Music Speaks

Hunter and Shaun start to explore the musical world of John Williams from 1959!

In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country’s treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

We needed to go back and look at Joe Hisaishi's film music, and perhaps one video game soundtrack.

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In this (MINI) episode guest hosts Mary Haddix and Skull Smith find out what 80's music Icon, Music Speaks host, Shaun Rimkunas is.

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In this episode Shaun and Hunter look at Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, you may have heard Shaun discussing it with previous guest Junwen Liang, and they analyze elements of the piece that leave Classical Music Lovers' head spinning about how this piece is so incredibly intricate and intuitive.

Notes: The Mother Goose Suite was initially written for two pianos and then by Ravel, it was orchestrated for Chamber Orchestra, which is normal for Ravel, due to his orchestration practices, such as Tombeau du Couperin and Pictures at an Exhibition.

Titled, Ma Mere L’Oye, The suite was composed in the year, 1910, and the orchestrated version came out in the following year, and the ballet was created the year after that by expanding on themes and variations.

In this episode, we talk to return guest Skull Smith about his anxiety towards the music business and the aspects of performance that need to be discussed.

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In this podcast, we discover Act 2 of the musical Hair.

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Today, Tyler Suarez, a recent guest now turned Co-Host, and Shaun Rimkunas, the host of Music Speaks, wanted to test Mary Haddix, a new DMA candidate at the University of Northern Texas, on her Horn Quizlet Knowledge.

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In this episode, we talk to author, producer, composer, and podcast host Tyler Suarez.

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Here is a little information about Tyler:

Tyler Suarez is a twenty-one-year-old multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, artist, and activist from Naugatuck, Connecticut. Tyler had always had a strong affinity for music and musical expression- starting to play guitar when he was four years old. Tyler formed his first touring punk band ‘Punk Side’ in fifth grade and has worked with many well-known, talented musicians since then. From performing with Kenny Rogers and Jonathan Edwards to recording with the Grammy Award-winning producer/musician Jim Pugh, Tyler is a versatile and experienced musician.

Shaun and Hunter talk to DMA Pianist, Multi-Competition Winner, and all-around lovely human Junwen Liang.

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Chinese-born pianist Junwen Liang began his piano studies at nine and made his solo debut at the age of thirteen. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Ithaca College, where he received a full scholarship. And a Master of Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with appointed as an Associate Instructor in Piano. Junwen has performed in major cities from China, Canada, and the United States. His achievements include the most recent two-time concert appearances at Carnegie Hall and Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. And a public broadcast performance of Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto with Ithaca College Orchestra on WSKG radio in New York State. He was also invited to participate in music festivals such as Lunigiana International Music Festival, Baltimore International Piano Festival, Philadelphia Young Pianists’ Academy, Orford Musique, Art of the Piano, and Aspen Music Festival; and won major prizes in multiple competitions such as The American Prize, Nouvelles Etoiles International Music Competition (France), Juliusz Zarębski International Piano Competition (Poland), New York International Piano Competition, Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford and Crescendo International Music Competition. Junwen is currently pursuing a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree at Penn State, where he serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Piano and studies with Christopher Guzman. His other mentors include Charis Dimaras, Edward Auer, and Roberto Plano; and additional summer studies with Gabriel Chodos and Gary Graffman. Junwen’s next concert engagement features a concerto performance with “Bright Bows” String Ensemble Orchestra from Russia.

In this episode, conductor, vocalist, artist, Meredith Neumann discusses how she overcomes her own performance anxiety and addresses students issues with stage fright.

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