Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic Semyon Bychkov is an artist whose commitment, passion, and obsession with making music is contagious. To kick off the conversation Semyon and David discuss the unique relationship between a conductor and a musician based on their own experiences performing together at the Metropolitan Opera. The Maestro recalls his earliest musical experiences at age 5 (he had perfect pitch!), the moment when he realized he was born to conduct, and the parallels between his life as an artist and an athlete. Semyon shares why winning the Rachmaninoff Conducting Competition led to his escape from the former Soviet Union and ultimate emigration to the United States in 1975 and how he came to inherit Rachmaninoff's briefcase and some of his scores. To close out the conversation Semyon shares what he loves most about Carnegie Hall and how he perceives the power of music.

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Photograph of Semyon Bychkov by Marco Borggreve.

The Speaking Soundly theme song is composed by Joseph Saba/Stewart Winter and used by permission of Videohelper.

Speaking Soundly was co-created by David Krauss and Jessica Handelman. 

This interview has been edited and condensed to fit the time format.

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