Let's Talk Off The Podium

Ep. 135: Teni Odabashian, non-musical guest.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

This is the first time in over 130 that I am featuring a guest who is not a musician. Teni has been one of the early supporters of the podcast and it was a pleasure to speak with her on the show. In this episode Teni talks about being a working mom, traveling, treasured possessions, Paul McCartney, Charles Aznavour, listening to music with her father, Armenian heritage, growing up in LA and much more.

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 134: THE RECAP with George Jackson, principal guest contributor.

This the second episode of the RECAP series with conductor George Jackson.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

In this podcast we talk about the state of orchestras during the pandemic, positives and negatives of state sponsored orchestra, blind auditions, repertoire for chamber orchestra and more. We also talk about past composers we would have enjoyed corresponding with.

For more information about George Jackson please visit: http://www.georgejackson.net/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 133: Abo Gumroyan, Grammy winning bassist.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Grammy Award-winning electric and double bassist Abe Gumroyan crosses musical borders on a daily basis. His diverse musical background has allowed him to perform a wide range of genres ranging from salsa and Latin jazz to traditional Armenian and ethnic fusion to classical. The son of Armenian immigrants, Abe was born in Los Angeles, CA and began double bass studies at the age of 9. A frequent guest with the San Francisco and San Diego Symphony Orchestras, Abe has had the unique opportunity to work with the world's leading conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Ricardo Muti, John Adams, and Charles Dutoit.

Aside from his work in the classical music industry, Abe is also an in-demand recording musician, most noted for his work in Latin and pop music. Abe recorded on the Grammy-winning freshman album from the San Francisco-based Latin big band Pacific Mambo Orchestra, garnering his first Grammy win at age 27. Abe's live credits include performances with Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin, Carrie Underwood, and many others. Whether as a sideman, soloist, or producer, Abe is known for his deep groove, creative and melodic solos, and mastery of different tones and techniques for any musical situation.

Abe graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Scott Pingel (Principal Bassist of the San Francisco Symphony), and attended the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with David Allen Moore (Bassist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic).

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Colorado-based conductor Jeremy D. Cuebas is quickly establishing himself as a symphonic, operatic, and contemporary musician in the Denver area. He acts as assistant conductor with the Fort Collins Symphony, will soon be starting as the first assistant conductor with the Aurora Symphony, and is regularly invited to lead ensembles as diverse as, Opera Fort Collins, the It Could Be Anything new music ensemble, and the Boulder Concert Band.

Jeremy is the founder and co-host of Podium Time, a podcast of interviews and discussions with emerging and established conductors. In August 2019, Jeremy was invited to join the faculty of the International Conducting Workshop and Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria to assist with the program and produce videos and podcasts for promotion. The Podium Time Podcast reaches thousands of conductors and students each year, and its catalog of over 80 interviews includes conductors such as JoAnn Falletta, Teddy Abrams, Brett Mitchell, Kevin Noe, Christopher Rountree, Tito Muñoz, and Roderick Cox.

Ep. 131: Harp and Plow, Americana duo.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Harp & Plow is a husband-and-wife Americana duo that combines a classically trained harpist and a blues-based guitarist, singer/songwriter. These talents create a unique, musical experience that explores American roots music with a modern approach.

DEBUT SINGLE “Pastures of Plenty” is now available on all digital platforms! https://song.link/x47C3PthKFv84

For more information about Harp and Plow please visit: https://www.harpandplow.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Evan Meccarello was recently appointed Music Director of the Binghamton Community Orchestra. Meccarello is committed to new explorations in classical music and engaging with communities across the Northeast. Meccarello is committed to new explorations in classical music and engaging with communities across the Northeast.

Meccarello’s conducting experience spans professional, collegiate, youth, and civic ensembles. Based in Rochester, he is Founder and Director of the Hochstein Alumni Orchestra, a community of musicians that rally around the cause of affordable music lessons. Over ten years, he has commissioned five alumni of Hochstein to write orchestral works for the ensemble. Meccarello currently conducts the Thames Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra in New London, CT and the Irondequoit Community Orchestra.

Summer 2019 included performances with professional orchestras in Bulgaria, while the 2019-20 season has featured work with civic and university orchestras from Buffalo to Saranac Lake to Providence, RI. Meccarello serves as guest conductor and clinician at middle and high schools, including NYSSMA Area All State and All-County festival orchestras. He previously was Conductor of the Nazareth College Chamber Orchestra and continues to support the program as Assistant Conductor of the Nazareth College Symphony Orchestra.

Meccarello’s training in conducting has included lessons and masterclasses with worldacclaimed conducting teachers, including Larry Rachleff, Benjamin Zander, David Effron, and Jorma Panula. He holds a masters degree in orchestral conducting from Bowling Green State University and a violin performance degree from Nazareth College, where he was a two-time winner of the school’s concerto competition. Meccarello is Vice President of the Keuka Lake Music Festival and a radio host for Soundspace on WAYO-LP in Rochester. He can sometimes be found in Argentine tango clubs, playing violin for dancers.

Acclaimed for her ‘sterling tone’ in the New York Times, Kris Kwapis appears regularly as soloist and principal trumpet with period-instrument ensembles across North America, including Portland Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, Pacific MusicWorks, Bach Collegium San Diego, Staunton Music Festival, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Company, Tafelmusik, Bach Society of Minnesota, Oregon Bach Festival, Callipygian Players, Bourbon Baroque, and Lyra Baroque, making music with directors such as Andrew Parrott, Monica Huggett, Alexander Weimann, Barthold Kuijken, Matthew Halls, Jacques Ogg, and Masaaki Suzuki. Her playing is heard on Kleos, Naxos, ReZound, Lyrichord, Musica Omnia and Dorian labels, including the 2013 GRAMMY nominated recording of Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and broadcast on CBC, WNYC, WQED (Pittsburgh), Portland All-Classical (KQAC), Sunday Baroque and Wisconsin Public Radio.

A student of Armando Ghitalla on modern trumpet, with a BM and MM in trumpet performance from the University of Michigan, Dr. Kwapis holds a DMA in historical performance from Long Island’s Stony Brook University. She often lectures on historical brass performance practice with appearances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, University of Wyoming, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Louisville, Madison Early Music Festival, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Recorder Society, and Rutgers University, in addition to writing program notes and delivering pre-concert lectures. On modern trumpet, Kris was adjunct professor of trumpet at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY from 2000-2010 and taught as a sabbatical replacement at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA for the fall semester of 2019.

Dr. Kwapis enjoys sharing her passion with the next generation of performers as a faculty member at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music Historical Performance Institute (baroque trumpet and cornetto) since 2010 in addition to teaching at her home in Seattle and online. When not making music, Kris explores the visual art medium of encaustic painting, cooking and gardening.

Ep. 128: Brian Kai Chin, musician, educator, and cultural entrepreneur.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Brian Kai Chin is a musician, educator, and cultural entrepreneur. Trained in western classical, jazz, and world traditions, Brian’s musical focus is only part of his larger vision as the founder and Executive Director of Common Tone Arts and the Chair of the Music Department at Seattle Pacific University.

With a wide array of musical activity, Brian moves seamlessly between soloing as a trumpeter, freelancing for world-class orchestras, composing new music, performing with the contemporary chamber ensemble TORCH, and producing socially conscious, multi-arts events.

Brian is focused on using music and imagination as a universal language to bring people together and celebrate our shared humanity. Much of this vision is imbedded in his work via Common Tone Arts, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to inspiring positive change for our diverse world through arts education and music.

As the Chair of the Music Department at Seattle Pacific University, Dr. Chin has recently led an innovative 21st- Century curriculum redesign. This vision focuses on encouraging students to become cultural leaders by nurturing complete musicianship and engaging in socially conscious art.

For more information about Brian Kai Chin please visit: https://www.briankaichin.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 127: Stephen Williamson, principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony.

In this podcast we talk about Williamson's journey from the Metropolitan Opera to Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He talks about playing jazz piano, starting the saxophone before switching to clarinet, playing principal clarinet as a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music, having four chances to audition for the Chicago Symphony, family, weightlifting and much more!

Stephen Williamson is the principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, appointed in 2011 by Maestro Riccardo Muti. Mr. Williamson was formerly the principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In addition, he has been a frequent guest principal clarinetist with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra in Japan under Seiji Ozawa.

Mr. Williamson is currently on the faculty of DePaul University in Chicago, IL. He has served on the clarinet faculty at Columbia University and the Mannes College of Music in New York City, as well as at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan and the Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Québec. He has recorded for the Sony Classics, Telarc, CRI, BMG, Naxos and Decca labels and can be heard on numerous film soundtracks.

For more information about Stephen Williamson please visit: Principal Clarinet https://cso.org/about/performers/chic...

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Grammy award-winning conductor Michael Christie, newly appointed Music Director of the New West Symphony, is a thoughtfully innovative conductor, equally at home in the symphonic and opera worlds, who is focused on making the audience experience at his performances entertaining, enlightening, and enriching.

Christie won a 2019 Grammy Award (Best Opera Recording) for the world premiere recording of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with The Santa Fe Opera (PENTATONE), and was featured in Opera News in August 2012 as one of 25 people believed to “break out and become major forces in the field in the coming decade.” At Minnesota Opera, Christie led 24 productions over eight years, six seasons as its first-ever Music Director (2012-2018).

For more information about Michael Christie please visit: https://www.michaelchristieonline.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020