Theo Baer aka iT Boy is a Brooklyn-based composer of music that has, at various times, been described as  "experimental," "thoughtful," and "cosmic." In this discussion with host Khadija Mbowe, Theo reflects on the influences that brought him here; starting with a childhood growing up as the adopted child of Mennonite missionaries, walking a tightrope between his prodigious musical gifts and the persistence of low expectations— all the while navigating an evolving queer identity.  

Chapters:

[2:04] The inextricability of music to Theo's identity   

[3:56] The good and bad of working with(in) musical institutions 

[5:18] Ever-unfolding lessons of queerness 

[8:48] Making music for magical moments

[10:56] Mennonites and musical influences 

[12:19] On "radicalizing" his parents 

[16:09] The catharsis of vulnerability 
[18:13] What success looks like today 

 
Music from this episode:

• Theo Baer aka iT Boy ft. Zachary Paul, Deities, from The Nail House
• Theo Baer aka iT Boy, Tempting (for Richard Maxfield) , from Euphoric Recall
• Theo Baer aka iT Boy, Habits, from Euphoric Recall
• Theo Baer aka iT Boy, Lodge
  
  

Links from this episode:

• iT Boy on Bandcamp
• iT Boy on Instagram
• Anderson Center

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

1. Who makes you laugh?
2. Cataclysm sentence?
3. Skill you wish you had?
4. Song you wish you'd written?
5. Worst advice?

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Tailinh Agoyo is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist, TV and film actor, and co-founding director of We Are the Seeds, an organization that amplifies and uplifts Indigenous voices through the arts in an effort to reverse the erasure of native people in Philadelphia and the nation. In this candid conversation with host Khadija Mbowe, you'll hear about how We Are The Seeds is rooted in Tailinh's upbringing alongside her father's artistic career, her experiences attending an Ivy League college, and how she navigated a career in '90s Hollywood.

Chapters:
[1:58] Tailinh Agoyo is all of the things
[4:46] How early familial influences impact Tailinh today
[11:55] Ups and downs at Dartmouth
[16:09] Secret activism in Hollywood
[25:13] How Tailinh's acting career has evolved
[27:00] The root of We Are The Seeds and its growth
[31:20] Looking to the future


Music from this episode:

Udi Bar David and R. Carlos Nakai, Indigenous, Indigena, from Voyager

Zachariah Julian, Oblique from Oblique

Gabriela Lena Frank, Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra


Links from this episode:

Tailinh Agoyo: http://www.tailinhagoyo.com/

We Are The Seeds: https://www.wearetheseeds.org/

Tchin Agoyo: http://www.themagicofstorytelling.com/

Dartmouth's Native American program: https://students.dartmouth.edu/nap/

Learn about the land you occupy: https://native-land.ca/

What is Canada's "Truth in reconciliation Commission"?: https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525

Viola Davis reflects on The Help : https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/viola-davis-the-help-regret

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

1. Who makes you laugh?
2. Cataclysm sentence?
3. Skill you wish you had?
4. Song you wish you'd written?
5. Worst advice?

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

New host Khadija Mbowe is joined by esteemed soprano Karen Slack for a no-holds-barred conversation about excellence, expectations, and self-esteem. 

Chapters:

[03:25] Fairytale love story

[05:19] Music in the household

[07:29] Veterinary dreams

[8:27] Journey into classical through CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts High School)

[14:11] Undiagnosed learning challenges

[15:07] The double-edged sword of winning the Rosa Ponselle scholarship 

[18:45] Approach to mentorship

[27:09] See the need, fill the need 

[29:03] #KikiKonversations

[33:14] Who heals the healers; unrealistic expectations placed on black women

[36:49] The struggle for self-care 

Music from this episode:

• Hannibal, Healing Tones, Karen Slack with The Philadelphia Orchestra  
• Bizet, Habanera, Denyce Graves Price, Bewilderment  (with text from Langston Hughes), Michelle Cann and Karen Slack
• Barnes, Taking Names,  Karen Slack

Links from this episode: 

• BANFF Opera in the 21st Century Program
• Bellini, "Casta Diva," Maria Callas
• Wagner, "Tristan Und Isolde" - Prelude & Leibestod,  Jessye Norman and Herbert von Karajan 
• Opera Philadelphia Sounds of Learning Rehearsal Program  
• La Forza Del Destino (Ponselle's debut)  
• Michelle Cann on the HearTOGETHER podcast
• #SayTheirNames
• #KikiKonversations
• Khadija Mbowe
• Karen Slack
  
  

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Season 3 of the HearTOGETHER podcast opens with a passing of the torch as Executive Producer Tori Marchiony interviews incoming host, Khadija Mbowe. Khadija is a socio-cultural content creator, classically trained soprano, and self-described loving provocateur. In this episode, you’ll hear about Khadija’s cross-continental upbringing, musical evolution, why they made a sharp turn away from the opera world, and much more. 

Chapters:
[07:03] Khadija's cross-continental upbringing
[08:48] Khadija's journey into music
[16:57] Facing impossible comparisons
[23:46] Marigold Music Program
[28:13] The messiness of newness


Music from this episode:

• Owens, A Complaint, performed by Khadija Mbowe
• Khadija Mbowe, Deff Bem toup
• Brahms, Alto Rhapsody, performed by Jessye Norman with The Philadelphia Orchestra 

Links from this episode: 

• Delusion and ALL Its Remixes by Fab Socialism 
• Khadija's Youtube channel
• Khadija's website
• Marigold Music Program
• Terrance Real, How Can I Get Through To You?

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Where are all the great Black pianists? Michelle Cann is one of the best. And she's determined to help shift the musical landscape to include many more pianists of color in the coming generations. 

On the season two finale of the HearTOGETHER Podcast, pianist Michelle Cann joins host Tori Marchiony for an intimate conversation about the nature of competition, expressing something transcendent in music, and the importance of mentorship for up-and-comers. 

MUSIC, performed by Michelle Cann

BACH, Sarabande
PRICE, Sonata in E Minor
CHOPIN, Ballade No.3 in A-flat Major, Op.47
PRICE, Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Philadelphia Orchestra

Mixed by Teng Chen
Editorial Council, Noel Dior & Tim German

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

What do you do to survive? For inti figgis-vizueta, making music inside traditional institutions felt like trying to put a square peg into a round hole– painful, and fruitless. So, she eschewed the status quo and focused on embracing the angles that made her unique. 

On this episode of the HearTOGETHER podcast, NYC-based composer inti figgis-vizueta speaks with host Tori Marchiony about her early ambitions for a 9-5 in science, the communities and identities that inform her work today, and her hopes and fears for the next generation of music-makers.


Music in this episode was composed by inti figgis-vizueta
Attacca Quartet performing Imago .
red fish blue fish performing To Give You Form and Breath

Why bell hooks didn't capitalize her name : https://newsone.com/4260883/why-bell-hooks-name-lowercase/ 

Mixed by Teng Chen
Editorial Council, Noel Dior and Tim German

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

What role does empathy play in your life? For Lina González-Granados, it’s a core value for daily living, as well as a musical superpower that’s been instilled in her artistic practice by more than one mentor.

On this episode of the HearTOGETHER Podcast, conductor Lina González-Granados joins host Tori Marchiony for a heartfelt interview about what it took to follow her dreams across the world, her status as a high-profile Latina in classical music, and how the pandemic has shifted her priorities.

Music in this episode is from The Philadelphia Orchestra, 2021-22 (122nd Season), non-subscription concert #6
Lina Gonzalez-Granados, conductor
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
Dvořák: Serenade in D minor, Op. 44, for winds, cello, and double bass 
Glazunov: Concerto in E-flat major for Saxophone and String Orchestra, Op. 109 (13')
Villa-Lobos: Fantasia, for saxophone and orchestra (14')

Mixed by Teng Chen
Editorial Council, Tim German & Noel Dior

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Reflections on programming, progress, "the American dream," and more!

On January 17th, 2022, as part of The Philadelphia Orchestra's annual day of free community programming in observance of Martin Luther King Jr day, an audience gathered in the Perelman Theater at The Kimmel Center for From Programming to Progress, a live panel discussion with pianist Michelle Cann, Juilliard ethnomusicology professor Dr. Fredara Hadley, and music directoress of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church and CEO of Next Step Associates, Dr. Cassandra Jones, plus a spotlight interview with Andrea Custis (CEO, Urban League Philadelphia). 

NOTE: In this episode, Dr. Jones laments the last-minute exclusion of Total Praise from the MLK Tribute concert. This omission was the result of COVID-related complications that made the CAPA choir unavailable to perform as planned and not due to a lack of interest. The Philadelphia Orchestra looks forward to including the piece next year.

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearTOGETHER series is generously supported by lead corporate sponsor Accordant Advisors. Additional major support has been provided by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.