Podium Time

Today we talk with Anna Edwards, Music Director of the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, the Saratoga Orchestra, and the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute, about how and why to seek out music by underrepresented composers, why conductors (women especially) should embrace their own physicality and body type, and why being comfortable on the podium is critical to leadership.

Today we discuss:

• Anna’s journey to conducting through performance and education, and how she made the transition towards professional conducting and harder repertoire (1:07)
• Programming works by a woman or BIPOC composer on every concert, and how Anna approaches commissioning new and fascinating collaborative pieces (6:16)
• How Anna finds music by underrepresented composers, and the inception and evolution of her project “100 days of Social Distance Listening” (10:51)
• About the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute, and how Anna and Diane Wittry differ in teaching styles (21:40)
• The surprising results of Anna’s research on female conductors, orchestra perceptions, and physicality (26:35)
• Conducting and teaching for different body types (33:06)
• Advice for young conductors on finding comfort with your leadership style (44:01)
• Hidden Gems and Billboard (53:26)

Other links and topics:

• EverythingConducting.com
• Anna's "100 Days of Social Distance Listening"
• Composer Leanna Primiani, On collaborating with Anna Edwards to create "1001"
• Jamulus
• Kenji Bunch, "Song of Sasquatch"

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. Want to send us an email? Use the contact page on our website! If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we talk with David Leibowitz, Music Director and Founder of the New York Repertory Orchestra, about how he’s programmed 20 seasons with NYRO without repeating any pieces, how he defines and builds balanced programs, and why young conductors flourish once they can let get out of their own inward focus.

Today we Discuss:

• How David Founded the New York Repertory Orchestra, and how he used concerts to raise engagement with his volunteer players (1:37)
• How NYRO has been able to perform for 20 years without repeating repertoire, and how this builds trust with their audiences and sets them apart for publicity and grant writing (7:03)
• How NYRO’s flexibility and focus on unheard repertoire attracts great soloist (21:57)
• How David builds and defines “balanced” programs, and why they are based on music and internal logic rather than concert themes (28:23)
• The importance of conducting opera for developing technique, and how the rhythm of language affects phrasing, accents, and just about everything else (37:25)
• The importance of rhythmic precision, and how David developed great rhythm in school with the help of a tutor (46:52)
• David’s early conducting teachers, and the most common problems he encounters when teaching at workshops (56:27)
• Closing thoughts, Hidden Gems, and Final Advice (1:13:53)

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. Want to send us an email? Use the contact page on our website! If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we talk with John Devlin, Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, host of the Upbeat Podcast, and a founding contributor to EverythingConducting.com. Today we talk about how to be the least-generic version of yourself, how to design a commissioning project that’s supremely exciting and relevant to your orchestra and audiences, and how innovative concert design can elevate your performances from just another classical concert to an experience.

Today we discuss:

• How to develop the least-generic version of yourself to stand out in an applicant pool of 300 other conductors and make a greater impact for your orchestra and your community (8:05)
• How John created “Gourmet Symphony” by melding all aspects of the experience of fine-dining with a symphony concert, and why smaller orchestras should focus more on creating an experience rather than sacrificing innovation to just play slightly better (20:23)
• How you can take a commission one step farther to make it relevant and significant to the composer, the orchestra, and the community (31:24)
• The origins of John’s focus on innovative concert design, and why it’s so easy to be bored with the average orchestra concert (35:27)
• How John and the Wheeling Symphony are thriving during COVID-19 by being creative and asking what they can do well within guidelines (40:39)
• John’s favorite living composer, and the life-changing advice he got from Marin Alsop (53:49)

Other links: 

• John's TEDx talk: Innovation in a Crowded Marketplace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE0O1FQYDDs
• EverythingConducting.com
• The Upbeat Podcast
• Music by Sarah Kirkland Snider
  • Penelope
  • Mass for the Endangered

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. Want to send us an email? Use the contact page on our website! If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we talk with Elizabeth de Brito, host of The Daffodil Perspective, the first gender-balanced, racially equitable, and inclusive classical radio show in the world, celebrating female composers every week. In its two years so far, Elizabeth has discovered and shared mountains of music that, unfortunately, you’ve never heard by women and composers of color that, unfortunately, you’ve probably never heard of. Today we talk about the issues that we must overcome to create a more inclusive art-form out of classical music, how to approach advertising and programming to move from tokenism to true inclusion, and why you should base your career on something that you’re angry about.

Today we discuss:

• The history of the Daffodil Perspective, and how discovering Florence Price’s music helped Elizabeth live into her identity and launch a radio show to promote classical music by female composers (02:41)
• How the diversity of composers and performers featured on The Daffodil Perspective has evolved after the Black Lives Matter movement and reevaluations of inclusion in classical music (12:42)
• The biggest issues that lead the classical music establishment to be predominantly white, and how we can move towards a more inclusive future for classical music (17:00)
• Approaching advertising and programming to graduate from tokenism to true inclusion, and the dangers of focusing all of our efforts on championing only a few select composers (33:19)
• The research and hours of work that goes into each episode of the Daffodil Perspective, and how Elizabeth structures the show like programming a concert (44:03)
• Why you should base your career on something that you’re angry about, not something that you love (51:52)
• The best concertos by women that you probably haven’t heard yet (56:09)
• Closing thoughts on normalizing inclusion in every area of our field (1:03:10)

You can find The Daffodil Perspective at https://thedaffodilperspective.com, and listen to the show on Mixcloud at https://www.mixcloud.com/TheDaffodilPerspective/stream.

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order.

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Today we're very excited to feature a fellow conductor and podcaster, Tigran Arakelyan. Tigran is the host of Let's Talk Off The Podium, a podcast of interviews with professional musicians of all disciplines, including Classical and Jazz. Today we talk about the variety of guests and musicians that Tigran on his podcast and his new radio show, how we can do the best possible with the orchestra that we have, whether that’s a professional, community, or youth group, and where to start if you've never listened to Let's Talk Off The Podium.

After this episode, check out Jeremy's interview on Tigran's podcast, in which we talk about the origins of Podium Time, how Jeremy started his journey towards being a musician, and some sneak peeks into Jeremy's non-musical life.

Today we discuss:

• An overview of Tigran’s fantastic podcast Let’s Talk Off The Podium and Tigran’s musical background (4:13)
• Exploring a variety of musical styles and guests on the podcast and Tigran’s new radio show, Exploring Music (9:45)
• The top 3 interviews from Let’s Talk Off The Podium, and how a heartbreaking story from David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet caught Tigran off-guard (18:06)
• Tigran’s mentors and the most important lessons he’s learned as a growing conductor (27:36)
• Doing the best possible with the orchestra that you have, regardless of whether it’s a professional, community, or youth group (33:07)
• The most important unknown Armenian composer, Avet Terterian (41:16)

Links for this episode:

• Tigran's Website
• Let's Talk Off The Podium
• Interview with Evelyn Glennie
• Interview with George Walker
• Interview with David Harrington
• Tigran's Radio Show, Exploring Music, Sundays at 3 p.m. Pacific Time
• Avet Terterian, Symphony no. 3

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Most of you will know Gary Lewis from his Orchestral Conducting Symposium and as the Director of Orchestras at the University of Colorado Boulder. Or you may remember him from episode 2 of the podcast. But now we’ve got him here for a full episode all about learning to listen and enabling your orchestra to play like chamber musicians.

This week we discuss:

1. Gary’s transition from a band director to professional conductor (4:51)
2. Gustav Meier’s philosophy of conducting, and how everything we do either allows or blocks the orchestra from playing their best (8:10)
3. How we can teach a young orchestra to play together (12:20)
4. A new approach to silence in music, and how learning to direct our own listening can help enable the ensemble play together (21:49)
5. How conducting lessons work over zoom, how we can use our time during COVID-19 shutdowns to practice the skills we usually don’t have the space for, and how we can learn to be our own best teachers once we’re done with school (30:30)
6. Advice for all developing conductors, and the complexity of everything that we must think about while on the podium (41:24)
7. Some amusing anecdotes about failure (52:46)
8. Hidden Gems and the Billboard Advice (58.27)

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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This course is incredible, and I couldn't wait to share everything that I learned with Luke and the rest of our patrons and listeners. Today, I'm walking Luke, and you, through everything that I got from Markand Thakar's "Make Beautiful Music" online course. Be sure to check it out, then sign up before the final spots for classes starting October have been filled! 

We discuss:

• Markand’s philosophy of the Transcendent Experience and how we can best make them possible for our audiences (03:18)
• An example of how energy plays into the analysis and performance of a short piece, and hear Jeremy sing Lightly Row (11:06)
• Practical lessons on the function of tempo and tension (18:53)
• Practical lessons on hearing, practicing, and fixing balance (30:10)
• Final notes on score study and how an understanding of energy helps to connect all the parts of an entire movement (35:31)
• Closing thoughts on asking the right questions and the value of the course (37:26)

Links from this episode:

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PodiumTimePod
• Make Beautiful Music class: https://www.thebco.org/conducting/makebeautifulmusic/index.html
• The Bowmakers Documentary (available September 12-20, 2020): http://osscs.org/

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we’re excited to share this episode with Phil Aguglia all about his fascinating curriculum for his students starting their instruments in high school and how he developed it to lead young musicians towards growth and success, whether they continue to study music or not. Phil sought to both learn how great teachers teach and to organize those lessons into his own curriculum, and the results are incredible. If you’d like to learn more about the curriculum or get some of Phil’s materials, send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll connect you with Phil. 

Today we discuss:

• Creating a rubric for his student teachers so that anybody could pick up and teach a class (3:46)
• An Overview of Phil’s curriculum (5:00)
• An in-depth look at the curriculum that teaches Phil’s students musicianship, technique, applied theory, and everything else they need (10:11)
• How Phil Developed his curriculum by realizing that a student’s daily learning was more important than a single performance (21:00)
• Engaging students in youth orchestras, in class, and online during COVID (24:36)
• Advice for young teachers (29:22)

Mentioned in this episode:

• PT71: “The Best Tool for the Job,” with Phil Aguglia of PaGu Batons
• https://www.pagubatons.com
• "The Bowmakers" at http://osscs.org/
• Make Beautiful Music with Markand Thakar
• The Patreon Page for Podium Time

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we talk with Janna Hymes, Music Director of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. In this interview we discuss Janna’s new position in Carmel, how she sets goals in the artistic, marketing, development, and education areas to grow her orchestras, and how she communicates that vision to her board and administration. We also discuss the importance of programming for your orchestra’s community and the community of any concert, and how to use creative and varied education and pops programming to both attract new audiences and present fantastically engaging concerts. 

You can hear a more recent update from Janna on the new interview show Coffee with the Maestro, hosted by past guest and very good friend Silas Huff.

Interview with Janna: https://youtu.be/LeF3Yt3rkMw
Interview with Jeremy: https://youtu.be/Z7L2yIjZu7I

Today we discuss:

• How Janna sets goals to grow her orchestras, audiences, and communities through collaborations, new programs, and creative projects (4:30)
• Responsibility in programming for you community as a Music Director, and how to feature new composers effectively (13:23)
• Advice for young conductors, and the extra-musical skills that are necessary to be an effective conductor and leader (25:07)
• One of the scariest parts of Janna’s career, and what we can learn from her experiences (34:17)
• Using creative Educational and Pops concerts to make an impact on our communities and attract new audiences (44:11)
• Janna’s 5-year plan for the Carmel Symphony, and how she defined and communicated growth for the orchestra’s board and administration. (1:01:15)
• Programming hidden gems and masterworks to delight audiences with variety (1:20:45)
• Janna’s billboard, and what to remember when you’re worried about anything (1:31:58)

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

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Today we talk with Kaleb Benda, Artistic Director & Conductor of the Oklahoma Chamber Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Enid Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the USAO Concert Band, and the #1 fan of Podium Time. We dig into how Kaleb handles lots of repertoire and how to study efficiently, the importance of creating your own opportunities, and how and why we conducts (almost) everything from memory.

Today we discuss:

• Kaleb’s background and education (3:20)
• Balancing repertoire for 3 different ensembles and efficient score study techniques (7:27)
• Programming on a theme, and how to include audiences new to classical music (20:23)
• Achieving efficient rehearsals through the 3-strikes rule and clarity (27:23)
• We chat about music decorations and creative business cards (31:55)
• Creating your own opportunities and the horrors of video cameras (36:23)
• Cancelled concerts and Kaleb’s favorite music by Beethoven that you’ve probably never heard (44:54)
• Kaleb’s most impactful workshop, and why he now conducts (almost) everything from memory (51:49)
• How to prepare to start conducting from memory (55:33)
• Hidden Gems and advice (1:03:00)

Find this and all other episodes at PodiumTimePod.com. Subscribe and download Podium Time on your favorite podcast player and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @PodiumTimePod. You can also join our Facebook Group, the Podium Time Inner Circle to ask questions and continue the conversation after every episode. If you’d like to support the podcast monetarily and get bonus content, consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/PodiumTimePod. If you’re in the market for a new baton, use our promo code “PodiumTime” at Pagubatons.com for 20% off your first order. 

Support the show