depth conversation with Kara Talve and her partner and colleague at Bleeding Fingers Music, Anže Rozman. An excerpt of this piece was included in the main episode, and here is the complete performance of Winter Rhapsody by the Lancaster Symphony with conductor Stephen Gunzenhauser. Show notes, main episode, video, transcript, all linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ane-rozman-and-kara-talve Kara Talve's Website: https://www.karatalve.com/

This bonus track is connected to my in-depth conversation with composer Anže Rozman and his partner and colleague at Bleeding Fingers Music, Kara Talve. An excerpt of this piece was included in the main episode, and here is the complete 3rd movement of  Phoenix for Solo Flute and orchestra by Anze Rozman, entitled Last Flight/Death. The solo flutist is Eva-Nina Kozmus, the conductor is George Pehlivanian and the orchestra is the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Show notes, video, transcript, image gallery, main episode, all linked: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ane-rozman-and-kara-talve Anže Rozman's Website: https://www.archestralmusic.com/

Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are composers with Bleeding Fingers Music and together wrote with Hans Zimmer the acclaimed score to the incredible tv series Prehistoric Planet. I was so impressed by this series, and the first part of this episode digs into the unique instruments that were created for this powerful score, and the other part of this episode is a  personal and in-depth conversation with Kara and Anže about their lives. They shared their individual stories about challenges, mentors, and have great advice for younger composers.  In the show notes and linked to the podcast are 2 bonus tracks which are concert pieces by both Anže and Kara; these pieces are excerpted in the main episode as well. I’ve included detailed timestamps and you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, watch the YouTube video, read the transcript and see the gallery of images related to this episode,all linked on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ane-rozman-and-kara-talve Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (05:10) creating the music for Prehistoric Planet with custom instruments  (19:23) help support this series through my Ko-fi page (19:39) Euphone audio sample, more about unique instruments used in Prehistoric Planet (22:46) Mark Deutsch Banzantar (24:48) Bleeding Fingers Music, working with Hans Zimmer and Russell Emanuel (31:08) Anže’s early years composing, challenges, networking (34:08) excerpt from Flight/Death from Phoenix for Solo Flute and Orchestra by Anže Rozman (34:49) finding opportunities to write for different instruments (37:08) emigration: dealing with homesickness (38:42) working with orchestras (41:09) Berklee in Spain, networking skills, connecting with Hans Zimmer (46:21) advice for people who want to move to LA (49:13) Kara Talve experience of moving to LA (51:57) composing for The Simpsons (52:49) how Tara’s grandmother was saved from the Nazis by her piano teacher Andrée Levallois (57:34) excerpt from “Winter Rhapsody” by Kara Talve (58:45) mentors at Berklee Ruth Mendelson and Steven Hunt, Kara’s dad (01:02:01) Anže reflecting on negative attitudes, advice about following your interests, Jani Golob (01:08:07) Tara’s bad experiences with piano lessons

 I had a lot of fun stitching together some of the many highlights from this Season 3 so far, in a 10 minute compilation I’ve posted to both my podcast and here on my YouTube: I've included clips from every full episode in 2023 so far in this video! It’s time for my summer break, but the podcast will be back September 2nd with a special episode with two composers who are life partners and also work together with Hans Zimmer at Bleeding Fingers Music. Anže Rozman and Kara Talve will inspire you with both the music of Prehistoric Planet and their personal stories, insights and compositions. I’m including some clips here from that episode, and I’ve also recorded a couple of other fascinating episodes that will be released in September. If you’d like access to regular Sneak Peeks, you need to sign up for my newsletter on my website: https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter   Please check out my back catalog for episodes you’ve missed, and keep in mind that you can use the timestamps if you ever want to skip to a certain section or music track. The podcast, show notes and transcripts are on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/about Support this podcast: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman  Photo of me: Curtis Perry

 Bukhu Ganberged is an incredible Mongolian-Australian musician who is a master of both the Morin Khuur, the Horsehead fiddle,  and Khuumii, the Mongolian Overtone Throat Singing. This episode features a lot of special music, and  Bukhu’s personal story of growing up in Mongolia and emigrating to Australia. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video with Closed Captions, a transcript, and a podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, the link to my website:  https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/bukhu-ganburged Please do consider supporting this series; every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman At the beginning of this episode Bukhu explains how he learned overtone throat singing and demonstrates different styles. You’ll then hear some incredible music on Morin Khuur, the horsehead fiddle and learn about Mongolian culture and Bukhu’s experiences in Australia where he’s gone from busking on the street to performing at the Sydney Opera House and being featured on The Voice. I have included detailed timestamps below.  I encourage you to listen to Bukhu’s albums wherever you listen to your music! ⁠https://www.horsefiddle.com/⁠ Bukhu’s audio was captured by his phone directly in Australia (I generally avoid recording over the internet) but the mic placement wasn’t ideal to capture the beautiful complexities of both the horsehead fiddle performances and Bukhu’s singing. However, he has also allowed me to also share within the episode a couple of his recordings both solo and with his group Equus, so you’ll be able to hear him explain about different regional styles of singing and playing in the episode as well as hear the studio quality recordings. Timestamps:  (00:00) Intro (02:36) khoomei Mongolian throat singing, how Bukhu learned and different styles (14:23) some of Bukhu’s albums (16:00) Equus  (18:00) Huurhun Haliun with Equus (22:28) please support this independant podcast!  (22:46) Bukhu’s immigration to Australia (26:20) Morin khuur horsehead fiddle, different regional styles (37:55) legend of Khuhuu Namjil (41:11) morin khuur with khoomei Mongolian throat singing “Khuhuu Namjil”  (45:06) Mongolian nomadic culture with animals, weeping camel (49:09) khoomei  Mongolian throat singing weeping camel song (50:40) Bukhu’s childhood and training in music (58:16) Linsey Pollak and Lizzie O’Keefe (59:14) balancing life as a father

This episode features the Venezuelan composer Sandro Morales-Santoro who composes for film, tv and new media and is based in L.A. In this episode you’ll hear lots of music and our in-depth conversation during which Sandro tells the inspiring story of how he learned to read and write music while attending law school in Venezuela, then was accepted into the Berklee college of music, and was awarded their achievement scholarship, then how  moved to L.A. and created community both professionally and personally. Sandro is on the Executive committee for the Composers’ Diversity Collective and we talked about biases in the industry and increasing exposure for composers from diverse backgrounds. Sandro is the fourth film and tv composer I’ve featured so far on this podcast, please take a look at my complete catalog of episodes to check out episodes you may have missed. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, is also a video on my YouTube channel, and the transcript is also linked: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/sandro-morales-santoro I've included detailed timestamps below. Please help me with a tip: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Sandro Morales-Santoro Website: https://www.sandromorales.com/ Composers Diversity Collective: https://www.composersdiversitycollective.org/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:25) Sandro’s start in music and family’s resistance to his aspirations (07:27) studies with Angel Balan to learn composition, getting into Berklee after law school (18:33) The Shadow of the Sun (19:04) music clip Slices of Bread from The Shadow of the Sun (23:16) using Venezuelan traditional styles, different South American instruments, various influences (30:07) music clip A Decent Job from The Shadow of the Sun (32:12) process of writing music for The Shadow of the Sun (34:08) music clip Late for Work from The Shadow of the Sun (35:14) Vela, Dayana Gauthier, emigration experience (41:50) trailer to Vela (42:57) the making of Vela (45:39) prejudice, and the founding of the Composers Diversity Collective (52:04) please help support this series with a tip! Ko-fi link in the description (52:20) Composers Diversity Collective, Michael Abels, Amanda Jones (57:30) learning about the film industry, making Vela,  the role of the film composer (01:05:07) writing for orchestra, use of synthesizers (01:11:20) benefits of modular synthesizers (01:13:19) demo of Eurorack synth (01:16:56) feeling and expressing emotion in music and acting, The Shadow of the Sun (01:22:07) creating community  (01:28:26) Restaurants at the End of the World, including 3 music clips by David Benjamin Steinberg and  Sandro Morales-Santoro, National Geographic Disney+ (01:40:09) reflections on different careers in music, other film composers 

I have in-depth conversations with a fascinating diversity of musicians worldwide, and I hope these personal stories highlight the incredible breadth and depth of a life in music for listeners everywhere. Like all my episodes, you can listen to all this on your favourite podcast player, watch the video, and read the transcript, all linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kavisha-mazzella Kavisha Mazzella is a renowned Australian songwriter and singer who has won both an ARIA award and an Australia Day Honor. We talked about her work through the lenses of social justice, community building, and the search for deeper meaning and connection. This is a personal, in-depth conversation with lots of beautiful singing in both Italian and English. You can use the detailed timestamps to jump to a song or a topic, but I encourage you to listen through and listen to the stories behind “The Fearless Note”. I’m an independant podcaster who needs my listeners help to keep this huge project going; every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Kavisha Mazzella website: https://www.kavisha.com/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:09) Italian songs, “The Joys of the Women” (10:34) Italian song: “Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire” (15:13) emigration, Kavisha’s family’s migration stories (25:13) Kavisha’s childhood and music, I Papaveri, “The Joys of the Women” (28:23) Kavisha’s projects with refugees, children, Musica Viva (33:14) song: “My Brown Yarra” by Frank Jones, dealing with sadness and trauma through music (35:26) I really do need my listeners’ help: Ko-fi link in description (35:42) learning confidence as a performer (38:29) intro to “Philosophy Man” (40:42) “Philosophy Man” by Kavisha Mazzella (45:39) teaching singing to community groups (52:11)experiences of the benefits of meditation, Empty Sky album and performances (59:32) art school and why Kavisha turned to music full-time (01:04:08) ARIA award Fisherman’s Daughter, Mick Thomas (01:05:23) intro to Sing for No One, Sing for Everyone (01:07:24) Sing for No One, Sing for Everyone by Kavisha Mazzella (01:11:07) Kavisha’s song-writing process and influences from Italian songs (01:15:18) Linsey Pollak (01:17:42) Women’s Anthem “Love and Justice” commission The Victorian Women’s Trust (01:23:21) great advice from Liam Clancy, Luka Bloom, Ronan Ó Snodaigh (01:28:36) “The Fearless Note” by Kavisha Mazzella (01:34:41) the importance of community

Kelly Thoma is a Greek musician who plays the Cretan lyra player and this episode has beautiful music and a wide-ranging conversation including Kelly’s personal story of becoming a musician after training as a dancer, Cretan culture, the influence of Ross Daly and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop which he founded in 1982. Kelly speaks so eloquently about her love of music and collaboration; I really appreciate this opportunity to have in-depth conversations with my musical guests; please use the timestamps if you want to jump to any topics or music, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to the whole episode on your favourite podcast player or the video on my YouTube. Show notes and transcript linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kelly-thoma Please support this series! I really do need my listensers' help and every dollar is appreciated: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:12) Crete, the lyra, Ross Daly (12:13) lyra duo Kelly with Ross “Anamkhara” (18:49) how Kelly discovered the music of Ross Daly and changed her life (33:24) learning and teaching music (43:34)cellist Mayu Shviro (44:43) duo with Mayu Shviro “Kontylies” (51:04) Mayu Shviro (53:29) “Flutter” Kelly Thoma quartet  from the album Anamkhara. Mayu Shviro, Paavlos Spyropoulos, Kirill Osherov (57:28) TOKSO quartet (01:01:18) TOKSO compilation video clip (01:06:24) different bowed instruments I’ve featured on this series (01:07:52) Cretan culture, history, food, language (01:18:28) tours to Australia, Linsey Pollak, Tunji Beier, Philip Griffin  (01:28:52) the pandemic, teaching online (01:33:27) the importance of performing and why Kelly stopped studying dance  (01:40:42) the importance of performing for music students (01:45:41) Labyrinth Musical Workshop opportunites to study in Crete

It’s hard to sum up how important Verna Gillis has been for music lovers. First of all, she is an ethnomusicologist who  recorded traditional music  around the world including in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Surinam, Ghana, and the United States. This episode will bring you along on some of these journeys.  25 of these recordings are available through Smithsonian Folkways and Lyrichord, and I’m very grateful to Smithsonian Folkways for allowing us to use some of these tracks for this specific episode. The albums that this music comes from are linked here in the show notes, where you'll find the video version, transcript, and photo gallery from Verna's career: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/verna-gillis⁠ In 1979 Verna  opened Soundscape, the first multi-cultural performance space in New York City, which put on hundreds of performances over 5 years. You’ll also hear Verna reminisce about her work on career development with phenomenal international musicians including Youssou N’dour from Senegal, Salif Keita from Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. As a producer, Verna was twice nominated for a GRAMMY award for two of the albums  she produced with Roswell Rudd. She’s also a writer and spoken word performer. We’ve  included in this episode one of her recent spoken word videos with British musician Jennifer Maidman. There’s so much more in this episode, and I hope a wide audience will be inspired by Verna Gillis’ reflections on her remarkable life in music.  

I’m joined by my colleague in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, violinist Frédéric Moisan. Originally from the Breton town of Saint-Brieuc in France, he immigrated to Finland and then Canada. In this wide-ranging conversation we talked about wind-surfing,family, languages, different cultures’ approaches to education, the challenges of playing the violin, the original version of the Sibelius violin concerto (which was the subject of Fred’s Doctoral Dissertation), life balance, and fly fishing. We talked about the differences between being a freelancer to being an orchestra member; Fred has great advice for colleagues and students preparing auditions, and you can find these various topics in the timestamps. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video on my YouTube, and a podcast wherever you listen to podcasts; the transcript is also linked on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/frdric-moisan Finally, do check out the link to my Ko-fi page in the description, since I really need my listeners’ support to keep this project going!  https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:12) growing up in Brittany, studies in France, the Conservatoire system (09:52) moving to Finland (20:45) violin studies with Anne-Marie De Boisgisson, windsurfing, education systems (29:07) please help me keep this series going: Ko-fi support page linked! (29:35) Anne-Marie De Boisgisson (30:26) different education systems Finland, France, Canada (37:20) Fred’s parents, grandparents, the loss of his mother (48:05) reflections on parenting and balancing life, bringing up multi-lingual children (54:25) differences between freelancing and having an orchestra job (01:00:31) orchestra auditions (01:05:06) violin practice routines (01:09:00) Sibelius violin concerto original version (01:14:50) performing as a soloist with orchestra (01:17:02) goals and aspirations for music students (01:24:24) Breton language and culture (01:27:33) fly-fishing and the benefit of hobbies

 Daniel Ramjattan is a phenomenal classical guitarist and this episode features some of his performances as well as many valuable insights in his work as a performance coach and educator,  and from his reflections on the significant challenges he has overcome in his life and career. Like all my episodes, this is available on your favourite podcast player, a video on YouTube, and the transcript, all linked to my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/daniel-ramjattan I’m an independent podcaster and I need my listeners’ help to keep this series going.  ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ I really value this long-form conversations that allow for depth, and you can use the detailed timestamps if you prefer to jump to any topics or musical selection. https://www.danielramjattan.com/ Timestamps:  (00:00) Intro (02:05) big personal and financial challenges  (07:44) Trinidad Tobago culture and family (11:46) Segovia (14:56) intro to Catharsis by Raphael Weinroth-Browne (16:37) “Ire” from Catharis by Raphael Weinroth-Browne from Daniel’s album “Inspirations” (16:40)I need my listeners’ help:  Please offer me a tip on Ko-fi!  (21:53) Segovia, Flamenco (23:43)John Williams (24:29) Julian Bream, intro to Leo Brouwer Sonata (28:00) Toccata de Pasquini, Leo Brouwer Sonata  (33:04) Performance Anxiety, Madeline Bruser, Gerald Klickstein (35:14) financial barriers “Life doesn’t have to be this hard”, studies with Bruce Holtzman, Lorenzo Micheli, Patrick Roux (45:46) Busking, connecting with different audiences (53:30) intro to Naoko Tsujita’s piece (56:17) Naoko Tsujita Gamelan Suite, Second Movement from Daniel’s album “Inspirations” (59:02) the Carillon, Naoko Tsujita (01:03:00) Performance Anxiety, beta blockers, exposure treatment (01:11:48) Improvisation to help with anxiety (01:16:45) controlling performance contexts, mindset, Performance Anxiety (01:19:56) Buddhism, martial arts, controlling emotions (01:29:03) teaching performance anxiety skills (01:40:07) final reflections on life and gratitude mindset

Elizabeth Pallett is a wonderful British lute player.  Her love of Renaissance music and history is infectious and she has generously provided this episode with several of her beautifully produced YouTube videos; her channel Luteweb is linked below, as well as her duo Amarylli with soprano Hannah Grove. We talk about the history of the evolution of plucked instruments in Europe, and many fascinating historical figures including Dowland and Shakespeare. Liz  plays various lutes and plucked instruments and teaches at the Birmingham Conservatoire as well as  online with students worldwide. Like all my episodes, you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, watch the YouTube on my channel, and read the transcript; everything is linked on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/elizabeth-pallett I have also included detailed timestamps below.  I really do need my listners' help to keep this going! Please take a look at my Ko-fi page: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Below are the links for Elizabeth Pallett, her website and YouTube channels: https://luteweb.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@luteweb https://www.youtube.com/@amarylli1745 https://twitter.com/luteweb Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:57) Her musical education, growing up on a farm (00:04:16) Julian Bream’s influence (00:05:52) introduction to the lute (00:09:17) Fantasia by Francesco Da Milano Libro Terzo 1562 (00:11:14) evolution of the lute from the oud (00:18:49) Calata Ala Spagnola by Joan Ambrosio Dalza  (00:21:48) the gittern (00:25:27) please help me keep this series going by supporting me through my Ko-fi page! (00:25:52) Tastar de corde, improvisatory music (00:28:01) historical context of the music, Aurelio Brandolini (00:33:58) the gittern and the origins of the guitar (00:36:35) lute tablature manuscripts, Capirola lute book (00:39:05) Ricercar Terzo by Vincenzo Capirola  (00:43:55) baroque guitar (00:46:18) Jácaras by Gaspar Sanz on baroque guitar (00:46:28) why Liz cuts her nails (00:54:54) teaching lute online and Luteweb videos (00:58:46) lute repertoire, Bach lautenwerck, why the lute fell out of favour (01:03:44) women lute players and composers (01:06:12) teaching online and sharing the love of the past and the lute (01:08:21) Recercar probably by Marco Dall’Aquila (01:10:23) teaching at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (01:12:43) the joy of playing figured bass (01:15:32) Amarylli, soprano Hannah Grove, creative programming (01:18:32) “Weep Ye No More Fountains” by John Dowland with Hannah Grove (01:21:08) controversy around Edward de Vere being the author of the writer who had the pen name Shakespeare (01:28:11) John Dowland (01:38:55)  Eward de Vere, Marco Dall’Aquila (01:40:34) finding time to practice, balancing family life (01:42:01) bringing undiscovered music to light

Netflix’s hit series "Dead to Me" (which I love), the Academy Award nominated short My Year of Dicks, and many other projects including You’re the Worst and Brockmire. In this wide-ranging conversation punctuated by music used with permission, we talked about many things including Adam’s many musical influences growing up in New York City, his work for the Fred Rogers Institute and his reflections as a parent. He has wonderful advice for composers interested into breaking into the film industry and shared some of his creative process with us. Adam is a warm and engaging musician with a real love for music across many genres; he shares how he pivoted from working as a performer to composing full-time, and we explored many of his diverse projects. Like all my episodes, this is available as a podcast on your favourite podcast player, a video on YouTube, and the transcript; everything is linked to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/adam-blau I have included detailed timestamps if you want to jump to the music or any specific topics. Please help me keep this series going! You can give me a virtual tip or consider becoming a monthly supporter starting at $3 Canadian and get access to unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Adam Blau website: https://www.adamblau.com/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:56) “Dead to Me”, Liz Feldman (08:14) intro to piano suite clip (08:59) clip of piano suite of themes from Adam’s “Dead to Me” score (10:48) Adam’s childhood musical influences (13:24) Center for the Performing Arts on Long Island (15:16) collaborations Rachel Axler, Jordana Williams, Liz Feldman (17:13) Village Harmony Rebecca Russell (19:49) NYC musical influences, Larry Holdridge (22:47) Yale (26:08) jazz piano (28:44) assisstant to Chris Beck, John Swihart and getting started as a film composer (34:09) Rarified Air podcast, music production libraries (41:30) writing music for podcasts (44:51) “My Year of Dicks” animated short, Pamela Ribon (48:17) intro to sound design montage clip, creative process (52:31) sound design montage clip (55:57) the 24 Hour Musical Theater Challenge, Rachel Axler (01:01:32) Fred Rogers Institute Everyday Grooves, Everbody Counts 2020 census (01:09:17) song “Tell Me What You Love About Me” from Fred Rogers Institute Everyday Grooves (used with permission for this specific podcast) (01:11:14) Adam as a singer and player, “You’re the Worst” (01:14:00) parenting and music education (01:16:51) mentoring composers, advice for the film industry photo of Adam Blau: Ari Scott

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto is a California-based Koto performer and teacher, and she also created “Hidden Legacy”, the story of the Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the American WWII Internment Camps. In this episode she performs some incredibly beautiful koto music, and there are wonderful stories with each piece. Like all my episodes, this is available as both video and podcast, and for those of you watching the video, you’ll notice that Shirley generously re-recorded one of her performances of a very special piece. If you want to jump straight to some music, or different topics in our conversation, you can use the timestamps. However, I encourage you to listen to the whole episode, with Shirley’s engaging insights about family and identity. This is also a video, and you can also read the transcript; everything is linked in the description to my website where you can sign up for my newsletter and get exclusive sneak peeks for upcoming episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/shirley-kazuyo-muramoto 🙏🎙️I'm an independant podcaster, who needs your help: Can you offer me a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Hidden Legacy film: https://youtu.be/HDqKDexQRSg Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:33) the koto with demo (08:13) intro to Sakura, Kimio Eto (12:15) koto music Sakura (16:47) more about Kimio Eto (18:31) playing jazz and different styles on the koto, traditional koto schools, Destiny Muhammad (25:56) making different arrangements for koto for students (29:06) koto music, Maboroshi o Oute by Chikushi Katsuko (34:12) Japanese culture: music names in Japan (37:35) Japanese Internship camps during WWII, “Hidden Legacy” (54:21) learning Japanese, going to Japan (01:00:55) college and school years (01:03:21) intro to Tsubasa ni Notte, Shoko Hikage, Kazue and Tadao Sawai (01:09:29) koto music Tsubasa ni Notte by Sawai Tadao (01:19:28) notation (01:22:10) benefits of improvisation (01:24:45) Japanese traditions, Brian in Japan (01:29:52) teaching koto

Martin Hayes is an internationally renowned Irish fiddler beloved for his expressive playing and his collaborations with many great musicians in different genres including Bill Frisell, Sting, Paul Simon and more recently Yo Yo Ma with the Silk Road Project. During this episode we spoke of his wonderful book Shared Notes, and he plays some beautiful music live (you can always use the timestamps if you’re curious to jump to some music right away), but I encourage you to listen through the whole episode. Martin speaks eloquently about life, culture, friendship, identity, and staying true to what you value, and I hope this episode will thrill lovers of Irish music and bring new listeners to many of Martin’s projects including The Common Ground Ensemble, The Gloaming, and many more. We talked about the loss and legacy of Dennis Cahill, how he met Thomas Bartlett, the rich depths of traditional music that Martin learned from the older generation, and the rhythm of life growing up on the farm in County Clare. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video and a podcast on your favourite podcast platform, and the transcript is also linked:https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/martin-hayes Martin's website: http://www.martinhayes.com/ During the episode we talked about the tribute to Dennis Cahill, which I hoped to link directly but can't find now. It's called: Litir ó do Chara Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:33) “Shared Notes” book and Martin’s childhood, PJ Hayes, Paddy Canny, Tulla Ceili band and learning fiddle (09:59) the nature of memory and writing the book “Shared Notes” (13:42) fiddle: jigs by Sean Ryan (16:12) different approaches to fiddling with musical demonstrations (23:10) challenges of recording, self-consciousness (25:06) The Common Ground Ensemble (29:51) pandemic reflections, teaching, mindfulness in nature (34:15) fiddle: The Glen of Aherlow (37:28) Dennis Cahill (43:15) Irish diaspora, Irish in America, immigrant experience (48:27) communicating on stage and playing what you want to play instead of what the audience expects (52:49)story about offering money back to disruptive audience (55:35) meeting Thomas Bartlett, The Gloaming (01:02:30) harmonizing Irish music (01:05:46) The Martin Hayes Quartet, Liz Knowles viola d’amore, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (01:08:35) Irish language (01:11:09) Celtic culture in Spain and close cousins musically with different Celtic traditions (01:13:40) negotiating performance conditions; playing on Capitol Hill for Obama (01:16:25) traditional Irish airs (01:18:06) Fiddle: Air A Stór mo Chroí (01:19:52) the immigrant experience (01:24:19) keeping the love of music alive, performing in the moment, Mary McNamara Fleadh Cheoil (01:34:08) Fiddle: The Caolite Mountains

My guest today is Immanuel Abraham,  a very special musican, who is an inspiring violinist, educator and composer.  His phenomenal talent, discipline and creativity  is even more inspiring since he didn’t have an opportunity to learn a musical instrument until the age of 14 and  4 years later, he was auditioning for the renowned University of Michigan in violin performance, playing the same Paganini caprice he’d heard Ithak Perlman play on Shalom Sesame as a child. He speaks candidly in this interview about his  perseverence in the face of very difficult challenges. More information and links below, including Timestamps! Like all my episodes, this is also available as a video on my YouTube, and the transcript is linked here as well: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/immanuel-abraham⁠ Please help me keep this series going! You can leave a tip or consider becoming a monthly supporter and get access to special perks: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ Immanuel is well-known on social media as The Violin Doctor, which is a Dr. Who reference, but Immanuel actually is Doctor of Musical Arts, awarded from the University of Arizona. When he was a student, in an effort to learn as much as he could that was violin-related,  he started The Violin Guild which is an amazingly supportive Facebook group of over 60,000 string players worldwide. Our conversation focused on different aspects of  music education, personal development, and you’ll get to hear some clips of Immanuel performing some of his 24 Caprices for solo violin. Below is a link for a discount code the week this is released, and if you’re a violinist I encourage you to buy this amazing volume, which I have been learning and plan to start recording this summer. Immanuel will be releasing his complete recording of all 24 Caprices. https://www.theviolindoctor.com/24 The discount code that will be activated May 12th through May 18th is, theviolindoctor for 25% off of the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Second Edition. You will also find Immanuel's current projects and social links there as well. Timestamps (00:00)  Intro (02:25) perspectives on starting the violin at age 14, dealing with racism and growing up in the projects (15:02) hearing Itzhak Perlman and the opportunity for free lessons through the Merit School of Music with Guillaume Combet (21:32) inspiration for Immanuel’s 24 Caprices for Solo violin (28:48) clip of Caprice 14 (30:00) clip of Caprice 21 in C Minor, “The Blues” (31:43) Caprice 23, a fugue (complete) (35:54) please support this series on Ko-fi! (36:23) why Immanuel bought a beginner book spent his lunch money on  Paganini (41:12) Andrew Jennings University of Michigan (47:15) giving students some choice of repertoire, keeping them motivated (53:08) Sphinx Organization teaching kids in the inner city (01:04:45) becoming a composer, opening for We The Kings (01:11:11) transcribing jazz, learning by ear (01:16:25) violin technique finger independence (01:22:08) yoga, dealing with stress (01:26:03) balance of composition, teaching and performing (01:28:21) discount code for the Caprices theviolindoctor

I’m so honoured that Madeline Bruser has agreed to be featured as a guest on this series. When I first read her book The Art of Practicing more than 20 years ago, it helped to transform my experience as a performer and teacher, and on many aspects of my life. Although Madeline’s teaching is aimed primarily at classical pianists and other musicians, I find that much of what she talks about will resonate for everybody trying to get in touch with their emotions, their connection to beauty and meaning, and their experience of being in their bodies. If you happen to be listening to this when it first is released, you should check out Madeline’s free interactive workshop on May 11 at 1pm Eastern. Her website is: https://artofpracticing.com/ Like all my episodes, this is also a video, and the transcript is also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/madeline-bruser Please help me keep this series and this channel going, with a tip or as a monthly supporter: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman If the topics we address in this conversation are of interest to you, you’ll be interested that many of these important issues have come up with past guests and upcoming guests. Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:00) why Madeline wrote the book “The Art of Practicing”, Menahem Pressler, meditation (09:58) Body and Sound Awareness Technique (13:14) change from performer to teacher, big realizations, founding The Art of Practicing (19:48) intro to Madeline’s performance of Chopin Fantaisie Impromptu (20:33) Chopin Fantaise Impromptu (25:59) Rhythmic grouping, Stephen Burns, Kirk Ferguson (32:04) colour in harmony and tonal nuances (34:02) story of tape recorder, listening to ourselves and being vulnerable (39:14) parallels with actors and musicians, Performing Beyond Fear exercise (43:43) lineage (46:23) perfectionism (50:17) Madeline demonstrates common problems for pianists (58:04) dealing with injuries, mindfulness (01:01:25) dealing with stress, teaching online (01:06:56) journaling (01:08:58) student-centered teaching, “Freedom to Learn” Carl Rogers (01:12:51) stage fright and beta blockers (01:15:06) dealing with stressful or traumatic history (01:20:42) teaching constructively with kindness, and teacher training (01:24:00) dealing with feelings of overwhelm, orchestra playing (01:28:37) pianists and ensemble experience (01:31:51) upcoming workshops Mindfulness for Pianists, Freeing Your Energy for Performance

Pat Irwin is a renowned film and television composer; some of his scores include Dexter: New Blood, Rocko’s Modern Life, Pepper Ann, and Nurse Jackie. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the B52s for 18 years; he founded The Raybeats and 8 Eyed Spy, and more recently the band SUSS of which I’m a fan. Pat also teaches film composition at NYU, and Brooklyn College at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and this conversation wove it’s way into important topics for all of us: a life well-lived, grief, the importance of creativity and of having a good hang. As always, I’ve included detailed timestamps, so if you want to jump to his days with the B52s or Dexter, go ahead, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this whole episode which is rich with music and stories. Pat is as articulate as he is creative. You may be surprised that the episode begins with his time in Paris interviewing jazz musicians and learning from John Cage. Please buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Like all my episodes in this series, this is also a video, and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/pat-irwin Pat Irwin: https://patirwinmusic.com/ Rocko's Modern Life soundtrack album link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cxM57oL5yL3wIDlagQyOG Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:51) Paris meeting Dexter Gordon, Bill Coleman, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacey, Nadia Boulanger, John Cage (09:54) intro to clip from Rocko’s Modern Life (10:21) clip from Rocko’s Modern Life the Pogo Stick Scenario (10:52) Nadia Boulanger, love of jazz (13:25) intro to Lost and Found albums (14:02) Swing Time from Volume 3 of New Sounds From the Lost and Found (15:51) Open Window from Volume 4 of Lost and Found (17:06) intro to Rocko’s Modern Life (18:11) Rocko Versus Food Boy from Rocko’s Modern Life soundtrack (20:11) Rocko’s Modern Life, Kevin Norton, Art Barron (22:12) Walter Hawkes, Long Island City, Ernie Brooks, Don Cherry, The Talking Heads (26:07) In Another Time from Wide open Sky with J. Walter Hawkes (30:36) NYC 8 Eyed Spy, The Raybeats, the B-52s, deaths of Ricky Wilson and George Scott (37:24) touring life and joining the B-52s (44:03) writing music for film and television, collecting instruments (47:12) Early Morning Song from volume 5 The Lost and Found (52:56) Dexter: New Blood (57:21) music from Dexter: New Blood Suite part 1 (59:12) SUSS, Gary Leib (01:06:06) Winter Was Hard SUSS (01:07:59) pedal steel, lap steel, Jonathan Gregg (01:09:00) teaching film composition at NYU, advice to young composers, the importance of the arts (01:17:30) SUSS (01:24:54) SUSS Across the Horizon (01:30:46) Pat’s start composing for film, changes in film composition industry (01:35:27) reflections on the importance of music

Colin Aguiar is an award-winning Indian-Candian composer based in Los Angeles who specializes in film scoring. In this conversation we talked about his youth, growing up across parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and Canada and studying the music of various cultures, learning different instruments with a start on drums as a toddler, as well as his love for the music of Arvo Pärt and other great composers.  Colins spoke about some of his mentors including  Mychael Danna.  This episode with Colin is the first release  of several film composers I have interviewed recently, and I find it fascinating how diverse their musical backgrounds are and what a challenging and little-understood part of the music world this is. During the episode you’ll hear some clips from Colin’s compositions, used with permission. Like all my episodes, this is available on your favourite podcast player as well as a video, and the transcript is linked as well to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/colin-aguiar https://colinaguiar.com/ Help me keep this podcast going!! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:18) toddler drum set, Dad’s band (05:47) Parents’ travels and emigration from India, different cultures (09:17) intro to music from Fly (12:41) music from Fly (16:01) intro to music from Torn from her Arms, Arvo Pärt (17:59) music from Torn from her Arms (19:42) synthesizers, working with session musicians who play by ear (22:51) immigration stories (25:15) arrangement of El Salvadorian anthem (26:25) learning drums and cultures through music (30:52) practicing 5 hours a day, learning different instruments (33:32) starting to compose and arrange (35:41) composition studio gear  (38:46) intro to music from film “Construct”, use of dubstep (39:45) music from “Construct” (40:43) Mychael Danna and learning the job of film scoring (48:14) Lou Natale, challenges of time pressure for composers (51:29) intro to palindrome  (52:18) clip from palindrome written for Construct (54:23) learning from other composers (56:55) composition Roman Toi (58:29) mentors Lou Natale, John Welsman, glenn Morley, Mychael Danna, Robert Dunca, Christopher Young (01:00:10) internal music soundtrack, being able to remember music with precision (01:02:41) Kathakali, other parallels with film music (01:06:00) different styles of film scoring, decision making, time crunches (01:13:16) use of temp tracks (01:16:27) Canadian film industry (01:17:46) pandemic shutdowns

Philip Griffin is an amazingly versatile, creative, and generous musician. He plays, improvises, and composes in many styles on many different instruments.  During this episode you’ll hear him play the rebab, the ukulele, and guitar in his duo with violinist Jude Iddison. He reflects on his work teaching children and people with disabilities, and reflects on some of his important mentors including Richard Gill, Linsey Pollak and Ross Daly. In the video version, I’ve included a slide show of some of his amazing nature photography, which is also on my website linked to this episode, and the link for Philip’s website and Facebook page are also included below. In this conversation with Philip, I was really happy to be able to talk about some of the themes I find most interesting as a musician: education, creativity, and mentorship. Philip was introduced to me by Linsey Pollak, and I hope if you missed his episode that you’ll check it out: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/linsey-pollak Like all my episodes, this is available as a video, and the transcript is linked here as well as some of his amazing nature photographs: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/philip-griffin Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman https://philipgriffin.bandcamp.com/album/banksia https://www.philipgriffin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/philip.griffin.7106 Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:30) Linsey Pollak (06:02)  talking about different instruments laouto, oud, rebab, banjo (10:24) Ross Daly, studying Turkish music (17:10) introduction to the rebab (20:24) rebab improv (23:26) Ross Daly, tours to Australia with Kelly Thoma (25:43) Linsey Pollak, learning modal music (29:23) Ricahrd Gill, learning conducting, singing (41:13) Tutti Arts, Pat Rix,  and working with musicians with disabilities (53:25) music educator in schools (57:45) ukulele, New Zealand music programs Mary Cornish Maria Winder Kiwilele (01:07:38) Pat Megowan luthier (01:11:25) Renaissance guitar music  by Tourdion on ukulele (01:12:46) Affetto Early Music ensemble (01:16:27) Dominique Schwartz: why Philip moved around so much! (01:18:59) Banksia album with Jude Iddison (01:19:31) violin Jude Iddison: Planting the Garlic/Philip’s Wardrobe from album Banksia (01:24:32) meeting Jude and making the album (01:27:15) Frogs, birds, Barry Wilson, photography (with slide show), Glen Storr (01:36:08) Philip’s advice

I’m delighted to feature the master bansuri player Milind Date, who joined me from his home in Pune, India, and played his flutes as well as shared his perspectives from his life in music. As always, check the timestamps below for both the music and the many topics we covered. Milind spoke to me about his studies with the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, of his fusion projects especially in South Korea, he had a great story about a memorable concert he played in Toronto, he talked about his extensive travels in India and internationally. He has a large and varied discography, and has composed music for many films: https://www.milind.date/ Like all my episodes, this is available both as a podcast and video, with a transcript all linked to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/milind-date-bansuri-player Please help me continue this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:46) bansuri flute (03:28) Sunand Bhairav (04:50) early rock music influences, fusion music Hariprasad Chaurasia (11:01) Korean tours and collaborations (17:59) solo 6 month trip in India 2021 (26:11) folk tune from Uttarakhand region (30:01) different folk traditions in India (32:18) Milind’s collection of flutes in different keys (35:01) differences between Hindustani and Carnatic music (38:09) system of gharanas, studies with Hariprasad Chaurasia (55:49) Zakir Hussain (01:05:31) writing film music, notation, Western classical musicians (01:11:31) around the world tour 2013 (01:12:58) performances in Canada (01:20:00) music as meditation (01:23:14) teaching and learning (01:29:56) flute performance

I was so honoured to have this opportunity to talk with the inspiring Destiny Muhammad, who is a California-based jazz harpist and composer. You’ll get to hear inspiring stories from her life as well as her music. She had a dream to play the harp but didn’t have the opportunity until she was 30 years old. She speaks openly about the challenges in the 1980s due to the crack cocaine trade, her success as a barber, her determination and mentors including John Handy, and her unique perspectives in celebrating the legacies of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. When we recorded the episode, I experienced an incredible private concert including several of her original tunes. However, after we listened to the tracks, we agreed it would be even better if she were to record the music separately to have the best possible harp sound, which she generously agreed to do. Like all my episodes this is available as both as a video and a podcast, with transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/destiny-muhammad-jazz-harpist Destiny Muhammad website: https://destinymuhammad.net/ Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:29) Algorithms (harp) (05:18) Destiny’s start on the harp, Stephanie Kaufman Osborne (09:55) learning jazz, Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Khalil Shaheed (15:22) John Handy (20:16) Alice Coltrane tribute concerts SF Jazz (26:45) Dorothy Ashby (31:37) If it’s magic (harp) (36:06) Shirley Muramoto, San Francisco Symphony (37:00) Amateur Music Network, SF Jazz community jam sessions,  (40:37) Teaching jazz, teaching music (53:14) creative process (59:15) tribute to Rosie Lee Tompkins (01:08:40) lessons learned from running a barbershop (01:21:20) growing up in the projects, dealing with bigotry (01:25:51) compositions for orchestra, Matt Wong arranger (01:29:06) Coltrane (harp)

Matt Zimbel is a percussionist with the band Manteca, and also an award-winning writer, producer, documentary filmmaker, artistic director, broadcast executive and radio and tv host. In this fascinating episode he shares his insights gained from a wealth of experience across the music industry. We speak near the beginning about his father the photographer George Zimbel, who died this past January 2023, after we recorded the episode. We talk about the beautiful documentary film, “Zimbelism” that Matt made with director Jean-Francois Gratton. Matt offered that the trailer for Zimbelism, which features the music of Manteca, could be used in this episode. He has also generously let me weave in a pre-release of a fantastic new percussion piece with Art Avalos which will appear on Manteca’s upcoming Offspring Project. The video version of this episode, with the transcript is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mattzimbel Matt Zimbel website: http://mattzimbel.com/    Manteca: https://manteca-music.com/   Busking in Deadwood video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBtrn8Mob5s Manteca albums on Bandcamp: https://mantecamusic.bandcamp.com/music  Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:30) early influences: Osibisa, jazz on CBC radio (05:38) dropping out of school at 14, percussion studies Jim Farety, Dido Morris, John Ruddell, Armando’s Orchestra, forming Manteca (08:30) intro Hit Record percussion piece with Art Avalos pre-release for Manteca’s The Offspring Project (09:20) Hit Record (10:31) learning percussion, playing diferent styles, recording disco (12:30) early influences: Eddie Harris (13:11) creating the film Zimbelism (14:38) clip from trailer for Zimbelism (16:03) making of Zimbelism, Elaine Sernovitz and George Zimbel (21:03) adoption of Jodi from Korea, racism (23:27) immgration to Canada to a farm on PEI (26:00) Matt’s family’s reaction to him dropping out of school, living the freelance life as an artist (27:59) orchestra life (29:22) Manteca, Colleen Allen and memorizing music, Will Jarvis (31:21) Road Stories with Manteca (34:06) Manteca’s The Offspring Project (44:46) Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis (48:42) Canada Day show, PanAm Games (58:41) publicity, finding new audiences, Canadian culture (01:07:28) Doug Wilde creative process Manteca (01:09:17) clip from Miss Météo from album Augmented Indiference, (01:12:23) story about Miss Météo (01:15:33) problem with streaming music, Busking in Deadwood video (01:18:09) dealing with the pandemic through creativity, livestream with Lyne Tremblay, Matt’s sons (01:21:45) the importance of good food (01:23:01) Rick Tait (01:24:59) crowdfunding and challenges for performers (01:28:44) lessons learned from his parents (01:32:05) Matt’s perspectives on a varied career

My guest today is the phenomenal jazz violinist, mandolinist, arranger, and writer Aaron Weinstein. Aaron is a self-taught violinist and attended the renowned Berklee College on a 4 year talent based scholarship. As a young man he performed and recorded with many jazz legends. In this episode we talked about some of these mentors, including Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Les Paul, and this interview is full of Aaron’s stories and insights as a performer and educator. He has generously agreed to let me use two of his previously released self-produced videos so you can hear some of his playing. I first discovered Aaron in his comedy series with Linda Lavin; I encourage you to check it out along with his other projects and albums: http://www.aaronweinstein.net/ All my episodes are also a video and the transcript is at the same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/aaron-weinstein Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:41) Aaron’s start on old-time fiddle (03:16) Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli (06:50) Mel Bay books Swingin’ Jazz Fiddle Solos and Mandolin Chord Melody System (09:28) Aaron Weinstein plays Avalon, both violin and mandolin (11:05) Don Stiernberg  (12:27) “Give Me the Simple Life” Aaron Weinstein on mandolin (13:56) difference between jazz mandolin and jazz violin (17:18) Album 3x3 on Chesky label (18:21) Berklee College of Muisic, Sandy Kott first formal violin lessons (23:32)Les Paul (25:05) playing with jazz legends as a young man, learning the tunes, Annie Ross (27:46) lyrics, Sondheim, Andy Zerman (30:35) working with Broadway singers and appreciating different genres (33:59) self-criticism, dealing with different performance realities (36:15) Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Johnny Frigo (38:54) Linda Lavin, Irvin Arthur (45:12) agents, jazz in the music business (46:59) mandolin, violin, guitar, Hamilton de Holanda (49:11) teaching jazz (56:03) giving and getting feedback  (59:04) getting established in New York, support from John Pizzarelli (01:01:26) arranging, practicing classical music, interpretation and originality  (01:06:43) writing  (01:13:54) advice for younger players, problems with social media (01:20:19) how to practice, improvisation (01:26:05) Les Paul story (01:28:00) missing the opportunity to hear Stéphane Grappelli

Welcome to a special Catch-Up bonus episode with violinist Gina Burgess. My original episode with her is linked here, as well as the podcast versions of both, with transcripts: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e18-s1-gina-burgess-multi-style-violinist  If you missed my first conversation with Gina, you’ll be interested to hear her fascinating personal story and how she became so connected with the North. Gina has had a really interesting year, going back to university in Newfoundland, moving to the far north of Canada in Iqaluit, and releasing her first album as bandleader. We talked about Inuit throatsinging, and have included two excerpts from the album which I encourage you to check out on Bandcamp: https://ginaburgessmusic.bandcamp.com/album/isnow  Please help me keep this podcast going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:24) music education at Memorial University in Newfoundland (03:56) touring life cut short by pandemic and pivoting to teaching (04:59) placement in Iqaluit (07:40) Inuit throat singing, Cynthia Pitsiulak (09:32) intro to Anuri (12:06) clip from Anuri on ISNOW album (14:34) album release in Iqaluit with drum dancers, Olivia Chislett throat singer (16:17) album ISNOW (17:38) Ravens on the Roof intro (19:50) clip from Ravens on the Roof (20:34) crafting, sober jam (22:09) teaching (23:22) teaching teenagers, the importance of knowing them (24:48) playing in hospital

Gertrude Létourneau, known to some as Trudy, is a flutist, pianist, singer and a therapeutic musician. During this episode, she tells many moving stories of the residents she has worked with in her many years working at Pearly Health. During the episode she frequently breaks into song and plays a variety of flutes as well as paints a vivid picture of the fulfilling role she plays working with veterans. We also spoke about her mentors Peter Wiegold, Jeffrey Gilbert, and Marie-Claire Séguin. This was an episode very much about going out your comfort zone, connecting with your audience, and learning to slow down and enjoy every day. Help me keep this series going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Video and Transcript link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/gertrude-trudy-letourneau Gertrude's website: https://gertrudeletourneau.com/ photo credit: Dave Poulin Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:02) how Gertrude got into this work as a therapeutic musician at Perley Health, Performance and Communication Skills at Guildhall with Peter Wiegold (08:12) making music with the residents, sing-along culture, Kohai Educational Center working kids with learning disabilities (12:20) learning the repertoire, playing by ear, choosing themes, different aspects of the work at Perley Health (16:01) difference between Music Therapist and Therapeutic Musician (17:44) story about Lili Marlene and World War II veteran (20:55) PTSD story (25:56) J’attendrai ton retour with story (28:53) developing as a singer, coaching with Marie-Claire Séguin, finalist in Ma première Place des Arts competition (34:05) Audience engagement, talking to the audience and building bridges (38:52) Jeffrey Gilbert (41:58) childhood music and decision to pursue the flute (46:35) dealing with grief and loss (52:54) planning repertoire around themes (55:36) coping with the COVID Pandemic in long-term care, online concerts with Concerts in Care and the Music Performance Trust Fund (01:01:03) living in the moment, Québecois culture and La Bolduc, a musician’s last gig (01:06:50) lessons learned (01:16:33) Let Me Call You Sweetheart, creative challenges and going out of your comfort zone

Adam Hurt is an acclaimed clawhammer banjo player and one of my favourite performers in any style and I was absolutely delighted that he agreed not only to speak to me at length about his life and teaching of traditional music, but also perform for this episode some of my favourite music. His albums of gourd banjo music “Earth Tones” and “Back to the Earth” are beloved by a wide range of listeners, I think partly because the sound colour of the instrument is much more mellow than other banjos. You’ll hear him play and talk about the fascinating history of both his gourd banjo and one of his favourite antique instruments. He’s also a fine old-time fiddler, and although he grew up with classical musician parents, his father a violinist with the Minnesota orchestra, Adam’s life-changing musical moment was with a wonderful and dedicated school teacher.  The video version of this episode along with the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/adam-hurt Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Adam Hurt website: https://www.adamhurt.com/ If you enjoyed this episode you may be interested in some of my episodes with other traditional musicians, including Janie Rothfield and Alexis Chartrand. I continue to feature many players of plucked instruments with some nice surprises coming your way in Season 3. If you subscribe to my newsletter through my website https://www.leahroseman.com/contact, you’ll get exclusive sneak peeks for upcoming episodes. Timestamps (00:00:00) Cold open and intro (00:02:17) antique Dobson banjo, restoration by Will Seeders Mosheim (00:07:43) intro to “Fortune” played on the Dobson banjo (00:11:06) Adam’s early music education, difficulty reading music (00:15:26) Don Payden first Old-Time teacher, learning by ear, mandolin with Brian Wicklund, clawhammer with Marianne Kovatch (00:27:58) tone production on the banjo (00:35:39) Ricky Skaggs collaboration on album Back to the Earth (00:39:11) gourd banjo, performance of “Josie-O” (00:45:05) history of this David Hyatt gourd banjo and the recording of Eartht Tones album (00:50:04) African origins of the banjo, racist history (00:53:47) tablature, Walt Koken story, Adam’s teaching (00:59:21) Clifftop (01:04:53) Adam’s father, learning fiddle (01:09:22) open A tuning, performance of Patty on the Pike on fiddle (01:14:17) dancing and old-time, Adam’s experience of learning flatfoot syle (01:16:42) album Fine Times at our House (01:18:32) why we love Bandcamp (01:22:20) the hawk story (01:28:51) Adam’s teaching strategies (01:36:53) intro to performance of Snowdrop on the antique Dobson banjo

Ineke Vando orn is a wonderfully expressive prizewinning jazz vocalist, author, composer and educator. We talked about overcoming voice problems, the craft of writing lyrics, teaching vocal improvisation, her book “Singing from the Inside Out”, and many of her fascinating creative collaborations.During the recording of this episode Ineke performed 3 times, and also check out the timestamps below for the many topics we covered. The link for both the video and the transcript is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ineke-vandoorn Be sure to check out my episode with Ineke’s partner guitarist Marc Van Vugt: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marc-van-vugt-guitarist-and-composer Ineke's website: https://www.inekevandoorn.com/ Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: Jiri Büller Timestamps (00:00) Cold open and Intro (01:34) early days with Marc van Vugt (03:29) voice problems (05:57) process for writing book “Singing From the Inside Out” (14:33) song “Holysloot” by Ineke Vandoorn (19:57) singing workshops (21:00) project with Cecilia Moisio “I Can See Myself Through Your Eyes” (29:00) criticism and performance anxiety (35:04) song “Tea”by Marc van Vugt with lyrics by Ineke Vandoorn (41:02) use of DigiTech400 Vocal pedal (42:50) Paris, Van Doesburg house residency, challenges of self-promotion as an independant jazz artist (45:35) coaching students about different practical skills (48:51) teaching improvisation (50:30) the importance and lack of government support for music (52:09) pitch memory, singing a cappella, Voice Lab group (54:54) family music, early years (56:15) coming into her own as a singer, support of Don Thompson, going to Banff (59:17) mentoring younger women (01:00:39) writing lyrics in English and Dutch (01:10:01) Flora Purim, gaining confidence as a performer (01:12:36) “Alice in Space” opera with Ingmar Heytze and Marc van Vugt (01:14:39) free improv vocal solo (01:19:39) collaboraing with recorder player Saskia Coolen (01:22:34) reflections on turning 60 (01:24:18) project with Jasper van ’t Hof (01:27:29) album “Crossing Canada” (01:28:28) balancing time between teaching at ArtEZ, performing and creating (01:30:58) plans for a new book about vocal improvisation

Ali Omar El-Farouk is an Egyptian and Canadian oud guitar player, composer and teacher. Ali plays his oud and three other instruments during this fascinating conversation in which we talked about learning from a place of joy, connecting across cultures through music, languages, architecture, Istanbul, Spain, Umm Kulthum, Nubian music, jazz, and lots more. The link for the video version and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ali-omar-el-farouk Support this series through my Ko-fi page! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman https://aliomarelfarouk.com/ photo: Joshua Hansen Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:50) Ali’s background in architectural engineering, coming to Montreal to study jazz (00:02:57) early music lessons piano and guitar (00:07:55) about the oud, with improvisation (00:16:50) Ali’s time in Spain studying flamenco and introduction to “Nostalgia Esperanzadora” (00:29:31) Ali’s composition “Nostalgia Esperanzadora” for oud and flamenco guitar (00:38:21) vibrato and different expressive techniques on the oud, about the risha and different types of plectrums (00:46:28) Arab architecture, Alhambra, traveling in Southern Spain (00:52:20) learning Spanish, Turkish and communicating through music (00:55:29) bringing musicians to Egypt, Mike de Masi, Thomas Durant, Freddy Rizk, Hamza El Din, Nubian music (01:02:47) Umm Kulthum (01:09:13) Ali’s musicial influences, learning Arabic music, Anouar Brahem, Simon Shaheen (01:14:55) 2011 pro-democracy protests in Cairo (01:21:07) different Arabic dialects, Arabic community in Montreal (01:24:25) Turkey, trip to Istanbul (01:29:45) album Ela Mataa, Joseph Khoury (01:36:12) demonstration of frame drum and history of the frame drum (01:41:08) Montreal jazz scene (01:44:48) teaching (01:47:21) Joseph Tawadros, Cengiz Sarikus (01:49:26) intro to Naima by John Coltrane on electric guitar (01:53:38) Ali’s advice about practicing and learning music

Multi-instrumentalist Colleen Allen is a versatile and expressive performer based in Toronto, Canada. In this conversation, we talked about her perspectives on evaluating priorities, rising to new challenges, collaboration, teaching improvisation, and the physical challenges of playing so many different instruments. Colleen’s candid warmth and love of music really shine through in this wide-ranging conversation. Please help me keep this podcast going: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman  Video and Transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/colleen-allen photo: Jean-François Gratton  clip of Manteca playing "Mind Monday" used with permission, writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel album available: https://mantecamusic.bandcamp.com/album/monday-night-at-the-mensa-disco  Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:34) women in jazz, role models and mentors (11:38) Gloucester high school (13:26) the challenges of learning music (17:18) teaching improvisation (22:07) Women’s Blues Revue, Toronto Blues Society (25:38) learning different instruments, ergonomics and keeping fit (31:19) alto sax “If I Were a Bell” by Miles Davis (34:02) playing in big bands, playing different instruments in Manteca (35:40) clip of band Manteca playing “Mind Monday” writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel (37:19) Accordion, working with actors, different ways of memorizing music (44:07) stage fright, dealing with nerves, challenge state, breathwork (47:52) writing arrangements, Toronto Sax Quartet, Molly Johnson (53:19) life on tour (54:43) Jazz scene in Toronto (56:09) Cirque du Soleil Pomp Duck and Circumstance (01:01:02) solo albums Flashlight and Colleen Allen, Marc Jordan, process of recording (01:06:49) evolution of vibrato in jazz (01:08:33) pandemic, livestreams, Syncspace, Adrian Cho (01:12:40) stopping teaching, assessing priorities (01:15:33) jazz flute demo, Moe Koffman, Manteca Offspring project, Jake Koffman (01:18:50) Oliver Schroer (01:21:44) Soulpepper theatre, learning leadership (01:23:49) student days, how things are evolving in a positive way, the life of a musician

I was honoured to speak with the inspiring singer, composer, choir leader, pianist and cultural activist Polina Shepherd. In this episode you’ll hear Polina’s stories from growing up in Tartarstan, in the former Soviet Union, finding a bridge to her Jewish identity through Klezmer music, collaborating with her mentors, founding Yiddish and Russian choirs in the U.K., and many other creative projects. During the episode she sings songs from different traditions, including one of her compositions, and is such a warm and engaging speaker I trust a wide audience will find inspiration and food for thought in her perspectives on education, mentorship, creativity, health, identity, connection and collaboration. The link for both the podcast and video is linked with the full transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/polina-shepherd  Her website https://www.polinashepherd.co.uk/ If you are specifically interested in Klezmer music, you may be interested in previous episodes with Alicia Svigals, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and Marilyn Lerner. Please encourage me to keep this series going. https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Shendl Copitman Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:27) connecting through music, COVID, Sing With Me workshops (00:05:14) Polina’s childhood, family music-making (00:07:16) intro to Russian Romance by Lermontov and Shashina (00:10:14) Polina’s musical training and voice (00:12:16) Tomsk, Kazan, growing up in Tartarstan, Jewish community, perestroika (00:16:27) Yiddish song, Polina sings “A Frisher Vind” Dovid Hofshsteyn poetry (00:21:31) secular Yiddish culture, song cycle with poems of Troim Katz Handler (00:24:11) falling in love with Merlin Shepherd, experience of immigration to the UK (00:28:17) first trip to US, Lorin Sklamberg, Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek (00:31:07) 150 Voices with Lorin Sklamberg, part in “The Crown” (00:35:09) The Caravan Orchestra and Choir, teaching improvisation, working with youth (00:40:39) Tartarstan cultural influences (00:42:40) Polina’s advice for musicians, collaboration (00:48:13) memorisation, playing by ear (00:49:15) advice for health for singers and everyone else (00:52:48) accompanying silent films (00:57:43) collaboration with dance, community outreach (00:59:22) Polina’s way of manifesting projects, starting her choirs, Jackie Fuller (01:04:12) working with community choirs (01:06:55) learning from Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek, Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Merlin Shepherd, Psoy Korolenko (01:13:37) Niggun Koyach (01:16:14) Polina’s reflections and advice

This is a special bonus Catch-Up episode with singer-songwriter Megan Jerome. Today is also the release of my conversation with her husband, the jazz drummer Mike Essoudry. In this short episode, you’ll hear how Megan fell in love with Mike, as well as about the creation of her new album “Love” with the Together Ensemble including two songs from the album, “Hot Pink Heart”, and “Isn’t Life Grand”. She also talked about some valuable mentorship that helped her secure funding for the album. Megan’s original episode as well as this catch-up bonus are linked together with the video and podcast versions, and the transcripts: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2 Mike Essoudry, podcast, video and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer Support this podcast and get access to unique perks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:34) how Megan and Mike Essoudry fell in love (03:56) “Isn’t Life Grand” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble (08:37) Megan’s new album “Love”, release plan, funding Canada Council and City of Ottawa (14:30) Vel Omazic and Canada Music Incubators (17:34) “Hot Pink Heart” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble

This episode features the fantastic drummer Mike Essoudry, who is a busy performer and composer in Ottawa, Canada,  playing with many projects in the funk, jazz, and improvised music scene. He’s in the  funk group Gephilte with a previous guest of this series,  Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and in the Together Ensemble with his partner Megan Jerome. Today also marks the release of my bonus catch-up episode with Megan, in which she shares how she and Mike fell in love as well as her new album and great advice about an important aspect of the music business as an independant artist. Her episodes are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2This episode was unique in that Mike was sitting at his drumset  during the entire episode and we talked in detail about the history of the drumset and evolution of different styles of drumming. Mike demonstrated lots of intricate grooves and finished the episode with a cool little solo. He also shared stories from his childhood and talked about how in his youth he built his drums and an intricate treehouse in a park. Transcript and Video: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer  Mike's website: https://mikeessoudrymusic.com/home Support this podcast with a tip, or consider becoming a monthly supporter with access to perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:02:12) drum set history with demonstrations: bass drum, ride cymbal, Zildjian, Ludwig, Beatles, speed-metal (00:12:51) tom-toms with demonstration (00:16:54) brushes, cajon sticks, mallets (00:20:26) the importance of drummers learning harmony and melody (00:23:30) counting, knowing the tune (00:27:03) Latin grooves (00:32:32) drum solos, not losing the count, the advantage of having someone play with your solo (00:36:09) poly-rhythms and groupings (00:42:39) Mike’s book of beats and teaching, playing by ear and reading (00:46:22) Foley artists, history of radio, silent movies, sound effects (00:49:14) hand percussion, playing without shoes (00:51:27) Mike’s childhood, rock drumming, blues (00:55:31) drum pads substitute for drums (00:57:45) marching bands, New Orleans, different traditions from around the world, Balkan music (01:03:48) Mike’s parents, hand percussion on the drum set (demonstration) (01:11:44) Mike’s father’s immigration story from Moroccon Jewish community, how his parents met (01:17:37) carpentry skills, classic Lego, treehouse story, building his drum set (01:23:53) visual and intuitive learning style (01:26:24) Atlantis Jazz Ensemble, Alouette Space Agency (01:31:24) solo drum project, balancing earning money with carpentry and writing and playing music (01:34:39) how Mike practices and the importance of keeping your ears in shape, pushing boundaries like immitating machine beats

Renée Yoxon is a trans non-binary singer, songwriter, jazz musician, and trans voice teacher. In this episode, Renee shares some beautiful and inspiring performances from their albums, as well as stories from life as a disabled person and how their disability and chronic pain has guided the direction of their career. We talk about their musical development, and their experiences both bad and good as they navigated their musical education (after finishing a degree in physics!). Renée explains the kind of work they do with trans vocal exploration and we dive into all kinds of topics in the usual tangential style of this series. The transcript and video are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/rene-yoxon Please consider supporting this series and get access to some cool and unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Renée Yoxon website: https://www.reneeyoxon.com/ photo: Laurence Philomène podcast theme music: Nick Kold Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:21) Renée’s physics degree, start in school band, Jazz Works camp (00:04:19) free improv group, intergenerational friendships (00:06:38) intro to “Willow Weep for Me” by Ann Ronell (00:08:53) “Willow Weep for Me” with René Gely (00:13:57) piano, ukulele (00:15:26) “Beautiful Alchemy”, film with Teagan Lance and album (00:17:14) “Terrible Alchemy” (00:23:19) Blossom Dearie (00:23:52) worldless improv (00:24:37) studies in New York, living as a disabled person, vocal technique (00:29:33) singing in rock band “Gorgeous George”, care of the voice and endurance training (00:32:20) trans voice aleration, TikTok success, pitch lowering, taking risks and learning to be silly (00:40:14) gender presentation and gender identity (00:42:35) ways we can alter the voice (00:45:09) different languages in terms of vocal alteration, vocal fry and gendered cutural coding for vocal characteristics (00:47:52) TikTok (00:49:22) teaching Trans Voice Alteration to other teachers (00:51:45) the importance of teaching business skills to musicians, University of Limerick, Edel Meade (00:55:58) Banff, McGill, growing up in Ottawa, the importance of mentors, Mark Ferguson, René Gely (01:00:29) social anxiety, speaking in public with a different voice or new language (01:02:38) different people who take Renée’s courses on voice alteration (01:03:18) songwriting, Aoife McAtamney Pink Breath (01:04:27) “Drinking Coffee” (01:08:58) songs “The Bad Years” about their chronic illness (01:10:27) Kazaa music sharing, learning jazz repertoire (01:12:53) Renée’s perspective on the music industry as a disabled person, and experiences at McGill university with lack of accessibility (01:17:46) Mx non-binary honorific, the importance of pronouns (01:20:32) disability rights, more about their McGill experience (01:22:45) Montreal