Pianists Not Practicing

Welcome to our episode with Dr. Josh Wood - a horn player (how did he get on this podcast?!) who is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the North Bay Symphony Orchestra, with a multi-faceted career as an educator, composer, arranger, and performer. Maestro Wood is a leader and member of multiple ensembles - including Restoration Jazz Band, Near North Voices, the 22 Wing Military Band, and Nipis...

Welcome to our episode with Dr. Darío Martín - hailing from Havana, Cuba, Darío is a dynamic and versatile pianist who enjoys an international career of solo, chamber and collaborative work. Darío is such an energetic light of a person and brings joy and enthusiasm to all that he does. His positive outlook and enduring spirit are so inspiring and I can’t wait for you to hear this episode and feel...

Welcome to our episode with Mariel Mayz - a sought-after pianist, composer, educator and administrator from New York City. Mariel’s original works have been described as “inventive, colorful, compelling, and well-crafted.” She currently lives a rich musical life, teaching at multiple universities in New York, composing new works, performing recitals and running Porto Piano Fest - an annual interna...

Welcome to our episode with Mariel Mayz - a sought-after pianist, composer, educator and administrator from New York City. Mariel’s original works have been described as “inventive, colorful, compelling, and well-crafted.” She currently lives a rich musical life, teaching at multiple universities in New York, composing new works, performing recitals and running Porto Piano Fest - an annual interna...

Welcome to our episode with Dr. Yolanda Tapia - a Mexican-born pianist, educator, vocal coach, and Fulbright Scholar, currently based in Toronto, Canada. Yolanda’s career is so kaleidoscopic and in this episode we dive into the many facets of how she lives as an artist - we cover her work as a collaborative pianist, opera coach, lecturer, and educator and how her musical journey has led her to man...

Part 2 Welcome to our episode with Canadian pianist Jani Parsons! Praised for her “combination of tenderness and vivacious energy” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “sheer virtuosity” (LA Splash), Canadian pianist Jani Parsons has established herself as a musician of warmth, brilliance, versatility, and vivid expression. An active soloist and chamber musician, Jani is a founding member and executive d...

Part 1 Welcome to our episode with Canadian pianist Jani Parsons! Praised for her “combination of tenderness and vivacious energy” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “sheer virtuosity” (LA Splash), Canadian pianist Jani Parsons has established herself as a musician of warmth, brilliance, versatility, and vivid expression. An active soloist and chamber musician, Jani is a founding member and executive d...

Part 2 Welcome to our second episode with the Canadian pianist turned conductor: Juliane Gallant. After diving into her origin story last episode - this episode features Juliane’s approach to conducting and how she connects with fellow artists onstage and in the audience. She shares with us what she loves about this work and how she has found her new niche in the world of POPS. We explore her jour...

Part 1 Welcome to our episode with the dynamic pianist turned conductor Juliane Gallant. This is a monumental moment for pianists not practicing - our first episode with a conductor! This episode is an amazing origin story about an incredible musician who made her way from small town New Brunswick Canada all the way to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England, and back again to C...

Welcome to our episode with the incomparable Mark Limacher - composer, arranger, orchestrator, pianist (and chef extraordinaire) - who is back on pianists not practicing to celebrate our recording of the concerto that he wrote for me in 2025! One year after the premiere, we recap the recording of RUMINATIONS with Kensington Sinfonia in Calgary as part of Adam Zinatelli’s album (Principal Trumpet o...

Part 2 We’re back to catch up with Kevin and dive into his current creative projects as a freelancer in Toronto. In this episode we explore: His experience as a core member of the three-time grammy nominated ARC Ensemble, performing and recording the works of marginalized and lesser played composers - very often performing this music for the first time His latest obsession with a new foldable keyb...

Part 1 This episode with Kevin is filled with his signature spunky charisma as he shares with us his inspirations, triumphs and trials as a pianist freelancing in Toronto. Just check out this intro!: An artist that “leaves no question about his riveting presentation and technical finesse” ( Seattle Times ), Canadian pianist KEVIN AHFAT is acclaimed to be “poised to become one of the young heirs of...

Part 2 We’re back with episode 2 featuring Dr. Shulamit Mor - a concert pianist and psychologist who specializes in performance psychology and helping performers of all kinds perform at their best when it counts. This second episode with Dr. Mor (because one just wasn’t enough!) highlights performance mindset strategies and does a deep dive into *mental rehearsal*. We discuss this form of visualiz...

Part 1 Welcome to our episode with Dr. Shulamit Mor, a concert pianist who started her professional performance career at age 10. After concertizing internationally, she made a career transition to psychology, and focussed her research and clinical work on issues related to the performing arts. In addition to her work with performers of all kinds, she has conducted workshops on topics such as: per...

Welcome to our episode with the queen of creativity and innovation who truly does it all from performing, to teaching to administration - we explored her extremely varied and exciting career from her early days premiering with orchestra in Russia at the age of 9, to her current life-changing work with students at the Colburn school in Los Angeles as Assistant Director of Colburn’s Center for Innov...

Welcome to our episode with the beautiful and wise Canadian pianist, Adrian Tsui! In this episode we tackle the huge topic of injury and how to care for your body and mind as a pianist. This is an incredible conversation where Adrian shares his experience and wealth of knowledge, and how he tackled his own injury through research, resilience and exploration. We cover everything from body awareness...

Part Two Welcome to our episode with an energetic, warm and joyful pianist whose playing has been described as “virtuosic…with impressive grace” (San Diego Union-Tribune) - Chi-jo! In this convo we chat about her approach to practice and problem solving at the piano (spoiler alert: that’s one of her favourite parts of being a pianist!), how difficult it can be to remain patient with rest and recov...

Part One Welcome to our episode with an energetic, warm and joyful pianist whose playing has been described as “virtuosic…with impressive grace” (San Diego Union-Tribune) - Chi-jo! In this convo we chat about her formative experiences as a pianist - from her upbringing in Taiwan in a specialized music program in high school, to the wisdom she absorbed from her legendary mentor while studying at In...

Segunda Parte This week we continue our convo with Alba and it is so FULL of amazing strategies and ideas for how to approach performing and practicing. Definitely check out Part One of this conversation in Episode 13 if you haven’t already! In this convo, we chat about Alba’s memorization and practice strategies, including mental rehearsal and visualization, her mindset for performing from memory...

Primera Parte Meet the “heir to the great legacy of the Spanish piano school”, Alba Ventura. Born in Barcelona, Alba is a passionate, nuanced performer who made her solo debut at the age of thirteen performing Mozart’s “Jeunehomme” piano concerto with the Cadaqués Orchestra and Sir N Marriner. She began her studies at the Académia Marshall, founded by Enrique Granados, and her mentors include Carl...

Described as “one of those artists who can make classical music such great fun” (Sedona Red Rock News), Dr. James Palmer is an American pianist who is equally at home as a soloist, collaborator, presenter, and teacher. He is a dynamic musician, and just a lovely human being, currently on faculty at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. This conversation is full of insp...

A self-proclaimed “singer in a pianist’s body”, Robert is an incredibly hilarious and talented vocal coach and pianist on faculty at the University of Kentucky, where he performs and coaches singers with his signature wit, and down-to-business coaching style. This episode is full of amazing ideas and insights into performance and preparation. Robert shares with us how he strives for excellence rat...

Described by her listeners as mesmerizing and otherworldly , Canadian pianist Katherine Dowling thrives on the intimacy of live performance - always playing from memory so that the music is fully internalized. She loves to discover sounds that she has never heard nor imagined before, to explore beauty that isn’t nice or pretty. In this convo we discuss the flexibility and synchronicity involved in...

Welcome to a masterclass in concert curation with the incredibly innovative Elizabeth Newkirk: pianist, artist, and writer based in Houston, TX. This episode showcases her creative ability to make connections across art forms to curate incredibly interesting concert experiences for her audiences in her concert series THE ARCHETYPE OF MODERN MAN. Elizabeth also reminds us to continuously be your ow...

Elizabeth Newkirk is an American classical pianist, writer, and curator. She specializes in music of the early 20th century, and her scholarship explores the foundations of culture, convention, and archetypes. As a passionate humanist, her curations and performances seek to put the humanities into practice. This convo explores her work as an artist and writer, her album THE AMERICANIST, and her co...