Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

I speak with the wonderful Swiss-French Jazz violinist, singer, and pedagogue Eva Slongo. She kindly shared some of her playing with us during the Zoom call.  During the conversation we talk about her background as a classical violinist, her journey into jazz and we touch on many topics including playing injuries, her studies at Le Centre des Musique Didier Lockwood, and some of the challenges fac...

Theo Marks is a luthier and cellist, and in this episode you'll hear about his unique upbringing in a family of musicians, and his personal journey to become a violin-family maker. This was recorded  when luthier Theo Marks was still living outside of Amsterdam. He now lives in Wakefield Quebec and if you're interested in purchasing one of his violins, violas or cellos you can contact him through...

In the 20th and final episode of Season 1  I speak with Arna Einarsdóttir who was at the time  the Managing Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada. In 2022 she accepted a new appointment with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden as their Director of Planning. Previously she was the Managing Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Earlier in her career she worke...

In Episode 19 Season 1,  I was delighted to welcome the inspiring musician Hooshyar Khayam to my home, to improvise and speak about his perspectives on improvisation, the music of Central Asia, the Middle East and Western Classical music. We speak about some of his beautiful recordings in his large discography, and his creative process. He also speaks about his role as founder and producer of Tehr...

I really enjoyed my conversation with the inspiring multi-style violinist Gina Burgess. During the episode she plays a couple of her original tunes, and at the end we did an improv back-and-forth across our Zoom call.   The video and transcript, and Catch-Up episode, are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e18-s1-gina-burgess-multi-style-violinist Timestamps are below.  Please help m...

I speak with the innovative cellist, improvisor and composer Peggy Lee, who is a band-leader and sought-after collaborator in Vancouver, Canada. Peggy collaborates frequently with  Ron Samworth and Tony Wilson  and with her husband, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, as well as with many other longtime musical associates including Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Veda Hille and Lis...

I was honoured to speak with one of the world's foremost Klezmer musicians. Alicia Svigals was a founding member of the Grammy-winning Klezmatics,  she also played a major role in the revival  of klezmer fiddling, which had been on the brink of extinction until she recorded her debut album Fidl in the 1990’s. Alicia is so engaging both as a player and conversationalist, and she's full of stories f...

Subhadra loves to teach people about the Indianisation of the violin, and in this conversation  we get to hear her beautiful playing quite a bit, as she plays and demonstrates some of the guiding principles of the Carnatic style. She teaches both online and in her studio in Mississauga (in the Greater Toronto Area) Canada.   Like all my episodes, this is also a video: https://www.leahroseman.com/e...

In this wide-ranging conversation with Ellen Waterman we discuss her career  and perspectives, both as a creative improvisor with flute and voice, and as a scholar.   At the end treats us to a solo improv. She was appointed to the inaugural Helmut Kallmann Chair for Music in Canada at Carleton University in 2019 where she is developing a research program committed to investigating issues of divers...

I had lots of fun trying a creative improvisation with Ellen Waterman.  This video is a bonus connected with our conversation, Episode 13 Season 1 Because of this style of improv, we were able to play at the same time, but unfortunately Zoom sometimes silenced a quieter voice. The complete episode, both video and podcast: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e13-s1-ellen-waterman-flutist-scholar-i...

Jazz guitarist and composer Roddy Ellias talks to me about his creative process, artistic development, some current and past projects, reflections on the pandemic and more.  In a separate bonus to this episode, we play an improvisation. On my podcast website you'll find the link to the video, bonuses, and the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e12-s1-roddy-ellias-guitarist-and-compos...

Hi! I’m a violinist and my podcast Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman follows my curiosity about fellow musicians: how did they get to where they are today, what are their perspectives on a life in music? James Ehnes is known internationally as one of the foremost violin soloists. He’s a GRAMMY winner who’s created over 60 acclaimed albums. I was honoured to speak at length with James...

I really enjoyed this conversation with the wonderful violinist Aaron Schwebel who spoke with a lot of insight about so many interesting and important topics (timestamps are listed below). Aaron  currently holds the positions of Concertmaster with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster with the Canadian Opera Company. Schwebel is a member of the LARK ensemble and Roseb...

Karen Donnelly is the Principal Trumpet player of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, and a well-known educator. In this episode, we get to hear Karen's beautiful playing, and I talk to her about her background, her work with the Canadian Women's Brass Collective , some of her unique outreach work and her resilient practice routine! There's also a bonus episode in this playlist o...

Free improvisation was very new to both of us when we recorded this, but we had fun with this little back-and-forth across Zoom. This is a bonus episode connected to my fascinating interview with Karen, Episode 9 Season 1.  All the links are here, video version, full episode, bonuses and links to Karen : https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e9-s1-karen-donnelly-trumpet-player https://ko-fi.com/lea...

I was thrilled to have this fascinating conversastion with virtuoso violinist Kerson Leong, who is as eloquent in his musicality as in the way he talks about music and violin playing. I trust that a broad audience will take inspiration from this wide-ranging discussion. At the beginning, we are treated to an impromptu performance of Ysayë's Allemande from Violin Sonata no. 4. This conversation was...

After my conversation with Alexis Chartrand, during which we are treated to 3 of his poetic interpretations of traditional tunes, he agreed to do a little improvisation with me. The full episode, both video and podcast with bonuses and transcript linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e5-s1-alexis-chartrand-fiddler Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

In this conversation with Patty Chan, erhu player and educator, we get to hear the sounds of many different types of erhus and learn a lot about traditional Chinese music. Like all my episodes, this is also a video, and the bonus episodes and transcript are all linked: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e4-s1-patty-chan-erhu https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks for helping me keep this unique se...

Here's a little back-and-forth improv I did with erhu player Patty Chan!  The full episode, both video and podcast, linked here with bonus episodes as well as the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e4-s1-patty-chan-erhu https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks for your support of this unique podcast!

I speak with Yosuke Kawasaki, the wonderful Concertmaster of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada (of which I am a member). He talks about the challenges of staying grounded during this pandemic,  his experiences studying with Dorothy Delay at both Julliard and Aspen festival, the inspriation he found in many of his peers growing up, and the conversation circles around to his role...

In Episode 2 of Conversations with Musicians, I speak with the versatile violinist, singer, and Artistic Director Carissa Klopoushak. She shares some of her musical journey with us, and we have a wide-ranging conversation that also includes some beautiful music. Like all my episodes, this is also a video, and this link will bring you to the transcript and bonus episodes: https://www.leahroseman.co...

It's hard to make music over Zoom, but one way to do it is this kind of back-and-forth improvisation. This was done right after Episode 1 was recorded. This music was totally unplanned and spontaneous! Link for the complete episode podcast and video here, with transcript and bonus episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e1s1kirstymoney Buy me a coffee? I need your help to keep this unique p...