Let's Talk Off The Podium

In this episode we talk about Elaine Mitchener's many projects, improvisation, music education, Jeanne Lee and much more.

Elaine Mitchener is an experimental vocalist, movement artist and composer, whose work encompasses improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art.

Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Elaine studied voice at Trinity College of Music, London and currently studies with Jacqueline Bremar.

She has performed at numerous UK and European festivals, venues and galleries including Aldeburgh Music, London Contemporary Music Festival (LCMF), 56th Venice Biennale, Wysing Arts, Café Oto (London), Bluecoat (Liverpool), SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin), Purcell Room (Southbank Centre, London), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, ULTIMA Festival (Oslo), OCCUPY (St John’s Smith Square), SPILL Festival (Ipswich), La Monnaie (Brussels), Block Universe (London), White Cube (London), Whitechapel Gallery (London), Weserburg MOMA (Bremen), Wellcome Collection (London), and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London).

She has worked and performed in a wide variety of contexts with an array of leading musicians, composers, directors and visual artists including Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), Mark Padmore, The Otolith Group, Deborah Warner, Christian Marclay, Apartment House, Steve Beresford, Pat Thomas, Irvine Arditti, Sonia Boyce, London Sinfonietta, John Butcher,Tansy Davies, George. E. Lewis, Attila Csihar, Rolf Hind, Dam Van Huynh, Lore Lixenberg, George Lewis, Alexander Hawkins, Sam Belinfante, Phil Minton, Evan Parker, Alasdair Roberts, Lucy Bailey, David Toop, Netia Jones, Matt Wright, and Jason Yarde.

Elaine is co-founder of the experimental jazz quartet the Hawkins/Mitchener Quartet and a regular vocalist with the ensemble Apartment House. She created the role of Hannah/Voice singing with tenor Mark Padmore, in the opera CAVE, by composer Tansy Davies with libretto by Nick Drake, co-commissioned by the London Sinfonietta / Royal Opera House and directed by Lucy Bailey which premiered in June 2018.

Her production company Elaine Mitchener Projects has researched, developed, produced and toured or staged a number of projects including Industrialising Intimacy (with choreographer Dam Van Huynh, David Toop, George Lewis); The Nude Voice (with Dam Van Huynh) commissioned for the Wellcome Collection London’s THIS IS A VOICE exhibition; ‘I back… I neck… I face… I chest’ commissioned by Sonia Boyce for her installation We Move In Her Way at London’s ICA; Of Leonardo da Vinci (with Dam Van Huynh, David Toop, Barry Lewis) for Oslo’s ULTIMA Festival; the three hour durational performance [NAMES] premiered at Ipswich’s SPILL Festival; a presentation of John Cage’s SongBooks for London’s Poetry In The City Festival; Vocal Classics of the Black Avantgarde for LCMF; and SWEET TOOTH in partnership with Bluecoat Liverpool, Stuart Hall Foundation and the International Slavery Museum. Premiered in Nov 2017, SWEET TOOTH has been described as ‘a vital black British addition to those seminal creative statements of resistance and defiance from the African Diaspora’, and was subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now programme (Dec 2017).

Elaine has participated in residencies and symposiums including Aldeburgh Music (to develop SWEET TOOTH) and Fondazione Claudio Buziol, Venice (where she developed Of Leonardo Da Vinci supported by Muziektheater Transparant) and New Resonances organised by Theatrum Mundi.

For more information about Elaine Mitchener please visit: http://www.elainemitchener.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 114: Maria Seletskaja, conductor & former principal soloist with international ballet companies.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

In this podcast we talk about Maria's journey from a principal soloist with major ballet companies to a professional conducting career. She also talks about her family and work balance, passion for the violin, and much more!

Estonian born Maria Seletskaja enjoyed 15 years on the international ballet stage as principal soloist with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Staatsballett Berlin, Zürich Ballet and Estonian National Ballet. Parallel to her dancing career, Maria continued her musical studies both privately and at the Berklee College of Music (Boston USA) and, by 2013, was ready to start conducting piano rehearsals at her company of the time - the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

Since 2016 Maria Seletskaja’s experience as a conductor has naturally developed into a full time career. She was invited to be assistant to the music director of Casco Phil (former Flemish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra) and received a similar invitation one year later from the Stuttgart Ballet. In 2018 she conducted her Stuttgart premiere to great acclaim in the ballet La Fille mal gardée ( Herold / Ashton), which was followed by performances of Mayerling(Liszt / MacMillan). She also made her conducting debuts at the National Ballet of Georgia and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra and was selected as one of five participants for a conducting course with Paul Murphy at the Royal Opera House in May 2019.

From October 2019 Maria Seletskaja is Conductor-in-Residence for one season at the National Ballet of Canada to conduct performances of Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, and several others.

In the season 2020-21 Maria will return to the National Ballet of Canada and will make her debut with the Ballet Santiago de Chile in their production of The Sleeping Beauty.

Alongside her professional engagements Maria continues her musical studies, concentrating on broadening her repertoire to include a wider range of both orchestral and operatic repertoire. Amongst her most influential teachers Maria counts James Tuggle (music director Stuttgart Ballet, Stuttgart Opera House) and Rodolfo Saglimbeni.

A regular attendee of the Järvi Academy Maria, has also benefitted from personal advice and guidance from Paavo Järvi. In December 2019, Maria had a chance to follow maestro Järvi for two weeks during his work with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

For more information about Maria Seletskaja please visit: https://mariaseletskaja.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 113: Richard Stoltzman, “A Classical superstar.” - NY TIMES.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman is known as a captivating recitalist, chamber musician, and jazz performer, as well as a prolific recording artist. He gave the first clarinet recitals in the histories of both the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. In 1986, Stoltzman became the first wind player to be awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. Recently he was awarded the prestigious Sanford Medal by the Yale School of Music and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has performed or recorded with such jazz and pop greats as the Canadian Brass, Chick Corea, Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Mel Tormé, and Spyro Gyra founder Jeremy Wall.

In this podcast we talk about Stoltzman's passion for mathematics, collaborations, touring, baking and recording. We also talk about his recital in Carnegie Hall (first solo recital by a clarinetist), Benny Goodman and much more!

For more information about Richard Stoltzman please visit: http://www.richardstoltzman.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 112: Eugenia Forteza, opera singer and founder of 360 of Opera.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Eugenia currently resides in NYC, where she freelances as a vocalist, actor and model. She is the Founder and Lead Editor of 360° of Opera and serves as a Board Member ​of Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra & Frisson Films.

In this podcast we talk about tennis, marketing of opera and classical music, and much more. Eugenia also talks about starting 360 of Opera and which has grown to have tremendous success and following in the opera world and beyond.

For more information about Eugenia Forteza please visit: http://www.eugeniaforteza.com/

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 111: Joe Deninzon, violinist. “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin”

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Joe Deninzon has been hailed by critics as “The Jimi Hendrix of the Violin,” because of his innovative style on electric seven-string violin. Joe has worked with Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Phoebe Snow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore,, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Robert Bonfiglio, Les Paul, and as a soloist with the NY City Ballet and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Joe is the lead singer and violinist for the progressive rock band, Stratospheerius, which has released five acclaimed CD’s. He can be heard on over a hundred CD’s and jingles as a violinist and string arranger. A BMI Jazz Composer’s grant recipient and winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, he has written a solo piece for violinist Rachel Barton Pine, which will be featured on her upcoming CD. In 2015, Joe premiered his “Concerto for Seven String Electric Violin and Orchestra” with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra.

His original music has been featured on CMT, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, National Geographic, the Travel Channel, the History Channel, and the Will Ferrell/ Adam McKay- produced film “Virginity Hit.”

Joe is also a member of the Sweet Plantain String Quartet, which combines Latin Jazz with hip-hop and Classical music, and has toured throughout Europe and the U.S. Joe has also released a CD with his Acoustic Jazz Trio, titled “Exuberance.”

As an educator, Joe has taught rock violin at Mark O’Connor’s String Camp and Mark Wood’s Rock Orchestra Camp, and made repeated appearances performing at the Grand Canyon Music Festival, where he co-founded the Grand Canyon School of Rock in 2006, an annual program for local high school students. He regularly travels as a clinician and has contributed articles to Strings, Downbeat, and Making Music Magazine. In 2012, Joe wrote a book on electric violin techniques for Mel Bay Publications, entitled Plugging In. Joe recently made the Downbeat Critic’s pole for jazz/rock violin, and Chris Haigh’s recent book, Discovering Rock Violin lists one of Joe’s recorded solos among the “Top 20 greatest rock violin solos of all time.”

Joe holds Bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance and Jazz Violin from Indiana University and a Master’s in Jazz/Commercial violin from Manhattan School of Music.

In this episode we talk about Joe's early start in classical music, journey to jazz and rock, online teaching, Frank Zappa, his Concerto for Seven String Electric Violin and much more!

For more information about Joe Deninzon please visit: https://joedeninzon.com

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 110: Sharon Isbin, guitarist. Grammy Award winner & founder of the Juilliard Guitar Dept.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, multiple Grammy Award winner Sharon Isbin was named the 2020 Musical America Worldwide Instrumentalist of the Year, the first guitarist ever to receive the coveted honor in its 59 year award history. Soloist with over 200 orchestras, Isbin has performed in the world’s finest halls. Winner of the Toronto, Madrid and Munich ARD Competitions, Germany’s Echo Klassik and Guitar Player’s Best Classical Guitarist awards, she performed in Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Departed, at Ground Zero for the first internationally televised 9/11 memorial, the White House by invitation of President Obama, and as the only classical artist in the 2010 Grammy Awards. The documentary Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, seen by millions on over 200 PBS stations across the U.S. and abroad, won the ASCAP Television Broadcast Award. Recent highlights include a commission for her by Carnegie Hall, a 21-city Guitar Passions tour with jazz greats Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo, sold-out concerts at the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, and her most recent Carnegie Hall appearances included collaborations with Sting and in recital with Isabel Leonard.

Isbin’s catalogue of over 30 albums, from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion have sold nearly a million copies and reflect her remarkable versatility. Her two latest releases in May 2020 of world premiere recordings of music composed for her are Affinity featuring Chris Brubeck’s acclaimed concerto for guitar and orchestra, and Strings for Peace, with India’s legendary Amjad Ali Khan in a program of ragas for guitar, sarod and tabla. Her 2019 release with the Pacifica Quartet, Souvenirs of Spain & Italy, debuted at #1 on Amazon and #2 on Billboard, and her Grammy-winning Journey to the New World with guests Joan Baez and Mark O’Connor spent 63 consecutive weeks on top Billboard charts. Isbin’s Dreams of a World earned her a Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist, making her the first classical guitarist to receive the award in 28 years. Her recording of concerti composed for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun was honored with a Grammy, and her Rodrigo Aranjuez with the New York Philharmonic, their only recording with guitar, received a Latin Grammy nomination.

Author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, Isbin has premiered over 80 works written for her by some of the world’s finest composers, and directs the guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School, which she created in 1989.

In this episode we talk about Sharon Isbin's new albums, working with composers, competitions, passion for new music, numerous collaborations and advice to young musicians. She also speaks about transcendental meditation, recent work with Chris Brubeck, work with non-classical artists and much more.

For more information about Sharon Isbin please visit: http://www.sharonisbin.com

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 109: Rachel Fine, Executive Director and CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Rachel Fine is Executive Director & CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Prior to joining The Wallis team in 2015, she worked as Senior Consultant for the DeVos Institute of Arts Management.

Drawing upon a 22-year career in the arts as a versatile administrator, educator and fundraiser, as well as a professional classical pianist, Fine has served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), where she helped found the Young Men’s Ensemble, a rare choral group for young men with changing voices. She has also held leadership positions for The Juilliard School’s Department of Vocal Arts, Santa Fe Opera, the Aspen Music Festival and the renowned San Francisco-based period ensemble Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Fine completed a Fellowship in 2001-02 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts under the guidance of then-President Michael M. Kaiser. Fine was also selected to participate in the 2012 Leadership L.A. program (SCLN), the Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s 2008-09 Arts Leadership Initiative and the 2007-08 Wells Fargo New Executive Directors Institute of Southern California’s Executive Service Corps. She is founding Mentor of the Los Angeles Emerging Arts Leaders’ mentorship program, former Board member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestra and USC’s Thornton School of Music, and current Advisory Board member of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

An accomplished pianist, Fine studied at the Eastman School of Music and the University of California,Irvine, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in music. She also attended graduate school in musicology at Yale University. In 2014, Fine taught Arts Leadership in the graduate school of USC Thornton School of Music.

She and her husband, Christopher Hawthorne, the Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles, have two children who love the arts. 

In this podcast we talk about Rachel Fine's journey from a young accomplished pianist to a leading CEO/Executive Director. She talks about the unique work that the Wallis does in Los Angeles, her passion for arts leadership, hobbies and much more!

For more information about Rachel Fine and The Wallis please visit: https://thewallis.org

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 108: George Jackson, conductor.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Armed with insatiable artistic curiosity, a true performer’s instincts and the advantages of a rigorous central European training, George Jackson has earned critical acclaim for the authority and eloquence of his music-making. The British conductor’s career continues to gather momentum, propelled by landmark debuts with leading orchestras and opera companies and fuelled by his power to communicate compelling musical ideas.

Jackson’s interpretation of Hänsel und Gretel for Grange Park Opera, given with the Orchestra of English National Opera in summer 2019, was showered with five-star reviews and hailed as ‘magnificent’ by the Telegraph. His 2019-20 season includes returns to work with Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Philharmonie Luxembourg and Cité de la musique in Paris, and the orchestras of Opera North and Opéra de Rouen. He is also set to conduct a retrospective of music by Irish composers, comprising works by Brian Boydell, Ina Boyle and Stanford, with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin and the world premiere of Tscho Theissing’s Genia at Theater an der Wien, a major contribution to Beethoven Year 2020.

In this podcast George talks about conducting a recording session during Covid-19, cooking, the world of music post the pandemic and much more!

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

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 107: Michael Crusoe, timpanist.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Michael Crusoe is principal timpanist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1980. In addition, he also serves as principal timpanist of the Seattle Opera Association and the Mostly Mozart Summer Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Washington, he served as percussion instructor at the Waterloo Music Festival in New Jersey and has taught at Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University. Crusoe can be heard with the Seattle Symphony on the critically acclaimed Delos label recordings directed by Gerard Schwarz.

In this podcast we talk about Michael Crusoe's passion for martial arts and early studies with Bruce Lee's protégé Jesse Glover, post retirement involvement in martial arts and continuing collaboration with the Grand Teton Music Festival. He spoke about timpani concertos, life changing moments, work with three different Music Directors of SSO during his tenure as a timpanist. Crusoe also told a number of interesting in-performance stories, diversity in music and much more!

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020

Ep. 106: Yolanda Kondonassis, one of the world's premier solo harpists.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Yolanda Kondonassis is celebrated as one of the world’s premier solo harpists and is widely regarded as today’s most recorded classical harpist. Hailed as “viscerally exciting” (The Chicago Tribune) and a “brilliant and expressive player” (The Dallas Morning News), she has performed around the globe as a concerto soloist and in recital, bringing her unique brand of musicianship and warm artistry to an ever-increasing audience. Also a published author, speaker, professor of harp, and environmental activist, sheweaves her many passions into a vibrant and multi-faceted career.

Kondonassis has sold hundreds of thousands of albums and downloads worldwide and her extensive discography includes over twenty titles. She continues to be a pioneering force in the harp world, striving to make her instrument more accessible to audiences and push the boundaries of what listeners expect of the harp. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for the world premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto with The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (Azica Records, 2019). Her 2008 album of music by Takemitsu and Debussy, Air (Telarc), was also nominated for a Grammy Award.

Since making her debut at age 18 with the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, Kondonassis has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad including The Cleveland Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, to name a few. Other engagements include performances at renowned festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Spoleto Festival,Tanglewood Music Festival, and she has been featured on CNN and PBS, as well as Sirius XM Radio’s Symphony Hall, NPR’s All Things Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts,St. Paul Sunday Morning, and Performance Today.  

Kondonassis is committed to the advancement of contemporary music for the instrument, with recent premieres including works by Bright Sheng, and Jennifer Higdon. Her extensive discography includes works by Rorem, Rochberg, Erb, Liebermann, Paulus, Fitch, Lash, Montsalvatge,Takemitsu, Cage, and Carter, among others. Her most recent book,The Composer’s Guide to Writing Well for the Harp, was released in 2019.

In addition to her active solo, chamber music and recording schedule, Kondonassis heads the harp departments at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Cleveland Institute of Music, and presentsmasterclasses around the world.  

In this podcast we talk about premieres, her new book, passion for writing, life changing moments and hobbies. Ms. Kondonassis also speaks about her non-profit, Earth at Heart and much more.

For more information about Yolanda Kondonassis please visit: https://www.yolandaharp.com

© Let's Talk Off The Podium, 2020