The Piano Pod - a global hub for innovation, education, and connection in classical piano music

Here is the little teaser of The Piano Pod’s latest episode with a guest., Dr. Jee-Hoon Krska: Founder of Keys 2 Success , Electrical Engineer, & Pianist, which premieres this Tuesday, February 7, at 8:00 pm ET. Please continue listening to the conversation with Dr. Jee-Hoon Krska by downloading the entire episode, which will be released and available this Tuesday, Feb 7, at 8 pm Eastern Time on a...

I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Pablo Estigarribia, 2022 Latin Grammy Winner & Tango pianist/arranger/composer! We discussed Pablo’s Latin Grammy Award-Winning album, “Horacio Salgán Piano Transcriptions,” his path to becoming a tango pianist, his performance at one of the most famous Jazz venues in the world, Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC, his passion for composing, arranging and teachin...

This is a teaser for this season’s 11th episode, feat. Mr. Pablo Estigarribia, 2022 Latin Grammy Winner & Tango pianist/arranger/composer!  During the interview session, we discussed Pablo’s Latin Grammy Award-Winning album, “Horacio Salgán Piano Transcriptions,” his path to becoming a tango pianist, his performance at one of the most famous Jazz venues in the world, Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC, hi...

Yukimi and Clara had a wonderful conversation with Dr. Yui a week ago, and what a great way to start our New Year!  During the interview, she shared many fun anecdotes from her concert tours, advice/wisdom from her extensive teaching career, her current project on Asian composers, her vision for the classical music industry, and more! Ms. Yui is a multifaceted artist -- concert pianist, lecturer,...

For the final episode of 2022, we interviewed  Dr. Magdalena Stern-Baczewska  on a Saturday afternoon and had a great time chatting with her about 🎹 and harpsichord! Ms. Baczewska is both a concert pianist and a harpsichordist. Have you watched her double performances of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations--first by performing on the harpsichord, then on the piano in one concert back to back 🤯? If n...

We had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Rae de Lisle from New Zealand for this season's 8th episode. Dr. Rae de Lisle is a world-class piano pedagogue who has produced many exceptional piano students of major competition winners in New Zealand and internationally throughout her outstanding teaching career. Because of her own challenging experience at the height of her concert pianist career, Dr....

Yukimi and Clara had a wonderful conversation with the sensational Piano/Saxophone duo, Liana Pailodze Harron and Thomas A. Giles, for this season's 7th episode. Clara met the duo in the fall of 2021, and she introduced Yukimi to the video clip of their performance ( https://youtu.be/rbB_Qz4L0Cs )  -- we've been obsessed with Liana and Thomas! So, we felt so lucky to be able to invite them for an...

We had a great conversation with Kyle P. Walker: Activist Concert Pianist and Educator as our guest of Season 3 Episode 6. Kyle, a strong advocate for social equality, believes music can speak to social issues better than verbal language. Having extensive experience both as a performing artist and journalist, he feels a strong responsibility and passion for raising awareness of social justice issu...

TPP Team had a wonderful conversation with Mr. Geroge Ko: Young Steinway Artist/Composer/Improviser for this episode.  George is a concert pianist pushing classical music forward by blending "Chopin-like virtuosity with the vast soundscapes of cinema." His music revolves around improvisation - a practice typically confined to jazz music - which he's brought into the realm of classical music. Many...

We had the opportunity to connect with Mark Murtagh and Hunter McGranahan, the co-founders of the video conferencing platform, Forte. They co-founded Forte because they believe there should be a free platform built specifically for online music lessons. Forte radically improves online education with audio quality far superior to existing platforms. Mark worked for years as a trusted advisor to som...

The TPP🎙 team had a wonderful conversation with Jolynn J Chin, an award-winning Electronic Dance Music crossover pianist and participant of America's Got Talent Season 16, during the interview for Season 3 Episode 3!   The topics of the conversation include: ✅ Her discovery of music technology ✅ Journey of becoming a touring artist while working as a music teacher at a local school ✅ Experience...

This episode starts out a bit differently than others--you hear an excerpt of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata Op.106 (allegro) performed by our guest. 🎹TPP team had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Halim - Steinway Artis, Sascha Gorodnitzki Music Professor of Piano Studies at New York University, and the "Last Pupil" of Vladimir Horowitz. We were so blown away by all the incredible stories an...

The Piano Pod team had the privilege of interviewing Ms. Edna Golandsky, Founder and Artistic Director of the Golandsky Institute, for the opening episode of Season 3!  During the show, we got to hear her personal stories: ✅ her youth and training ✅ her relationship/training with Mrs. Taubman ✅ how the Taubman Approach/Technique can solve most common pianists' problems ✅ how she developed The...

TPP Team, Yukimi Song and Clara Zhang, took a 3-month summer hiatus, and we are back! We missed you–hope you had a wonderful summer being able to rest up, take a trip, work on new projects, spend some time in nature, and/or, of course, practice piano.   Now we are back and excited to launch the new season, Season 3! In this introductory episode, we will cover:  👉 Why we wanted to start a podcast...

The TPP team had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Nicholas McCarthy – One-handed International Concert Pianist, Yamaha Artist, and Motivational Speaker — for our season 2 finale episode!    Born without a right hand, Mr. McCarthy was told he would never succeed as a concert pianist, yet he refused to be discouraged and went on to study at one of the world’s most prestigious music schools, the Roy...

To celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we invited Donna Weng Friedman— Award-winning pianist, chamber musician, producer, and educator -- for this upcoming episode.  Clara & Yukimi had a wonderful conversation with Donna this morning. She is such a great storyteller--we all got choked up during the show hearing her incredible stories! During the interview, we covered topics such as: ...

The Piano Pod team had a wonderful conversation with the musical power couple, Juhi Bansal & Nic Gerpe, from L.A.!  📝 Juhi Bansal (composer/conductor) : "Radiant and transcendent," the music of Juhi Bansal weaves together themes celebrating musical and cultural diversity, nature and the environment, and strong female role models. Her music draws upon elements from Hindustani music, the spectralis...

The guests for Season 2 Episode 14 are the TPP team-- Yukimi Song & Clara Zhang 🎉🥳 In this episode, we are going to introduce ourselves to our listeners and viewers by sharing some fun and personal stories. ㊙️We will also reveal 5 EASY steps to start a podcast show!🤩 So, if you are hoping to launch your own podcast show, you don’t wanna miss this opportunity!   🎹 Yukimi Song: https://linktr.e...

The Piano Pod team had a wonderful conversation with Dr. Marilyn Nonken--concert pianist, recording artist, Steinway Artist, musicologist, author, and educator.   Dr. Nonken is one of the most celebrated champions of the modern repertoire of her generation, known for performances that explore transcendent virtuosity and extremes of musical expression. Upon her 1993 New York debut, she was her...

The Piano Pod team had a wonderful conversation with Dr. Marilyn Nonken--concert pianist, recording artist, Steinway Artist, musicologist, author, and educator.  Dr. Nonken is one of the most celebrated champions of the modern repertoire of her generation, known for performances that explore transcendent virtuosity and extremes of musical expression. Upon her 1993 New York debut, she was hera...

The Piano Pod team had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Claudio Constantini, an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist: piano🎹 and bandoneon🪗, and a composer✍🏼 in demand from Madrid🇪🇸.  During the interview, we covered topics including Mr. Constantini's upbringing, his career as a classical pianist and bandoneonist, and his latest projects, such as his brand new composition, Gene...

TPP team had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Lee D. Stockner, Educator/Author/Creator of a New Language of Music, for Season 2 Episode 11. Mr. Stockner is the author of Occupational Octaves Piano™, a series of piano method books, which hundreds of music instructors across the nation have used to teach piano lessons to special needs in the past decade. He is also the creator of the new and user-f...

TPP team had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ching-Wen Hsiao and Dr. Konstantinos Valianatos—Concert Pianists, Valianatos-Hsiao Piano Duo, & Faculty Members at the Tianjin Juilliard School—for Season 2 Episode 10! During the interview session which took place a few days before Chine New Year 2022, we got to hear: Ching-Wen and Konstantinos’ exciting careers as solo and duo pianists. The time whe...

TPP team had a wonderful conversation with Mr. David A. Jones, film composer and educator. He is also co-creator/composer/music producer of the new Musical Animated Edutainment TV series, Rhythm Warriors, produced by Emofront and Presto Music in association with Sparky Animation Studios for this fun episode.   Mr. Jones recently launched a new piano/music theory course for young students called “R...

TPP had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Lowell Liebermann, one of America's most frequently performed and recorded composers, and a multiple-award recipient. He has written over 140 works in all genres, several of which have become standard repertoires, such as Sonata for Flute and Piano, and Gargoyles for solo piano. Dr. Liebermann has been commissioned by many ensembles and instrumentalists, i...