There’s such  a fascinating variety to a life in music; and this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music, with over 100 episodes to explore. For this week’s episode I was  able to add some additional music to a special re-release  with fiddler Alexis Chartrand who has shared 3 tracks for you to listen to. His Bandcamp and socials are linked below; so please go buy the tracks or albums if you like what you hear!  Alexis  talks very thoughtfully and about his background as a son of dancers, both groove and ornamentation in different traditional styles of fiddling, his explorations of tone colour with baroque violin, and some of his musical influences and inspiration. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, the  video of the original episode is on my YouTube, and the transcript is also linked to my website where you can sign up for my weekly podcast newsletter and get access to sneak peeks for upcoming guests. https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e5-s1-alexis-chartrand-fiddler

Support the podcast with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

Alexis Chartrand on Bandcamp: https://alexischartrandnicolasbabineau.bandcamp.com/

https://alexischartrandcolinsavoielevac.bandcamp.com/album/le-tranino

Alexis Chartrand Social Media Linktree: https://linktr.ee/agchartrand?fbclid=IwAR28jaMhfGM2bO0-2rfbDxF81CYchtj9oGMYIKUyJ3VkZNdSKgE2cV3fMLU

Please consider signing up for my weekly newsletter, which will give you access to Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter

Did you know that all episodes are also available as a video on my YouTube, and that I publish the transcripts to my blog? I'd like this to be accessible to everyone which is why I put this extra work into this. Complete catalogue of over 100 episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/about

Follow me a my socials:

https://www.instagram.com/conversations_with_musicians

https://twitter.com/RosemanLeah

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072528617887

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-roseman-b01845235/

https://www.youtube.com/c/ViolinLessonOnline

I'm an independant podcaster, and although this is very much a labour of love, I have many costs that I have to cover. Buy me a coffee? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ Thanks!

There’s such a fascinating variety to a life in music; this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music. Many episodes feature guests playing music spontaneously as part of the episode or sharing performances and albums. I hope that the inspiration and connection  found in a meaningful creative life, the challenges  faced, and the stories from such a diversity of artists will draw you into this weekly series, with many topics that will resonate with all listeners. 

Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman is available wherever you listen to podcasts. The video and transcript are linked here on my website, where you can check out my episodes catalog and sign up for Sneak Peeks for upcoming guests: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jeremy-mastrangelo

This week’s guest is violinist Jeremy Mastrangelo, who’s a wonderful colleague of mine in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He’s known in our greenroom as a great storyteller, onstage as an excellent musician, and having heard him give brilliant masterclasses I can attest to his excellence as an educator as well.  This episode is infused with Jeremy’s wit and wisdom as well as a couple of beautiful violin performances. We talk about violin shopping in Cremona,  teenage life at Interlochen Academy, the difficulties and joys of a career as an orchestral musician, family, and the benefits of deepening our understanding of the composers we play. You will find that one of the wonderful stories in this episode reveals an unexpected discovery!

This independant podcast needs your support. Can you help with $3? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks so much!

Timestamps: 

(00:00) Intro

(02:11) Jeremy’s brother Dave, his childhood starting violin

(10:31) Bach Aria from Goldberg Variations

(13:23) Dave Mastrangelo arrangements

(15:05) orchestra audition process

(19:11) working conditions, collective agreements, Syracuse orchestra experience, Sara Mastrangelo

(27:21) please support the podcast!

(28:00) different roles and chairs in the orchestra

(30:31) Interlochen

(34:13) intro to Piazzolla etude

(35:45) Piazzolla Tango Etude no. 3

(39:34) dealing with uncertainty, pandemic Syracuse then Ottawa with Pinchas Zukerman

(45:37) ideal orchestra experiences, role of conductor and players

(50:15) Cremona with wife Sara, Italian heritage, Vittorio Villa

(55:54) Jeremy’s violin teachers Rafail Sobolevsky, Bill Preucil, Hal Grossman, Paul Kantor

(01:03:26) Rafail Sobolevsky story

(01:10:13) Sally Thomas, James Ehnes

(01:14:12) cooking

(01:16:07) great books about composers and performers

(01:20:37) solo experiences, stress dreams, benefits of knowing more about the composers

(01:28:16) one final orchestra story

Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman is a weekly podcast with in-depth conversations featuring a fascinating variety of guests worldwide. Michael Bridge is an accordion virtuoso who performs in many styles on both concert accordion and digital accordion. In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael spoke to me about how best to engage with audiences, the subtleties intrinsic to programming digital accordion sounds, and how to forge lasting relationships. Michael was awarded his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Toronto, and is a prize-winning soloist and chamber musician who tours worldwide. This is also an episode which features a lot of great music, including many novel sounds you won’t have heard before from an accordion, and also with the groups Bridge and Wolak and the Ladom Ensemble. You can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the video on my YouTube, read the transcript, and use the timestamps to navigate the episode as needed: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/michael-bridge Can you help this channel and podcast with $3? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman ⁠Thanks! 

Michael Bridge website: ⁠https://www.michaelbridge.ca/about ⁠

Michael's complete performance of Sofia Gubaidulina's Et Expecto is here, and starts at 17:40: https://youtu.be/KnXxjW4ayXo?si=qLRzkHMTajVRxhEo

Timestamps

(00:00)Intro

(02:18) digital accordion

(05:32) Bridge and Wolak “Petite Fleur”

(12:23)digital accordion user programs

(16:37) a selection of Michael’s digital accordion sounds

(19:35) accordion technique

(21:00) please support the podcast

(21:17) Michael’s accordion studies, Joseph Macerollo, history of the accordion

(28:27) growing up as an accordion player, going to the World Cup

(33:17) Bach piece

(34:29) accordiontechniques with Gubaidulina, quintuplet bellows shake

(37:46) excerpt from Gubaidulina’s Et Expecto

(39:20)  teaching accordion

(42:34) Ladom Ensemble Brahms’ Hungarian Dance no. 5

(47:26) accordion scene in Europe, premiering new works for accordion

(55:48) history of the accordion

(01:01:49) Ladom Ensemble Bach Keyboard concerto no. 7

(01:05:37) Bridge and Wolak, Charles Cozens

(01:08:24) professional relationship parrallels

(01:11:08) Bridge and Wolak “Digital Stardust”

(01:18:14) Bridge and Wolak, Ladom Ensemble

(01:22:00) performance presentation skills

(01:26:09) musical acoustics, arranging

(01:30:40) digital accordion sounds demo

(01:35:29) benefits and necessity of being analytical  

photo: Sam Gaetz

This week I’m highlighting an episode from the archive: the charming and engaging Jack Everly, who is well-known to audiences throughout the United States and Canada for his Symphonic Pops programs and storytelling. We recorded this in 2021 when concerts had been mostly shut down for a year. It was so much fun having this opportunity to sit down and speak in depth with Jack. We had a lively exchange discussing his varied and distinguished career on Broadway, for the American Ballet Theatre, the challenges of syncing a live orchestra with the music of great films, and so much more. The video and transcript are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e16-s1-jack-everly-conductor

I'm an independant podcaster, and I need my listners' help!

Can you spare $3? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

I hope you enjoyed this episode! There’s such a fascinating variety to a life in music; and this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music, with over 100 episodes to explore. Many episodes feature guests playing music spontaneously as part of the episode or sharing performances and albums. I hope that the inspiration and connection  found in a meaningful creative life, the challenges  faced, and the stories from such a diversity of artists will draw you into this weekly series, with many topics that will resonate with all listeners. Please share your favourite episodes with your friends,  and do consider supporting this independant podcast. Have a great week!

Today’s guest is the Emmy-winning songwriter, singer, producer and composer Kat Raio Rende. Together with her husband JP Rende she has a successful songwriting and production company Earworm Music company. This episode is a fascinating window into the world of music for children’s tv shows, jingles, working with celebrities, and music production in general. We talked about writing for Sesame Street, including “Friends with a Penguin” featuring Billy Porter and “We Don’t Walk Alone”, Baby Shark, how to write for characters as opposed to singers, her big break that led to singing backup for big stars, the benefits and challenges of having ADHD, advice for setting up an inexpensive studio and learning production tricks, family/work balance, parenting, and most importantly, expressing emotions through music to help children.Kat’s infectious delight in music, composition, and singing as well as her personal story and perspectives as a parent will fascinate listeners everywhere.

I'm an independant podcaster; could you help with a few dollars to keep this series going? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

Like all my episodes, you can listen to this on your favourite podcast player, (search Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman) watch the video on YouTube, read the transcript, and navigate with the timestamps: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kat-raio-rende

Here are some videos we talk about during the episode, that Kat wrote the music for with JP Rende (her husband and colleague at Earworm Music https://www.earwormny.com/ )Billy Porter in Sesame Street's Friends with a Penguin, EMMY winning song: https://youtu.be/f-YxjLUnnP0?si=PPElVWAiKYR2Chie Sesame Street's We Don't Walk Alone: https://youtu.be/LNlAHNzd6WY?si=KHhBhHIA1pDKsWeX

Margaret Maria is a wonderful cellist who’s a unique composer. Her compositions are all written by layering cello lines in some gorgeous and emotive aural tapestries. Her personal story is interesting and moving: she started the cello as a teenager, was admitted to the University of Toronto at age 16 without graduating from high school, and was then admitted to the prestigious Curtis Institute. She went on to have a successful career as a member of the Vancouver Symphony and then Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, which is how I came to know her. She gave up her job with the NAC after a few years, and embarked on a new life as a composer, meanwhile continuing to teach. Some of her work as an educator has been with the Orkidstra program, which she has been involved with since it’s inception in 2007. It’s a social development program that serves over 650 youth from over 62 linguistic and cultural backgrounds by building community through free music programs. This episode has a lot of powerful music; you can use the timestamps to navigate. Like all the episodes in this series, this is available wherever you get your podcasts, as well as this video, and the transcript and show notes are all linked to my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/margaret-mariahttps://margaretmariamusic.com/home

I'm an independant podcaster, and this podcast needs your help! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

Timestamps (00:00) Intro(02:44) Teaching improvisation in Breno, Maribyllia, creative process(06:57) Marbyllia duo with Bill Gilliam, clip from Gravitational March(07:47) Margaret’s music education and evolution as a cellist and composer(12:52) intro to Blessing of Awakening and Margaret’s creative process(17:00) clip from Blessing of Awakening(18:03) Margaret’s personal story and evolution as a composer(19:46) please support this podcast(20:01) perfectionism, starting late, playing injuries(23:39) Curtis(27:05) more about Margaret’s personal story and evolution as a composer(31:32) Orkidstra and music education(34:26) Alice Kanack, the benefits of teaching improvisation (38:35) producing music with Craig McConnell, intro to Raging Red(41:24) clip from Raging Red with Craig McConnell(42:04) duo project with singer Donna Brown, rock opera with Julian Gracia Reig, getting grants(50:22) From Scars to Infinite Stars(55:19) where to find Margaret’s music(56:20) Margaret’s approach to teaching (01:05:49) reflections on her life, intro to Her Heart on a Platter(01:08:29) Her Heart on a Platter(01:14:39) Margaret’s sheet music(01:15:34) empath feeling others’ emotions, intro to Shame on an Angel, artist Angel Muriel(01:20:39) Sham on an Angel(01:25:52) Margaret’s creative process

photo of Margaret: Bret Archangel Menezes

This is a bonus Catch-Up Episode with Julie Lyonn Lieberman. My original conversation with her is linked below (Season 2, Episode 7 if you're looking in your podcast player).

Julie is an innovative multi-style violinist/vocalist, author, composer, producer and educator. In our original episode, we discussed her unique path through world music, some of her projects including You Are Your Instrument, which was the first book written about how to overcome and prevent musicians’ overuse injuries. We had also talked about her memoir, The Roaring Brook Fiddler. In today’s short episode, she’ll talk about the process of recording the audio-book, which is enriched with her music, and there’s an excerpt featuring an important experience from her childhood. 

You can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the video on YouTube, and read the transcript. Everything is linked with links to Julie’s many projects on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/julie-lyonn-lieberman

Support this podcast with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

https://julielyonn.com/

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(01:19) creating the audio book of The Roaring Brook Fiddler

(07:14) excerpt from The Roaring Brook Fiddler

(09:58) please support the podcast

(10:44) re-writing and updating  Blues Fiddle, Improvising Violin, You Are Your Instrument, The Roaring Brook Fiddler

(11:14) Verna Gillis, soundscapes, music brings joy

In this  episode, you get to hear the brilliant and engaging keyboard player and composer Kait Dunton in both conversation and a mini theory workshop on her hit tune This One’s For You!  In this wide-ranging conversation, we talked  about her early days with Snarky Puppy, recording the soundtrack to A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, her love of vintage keyboards and the challenges they present, and her unique approach to teaching which has been influenced by her mentor John D’earth. Kait has gained a huge following on social media like Instagram and TikTok, so I was curious to get her perspectives on connecting with her fans, and dealing with necessary boundaries.   Kait’s new album Keyboards features the sounds of the 1970s and we got into some of her influences and her personal journey to becoming a full-time performer. This episode features some of her recorded work and she generously agreed to demonstrate as well; you can use the timestamps to navigate and you can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the YouTube video or read the transcript, everything is linked to the show notes on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kait-dunton with a gallery of images of Kate’s vintage keyboards as well.

https://www.kaitdunton.com/

 I’m an independant podcaster, and through this series I hope to inspire you with these stories of the incredible breadth and depth of a  life in music with my inspiring guests. This podcast needs your support to continue, and every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:09)recording for the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood 

(04:28) 2023 album Keyboards and working with vintage keyboards

(10:09) Richard Tee’s influence

(13:28)Lunch Break from Keyboards

(16:15)recording process, husband drummer Jake Reed, parenting

(20:15) childhood musical education

(22:30)John D’earth

(26:29) Planet D’earth

(26:28) call to action: support the podcast!

(30:24) Snarky Puppy, North Texas, finding her way to a career as a performer

(33:09)music marketing, social media

(38:33) teaching music and theory

(43:28) Kait demonstrates at the piano with some theory within This One’s For You

(50:32)teaching and the importance and deeper meaning of music

(56:35)playing concerts, marketing and social media

(01:01:50) albums versus playlists, streaming versus buying music

(01:09:22) Kait’s reflections on her journey to becoming a full-time performer and composer

This week’s episode is with the Canadian musician Jack Hui Litster, who has developed a satisfying creative career after some interesting twists and turns. In this episode, you’ll learn about his experiences as a jazz drummer, his pivot into international development, and his path back to composing, producing and recording music in different styles. The music included in this episode features two tracks from his album "Shining Suns”, a guzheng improvisation and an excerpt from his second opera “What is Love”. We talked about different ways to make a living as a musician, achieving a flow state, some of the positive impacts of technology, and the importance of finding a work-life balance. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, also as a video on YouTube, and the transcript with the show notes are all linked on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jack-hui-litster

photo: Curtis Perry