Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

This was originally aired in 2023. Ceara Conway is an Irish contemporary vocalist and visual artist, and this episode features music from her album CAOIN as well as excerpts from some of her other projects. I find Ceara’s curiosity about so many important topics around arts and culture really inspiring and this conversation circled around to her explorations of different languages and cultures as...

This week's episode is a highlight from the archive, originally aired in 2023: 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 ope...

I’m excited to feature Bente Illevold, the internationally renowned Norwegian euphonium player who has carved out a unique career path as a euphonium virtuoso. During this podcast, you’ll be hearing clips from some of her albums and live performances, and in the complete show notes on my website you’ll find the links to these specific albums and videos. I first heard about Bente from Katherine Nee...

Martha Anne Toll is a novelist and literary and cultural critic , also a violist whose classical music training informs her artistic practice. She recently published her second novel, Duet for One , a beautiful love story based on the lives of musicians.his book is also about the death of a mother, and releasing this conversation on Mother's Day (in our countries) has a particular resonance for th...

Alisa Rose is a multi-style violinist and fiddler , composer and educator, and in this episode we’re shining a light on her wonderful new album with mandolinist Tristan Scroggins, Speranza. You’ll hear about how she found her way to such an interesting and diverse career from learning Old-Time music from retired farmers in Wisconsin as a child to classical training with the legendary Camilla Wicks...

Christoph Zirngibl is an award-winning German film composer who has composed music for over 120 films as well as many TV series including the Apple TV+ series Where’s Wanda. It often strikes me that even with something as specific as some of Christoph’s advice about work flow for fellow film composers, that it can apply more broadly to all of us, whatever our pursuits.. You’ll be hearing a few cli...

Lawrence English is a brilliant artist, composer and curator based in Australia . In this wide-ranging interview, Lawrence spoke to me about many topics, touching architecture, philosophy, field recordings, running a record label, and emerging biotech. One of his many projects is the record label Room40 , which is celebrating 25 years, and punctuating this podcast are some clips from some of Lawre...

How did Noam Lemish’s experience living in Bhutan influence his outlook? A lot of Noam’s creative life is inspired by bridging cultures and being open to possibility, and you’ll be hearing some music from some of his many projects as well as hear his reflections on teaching and learning. It was fascinating to learn about his mentors including George Marsh and W.A. Mathieu, and how he started colla...

Juliana Soltis is an innovative cellist who has done extensive research to connect listeners with some forgotten stories of classical music. In this episode we talked about her recent album American Woman which features cello and piano music of women composers ; you’ll hear Juliana’s insights into the lives of Mary Howe, Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Helen Crane, Dorothy Rudd Moore and Florence Price...

Katherine Dowling is a brilliant Canadian pianist and in this conversation we talked about her album of solo music by Alice Ping Yee Ho , mentors including Gil Kalish and Henk Guittart , and how and why she’s developed her exceptional musical memory . Katherine shared fantastic insights into teaching and learning, the importance of inclusivity and access to arts education , and how she uses the Po...

Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer , Hilary Hahn, Kronos Quartet with Reena Esmai l and veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, and leading orchestras such as my own National Arts Centre , to name but a few. You’ll hear about...

Tasha Warren is an acclaimed clarinetist who has premiered over one hundred solo clarinet and chamber works. In this podcast you’ll hear excerpts from her album “Ourself Behind Ourself, Concealed” a fantastic collaboration with cellist Dave Eggar of newly commissioned and premiered Bass Clarinet and Cello works, which earned two Grammy nominations. If you listened to my episode with Meg Okura last...

Tal Yahalom is an award-winning jazz guitarist and composer and you’ll be getting a preview of his compelling quintet album Mirror Image   with  refreshingly unique instrumentation: violin, cello, percussion, sax and flute and both nylon-string and electric guitar. You’ll be hearing excerpts from the album and hear about Tal’s creative process and collaborators including percussioninst Rogerio Boc...

Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield are wonderfully inventive musicians who have formed a duo. This podcast episode is shining a light on their recently released album “Speaking in Tongues” and you’ll hear some of this textured and dynamic music that really pushes the boundaries of a duo,  along with insights into their creative process and their varied career paths.    John Hadfield  is a phenomenal...

Fern Lindzon is a Canadian multi-style pianist, vocalist, composer and improvisor. She recently released a great album with her new jazz trio project Tryptique with Colleen Allen and George Koller ,and we’re featuring music from that album as well as some of her other work, including her Juno-nominated album Two Kites. We talked about her mother, the artist Rose Lindzon, many mentors and influence...

Naomi Moon Siegel is an award-winning trombonist, improvisor, composer and educator . In this episode we’re highlighting her beautiful sextet album Shatter the Glass Sanctuary , and you’ll hear her reflections on the valuable mentorship process with Allison Miller and brilliant collaborators including Marina Albero and Ray Larsen. Naomi reflected on her journey finding a supportive musical communi...

Anthony Brandt is an acclaimed composer who is also a multi-disciplinary researcher. Dr. Brandt is a Professor at Rice University and co-founder and Artistic Director of Musiqa. Like many people worldwide, I had first learned of his work as co-author with neuroscientist David Eagleman, of the amazing book “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World”. We started this episode with a...

Samantha Ege is both a leading scholar and interpreter of Florence Price . In this interview, she talks about her recent book “South Side Impresarios: How Race Women Transformed Chicago’s Classical Music Scene”. I was fascinated to learn about this compelling history of Chicago’s Black Renaissance with women such as Nora Holt,  Margaret Bonds, and Katherine Dunham .  Dr. Ege shared how the scholar...

Ian Maksin holds a special place in the hearts of his fans worldwide,  with his unique concerts of cello and songs in over 37 languages. It was really interesting to learn about how he has forged a unique path as a solo touring performer, and he shared his insights on finding commonalities between cultures, mindfulness practice and how he stays healthy with such an intense touring schedule. You’ll...

Jean Rohe  is an acclaimed song-writer and singer, as well as a devoted  mentor, working with incarcerated song-writers,as well as at the New School and privately. She writes powerful narrative songs, and is widely known for her "National Anthem:  Arise! Arise!" an aspirational alternative which has been performed extensively across the US. She shared with me her perspectives on love, grief, ident...

Edwin Barker is recognized as one of the most gifted bassists on the American concert scene. In this wide-ranging interview, you’ll hear about how when he was still a student, he won a job with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and then at age 22, he was appointed to the position of Principal Bass of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has now held for nearly 50 years. He shared memories of...

Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. In this wide-ranging conversation you’ll be hearing about her early career, touring with Darol Anger at age 14, the bands Croooked Still, Hawktail and Punch Brothers with Chris Thile. She reflected on the challenges and thrill of a touring life, the Nashville scene, her teaching through Artistworks, and dyn...

Cellist and composer Dorothy Lawson is one of the founding members and Artistic Directors for ETHEL, ‪ a string quartet celebrating 25 years of setting the standard for contemporary concert music. In this episode, you’ll hear about many fascinating and meaningful collaborations with musicians including Alllison Loggins-Hull, Robert Mirabal, and Layale Chaker. It was really inspiring to hear how th...

Katherine Needleman is a wonderful oboe player, who has been the principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony since 2003. She’s also active as a solist and chamber musician, and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. She is a champion of music of our time and you’ll find her recordings and many projects on her website. To many listeners in the Classical Music world, she’s probably better kn...

Shakura S'Aida , acclaimed Americana roots soul singer and songwriter has thrilled global audiences in 31 countries over many years. Donna Grantis who performed with Prince for several years, is Shakura’s longtime co-producer and co-writer. Donna praises the three-time Juno Award nominee as a " powerhouse vocalist whose artistic vision continually inspires me.” I trust you’ll find this week’s epis...