Sounding Point Podcast

Roy Malan led the San Francisco Ballet as concertmaster for over forty years; a record for a concertmaster of a major American orchestra. Roy Malan studied with Efrem Zimbalist at Curtis Institute, and later wrote his official biography. In this episode we discuss Roy's book, his career, and stories of brushing shoulders with the greatest violinists of the past century.

-This episode is presented in loving memory of Philip Wang- Alyssa Wang recently graduated from New England Conservatory with master's degrees in violin performance and conducting. She is the violinist of Hub New Music, a mixed string and wind ensemble comprised of violin, cello, clarinet and flute. They recently released their newest album 'Soul House,' a new commission by composer Robert Honstein. ''Soul House' is a stunning composition with a fascinating concept: Each of the nine movements represents the composer's memories of a room in his childhood home. In the "Backyard" movement, the fleet canon represents a contentious sibling chase. "Secret place," the location of which is unnamed by the composer and, according to Alyssa, is kept secret even from Hub New Music, evokes feelings of solace, anxiety, and hope. That it made me feel nostalgic for my own childhood home speaks to the effectiveness of Honstein's emotive writing, and the superb performance delivered by Hub New Music. In this interview, Alyssa was kind and open enough to talk about her father's recent passing. I'm very grateful to Alyssa for being open enough to share her raw hurt, and complex feelings of grief and gratitude. I felt that Alyssa, in sharing her candid thoughts and feelings at this time, gave invaluable insights into what it means to grieve and to honor the memory of a loved one.

Daniel Lelchuk is assistant principal cellist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. On his podcast Talking Beats, Lelchuk interviews world-class figures from a diverse field of disciplines. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-beats-with-daniel-lelchuk/id1515136246 Our conversation today came about because of Daniel's viral article in Quillette. https://quillette.com/2020/09/19/then-they-came-for-beethoven/?fbclid=IwAR3r6hzQP8cxZNxRMJvwX8U0xect7oCobhzPj5iv2ssYyJRMhqqn8QLu4f4 His article, in turn, responded to the recent controversial Vox article, 'How Beethoven's 5th Symphony put the classism in classical music.' https://www.vox.com/switched-on-pop/21437085/beethoven-5th-symphony-elitist-classism-switched-on-pop In our conversation we covered the main points of both articles, some historical context, and our feelings about Beethoven in the time of clickbait. Daniel received moving responses to his article from all over the world, several of which he shares in our interview. We agreed that the classical music industry faces many challenges, including the expansion of the repertoire to include more diverse composers and performers. However Beethoven's 5th Symphony, far from an elitist status symbol, is one of the most popular and adored pieces in the orchestral literature. It does more than most music to bring audiences together from varied backgrounds. It was a pleasure interviewing Daniel and I encourage you to follow the links above to find his podcast.

Listen to Harlan tell his incredible story of survival and the bond between survivors. Creek Fire survivor recounts his rescue by the National guard and his reflections on nature and art.

In this episode we discussed Thomas’ journey as an entrepreneur and lover of stringed instruments, as well as his thoughts on being an entrepreneurial musician in a post-pandemic world.

Michael is an old friend and and long-time brother in arms, since we attended both San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Peabody Institute together.

It was a blast catching up over stories of dog bites, power outages, and the beauty of historically informed performance.

“ A performer deeply fascinated by the relationship of music and history, Michael began serious study of the harpsichord while pursuing doctoral studies in piano at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory. Within a few months, he had soloed for the CCM Faculty Artist Series and was awarded the Catacoustic Consort’s 2017 Early Music Grant. He subsequently attended the University of Michigan Early Keyboard Institute and the American Bach Soloists Academy. Upcoming performances include a solo recital at the Central California Baroque Festival. He recently collaborated on a performance of JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the CCM Philharmonia and regularly plays continuo in recitals at CCM.

Michael studies harpsichord with Michael Unger and has coached with Corey Jamason and Joseph Gascho. He has also performed in master class for Ed Parmentier and coached on fortepiano with Matthew Bengtson. Mr. Delfín earned a B.A. in history from the Johns Hopkins University where he first began to pursue research into era context and practice. “

Tim Fain breaks down his virtual reality projects, his work with Philip Glass, his brief but meaningful encounter with the Dalai Lama, and teases his amazing project EMBC.