openARTed

Avo Kouyoumdjian is currently my piano professor at the MDW - University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where I study Chamber music masters. Born in Beirut, Lebanon to a family of Armenian descent Avo began his studies when he was 12 years old at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Since then he founded International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition and in 2002 he became the cofounder/ director of the Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Institute. If I know a musician/teacher whose eyes light up as he hears Beethoven, Ravel or any other composer - Avo is one of them. There is no way you can leave his teaching room without being inspired. Gladly, you can also hear this fire in his voice, almost like experiencing his piano lesson. So grab your headphones for this conversation and undiscovered music by A. Babadjanian performed by Avo and his friends.

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Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
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Episode music:

A. Babadjanian - Impromptu, "Exprompt" (A. Kouyoumdjian - piano)

Piano Trio in F-Sharp Minor - III. Allegro vivace, I. Largo - Allegro espressivo - Maestoso

Ani Kavafian (Violin), Suren Bagratuni (Cello), Avo Kouyoumdjian (Piano)

Akvilė Kavaliauskaitė is a Lithuanian writer and journalist. In 2015 she published her first book "Two Lives In One Summer" and in 2020 her second book - collection of short stories "Bodies". I turned to Akvilė hoping to get some remedies or secrets about easing the writing process and dealing with lack of inspiration or motivation as a creator. Interestingly, according to Akvilė,  if you want to be a writer, no one will help you and nothing will help you. Intrigued? Join us for this talk to find out how Akvilė got her first writing job, how she approaches writing, money and career, and why in Akvilė's first book the main character is a pianist.

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Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

Akvilė's novels to read 

More about Akvilė - @akavaliauskaite

Episode music - C. Debussy - Étude No. 11 "Pour les Arpèges Composés" performed by M.Lozinskienė

C. Debussy - Piano Trio in G major, 2nd mov. performed by Trio Agora

Violinist Lukas Medlam is a British-Austrian violinist, composer and a graduated physicist. Lukas was homeschooled by his musician parents till his teens while they were at the peak of their careers with the Baroque London Players ensemble. After studying at the Purcell School of Music and the Royal College of Music in London, Lukas have decided to make a dramatic change and went to study physics which is quite unusual for a person who comes from a musical family. Join us for this talk to find out why Lukas decided to switch studies and what lessons this has taught him. 

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Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

Episode music - L.Medlam - Romance

C. Debussy - Étude No. 11 "Pour les Arpèges Composés" performed by M.Lozinskienė

Barbara's Oakley work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. Barbara has a degree in more than 4 different study fields, including Systems Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Slavic Languages and Literature, Defense Language Institute and more. She has worked at South Pole Station in Antarctica, served four years in Germany as a Signal Officer, worked several fishing seasons as a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers up in the Bering Sea. This all fits into one person, Barbara, who puts her energy in improving our learning habits. We discussed the differences between procedural and declarative learning systems. Episode 14th, the geekiest episode by far and I love it. I hope you do too!

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Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

Barbara's books - https://barbaraoakley.com/books/

About Barbara - https://barbaraoakley.com/about-me/

Episode music:

E. Granados - Goyescas, H.64 No. 1: Los Requiebros  performed by Sibila Konstantinova

In this conversation you will hear an inspiring musician Sibila Konstantinova who also happens to be my piano teacher at the University of Music and Arts in Vienna, where as of 2013, she became an assistant of prof. Avedis Kouyoumdjian and since 2019 also a lecturer of piano chamber music. In this conversation we talked about how competitive environment in London has shaped Sibila as a musician, creative partnership between Sibila and her students, what every musician needs to have in order to keep going, and finally what Sibila defines as balance in life, and why family is so important. Enjoy and don't be scared away by the episode length, I put a lot of music this time. 

Support the podcast

Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

More about Sibila - https://www.mdw.ac.at/ijh/?PageId=4118

Episode music:

E. Granados - Goyescas, H.64 No. 1: Los Requiebros  performed by Sibila Konstantinova

E.W. Korngold - Piano trio in D major performed by Sibila Konstantinova (Piano), Kei Shirai (Violin) und Tristan Cornut (Cello), I mov. 

A. Zemlinsky - Piano trio in D minor performed by Sibila Konstantinova (Piano), Kei Shirai (Violin) und Tristan Cornut (Cello), I, II, III, mov.

In this conversation  you will hear Bruce Devereux from Canada who is a recreation & volunteer manager at the Christenson Village  care centre. Bruce takes care of many creative activities which includes the residents at the care centre. In 2020 Bruce launched a podcast called "The creatively engaging" where he investigated the idea of "ageism". What is ageism and how it relates to our societies?  In this episode you will hear many stories about people who did not follow perceived biases about age, health or our abilities as human beings, and had courage to engaged with arts.

Support the podcast

Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

The Creatively Engaging podcast 

Episode music:

C. Debussy - Étude No. 11 "Pour les Arpèges Composés" performed by M.Mašanauskaitė

J. Haydn - The C-major Trio, Hob. XV: 27 performed by Michelle Dierx, Shannon Merciel and M.Mašanauskaitė

"I'm not a marketer, but I don't think it's very hard to have a 35 year old person in a sweater and jeans in a picture going into a concert, just to show people that that's fine." - Joshua Weilerstein.

In this talk with Joshua Weilerstein we discussed about the classical music world and how as musicians we could make it more accessible for wider audiences. Joshua produces and is a host of his own classical music podcast "The sticky notes" where he uncovers brilliant stories about composers and their remarkable music. Join our conversation to find out why concert critics often miss "the forest for the trees", how Joshua connects to audiences while leading the orchestra  and finally why making generous and kind connections between the listeners and musicians can be a key to a thriving classical music industry.  

Support the podcast

Check out more info about the host Monika Lozinskienė

• www.monikapianiste.com/
• instagram

Episode music - 
J. Haydn - The C-major Trio, Hob. XV: 27, mov. II performed by Michelle Dierx, Shannon Merciel and M.Lozinskienė
L. van Beethoven - The C minor Trio, Op.1 No.3, mov. I performed by Michelle Dierx, Shannon Merciel and M.Lozinskienė
J. Hoffman Ei jauga jauga - II. Motula Mano, Sirdela performed by Žilvinas Brazauskas (clarinet), Natania Hoffman (cello), and Robertas Lozinskis (piano) TRIO AGORA 

L. van Beethoven - The Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 in A major, mov. II performed by Monika Lozinskienė and Maria Vila Ariza

Fali Pavri was my mentor and piano teacher at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for two years. He was born in India and after finishing his degree in chemistry, he decided to move to Moscow where his professional musical journey began. While still a student, he was invited by the great Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich to be his pianist on an extensive concert tour of India. How cool is that? Join us for this talk and find out how Fali met Rostropovich and what was the lesson he learnt from the legendary cellist. We also talked about his experiences in different countries, how it formed him as a teacher and human being and  most importantly we talked about  the joy music can bring us.

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Episode music:

R. Schumann's Widmung arranged for piano by F. Liszt  performed by Fali Pavri 

S. Rachmaninov's sonata for cello and  piano - 3rd movement "Andante" performed by  Naomi Boole-Masterson - cello, Fali Pavri - piano 

E. Rubbra - Sonata in G Minor, Op. 60_ III Tema - Six Variations & Fugue performed by Timothy Gill - cello , Fali Pavri - piano 

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A conversation with a cellist and doctor Paul van Houtte from New Zealand. I met Paul in 2019 when I did my Erasmus exchange in Vienna. He came to Vienna from New Zealand for his medical internship in one of the hospitals. Just minutes after we met, I was soon to find out that medical studies is not the first degree Paul has. He is also a professional cellist who has played in concert halls such as Zurich Opera House and Vienna Musikverein, where back in 2019 spring, Paul attended almost every single concert. In this episode we will talk about Paul's transition from musical studies to medical studies, reasons for the change and how does Paul approach culture, music and arts now. Tune in to find out what is more important than any technological or economical goal according to Paul. 

Paul van Houtte has made beautiful music in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, such as the Vienna Musikverein and the Zürich Opera House. He has performed in top orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Auckland Grammar School Orchestra, where he was principal cello in 2002. 

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Episode music:

J. Haydn - The C-major Trio, Hob. XV: 27 performed by Michelle Dierx, Shannon Merciel and M.Lozinskienė

P. Hindemith  - Cello Sonata, Op.25 No.3

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A conversation with Angela Myles Beeching - a career specialist and an author of Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music.  In this conversation I was curious to reveal how people whose work is to motivate others, found motivation  in 2020 themselves. Angela is a world's top leading career coach and mentor for musicians. Her work is based on helping musicians to find meaning and their own paths and voices. In this conversation we talked about jealousy, commitment, dedication to the practice and our favorite author Seth Godin.  My favorite line of this talk was "You can produce the work, but it is not up to you how it is received". Join me and Angela for almost an hour long conversation which will help you collect your thoughts and move toward 2021 with focus. 

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Angela Myles Beeching 

Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music

Free workshop by Angela to prepare for 2021 - register here

Angela's Facebook group 

Angela's blog

Episode music:

C. Debussy - Étude No. 11 "Pour les Arpèges Composés" performed by M. Lozinskienė

Follow me on  Instagram