Saxophone virtuoso Jess Gillam has had a meteoric rise to fame and is leaving an indelible mark on the music world. The first-ever saxophonist signed to the prestigious Decca Classics label, both of Jess's albums have shot to No.1 in the Official UK Classical Charts. The host of the podcast This Classical Life for BBC Radio 3 tells David about her early beginnings with a local community carnival band, what she loves about the sax, and how her debut at Carnegie Hall contrasts other performances. Jess discusses her infectious enthusiasm and passion for classical and non-classical music, why she is so similar to her childhood role model Lisa Simpson (it's not just the saxophone!), and David crowns Jess the "most British person" he's ever interviewed.

Check out Jess Gillam on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web and learn more about her show This Classical Life here.

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Photograph of Jess by Robin Clewley.

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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is the Music and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain, and Music Director (aka David's boss) at The Metropolitan Opera where he's just the third person to hold this position in the company's long 140-year history. In the episode—recorded backstage at Carnegie Hall—Yannick discusses the primary role of a conductor, his calm and friendly demeanor while on the podium (spoiler: he doesn't know how to be mean!), how he became inspired to conduct at age 10, and why he reclaimed his love for the piano during the pandemic. Yannick shares the importance of taking every opportunity to perform seriously and his deep belief that music can connect and transform anyone who listens.

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Photograph of Yannick by George Etheredge.

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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're revisiting our interview with MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow and American classical cellist Alisa Weilerstein. The internationally celebrated artist discusses her first instruments (made by her grandmother!), her solo debut at age thirteen with the Cleveland Orchestra, and why she chose not to go directly to conservatory after high school. Alisa reminisces about performing at the White House and chuckles about receiving an apology from the President of the United States, as well as discusses her groundbreaking new solo concert series Fragments.

Check out Alisa Weilerstein on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web.

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Thanks to our good friends at Ravinia for helping to make this interview possible.

Photograph of Alisa by Evelyn Freja.

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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grammy Award-winning Italian conductor and Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Fabio Luisi is also the Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, and a perfumer. Fabio discusses the challenges and joys of conducting with unbridled enthusiasm, compares great conducting to great cooking, and reflects on his early days of musical development as a pianist, beginning at age 3, and the treats and toys he got for practicing. The conductor tells David how working with singers changed his life, his difficult decision to leave a career as a pianist behind, and how he finds beauty in different interpretations of music and different scents in perfumes.

Check out Fabio on Spotify, Apple Music, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Don't miss Fabio's FL Parfums.

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

Photograph of Fabio by Monika Rittershaus.

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

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

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grammy nominated Japanese-American renowned violinist Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11. She reflects on her decision to "pursue a career in music as a performer" in her 20's, what she learned from mentors famed violinist Isaac Stern and legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, and why she loves to practice after a performance. Midori shares about her foundation Midori and Friends, which has helped to provide music education to over 300,000 underserved youth in NYC, opens up about her love for her home away from home (the dressing room), and David reminisces about the first time he heard her on the radio. 

Check out Midori on Facebook, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web.

Learn more about Midori & Friends here.

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

Photograph of Midori by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

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

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

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Bass Joseph Conyers discusses his recent promotion and the unusual circumstances of his audition (it's not everyday one competes with their own students!), reminisces about his early introduction to classical music through his mother, and reflects on the music of his childhood Black Baptist Church and its emphasis on joyful noise, not perfection. At the end of the interview, David calls Joseph "one of the most disciplined people he knows" for reasons you might not expect.

Check out Joseph Conyers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, or the web.

Learn more about Joseph's Project440.

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

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

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

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back with a full season of inspiring conversations featuring Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor, Grammy nominated violinist Midori, the three-time Grammy Award-winning conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and many more!

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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 trailer has been edited and condensed to fit the time format.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow and American classical cellist Alisa Weilerstein is a musical prodigy. The internationally celebrated artist discusses her first instruments (made by her grandmother!), her solo debut at age thirteen with the Cleveland Orchestra, and why she chose not to go directly to conservatory after high school. Alisa reminisces about performing at the White House and chuckles about receiving an apology from the President of the United States, as well as discusses her groundbreaking new solo concert series Fragments.

Thanks to our good friends at Ravinia for helping to make this interview possible. Get your tickets here to see Alisa Weilerstein perform live at Ravinia on August 17th.

Check out Alisa Weilerstein on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web.

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You can find out more about Artful Narratives Media on Instagram and the web.

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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipient, Avery Fisher Prize winner, and acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk is also a New York Times bestselling author. He sits down with David to discuss his memoir Every Good Boy Does Fine, which was published to universal acclaim and how he managed to write the book with demanding concert and practice schedules. Jeremy recalls how his dad rescued a graffiti-covered piano from a burlesque house, getting beat up for blasting classical music with a boombox on his childhood school bus, and when he began to practice for the love of practicing. Jeremy shares lessons he learned from numerous piano teachers over the years and an early mistake he made when first starting out as a teacher himself. To close the conversation out, David and Jeremy share a laugh about the smell of the practice rooms on the fourth floor of Juilliard.

Thanks to our good friends at Ravinia for helping to make this interview possible. Get your tickets here to see Jeremy Denk perform live at Ravinia on July 28th.

Check out Jeremy Denk on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web.

You can order Jeremy's book Every Good Boy Does Fine here.

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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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grammy nominated Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero is celebrated for her exceptional musicality and her ability to improvise complex pieces on themes suggested by her audiences at live performances. The best-selling recording artist, Latin Grammy Award winner, and human rights activist discusses recording at Abbey Road Studios, seeing her album poster-size Tower Records near Lincoln Center, and what she discovered about her brain when she performs spontaneously. Gabriela reminisces about learning to play the piano at eight-months old, performing Haydn D Major at age nine, her desire to leave the piano behind in her early thirties, and her ultimate return to the instrument. She shares with David how her music influences her political activism and what it meant to her to perform with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Anthony McGill at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Thanks to our good friends at Ravinia for helping to make this interview possible. Get your tickets here to see Gabriela Montero perform live at Ravinia on July 21st.

Check out Gabriela Montero on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, or the web.

As discussed in the interview, you can see Gabriela perform Haydn D Major at age nine here.

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You can find out more about Artful Narratives Media on Instagram and the web.

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.

Episode copyright © 2023 Artful Narratives Media.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.