Classical Post

For classical musicians, the process of exploring and learning new repertoire never ends. That's especially true for pianists, who have a titanic amount of literature available to them — from seminal keyboard works of the Baroque to the freshly inked compositions of today. Climbing that mountain of music can be intimidating — but not for Orion Weiss. Although his student days at Juilliard, the...

How does a storied summer music festival thrive in the 21st century? Especially one located in a town best known for its 19th-century gilded glamor and magnificent mansions? For Newport Classical's executive director, Gillian Friedman Fox, it's all about finding ways to respect history and tradition while forging new paths for access and inclusion. "For Newport Classical, people are l...

Longevity and chamber music don't often go together. For every Emerson String Quartet that spends decades performing together, there are scores of chamber ensembles calling it quits every year. So when a group like the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet reaches its 40th anniversary, it's a cause for celebration. So what's the secret to their continued longevity? For founding member William Kan...

In the social media age, the life of a classical musician can appear glamorous — a steady stream of concerts across the globe, album releases, residencies, and black-tie receptions. But what are the ups and downs we don't see once the cameras are gone? And what roles can wellness and community play in the life of a performing artist today? Author Rebecca Fischer — who for 18 years performed as...

The American conductor Ryan Bancroft joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, where we speak about his new appointment as the Chief Conductor Designate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Beginning in the 23/24 season, it’s a very important role at one of Europe’s premier orchestras. Growing up in California, Ryan made his way to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he discove...

Trio con Brio Copenhagen joins us on the Classical Post podcast today, which was recorded earlier this spring when they were on tour in the US. Right off the heels of winning the German Record Critics' Award, we spoke particularly at a time when many organizations had been grappling with presenting music written by Russian composers due to how their audience views the ongoing war between Russi...

Soprano Laura Strickling joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss her Grammy nominated album, Confessions . Calling the U.S. Virgin Islands home, she tells the story of managing a mammoth commissioning project from the Caribbean while in lockdown. Before the pandemic began, she launched a large undertaking called “The 40@40 Project,” where she commissioned 40 composers to write 40 new wor...

It’s not everyday you hear about a vibraphonist, but today you will on the Classical Post podcast. Calling in from his home in Luxembourg, we spoke with the fascinating vibraphonist, composer, and producer Pascal Schumacher . He has a new album out on the Neue Meister label called LUNA . We dig into the background of creating this, including the accompanying gorgeous music videos. We also explore...

The Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet joins us on the Classical Post podcast today to discuss their latest album, UNCOVERED  Volume 2 , featuring the music of Florence Price. The star pianist Michelle Cann is also on the show as this album was a collaboration with her. The quartet’s UNCOVERED project is a multi-volume set of albums released on Azica Records. The initiative celebrates beautiful...

Zachary Carrettín and Mina Gajić are the dynamic duo on the podcast today. Zachary is music director of Boulder Bach Festival and Mina is its artistic and executive director. They have just released a chamber music album on the Sono Luminus label — Confluence — featuring a fascinating juxtaposition of Balkan dances and tango. I know tango speaks deeply to me, so I was very intrigued to hear the ba...

Film director Ted Braun joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss his new documentary ¡Viva Maestro! that chronicles two of the most challenging years in the life of Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel, famously known as the music director of the LA Phil. — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Classical Post ® is created and produced by ⁠Gold Sound Media⁠ ® LLC, a New York-based marketing agency for the performin...

The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut this month led by  Anthony Parnther . The concert features Jon Batiste, who just won five Grammys at this year’s ceremony,  including the highly-coveted title, “Album of the Year”. The debut of this orchestra at Carnegie is important because it spotlights the work of the Gateways Music Festival , which celebrates the contributions...

Our guest on the Classical Post podcast today is Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Upstate New York. The venue is most notably the summer home to the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Ballet. It also presents Live Nation concerts that feature the likes of Josh Groban and the Dave Matthews Band. You will find our conversation insightful simply becau...

The Swedish folk jazz duo — Elise & Tobi — just released their award-winning music video Je te verrai , which is the French translation based off of the American classic song from 1938, “I’ll Be Seeing You”. The backstory is quite interesting, however. They discovered a French translation of “I’ll Be Seeing You” from 1945 and found that the French lyrics had been forgotten. A recording of the...

There’s a zany book published several years ago by British author and photographer Ben Schott that has “invented words” using the German language. This book — Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition — inspired composer Eric Nathan (who teaches at Brown University) to write an 84-minute magnum opus — Missing Words — that now has its world premiere recording. Released on New Focus Recor...

German composer Sven Helbig is part of a new generation of composers for whom there are no longer any barriers between the classical world of the orchestra, experimental art, and pop music. He composes choral, orchestral, and chamber music for the classical concert stage and tours solo performing electronic music. He is 'Composer in Residence' at the German National Theatre in Weimar, at t...

Composer Danaë Xanthe Vlasse recently received a Grammy nomination for her album Mythologies featuring sopranos Hila Plitmann and Sangeeta Kaur . The album is a collection of works inspired by Ancient Greek myths. Danaë’s father Marcus (née  Vlassopoulos ) grew up on the island of Ithaca, once ruled by Homer’s legendary hero, Odysseus. Centered on vocal works, Mythologies celebrates some of the mo...

Patrick Cassidy joins us on the Classical Post podcast today. You will certainly know his music from the Ridley Scott film, Hannibal , starring Anthony Hopkins. Patrick wrote the famous aria, " Vide cor Meum ", that was written as a “mini” opera for this film. The aria has been presented at both the Oscars and Emmy Awards ceremonies, and it has appeared in multiple top 10 lists and essen...

Our guest today on the Classical Post podcast is the conductor Luke Frazier . He is the founder and music director of The American Pops Orchestra , which is now heard regularly on PBS around the country. He’s done 12 major PBS concert specials that have all been filmed and broadcast during the pandemic. And, they’ve reached 40 million viewers with these concerts. It’s an incredible feat. We speak...

French conductor Chloé van Soeterstède is one of the very prestigious Dudamel Fellows this season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s working with Gustavo Dudamel, but also with other conducting legends like Michael Tilson Thomas and Zubin Mehta. It’s quite an honor for a young conductor to have this experience and really helps set them up for future success as a music director of a major orc...

I had the pleasure of speaking with violinist Sean Lee and pianist Peter Dugan about their new digital EP featuring nine of the Paganini Caprices, each with accompanying music videos . It’s a really fantastic project and I hope you listen to it. For context, here’s a bit of background on these two guests. Sean Lee is one of few violinists who dare to perform the complete 24 Caprices of Paganini in...

Cellist Laura van der Heijden won the BBC Young Musician competition at just 15 years old. She’s gone on to make a name for herself, graduating from Cambridge University, and now on to releasing her second album called Pohádka: Tales from Prague to Budapest, which ******explores the rich folk melodies of Janáček, Kodály and Dvořák. Here’s our chat about her aesthetic inspiration outside of the mus...

Multi-Grammy Award nominee, violinist Philippe Quint is internationally recognized for his unique and insightful approach to standard repertoire, championing and rediscovering neglected repertoire and embarking on imaginative, exciting journeys of explorations and collaborations with artists of different genres. I had the pleasure of speaking with Philippe on this episode of the Classical Post pod...

My guest today on the Classical Post podcast is singer, cellist, and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson who makes her debut at Madison Square Garden as part of Andrea Bocelli's US tour this December. I'm sure you realize the significance of someone debuting in front of a crowd that could be upwards of 20,000 people. It's an incredible feat. One of the really beautiful things that Bocelli h...

I know many of you have seen Breaking Bad, the globally popular show. Today's guest has some tracks that are featured on it. He's also got music on Netflix's reboot of the anime series Cowboy Bebop that was just released. From the beautiful European city of Copenhagen, composer, pianist, and producer Asger Baden joins us on the Classical Post podcast. Also with us in the same virtual s...