HarmonyTALK

Lisa Champeau interviews Dreamer, Entrepreneur and Choreographer Rebecca Davis. Learn how she turned her passion for dance into  a globe-spanning tool for social change.

A medical visionary with the soul of an artist, Dr. Melvyn Wolk has made his mark on humanity.  In this episode he talks with Todd Stephens about his lifelong desire to make going to the doctor more “fun” for kids.  He also shares how working in a junk yard as a young boy may have inspired his fascination with “found object” art and ignited his love of photography.  Gifted with a passion for dream...

Congratulations to Celeste Mergens, founder of the global nonprofit Days for Girls International, on the publication of her new book, The Power of Days. Mergens’ programs to fight menstrual stigma can now be found in 140+ countries. She spoke with Harmony TALK host Lisa Champeau in 2022 about her own journey from an impoverished youth to crusader for women’s rights. Her new book, released October...

After a concussion in training camp ended his dreams of playing for the New York Jets, Russ Cooke found himself pumping gas in his home town. In this episode he talks with Todd Stephens about his unlikely transition from the locker room to the board room. Today he’s focused on the mental health and wellbeing of student athletes who face increasing rates of anxiety and depression, through his work...

He's a businessman and a grandfather, she's a spirited young artist and mother. Different, yes, but with a shared passion.  Henry Skier and Jill Carletti chat with Harmony TALK host Lisa Champeau about how they came together to grow Harmony Presents from a small performance space in an old silk mill to a successful, sophisticated yet rustic outdoor performance venue in Hawley, Pennsylvania, called...

Brian Balthazar is a TV personality and executive producer who has built a career creating, producing, and appearing on some of the country’s most popular networks and programs. Brian has amassed more than 300 appearances as a television host, journalist, and pop culture guest on a variety of shows including The TODAY show, The Talk, Good Morning America, and more. This is a great peek behind the...

Well-known portrait artist Oliver Johnson sat down with Lisa Champeau to discuss his art and tumultuous youth in and out of reform schools and prisons, and how during these confinements he always painted. Prison provided him with the tools he needed: canvas, paint, and, of course, plenty of time. Oliver talks about his journey of teaching art to his fellow inmates, and how, by the time he was paro...

Isabel Bohn and Jeff McGinnis founded the Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports to fill a gap in available recreation and sports activities for the disabled on the East Coast. Thirty-five years and mountains of challenges later, they are thriving. The Center has produced 11 Paralympians, but more than that, it’s “really changed people in so many positive ways” and built a flourishing community of...

Funky bluesy riffs—a Southern pace out of a New York base!  The Gold Magnolias talk with Lisa Champeau about how their dream to make music became a “golden” reality. Based in Brooklyn, Daniel Foose, Hudson Mueller, Evan Felts, Ryan Anselmi and Jeff Barton evoke jam-band sounds reminiscent of the Alabama Shakes and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.  Their melodies pay homage to their music...

Carpenter turned brew master! Travis Rivera, the founder of Black and Brass Coffee Roasting Company, talks to host Lisa Champeau about the fast-rising success of his brand from one store to a national business. Travis shares why he almost but didn’t give up when the going got rough and a little secret about his tv appearance on a reality show.

Pete Muller, singer-songwriter and founder of the Kindred Souls, talks to host Lisa Champeau about his successful careers in music, mathematics— and crossword puzzles!  A quantitative math wizard and Wall Street hedge fund executive before forming his band, Muller’s songs and melodies reflect his life and passions. Since this interview was recorded in September, 2021, Muller has dropped two albums...

His life’s work is focused on “creating better humans” through his involvement in the children’s summer camp industry.  Hear entrepreneur and philanthropist, Skip Vichness, talk about how his diverse life, career path and willingness to be completely involved, have led him to the service of others. 

Juan Espino marries architecture, history and the human experience to create some of the most “smile-inducing” paintings of our time. Working in the “Art Naïve” or, Folk-Art style. Guest Host Todd Stephens, and Juan discuss his use of painting as a form of therapy before relocating to the United States from his native Mexico. He is now the owner of Looking Glass Art Gallery, in Northeast Pennsylva...

It started with a stamp from the Belgian Congo and took Professor Ed Williams around the world—along with hundreds of students, older adults, and college deans. “It” is the retired professor’s passion for travel, and not just any travel. Learning Vacations. Ed shares his journey with host Lisa Champeau on how he made a career of travel education with a focus on China, the “sleeping giant” who slee...

Peter Bohlin, the architect behind many iconic structures, including the Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York, the Barn at Fallingwater and Bill Gates’ Seattle-area mansion, talks to host Lisa Champeau about creating works that are not only sustainable but “humane.” Find out how Peter Bohlin followed his calling.  

He's a businessman and a grandfather, she's a spirited young artist and mother. Different, yes, but with a shared passion.  Henry Skier and Jill Carletti chat with Harmony TALK host Lisa Champeau about how they came together to grow Harmony Presents from a small performance space in an old silk mill to a successful, sophisticated yet rustic outdoor performance venue in Hawley, Pennsylvania, called...

Harmony TALK chats with its first inventor! Keith Gunuskey, an educator, just received his first patent for a safety device  designed to save lives in emergencies. All the tools you might need in one convenient location. Listen in! 

Lisa Champeau chats with Blake Friedman, a young dynamic opera tenor who is equally at home on the musical and concert stages as in the opera hall. Blake shares his enthusiasm for everything from the Barber of Seville and Placido Domingo to the voice of late pop singer Whitney Houston. Blake performs opera and Broadway pieces in “Songs of New York” May 7th at the Milford Theatre, Pennsylvania-- a...

Harmony TALK host Lisa Champeau chats with social impact entrepreneur Jeff Abella, who co-founded a bar-to-bean chocolate and coffee business called Moka Origins. Hear Jeff reveal how his team helps farmers and the environment in developing countries and somehow gets all the cacao and coffee beans across oceans to the U.S. to roast, package and sell. A small company up against Big Chocolate and do...

Days for Girls founder Celeste Mergens talks with host Lisa Champeau about how she has been able to help girls around the world fight the stigma of menstruation-- menstruation inequity-- by tapping into her own impoverished youth and refusing to take no for an answer. She is joined by Olivia Scartelli,  a young woman just out of grad school in international development, who helped raise funds for...

Harmony TALK takes a look inside Dear Highlights with author Christine French Cully. Hear what kids have to say over the past 75 years-- you may be surprised!

Harmony TALK host Lisa Champeau interviews Erin Hill, a singer-songwriter-harpist with a diverse repertoire that covers everything from opera to science fiction! Erin’s favorite, though, is pop-rock. Hear her music and how she realized her dream of becoming a renowned harpist.

Host Lisa Champeau talks to Mark Hoover, former and longtime CEO of the Human Resources Center, a Northeast Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that provides services for adults with physical and mental challenges. Mark talks about helping young people who were languishing in front of their TV sets for 15 years or more because there was no place for them to go and ultimately, creating a Foundation to mak...

Pete Muller, singer-songwriter and founder of the Kindred Souls, talks to host Lisa Champeau about his successful careers in music, mathematics— and crossword puzzles!  A quantitative math wizard and Wall Street hedge fund executive before forming his band, Muller’s songs and melodies reflect his life and passions. Since this interview was recorded in September, 2021, Muller has dropped two albums...

Well-known portrait artist Oliver Johnson sits down with Lisa Champeau to discuss his art and tumultuous youth in and out of reform schools and prisons, and how during these confinements he always painted. Prison provided him with the tools he needed: Canvas, paint, and, of course, plenty of time. Oliver talks about his journey of teaching art to his fellow inmates, and how, by the time he was par...