Dismantling Dissonance

Critically acclaimed as the "pre-eminent improvising violinist of his generation," Zach Brock is an American jazz violinist and Grammy Award-winning member of Snarky Puppy. He has toured with Stanley Clarke and Phil Markowitz, released seven solo albums, and was named "Rising Star Violinist" of 2013 by Downbeat Magazine. A passionate educator, Zach has coached hundreds of musicians from workshops to conservatories worldwide. Zach remains a perennial coffee fanatic and skateboard enthusiast, and currently lives with his wife and daughters in the NYC area.

Since this is a longer episode, here are some time stamps for our conversation:
1:00 Intro/Background
4:40: Higher education, Zach’s accident and how it shaped him as a musician
11:38: Zach’s teaching- “Dogmatic about not being dogmatic”
19:00 Improvising and how to be in the moment
30:00 Streaming industry and the why we as musicians are stuck on CD’s
48:00 Optimizing your digital reach and presence 
54:00 Snarky Puppy- music for your brain and booty 
60:10 Leadership in Snarky Puppy
87:30: Vacillating productivity on the corona coaster and staying mindful
85:20 “The Last Dance” and motivation 

https://zachbrock.com
https://snarkypuppy.com

Bonus episode! Bailey sits down with Mike Block to discuss cross-cultural playing, his experience getting into the Silk Road Ensemble, and his recent recording frenzy. He has a new album coming out next Friday called "The Edge of the Atmosphere," which we discover he took a totally new role! Listen to find out more!

Mike Block is a pioneering cello player, singer, composer, and educator, hailed by Yo- Yo Ma as the "ideal musician of the 21st-Century". Passionate about cross-cultural collaboration through music, Mike is committed to inspiring individuals and connecting communities. At home in a wide range of musical styles, through a multi-genre approach to composition, performance and education, he seeks to inspire audiences and empower musicians to find joy in the full world of music. Acclaimed by the NY Times for his "vital rich-hued solo playing", Block's solo performances offer a rich mixture of core classical repertoire with original compositions. Mike is member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble (SRE), having joined in 2005 while a student at TheJuilliard School. Touring extensively throughout the world with SRE, he has been featured as cello and vocal soloist, contributed arrangements and compositions, and earned a Grammy Award in 2017 for their album, Sing Me Home. As an innovator, Mike is among the first wave of cellists to adopt a strap in order to stand and move while playing. With The Block Strap, Mike was the first standing cellist to perform at Carnegie Hall. The NY Times characterized the performance as, "Breathless ... Half dance, half dare." As an educator, Mike is passionate about creativity and collaboration, and is the founding director of Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop, and the Mike Block String Camp.

Mike's new album:
https://www.brightshiny.ninja/the-edge-of-the-atmosphere
Mike's website:
http://www.MikeBlockMusic.com

In this episode, Bailey sits down with jazz violinist and educator Christian Howes. Suzuki grad and Suzuki Dad, Violinist, educator and composer, Christian Howes is the founder of “Creative Strings“, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to expand music education through the creation of online curriculum, an annual summer conference, and dozens of visits to schools annually teaching improvisation, contemporary styles, and related subjects. Since March 2020 he has published over 150 Free Play Along Videos on his Youtube channel to support teachers and players of all levels. He was voted #1 in the Downbeat Critics Poll (“Rising Stars/Violin”), named among the top three violinists in the JazzTimes critics poll, and nominated for Violinist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association. He received the Residency Partner Award through Chamber Music America, earned a USArtists grant through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and was invited by the U.S. State department to teach and perform as a cultural ambassador twice, in Ukraine and Montenegro.  His release on Resonance Records, “Southern Exposure” earned recognition in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Downbeat, Jazz Times, as well as a six-night run at Lincoln Center.  His release, “American Spirit” was named among the Best Jazz Albums of 2015″ by the Huffington Post. 

"SuperNova" Suzuki Reimagined with David Cutler:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/supernovacreativity/supernova-0
Christian Howes' Website and Facebook Page:
https://christianhowes.com/
https://www.facebook.com/christianhowesviolinist/

Calida Jones began studying the piano at the age of 3 while attending Nursery School, and switched to violin at the age of 6 when she entered Thomas G. Pullen Performing Arts School in Landover, Maryland. Currently, Calida is the Assistant Director of Education & Engagement at University of Hartford’s The Hartt School. She also serves as Program Director for Music Matters, and the Conductor of the Hartford All-City Youth Orchestra in conjunction with the Charter Oak Culture Center. Prior to those roles, Calida was appointed Director of Development and Advocacy for the El Sistema inspired program PROJECT MUSIC from 2018-2019. In 2012, Calida was hired by the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra to design and implement the El Sistema inspired program “Bravo Waterbury!” (Bravo). She continued her work in Waterbury until August of 2018. She continues to consult with organizations all over the country. An accomplished musician, social justice advocate and educator, Calida’s work has taken her all over the world teaching and performing. Calida is passionate about intentional purposeful teaching and community engagement. Her personal mission is to ensure that children who have limited resources also have access to musical opportunities and activities. She knows that this type of musical
exposure and education will benefit them and build their confidence which will catapult them to successful careers, regardless of the career path. She is committed to correlating the art of teaching to life skills, and community building. Calida has had the privilege of speaking multiple times at the prestigious Yale School of Music, Duke University, Ravinia, The Connecticut State Capitol, The Hartt School of Music, and was a Tedx speaker in San Jose, CA. Most recently, Calida has consulted with Sphinx Organization, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Utah Cultural Alliance, and a host of other organizations. A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Bachelors of Fine Arts in Violin Performance), she received her Masters in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School of
Music. Calida is honored and humbled to have received awards, and honors during her career including a scholar fellowship at the Aspen Festival of Ideas, The Elizabeth Mahaffey Fellowship, a Grammy nomination for the Music Educator Excellence Award, the Father Thomas H. Dwyer Humanitarian Award for her work in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the 2018 CT Arts Hero Award in Waterbury CT. Calida serves on the Board of The Hartt School of Music, El Sistema USA (Board Clerk), and chairs
the Racial Diversity and Cultural Understanding Committee; she also serves as the President of the Connecticut Arts Alliance.
https://cnjassociates.com
Instagram: @cnjassociates 
LinkedIn: Calida Jones

This week, Bailey talks with Nick Matherne. Nick offers a unique perspective on how student-led learning can improve the ensemble experience, while also giving students skills that allow them greater freedom in music making outside of school. Nick is an instrumental music teacher at Kaimuki High School and teaches the University Chorus and music education courses at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He serves as president-elect
for the Hawai’i Music Educators Association and is the University Resources and Repertoire Chair for the Hawai'i Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, he has taught high school music in Hawaiʻi, Maryland, and Virginia, teaching courses in instrumental, vocal, and popular music. Nick holds a B.M. in Music Education and a B.A. in Spanish from James Madison University and an M.A. in Music Education from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His thesis examines older adults’ well-being and participation in community music and his research interests include popular music education, well-being, participation in school music, alternative music classroom formats, and distance learning pedagogy. He is a co-author for a chapter on school-university partnerships in popular music education in the upcoming book, Action-Based Pedagogies for Popular Music Education: A Practical Guide.

Website: https://mathernemusic.weebly.com/ 

Matt Turner is widely regarded as one of the world's leading improvising cellists. Equally skilled as a pianist, Turner performs in numerous styles and has shared the stage in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster, avant-garde musicians Marilyn Crispell, Peter Kowald, Guillermo Gregorio, Scott Fields, and John Butcher, as well as country musician Wanda Vick, singer-songwriter LJ Booth, and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin to name a few. He appears on over 100 recordings on Sketch/Harmonia Mundi, Illusions, Music and Arts, Accurate, Polyvinyl, Cadence Jazz and others, recording with jazz violinist Randy Sabien, goth vocalist/pianist Jo Gabriel, singer/songwriters Mark Croft and Tret Fure, punk artist Kyle Fischer, Kitty Brazelton's chamber rockestra Dadadah, alt-country band Heller Mason, and with the Pointless Orchestra.

Turner completed his undergraduate studies at Lawrence University and his Master of Music degree in Third Stream Studies (now the Contemporary Improvisation program) at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Dave Holland, Geri Allen and Joe Maneri, and where he was the recipient of a Distinction in Perfomance Award.

As a leader, Turner's recordings appear on Illusions, Stellar, O.O. Discs, Asian Improv, Penumbra, Fever Pitch, Geode, Tautology and Meniscus Records. Turner is a Yamaha Performing Artist and currently performs and records with Bill Carrothers' Armistice 1918 ensemble and with the Fantastic Merlins.

Over the course of the episode, Matt and Bailey outline concrete ways for teachers to start improvising with their students no matter what genre they are comfortable with. They also discuss the new degree track at Lawrence University "Jazz and Improvisational Music", and how teaching ensembles has been impacted by the pandemic

Matt's website: http://improvcellist.com
Matt's email: [email protected]
The new degree track at LU: https://www.lawrence.edu/conservatory/areas_of_study/jazz_improvisational_music

This episode features my dear friend, Nicolas Bizub. Over the course of the episode, we cover a lot of ground, including what it means to be a 21st century composer, the possible future of CD's, and issues of equity in the orchestra. Read below for his bio; resources mentioned in the podcast are listed below as well. 

Award-winning composer Nicolas Bizub writes music which is dark, striving, and yearning, which also points towards radiance and light. Inspired by both the natural world and the human interaction with it, Nicolas often uses nature within his music as metaphors for more human topics, including emotion, politics, creation, and destruction. His musical language blends bittersweet melodic sensibilities with a richly dark harmonic language and volatile driving rhythms to forge a visceral, audible connection with these light and dark sides of humanity.

His music has received prizes and awards from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The American Prize, the McKnight Foundation, New York Youth Symphony First Music, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, the Wisconsin Cello Society, Lawrence University, and the College-Conservatory of Music. He has been praised for his “ability to weave musical textures, sonorities, and skillfully change pacing” within his works as an element which “truly shines” (Helena Michelson, American Prize). 

Nicolas’ music has been written for and performed by numerous leading new music ensembles and artists, including, British violinist Madeleine Mitchell, American violist Michael Hall, loadbang, NOW Ensemble, Hypercube, Zodiac Trio, F-PLUS, Unheard-of//Ensemble, and American violist Bailey Poesnecker, among others. His music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe and may be heard on Ablaze Records and Centaur Records.

Article: https://theconversation.com/music-education-has-a-race-problem-and-universities-must-address-it-143719?fbclid=IwAR3W8xUbP0vMmxqZXu_AURcB2K03KGxymamxqNdTVIB8lrzaCTIjDeL2Xv8

DeCoda ensemble: https://decodamusic.org/ 

Lutoslwaski: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Witold-Lutoslawski 

Pauline Oliveros: https://paulineoliveros.us/ 

IGLU (Improvisation Group of Lawrence University): https://www.lawrence.edu/conservatory/areas_of_study/iglu 

Kenji Bunch, the piece mentioned is entitled “The 3 G’s,” not “The 3 C’s”: https://www.kenjibunch.net/ 

Rushad Eggleston: http://facebook.com/rushad.eggleston 

Casey Driessen and the Chop Notation Project: https://caseydriessen.com, https://www.caseydriessen.com/chop-notation-project 

Carolyn began cello at age 8, held a principal chair at age 11 and won her first concerto
competition at age 15. Recently, she has soloed with the New England Repertory Orchestra, Nashua Chamber Orchestra and collaborated with the Muir Quartet, Ying Quartet, and Time for Three. Her mentors have also included William Rounds,Stephen Geber, Michael Reynolds, Mihail Jojatu,Peter Howard, and Dave Eggar. Carolyn has attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Hidden Valley Music Masterclasses, Kent/Blossom Music Festival, Berkshire High Peaks, and Mostly Modern Festival.
She earned both a Dual Bachelor’s in Cello Performance and Music Theory & Composition, as well as a Master’s in Cello Performance from Boston University. Currently Carolyn is pursuing a post-grad program in New York City.

In addition to her studies, Carolyn has a virtual career where she is known as “The Cello Doll,” and strives to revamp popular opinions on classical music. Since July 2018, The Cello Doll has been making a name for herself on social media as a classical trained cellist with a gothic flare, fiery passion and persevering attitude.Through original arrangements that mash-up popular and classical music, she chooses pieces that complement each other and presents them in original music videos. Her Instagram reached 12K followers before her 1 year anniversary in 2019, and has led to collaborations with companies such as NS Design, Coruss Synthetic Bow Hair, and the interactive sheet music app, Tomplay. Additionally, she has a YouTube channel that just reached 1k subscribers and a Facebook page with nearly 650 likes. As a performer and mentor, she aims to also have her social media platforms serve as educational resources for other musicians: including videos about her career experiences, cello-related tips, and practicing demos.

Instagram: @thecellodoll, https://www.instagram.com/thecellodoll/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCelloDoll?sub_confirmation=1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecellodoll/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheCelloDoll
Website: https://www.carolynregula.com/

On this episode, Bailey interviews Taylor Morris. Hailed by a 2nd grade classroom as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the lines between violin and fiddle. Eagerly collaborating across genres, he has performed in 48 states and 13 countries as a soloist, as an alumnus of Barrage, with duo partner Tricia Park, or with chamber-folk string sextet The Sound Accord. Offstage, Taylor obtained a master's in education from Harvard University and teaches nationally as a guest educator and clinician. He co-founded/co-directs the Gilbert Town Fiddlers, runs a summer camp for young musicians called StringPlay, serves as a Guest Lecturer at Arizona State University, and maintains an active private studio of young musicians. Taylor and Bailey cover several topics including: what he prioritizes in folk pedagogy for his own students, how to engage and elevate learning in the ensemble classroom, and why fiddling actually helps the majority of classical string players.

Taylor's website: www.taylormorrismusic.com
Barrage: www.barrage.org

Welcome to the first episode of "Dismantling Dissonance," a podcast where we will disrupt the status quo for 21st century musicianship. In this first episode, there's a short intro of your host, Bailey and she also tackles some of the questions she first got when she started floating the idea of starting a podcast. (Why this topic? Why should I listen? What if I disagree with what you have to say?) We will have the opportunity to pick the brains of some of the most forward-thinking people in music performance and education. So excited you're here!

Want to stay up to date? Follow Bailey on Instagram (@dismantlingdissonance) and visit her website http://www.baileypoesnecker.com