Classically (Un)Trained

Welcome to another conversation from the high/low art divide between opera-singer-turned-experimental-performer Ema Katrovas and comedian-and-TV-writer-turned-novelist Nicholas Anthony.

For this end-of-the-year episode, Nick and Ema decided to talk about The Beatles and their influence on a few pieces of “high art”: new journalist Joan Didion’s essay “The White Album” and avant garde singer Cathy Berberian’s covers of Beatles’ songs. They also briefly talk about American composer Ned Rorem’s essay “The Music of the Beatles”. Their starting point is a 2021 documentary by Peter Jackson, Get Back.

Nick and Ema circle around the question: Were the Beatles exceptional, lucky, or both? Does one need opportunity or even fame to create one’s best work? Is trying to tell a story about the Beatles, or any other iconic artist, that answers these questions even useful? 

Music excerpts from this episode: 

Things mentioned in the episode (in order of appearance):

 Links:

Welcome to another conversation from the high/low art divide between opera-singer-turned-experimental-performer Ema Katrovas and comedian-and-TV-writer-turned-novelist Nicholas Anthony.

On Nick’s last night in Prague, Nick and Ema went to see the world-premiere of a contemporary opera by Richard Braxton, Trillium X, at the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in Prague. They recorded this reaction that same night.

Some things mentioned or not remembered: 

Links:

An Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar is a segment of the Artists on the Verge podcast which features conversations from the high/low art divide between comedian and TV writer Nicholas Anthony and your host Ema Katrovas.

In this episode Nick and Ema attempt to finish reading the chapter on the film industry from William Dereziewits’s Death of the Artist. They also talk about some real-life stories from trying to make it in the film and TV industry and quite a bit about YouTube and the small YouTube creator strategy, including a detour on the canceling of YouTuber Lindsey Ellis. They also talk a lot about technology and mind control, among other things.

Some things mentioned which merit citation: 

Links:

This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/

Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/

Melissa Watkins is a writer, mostly of non fiction and science fiction. She’s also one of the most truly cosmopolitan people you'll ever meet. Originally from the US, she spent a substantial portion of her life first in the UK then in South Korea, putting into practice her specialisation in multiculturalism through non-colonial lenses in a multitude of ways in both corporate and academic spaces. She decided to return to the US after the pandemic which ended up being an eye-opening experience, one which becomes a major theme of the interview. The other major themes of the interview emerge from the host's first conversation with Melissa, about the internet and AI as it pertains to artists.

The music track for this episode is Alsad suugaa eej by the Earthling vocal troupe (which Melissa sings in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lTqLrthvKQ

*(Apologies for background noise due to the host being post-illness and having to suck on a lozenge to keep from having coughing fits.)*

An Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar is a segment of the Artists on the Verge podcast which features conversations from the high/low art divide between comedian and TV writer Nicholas Anthony and your host Ema Katrovas.

In this episode, Nick and Ema start reading the chapter on the film and TV industry in Death of the Artist (a book they discussed in the last episode after meeting the author) - which sets them off on some controversial subjects, including women in the film industry, with mixed results (Ema gets something like feminist revenge when she expresses her oddly strong distaste for the movie The Social Network.)

Some things we mention which merit citation:

💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: ⁠www.artists-on-the-verge.com⁠

👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge

This is an audio version of an article I wrote arguing against using the phrase "everyone is an artist."

Read the full article here: https://medium.com/@ema.katrovas/we-need-a-more-boring-definition-of-artist-4b4aa9f76832

An Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar features opera-singer-turned-experimental-performer Ema Katrovas, talking to comedian-and-TV-writer-turned-novelist Nicholas Anthony. They have conversations from across the high/low art divide with the goal of being honest about what a life centring art - high or low - actually looks like.

💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: ⁠www.artists-on-the-verge.com⁠

👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge

Welcome to episode 2 of this segment of the Artists on the Verge podcast called an Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar. It features your host, opera-singer-turned-experimental-performer Ema Katrovas, talking to comedian-and-TV-writer turned-novelist Nicholas Anthony. They have conversations from across the high/low art divide with the goal of being honest about what a life centering art - high or low - actually looks like. 

In this episode it’s story time - Nick goes down the memory line of his “true Hollywood experience” complete with agents and writers’ rooms and making sizzles. Nick and Ema also talk about the NACAs (National Association for Campus Activities), something Ema never heard of before but which apparently launches some performance careers in the US. They talk about the beautiful netherworld of regional entertainment scenes and about the disappearance of the Hollywood middle-class, and do a little detour on the 80-year-old mime living behind a curtain who used to be Nick’s housemate.

Stuff we talk about:

Podcasts Links:

An Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar is a new segment of the Artists ont he Verge podcast. It features your host, opera-singer-turned-experimental-performer Ema Katrovas, talking to comedian-and-TV-writer turned-novelist Nicholas Anthony. They'll be having conversations from across the high/low art divide with the goal of being honest about what a life centring art - high or low - actually looks like.

Credits:

Recorded in Prague, Czech Republic, in July 2023

Featuring: Nicholas Anthony and Ema Katrovas

Recorded and edited by Ema Katrovas

Theme song is "Stars" by Janis Ian (performed by Ema Katrovas and mixed to sound like a bar)

Links to stuff mentioned in the conversation:

That Shia la Beouf "just do it" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-sfG8BV8wU

Acme - the Minneapolis comedy club: https://acmecomedycompany.com/Steve Martin's band Steep Canyon Rangers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steep_Canyon_Rangers

Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Standing_Up

Patricia Hampl (the writer who traveled to communist Czechoslovakia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Hampl

Patricia Hampl’s “monodrama” which Ema performed in: https://schubert.org/event/spotlight-on-patricia-hampl-writing-my-way-into-music/

"Socialism with a human face": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_with_a_human_face

The experimental Artist Diploma Ema is doing: https://www.cnsmd-lyon.fr/fr-2/les-formations/un-cycle-professionnalisant

💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: ⁠www.artists-on-the-verge.com⁠

👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge

Artists on the Verge is Back from break!

Here is a sneak-peak of a new segment, An Opera Singer and a Comedian Walk Into a Bar.

To follow the shorts/reels on YouTube or Instagram:

YouTube: @ArtistsontheVerge

Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge

💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/