The Arts Salon

Today we launch The Arts Salon Off-Topic, with cohost Andrés Caro! To get to know Andrés better, please listen to Episode 45 of the podcast . This new series within The Arts Salon will focus on many topics that intersect with the arts and sometimes don't. Our first guest is political scientist Joshua Simon . We discuss his book The Ideology of Creole Revolution : Imperialism and Independence i...

This discussion with Dan Rosenboom deals with AI, the nature of creativity, love songs, and much more. Dan is an insanely creative musician in Los Angeles, an educator, and one of America's most important trumpet players and improvisers. To get to know Dan more check out episode 6 of The Arts Salon and check our his record label Orenda Record !

This episode is the first of a series on Greek Mythology. This episode deals with the origins and characteristics of the first generation of the Olympian gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, & Demeter). The conversation is with Susana Castellanos, professor of mythology at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. She is also the host of the tremendous podcast Relatos de Sherezade...

Why does the West matter to Andrés and me? Listen to this podcast. Andrés Caro Borrero is a Colombian lawyer currently pursuing a J.S.D. at Yale Law School, where he also obtained his LL.M. degree in 2020 and for which he received the Henry Ralph Ringe Scholarship, after which he was a Fox Fellow for the year 2020-2021. He received the 2020 Barry S. Cohen Prize for the Best Paper on a Subject Rela...

Stanford Thompson  is a musician and educator who serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Play On Philly and Founding Board Chairman of El Sistema USA and the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network. Recognized as a TED Fellow, Stanford believes that music is a powerful tool for positive personal and community change. Mr. Thompson serves on the faculty of the Global Lead...

I talked to Chris Smith (SDSO) about the discipline required to succeed in the music industry and confronting hard truths.

Aubre Hill is an international dance artist, choreographer, somatic teacher, and event producer. The artistic director of the Qabila Folkdance Company, Lumina Dance Co, and Beyajja Dance Theatre as well as a prolific performer, Aubre is known for her diverse stylings rooted in cultural understand and pushing the boundaries of expectations with innovation. With over twenty years of teaching experie...

Ahmad Baset Azizi is one of the most inspiring human beings I have ever met. You can read some of his stories here or here . His story is truly rare in the circles most musicians in the United States move in, and his understanding of foreign affairs is refreshing and marked by the type of nuance that only someone who has seen the world's cruelty firsthand can possess. We discuss the situation...

Aaron Smith is a freelance trumpet player based in Los Angeles, CA. He also writes, arranges, and publishes music through his small business, TrumpetSmith Publishing (ASCAP). As a freelance artist, Smith performs for live orchestral events, musical theatre, big band, motion pictures, television, and video games which have included ABC, BroadwayHD, Disney+, E3, Fathom Events, the Game Awards, Micro...

Welcome, my name is Nico Bejarano, and this is the Arts Salon. You were just listening to the latest musical project from today’s guests, my friends and mentors, Persian musicians Pirayeh Pourafar and Houman Pourmhedi. This composition was made in support of the protesters in Iran whose chants Women, life, liberty with alternations of death to the dictator have been heard across Iran for many mont...

Today is a real treat for me, because Gustav is one of my best friends and one of the best people I know. Gustav Melander is regarded as one of Europe’s most talented young trumpet players. Having studied with Bo Nilsson and Prof. Håkan Hardenberger at the Malmö Academy of Music, since graduating, Gustav has gone on to become one of the most in demand players. Currently the tenured Co-principal Tr...

Today’s guest is my good friend Jerome Burns. For those of you who might not know Jerome, he is that crazy trumpet player that has been posting his insane transcriptions for the trumpet of Meshuggah guitar solos. Jerome is a graduate of the Manhattan School of music where he studied under Mark Gould, and is also a specialist on the music of Karheilnz Stockhausen, having completed the Master’s Degr...

Jan Swafford's music has been played around the country and abroad by ensembles including the symphonies of St. Louis, Indianapolis, and the Dutch Radio; Boston's new-music groups Musica Viva, Collage, and Dinosaur Annex; and chamber ensembles including the Peabody Trio, the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee, and the Scott Chamber Players of Indianapolis. Over the years his music has evolved steadily...

Anthony Plog has had a rich and varied international career in music—as a composer of operas, symphonic music, and chamber works; as an orchestral musician, soloist, and recording artist; and as a brass teacher and coach at some of the great music conservatories internationally and now online to students around the world. It was a great gift to re-visit my conversation with Tony as I return to bri...

Today’s guest is Arturo Sandoval. I will read a short bio taken from his website. Arturo Sandoval is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions at the Oscars, at the Grammy Awards, and the Billboard Awards. Arturo Sandoval reaches beyond the scope of mere effort. His struggles while in Cuba and since his defection have given him more energy and...

Trent is the owner of the successful retailer Austin Custom Brass, and I could not think of a better way to start 2022 and tell you to prepare for another difficult year, than by having my friend Trent Austin talk about his success in another avenue in the arts. A common narrative we heard during the beginning of this pandemic was that we would soon experience a glorious roaring twenties in our er...

Today’s guest is my good friend Mauricio Rodriguez. You may remember Mauricio from my three-part conversation about Colombia some months back. He is one of my dearest and oldest friends, and we share a passion for history and reason. He has a background in international relations, and has worked for many NGOs as well as private industry. This discussion is a lot about the history of Latin America,...

Belgian trumpeter Jeroen Berwaerts is a paramount musical force with an all-inclusive love for music that knows not how to discriminate. Praised for his outstanding technical capabilities and sensitive musicality, his repertoire encompasses every epoch, from baroque music to contemporary music to jazz. With a flourishing solo career of recitals as well as concerts with the world's leading symphony...

Today's guest is Clément Saunier. After studying with Clément Garrec at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, he obtained prizes in several international interpretation competitions: Citta di Porcia (Italy 2002), Prague Spring (2003), Jeju (South Korea 2004), Théo Charlier (Brussels 2005), Tchaikovsky (Moscow 2011). Clément Saunier is also the last French laureate in the last M...

Nate and I talk about a lot of things in this conversation, which is one of the ones that has stuck with me the most. One sentiment in particular has been with me since we talked, Nate said “I don’t like any traditions that exclude any other traditions.” This sentiment is so powerful, and applicable to many of the issues that are plaguing art in the West, from the era’s bizarre obsession with auth...

Today’s guest is Joseph Horowitz. Joseph is without a doubt one of the most influential thinkers in classical music in the world. His work should be a staple of any modern musician’s library. I wish to thank him for his time and generosity, it was a pleasure getting to know him during the couple of hours we spent chatting. In our conversation we discuss his upcoming book Dvorak’s Prophecy and the...

In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently no culture of the earth, no navigation, no use of the commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instrument of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society; and, which...

Todays guest, Joshua Banbury & Kevin Sherwin are on to talk about their recently release EP, Forgotten Folklore. We talk about the project, folk music, performance practice and other subjects.  Check out the project here: http://kevinsherwin.com/forgotten-folklore/  Check out Joshua: https://www.joshuabanbury.com/forgotten-folklore

Today’s guest is Christine Chapman, an eclectic American horn player, and a member of the innovative and explosive Ensemble Musikfabrik. I will read her bio now for those listeners who might not be familiar with her work. Raised in the coastline woods of western Michigan, Christine Chapman has traveled far and wide to pursue her passion for music. In 1990, after finishing her musical studies at th...

Today’s guest is Charlie Schlueter. It was a pleasure getting to know Charlie over this talk. I applied to be his student at NEC after high school, but eventually ended up getting second-hand smoke from his old student Russell Devuyst. I was interested in having him on the podcast for this reason, but also to gain some more insight into the earlier career of my hero, Thomas Stevens. Charlie and I...