Part 2

Welcome to our second episode with the Canadian pianist turned conductor: Juliane Gallant.

After diving into her origin story last episode - this episode features Juliane’s approach to conducting and how she connects with fellow artists onstage and in the audience. She shares with us what she loves about this work and how she has found her new niche in the world of POPS. We explore her journey to finding management with Dean Artists and she shares *gold* with us as she shares her approach to networking and articulating what it is you do, what makes you unique, and how you can create and connect more with the people and the projects that you are looking for in your career. This is a masterclass in networking - showing up, becoming part of the community, sending those cold emails - we cover it all!

Tune in for the wisdom and stay for the joy with Juliane!

Check out Juliane’s work at www.julianegallant.com and follow her on insta @julianegallant

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part 1

Welcome to our episode with the dynamic pianist turned conductor Juliane Gallant. This is a monumental moment for pianists not practicing - our first episode with a conductor!

This episode is an amazing origin story about an incredible musician who made her way from small town New Brunswick Canada all the way to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England, and back again to Canada - now settled in Montreal. She made her way through the world of solo piano, traversing into the world of collab piano, art song and opera, and she ultimately found her true calling conducting on the podium during a beautiful moment of destiny calling. In this episode we dive into the decisions and opportunities that have shaped her journey so far, and the skills and strengths that contribute to her success as a conductor. Her story is an amazing example of what can happen when you say yes to the signals and opportunities that are placed in your path - and the power of being open to possibility!

Juliane’s positivity, energy and truly collaborative spirit shines through in this episode. I can’t wait for you to hear it!

Check out Juliane’s work at www.julianegallant.com and follow her on insta @julianegallant

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Welcome to our episode with the incomparable Mark Limacher - composer, arranger, orchestrator, pianist (and chef extraordinaire) - who is back on pianists not practicing to celebrate our recording of the concerto that he wrote for me in 2025! One year after the premiere, we recap the recording of RUMINATIONS with Kensington Sinfonia in Calgary as part of Adam Zinatelli’s album (Principal Trumpet of the Calgary Phil!) by Leaf Music this fall. In this convo we dive into the joys and terrors of recording in the studio, his compositional process, and it would not be a convo with Mark unless it got very philosophical and existential - we answer all of your burning questions: what is the recording industry doing to us as artists? Will AI take over our jobs as musicians!? What does Beethoven have to do with writing new music now?

Tune in to hear all of Mark’s thoughts on these questions and to hear a full recap of our week in Calgary recording his piano concerto!

Watch the premiere here!

Listen to this episode about the premiere of RUMINATIONS last year!

A huge thank you to Adam Zinatelli for bringing us altogether to create this music for his album. Thank you to Gen Micheletti and Andrea Case and the members of Kensington Sinfonia and our additional orchestra members from the Calgary Phil for playing so beautifully and being such wonderful collaborators. Thank you to Timothy Steeves and James Clemens-Seely - our amazing recording team. And once again thank you to the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for making this entire dream possible.

Check out Mark’s work at www.marklimacher.com and follow him on insta @mark.limacher

You can hear his latest album that he co-wrote and orchestrated: Caity Gyorgy with Strings

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part 2

We’re back to catch up with Kevin and dive into his current creative projects as a freelancer in Toronto. In this episode we explore:

• His experience as a core member of the three-time grammy nominated ARC Ensemble, performing and recording the works of marginalized and lesser played composers - very often performing this music for the first time
• His latest obsession with a new foldable keyboard (?!) that he takes on the road - such a hack for travelling pianists!
• His answer to our question here at pianists not practicing - what should pianists be doing other than practicing!? - spoiler alert - it may involve Bruno Mars
• The power of genuine connections with others and how that can be a source of sustainability in this career

Tune in to enjoy Kevin’s spunky, uplifting energy in this episode full of refreshing inspiration and an incredible message: tap in to whatever helps you remember the pure magic of what we do as artists

Check out Kevin’s work at www.kevinahfat.com and follow him on insta @kevinahfat

You can see the foldable keyboard Kevin loves here!

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part 1

This episode with Kevin is filled with his signature spunky charisma as he shares with us his inspirations, triumphs and trials as a pianist freelancing in Toronto. Just check out this intro!:

An artist that “leaves no question about his riveting presentation and technical finesse” (Seattle Times), Canadian pianist KEVIN AHFAT is acclaimed to be “poised to become one of the young heirs of the classical piano realm, with a bold, boundary-pushing, millennial style matched by refined execution” (Vanguard Seattle). Possessing “a balanced mix of expressiveness and virtuosity” (Musical America), he “summons plenty of thunderpower in the big moments, but clearly values musicianship over mere showmanship” (American Record Guide).

I mean - lets go! In this episode we dive into what it takes to build an audience and a community around you that wants to support your work through genuine human connections, finding your own voice and pursuing opportunities that truly speak to you and inspire you, and my absolute favourite - how pacing yourself in your work, not just in practice, but in the long process of building a career - step by step - can have such an impact on your wellbeing and longevity in this field. Staying consistent in the small daily steps, and believing in the process of building slowly over time can lead us away from burnout and towards joy.

Check out Kevin’s work at www.kevinahfat.com and follow him on insta @kevinahfat

You can see the foldable keyboard Kevin loves here!

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part 2

We’re back with episode 2 featuring Dr. Shulamit Mor - a concert pianist and psychologist who specializes in performance psychology and helping performers of all kinds perform at their best when it counts.

This second episode with Dr. Mor (because one just wasn’t enough!) highlights performance mindset strategies and does a deep dive into *mental rehearsal*. We discuss this form of visualization with a step-by-step guide, insight into what is actually happening in the brain while we do this, and how it can help us prepare programs on tight deadlines, improve the quality and precision of our performance and how it can even help us rest our bodies and navigate practice through injury and fatigue.

Please enjoy this episode packed full of strategies and ideas on how to improve your mental self-talk in performance and the practice room and how to unlock the amazing potential of mental rehearsal with this incredible expert!

Check out the Mor Centre for Performance Psychology

Check out her latest book chapter: Managing Psychological Disturbances in Performing Artists

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part 1

Welcome to our episode with Dr. Shulamit Mor, a concert pianist who started her professional performance career at age 10. After concertizing internationally, she made a career transition to psychology, and focussed her research and clinical work on issues related to the performing arts. In addition to her work with performers of all kinds, she has conducted workshops on topics such as: performance anxiety, maximizing optimal performance, the pursuit of excellence, creative blocks, and the pedagogy of teaching music. Dr. Mor is an expert on mental rehearsal, performance anxiety, optimal performance and career transition. Her perspective through the lens of a performer and psychologist uniquely positions her to provide us with incredible insights and strategies as we pursue ease and joy on stage. She works with musicians in her private practice, as well as at the Mor Centre for Performance Psychology where she helps artists and performers flourish and thrive in their pursuit of excellence. This convo features her journey as a pianist, her transition to her profession as a psychologist, and is filled with strategies and new perspectives that we can adopt to help serve our artistry and strengthen our performance mindset.

Check out the Mor Centre for Performance Psychology

Check out her latest book chapter: Managing Psychological Disturbances in Performing Artists

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Welcome to our episode with the queen of creativity and innovation who truly does it all from performing, to teaching to administration - we explored her extremely varied and exciting career from her early days premiering with orchestra in Russia at the age of 9, to her current life-changing work with students at the Colburn school in Los Angeles as Assistant Director of Colburn’s Center for Innovation and Community Impact where she also teaches a course she created and entitled: The Enterprising Creative.

Tracy is such an innovator whose creativity knows no bounds - she is always driven by curiosity and exploration - and this is reflected in her education as a double major in psychology and music as an undergrad, to her work now with students weaving together entrepreneurship and arts advocacy.

I’m so excited for you to hear this convo because you will learn all about

• her approach to creating an aligned career
• how to be an advocate for the arts and even
• how to create your own elevator pitch (?!)

So, if you’re in need of a little inspiration today - buckle up and enjoy!

Follow Tracy on instagram: @artist.at.play

Check out her website: www.tracywongpiano.com

Check out the book Design Your Life

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Welcome to our episode with the beautiful and wise Canadian pianist, Adrian Tsui! In this episode we tackle the huge topic of injury and how to care for your body and mind as a pianist. This is an incredible conversation where Adrian shares his experience and wealth of knowledge, and how he tackled his own injury through research, resilience and exploration. We cover everything from body awareness, alexander technique, what we can learn from physiotherapists, and how to be your own advocate while navigating injury and time away from the piano. He also shares how this experience has shaped his approach to practice, learning music, performing, and to life as a whole - sharing that taking care of ourselves is the first and most crucial step in sharing our artistry with the world.

Adrian was the first ever pianists not practicing guest before the podcast even went live! It was an honour and a joy to have him on the podcast and I can’t wait for you to learn from him as he shares his experience!

Follow him on instagram: @adrian_tsui13

Check out the book Adrian recommends: What Every Pianist Needs to Know About the Body by Thomas Mark

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC

Part Two

Welcome to our episode with an energetic, warm and joyful pianist whose playing has been described as “virtuosic…with impressive grace” (San Diego Union-Tribune) - Chi-jo!

In this convo we chat about her approach to practice and problem solving at the piano (spoiler alert: that’s one of her favourite parts of being a pianist!), how difficult it can be to remain patient with rest and recovery - both physical and emotional- and her amazing answer to our question here at pianist’s not practicing: what should pianists be doing when they’re not practicing?! (it's my favourite answer so far!)

Chi-Jo’s joy and love for the art form is contagious and that love shines through in this conversation. She reminds us that in this long-term relationship with the piano - the ebbs and flows will come - but the joy will always come back ✨

Connect with Chi-Jo here: www.chijoleepianist.com

Follow her on instagram @chijo_lee

Check out her moments musicaux here

Check out her favourite recording of her mentor Andre Watts here

✨ Stay connected with Pianists Not Practicing:

Instagram — @ChloeWestonPianist

YouTube — @ChloeWestonPianist

🎶 Intro/Outro Music: Ankur Mukhopadhyay — @ankurrmm

🎙️ Produced by: phMediaStudio, LLC