Music Speaks

Ashley Killam is a multi-faceted trumpet player, educator, drill designer, entrepreneur, and public speaker. Ashley works as the General Manager for Rising Tide music publishing, the Chamber Music Database Coordinator for the Institute for Composer Diversity, and has spent her post-graduate school years presenting her lecture series, Fanfare for the Unheard, to high schools and colleges across the country. She holds an M.M. in Trumpet Performance from the University of New Mexico and a B.M.E from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ashley currently resides in Radford, Virginia with her husband and corgi puppy, Biscuit.

Jennifer Conti is a fine art hybrid film wedding and portrait photographer for the romantic at heart. She sees every scene and situation as a chance to make something beautiful. She plays with soft light and artistic elements to create images that will stand the test of time. She has a wild passion for travel and adventure that she also brings to my work. Her passions stem from being both fun-loving and detail oriented. She is an avid skier, loves a good Netflix documentary, and lives for the quiet time spent with her little family here in Connecticut.

Here is a to Jennifer's song picks: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5l9DEKl1w0rnX2tTqRX7sr?si=ARnFAeUZQkOMcgEg77p_ow

Our guest today on Music Speaks is Caitlin Dee, an extraterrestrial abductee from Pasadena that now resides in Silver Lake with her cat Prince Charming. She spends her time writing songs and preparing for life on other planets. We sat down to talk about her interest of Falconry and the her album Tender, which was released on February 14, 2020. Stay on the look out for her new single to release soon, called Cowboy featuring the artist Shamir on Oct 16!

Here is the link to her most recent album, "Tender", which we discussed: 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7yKc7iyrBPeVkgDHrEQz5t?si=aGfpBPwbTG6x9i-eOJmnUg

We sat down with Skull Smith to discuss his new music video, "Ghost of Mr. Hyde," on YouTube (found below.)  We also talked about his new merchandise which is available also available now (which is attached below).

 https://youtu.be/vMIhm2_XWl4

https://skullsmithmusic.com/shop 

I sat down with Jenna Brown to discuss why we love music. We talked about Bands that Perform Acoustic Music, John Williams and Much more!

Go check it out!

We sat down with new music educator Stephen Ryan who discussed, "Music in our Schools," Pandemic Edition. Stephen explains why we need to be present with students and give them the motivation to be successful.

You will also want to stick around to hear him nail his music history quiz!

We sit down with Nicole Murray to discuss why we need to start chamber ensembles, and be creative as a musician during the pandemic. She also reveals her new chamber ensemble with a feline twist...

We sat down with Ujjal Bhattacharyya to discuss what performances are like during COVID, what it is like to collaborate with composers, and the practical nature of becoming an online teacher in this day and age.

I sat down with my co-host, Hunter Sigona to do a deep dive into the acclaimed musical, Hello Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2cDK1Eg3LONqzmRas1PpkM

We sat down with composer Nicko Villane and talked about his admiration for the works of modern composer Julia Wolfe.

To hear the music that we discussed with Nicko, here is a link to the pieces:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4hMUNyVWYlE1KVs81eob7e?si=zgZk5YcVQyCZeiV-Fer0Qw