Anthony Plog on Music

An important part of Rex Richardson’s early career was playing with the group Rhythm and Brass , so we begin this part of our conversation talking about that time in Rex’s life. Most of Part 2 is a deep-dive into One Hundred Days of Trumpet Practice , Rex’s magnum opus. Every ten days in the book, Rex introduces a new topic, and we cover them all! Dorico Professional music notation and composition...

Rex Richardson is a true international soloist , which means a lot of international travel. It also means some great stories! In the Bonus Room we talk about some cultural differences that Rex has learned from, and how those cultures influence styles of jazz. Dorico Professional music notation and composition software from Steinberg. Download a free 30-trial today! Disclaimer: This post contains a...

Called "One of the finest virtuosos of our time," Rex Richardson is equally comfortable in many diverse areas of music. He has recordings in the areas of both jazz and classical music and is very active in bringing new music into the repertoire. In addition to his international performing career, Rex is also a published composer. He is a dedicated teacher, and in addition to his position...

The music scene is quite different today from when Yolanda began her career, so we discuss some of the challenges facing a young musician today embarking on a solo career. A current project of Yolanda's is "Five Minutes for Earth," a series of pieces lasting five minutes which deal with environmental themes. Other subjects also discussed include the importance of Snickers during lon...

In the Bonus Room , our conversation turns towards Yolanda's teaching career, her approach to teaching, and why she will have students write a review of an imaginary concert they have given. We end our conversation by talking about balancing the life of a soloist with that of a wife and mother.

Yolanda Kondonassis is one of the world’s premier classical harpists , and is widely regarded as today’s most recorded classical harpist. She has won a Grammy Award for her recording of the Jennifer Higdon Harp Concerto (which she commissioned) and has appeared as a soloist with many top orchestras. In addition, she has published several books, including a children’s book. She is the head of the h...

We continue our discussion about teaching with John talking about the importance of sound and concept along with the importance of singing. I then ask John about the question, should the school be there for the student, or should the student be there for the school (spoiler alert: John sees this as a black and white question!).  We talk about why so few great trumpet players are great musicians, a...

In the Bonus Room we begin by talking about what auditions are like at Indiana University, and what John looks for in a student that is auditioning. We end our conversation by talking about John’s playing career.

John Rommel is Professor of Trumpet at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University . Early in his playing career he was a member of the Nashville Symphony and principal trumpet of the Louisville Orchestra, and recently he has performed with both the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony. He is also known as one of the premier teachers in the U.S., and it was a pleasure to speak with...

A number of top professionals have come to Thomas Heyer for help with technical problems which leads us to a further discussion of technique in singing. As a teacher he was first opposed to teaching on Zoom, but now is comfortable with using this method of teaching. Other ideas discussed are how seeing a particular graffiti in Minnesota spoke directly to him, how he works on passaggio passages wit...

In the Bonus Room , Thomas talks about how a voice student can best use his/her time to improve, the concept of singing naturally, aging and the voice, and finally, interpreting different styles of music.

Thomas Heyer is a Professor of Voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. Recognized as one of the top voice teachers in Europe, his students sing in major opera houses throughout Europe. As a tenor he has sung throughout Europe, in addition to North America and Africa. In the first part of our conversation,  I ask Thomas about the arc of his career, first as a sin...

In order to get an idea of exactly how Música para Respirar works , Bruno describes how he would give a typical concert online for a person who has requested one. Camila also describes an actual concert she gave very early in the morning and the positive effect it had. And finally, I ask about the future of Música para Respirar, and their goal of making "classical music performances available...

Although both Camila and Bruno come from South America , they met in the United States, where they were both studying (Camila was studying clarinet at the Manhattan School of Music and Bruno studied trumpet at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University). We talk about their individual careers as working professional musicians and the arc of their careers.

Bruno Lourensetto and Camila Barrientos are the founders of Música para Respirar, an organization that is bringing classical music to people in need around the world. Begun as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,902 live online concerts have been presented at the time of this interview. In Part 1 of our discussion , we talk about how and why Música para Respirar was started, the deep emotional...

In Part 2 of our conversation , I ask Jake about how he composes, his thoughts on composing, being in "the zone" while composing, orchestration, and being authentic as a composer and human being.

I ask Jake about the advice  he would give his younger self, his heroes and influences, his piano playing, and how he tries to balance his schedule.

Jake Heggie is the composer of 9 operas, including Dead Man Walking and Moby Dick and has written nearly 300 art songs. In addition, he is a fine pianist who has worked with singers such as Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Frederica von Stade, and Jamie Barton, among others. In our conversation we talk about his life in opera, composing, the three ingredients of success, and even ... coffee and slee...

In Part 2, we cover a wide range of subjects, and I ask Ingrid for her ideas about teaching, including the importance of listening (including what she gets from listening to composers such as Bach and Bartok), curiosity and investigation, feeling vs. counting rhythm, and how playing Monette trumpets has helped her career. Finally, she talks about how to use listening to correct course if things ar...

In the Bonus Room , Ingrid talks about how she balances her life, both in terms of playing vs. composing, and also being a mother while being a performer. She talks about the influence Clark Terry has had on her, both in terms of inspiration and also her career. We end by talking about how Ingrid would teach jazz to a beginner.

Ingrid Jensen is the 2019 recipient of the Jazz Journalists Trumpeter-of-the Year award. She is constantly in demand with tours internationally - both with her own groups and also with jazz orchestras such as Maria Schneider (1994-2012) and Darcy James Argue (2002-present). In addition to her accomplishments as a trumpeter and composer, she is also currently the Interim Associate Dean and Director...

We begin Part 2 by discussing A.I. and music education but then move on to more basic and elemental subjects, at times not even dealing with music... A.I. and ethics, A.I. and its effect on the meaning of life, and concern about the negative potential of A.I. in the future.

In the Bonus Room, I ask Professor Fujita how he began studying artificial intelligence, which leads to his discussing some of the basic principles of A.I.

Professor Hamido Fujita is an internationally noted expert in the area of artificial intelligence. He was kind enough to join us in this extremely wide-ranging interview not only about A.I. and music but also A.I. and life and what to expect in the future. I say “us” because I am also joined in this interview by my producer Eddie Ludema, who in addition to being a trumpeter, composer, and teacher...

In Part 2, Larry describes the process of having three brain surgeries (called deep brain surgery), all while staying in New York City during the onset of Covid, and then his subsequent road to recovery.