Hello Sonoma!

In this episode, I speak with Malinee Peris who is a renowned classical pianist and professor of music at the George Washington University where she instructed me in my own piano lessons. Besides her deep insights into the world of music, she has vast international experience having performed around the world and lived in Sri Lanka, Britain, Portugal, Washington D.C. and Belgium. 

Juneteenth for many is a well-known celebration. It is certainly among our nation's older traditions, starting in 1866 just after the civil war. And while this week it becomes a national holiday, many questions still remain as to its origins and to how it is viewed by the African American community and America at large.  

In this episode, I record from the steps of the DuSable museum on the South Side of Chicago, where I spoke to members of the audience during a special Juneteenth reopening of the museum. 

 Ms. Darreyl Young-Gibson, a local public school teacher from Chicago, told me her thoughts on the holiday as did Alicia Spears of the National Council of African Women

In this episode, my two guests discuss their experiences with music, spirituality, and cultures around the world.  Mojib Ghaznawi recently graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School from which he will begin a career of public service as a diplomat, but today we talk to him about some of his other passions: spirituality, culture, language, and music. "Music is everything," he says in this episode. I agree! He also shares his thoughts on learning during a pandemic and doing what he does best: making the best of life and what is presented to him.  

My second guest, Jonah Lazarus is a musician who plays piano, guitar, marimba, percussion, and most often drums. Besides his many bands and groups, he teaches, composes, and studies music (he was a fulbright scholar in 2018), offering a harmonious description of learning music as finding a piece of your life. He will soon be starting a music school dedicated to the idea that anyone can participate in the beauty of music. If anyone can guide us, it would be Jonah.

Kathleen Hill may be known in Sonoma as the IT's Food and Wine Editor, but her vast experiences go far beyond the realm of food. As a young peace-corps intern, she convinced her boss to take the team to the National Mall to listen to Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech. As a student at the Sorbonne, she skipped classes to work at the Cordon Bleu. As an author, she's written more than 40 books on everything from local events to dictatorships in the Philippines -- she was even called a good cook by the master Julia Child herself! 

Listen to Kathleen talk about this and more on this episode of Hello Sonoma. It was a treat to have her on the show.

This episode tackles different ways of helping Sonoma citizens, first through fitness, then through thrift.

Danielly Rocha-Lanter came to the United States as an Au Pair with the hopes of starting a business. What she didn't know was that a WWE-inspired fitness journey would lead her to start Danielly's Fitness, a local personal training enterprise focused on changing people's mood through movement. Having learned English coincidentally with the help of Jehovah's witnesses, Danielly shows us the strength of not giving up when working on your passion.

The Bon Marché thrift store in Sonoma is a hub of kindness in Sonoma Valley. Led by its incredible founder, Anna Bimenyimana, this shop offers clothes to young adults on their first interview, homeless individuals who need shoes, and to many others in need. As if that weren't enough, Anna also runs the Kigali Center for Entrepreneurs in Rwanda and works with local farmers to source Gorilla Coffee which you can find at her store.

This week we take a little vacation around the world with listener-suggested music. Brazil, France, Russia, Norway, Mongolia, Taiwan, Lebanon, India, Nigeria, and Corsica are represented through classic songs, and it’s an exciting adventure into what it really means to listen to “a little bit of everything.”

Sophia Long's perseverance and tenacity would be admirable on its own, even without the story of her long, difficult journey escaping violence in Cambodia to find peace in Sonoma. As a local nurse, she talks about her experiences having dedicated more than 20 years to helping patients in the valley, sharing her goodness with so many of her fellow Sonomans. 

Joe Aaron is a technology enthusiast, joke aficionado, and avid runner. Having grown up in Georgia, he talks about appreciating his position in life and how it allows him to get more involved with the community, which he does in various capacities. This former FBI agent is an excellent story-teller and an even better neighbor.

In this episode, Eric Jackson discusses his experience in the theater as he toured around the country, building his knowledge of Broadway and bringing lessons off-stage to his new career.  Ss Sonoma Community Center’s creative director, he also shares some of the programs they offer including fiber arts classes and the trashion fashion show extravaganza.

Then, Elizabeth Takeuchi-Krist talks about her journey to Sonoma, her Asian-american identity, and the story and philosophy of the Starling Bar which she owns and runs. She shares the way music plays a central role in the bar’s identity, how she got involved in the food industry, and the different roles she plays in the Sonoma community.

In this episode, I speak with Joe Wilson, a native Sonoman and founder of Wilson Tech Services. We discuss his perspectives on technology’s ever-changing landscape and its exciting future. Besides his tech business, Joe builds and flies drones, creates models with his 3d printer, and has an impressive record collection.

Our international correspondent, Aziz Ata, also makes his debut, telling us a little bit about where he grew up and his thoughts on current events. Aziz grew up in Jordan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and is now studying international business in Madrid.

In this inaugural episode, I try to live up to the title of the show by greeting Sonoma through music. I have the good fortune of interview the illustrious Kate Kennedy who is searching for new thespians to  direct in her troupe in for an upcoming performance in July and August of this year. Send us a message if you're interested in auditioning. Lastly, I pay tribute to the late great Chick Corea who inspired me at the piano and beyond. I hope you enjoy.