A wonderful conversation with my dear friend Hyung-ki Joo for the OAMusic Podcast.

We talked about comedy, Bach, Glenn Gould, Billy Joel, music competitions, deaf children experiencing music through vibration, the absurd seriousness of the classical world, and why communication ultimately matters more than perfection.

One of the most fascinating musicians I’ve ever met — irreverent, brilliant, deeply thoughtful, and always searching for new ways to bring people closer to music.

I’ve known Hyung-ki for almost 30 years, since our days at Manhattan School of Music, and this conversation felt less like an interview and more like reconnecting with an old friend after decades of artistic adventures.

Writer, curator, and Wordless Music founder Ronen Givony joins the OAMusic Podcast to discuss his new book, Us v. Them, a history of the Brooklyn music scene in the early 2000s.

We talk about DIY venues, Williamsburg, Glasslands, Death By Audio, Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio, Death by Audio, Nonesuch Records, the post-Napster music world, and how indie music became both a scene and a marketing term.

Ronen also reflects on founding Wordless Music, his time at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the strange cultural moment when classical music, indie rock, and New York nightlife began to overlap.

Buy Us V. Them here:
https://www.amazon.com/Us-v-Them-Deca...

Wordless Music
https://www.wordlessmusic.org/aboutco...

Ronen Givony is the founder of Wordless Music, an orchestra and concert series that has worked with artists across genres, from Sigur Rós and Mica Levi to Terrence Malick and Paul Thomas Anderson. A curator for music festivals and venues in the United States and abroad, he is the author of two other books: "24 Hour Revenge Therapy (or, The Strange Death of Selling Out)" and "Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense." Born and raised in South Florida, he now lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

In this episode, I sit down with composer, pianist, and accordion virtuoso Ronn Yedidia for a wide-ranging conversation on music, creativity, and the state of classical culture today. We revisit his extraordinary journey from child prodigy in Tel Aviv to Juilliard, and explore two major recent projects: his deeply expressive 24 Preludes and his jazz-fusion album Prophets.

Along the way, we talk about composition, improvisation, influence, the role of beauty in music, and why so much contemporary concert music has lost touch with audiences. Ronn speaks candidly about old forms, new music, jazz, orchestras, programming politics, and the need to reconnect musical life with listeners.

A rich conversation about artistry, freedom, tradition, and the future of serious music.

In this conversation with composer and biographer Jan Swafford, we examine the growing role of DEI and “wokeness” in shaping the arts — and the consequences for music.

Are artistic standards being replaced by ideology? What happens when politics begins to define value in art?

A conversation on music, culture, and what ultimately endures.

—
Jan Swafford is a composer and the author of acclaimed biographies of Yves, Beethoven, Mozart, and Brahms, widely regarded as among the leading modern studies of these composers.

In this episode of the OAMusic Podcast, pianist and cultural entrepreneur Orlando Alonso speaks with violinist and composer Yury Revich about his new album Peace.

Based in Vienna, Revich has built an international career that bridges classical tradition and contemporary creativity. In this conversation he discusses the idea behind the album, the role of music in times of global uncertainty, and the unique cultural environment of Vienna today.

The discussion ranges from Bach and Satie to the philosophy of beauty, the responsibilities of artists in the modern world, and why music remains one of humanity’s most powerful languages.

Yury's Website: https://yuryrevich.com/

Link to the album Peace on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3TlohB8TvXt5QEEy6I5j4u?si=bX7zEW6CQqCynrVSgO2hPA

I was born in Cuba and lived there until I was nineteen years old.

In this video I reflect on what concepts like international law mean to people who actually live under a dictatorship. Much of the global conversation about Cuba happens in academic, legal, or political circles far removed from the lived experience of the Cuban people.

For those who grow up under a system where basic rights are routinely violated, international law can often feel distant, abstract, and powerless.

This is a personal reflection on that reality—and on what might come next for Cuba.

Actor Timothée Chalamet recently suggested that opera and ballet may be becoming irrelevant.

Standing here at Lincoln Center in New York, between the Juilliard School, the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera House, I wanted to reflect on that idea.

Inside Juilliard, musicians who began studying their instruments as children dedicate their lives to mastering their craft. Across the plaza, dancers at New York City Ballet train with extraordinary discipline and sacrifice.

And tonight at the Met Opera, they are performing Tristan und Isolde — a work that changed the language of music and helped shape the storytelling language of cinema itself.

Opera and ballet do not become irrelevant because they are old.

They become irrelevant only when we stop being curious about beauty.

What does genius look like up close? And what does friendship with genius demand?

In this intimate and candid conversation, Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Page reflects on his profound friendship with Glenn Gould — not just the legendary pianist, but the private, searching human being behind the recordings.

He also shares the remarkable story of how he rediscovered and helped rescue the writer Dawn Powell from obscurity, and the passion behind his acclaimed biography that restored her place in American literature.

We speak about the composers he loves most, his lifelong devotion to classical music, his deep commitment to teaching, and his gift for helping others fall in love with the music that shaped him.

The conversation expands into a larger reflection on the future of music — classical and pop — and what it means to preserve culture in a rapidly changing world.

A heartfelt exchange about art, loyalty, mentorship, and why great music still matters.

The Glenn Gould Reader

https://a.co/d/0cAIfvri

Parallel Play

https://a.co/d/05VhRY4b

Dawn Powell: A Biography

https://a.co/d/0cmsqTIO

Follow Tim Page on Substack

https://substack.com/@timpage54

What makes Beethoven immortal?

In this wide-ranging conversation, pianist Orlando Alonso sits down with acclaimed biographer and composer Jan Swafford to explore the inner life, artistic courage, and spiritual defiance of Ludwig van Beethoven.

We discuss:

• The myth and reality of the “Immortal Beloved”
• The revolutionary force of the late piano sonatas
• Op. 111 and the transcendence of the Arietta
• Beethoven’s deafness and artistic will
• The tension between biography and legend
• What Beethoven still demands of performers today

Throughout the episode, we reference and briefly explore musical excerpts that illuminate key moments in Beethoven’s evolution — from storm and struggle to luminous transcendence.

This is not simply a conversation about a composer.

It is a meditation on artistic destiny, suffering, and immortality.

Jan Swafford’s books are available wherever books are sold.

Highly recommended:

• Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph
• Mozart: The Reign of Love
• Johannes Brahms: A Biography
• Charles Ives: A Life with Music

Musical excerpts included in this episode are used for purposes of commentary, criticism, and educational discussion. All rights to the recordings remain with their respective copyright holders.

Was Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show a cultural milestone — or something else?

In this episode of OAMusic, Orlando Alonso examines the performance through the lens of art, representation, and cultural standards. Beyond politics and social media noise, this is a conversation about what we celebrate — and why.