Drop A Note

An interview on 1 January 2024 with concert pianist Gile Bae, featuring her memories of performing as a 5-year-old solo pianist with the Seoul Orchestra, insights into how she prepares her repertoire, and how a certain Prince Thomas followed her on stage one day to steal the spotlight!

You can follow Gile on her website, instagram and Apple Music.

Video of Gile playing with the Seoul Orchestra as a 5-year-old pianist in 1999 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP0F1jKRkNY&t=114s

#pianist #concert #concertpianist #gilebae #music #solo #holland #cyprus #italy #bach

In this special episode, I share my recent interview with Cypriot tennis legend and former world number 8, Marcos Baghdatis.

We talk about his experience of moving abroad to join a tennis academy in France as a 13-year-old, the memories and emotions of playing against Roger Federer in the 2006 Australian Open Final, and the many important life lessons he has learned during his career as a professional tennis player and more recently as a father.

Also in this episode, how I am up 1-0 against Swedish tennis legend Mats Wilander, and a modern arrangement of a traditional Greek carol sung by carollers in Cyprus.

LINKS

Marcos Baghdatis' Instagram - @baghdatis_official

Kypriaka Kalanta and Peaceful Christmas album info page

#tennis #interview #grandslam #baghdatis #cyprus

In this episode, why did the civil war in Lebanon take a break every 4 years? What is my obsession with Italy? And why was I chasing the referee around a football pitch? I also talk about the story behind my new piano single, Safe.

Listen to Safe on your preferred music platform here.

#football #italy #azzurri #worldcup #concussion #headinjury #lebanon #dinozoff #robertobaggio #giancarloantogioni #safe #footballstories #stories

In this episode, I tell the musical stories of Akoo the parrot and Fezzi the labrador, and get to speak with Christina Georgiou, award-winning music composer and film producer from Cyprus. Her new dogumentary 'The Stray Story' has already won a number of international prizes. We delve into the making of it and the issues it highlights. Oh and at the end of the episode, I share a secret: how my wife Anna rescued me from a lifelong commitment to a....monkey!

Follow Christina Georgiou on Spotify and visit her website.

Visit the 'The Stray Story' dogumentary website.

Listen to Live In A Dream from my Peaceful album.

The Sound of Music without sound? A criminal key change? And what is that thing in Maria's bedroom? I reveal it all in an exclusive first-hand eye-witness account from 21 years ago! And as always, the episode concludes with something spontaneous from my piano.

#soundofmusic #oliver #musicals #show #sound #stories #theatre #musical #musicalstories #julieandrews

Meet Jonathan Garabedian, the violinist from Toronto whom I almost strangled some 25 years ago. Why? Listen to my story in this episode, followed by an interview with Jonathan himself in which he reveals to us the mystery of the 401 Philharmonic, his greatest fear as a violinist, and shares some great insights into the expectations and realities of being a professional musician these days.

Find out more about Jonathan by visiting his website and following him on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you follow my podcast and catch up with the episodes you may have missed.

You can also listen to my most recent piano solo album, Tributes. Read more about it here.

Live on TV and going through major stage fright...running to hide under my parent's bed...and other stories of how I managed (or unmanaged!) to deal with the stresses of performing on the piano in public. Highlighting at the end one of the pieces released in my new piano album, Peaceful Christmas.

For more information, visit our website.

In 1989, the celebrations for my 18th birthday took place in the bomb shelter of our building, during one of the worst periods of fighting in the Lebanese civil war. In this episode, I talk about that night, my close shave with a car bomb explosion and the significance of being stuck inside a frozen chicken! Also featuring the story of 'In His Care', from the original musical and subsequent recordings.

'In His Care' piano version on the 'Peaceful' Album

'In His Care' stage version from the 2007 Esther Musical at the Ancient Curium Amphitheatre.

The story of how I was ambushed just before Larnaca Airport and the sequence of events which led me to Northern Sweden where I met my wife, Anna. Featuring the 'Worth Waiting For' piano single, composed in 2005 and re-released this year as a song.

LINKS

'Worth Waiting For' Piano Single on Spotify

'Worth Waiting For' Vocal Single on Spotify

'Worth Waiting For' Vocal Single Music Video on YouTube

Johan Drejare on Spotify

In this first episode, I talk about my childhood and growing up during the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon. You will hear about the challenges of learning the piano in that environment and how I went about writing my first composition as a teenager. At the end of the episode, I play and talk through the process of composing the 'Tonight' piano piece.

For more information, visit our website.