The Piano Pod - a global hub for innovation, education, and connection in classical piano music

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TPP had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Ricardo Hernandez, Entertainment/Corporate attorney, from Nashville, TN, for this episode. We had such great conversations, covering the latest Taylor Swift dispute with her record label company, the pandemic aftermath, and tips on how to achieve a long, successful career in the music industry. 

[Guest: Ricardo A. Hernandez] 

Ricky is an associate in the Nashville office of Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP whose experience primarily lies in the fields of entertainment, intellectual property, and corporate law, with a broad knowledge base in the areas of music, technology, commercial lending, mergers & acquisitions, and day-to-day corporate matters. Ricky’s experience as a Certified Public Accountant allows him to see the obstacles and concerns of his clients from many different perspectives. Ricky’s broad range of experience in complex corporate and entertainment transactions provides him with the opportunity to better understand the marketplace and which in turn allows him to be the best advocate for his client. Throughout the course of his career, he has advised private companies of varying sizes in all stages of growth and development as well as through a variety of exit opportunities. His practice areas: 

• 👉 Corporate Law and Transactions 
• 👉 Entertainment and Media 
• 👉 Intellectual Property 🌍 https://shackelford.law/profiles/rica... 
• 📧: [email protected] 

[Guest Co-Host: Aggeliki Psoni] 

For this episode, we invited Ms. Aggeliki Psoni, Greek/Jazz singer and Real Estate attorney, as a guest co-host! Aggeliki is a friend of Clara--and Yukimi also got to meet Aggeliki and work with her (and with Clara!) for a fun Halloween gig in CT recently. Aggeliki is the one who introduced us to Ricky, and we also asked her to join us as a guest co-host. 

📺 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNEX... 

🥰 https://www.instagram.com/aggelikiliki/

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TPP has some important announcements to make for the audience on our audio platforms--in case you missed our social media posts lately.

In this special edition, Clara and Yukimi discussed the future of The Piano Pod🎙--how we can use this platform to spread the message of love and positivity.

Starting in the next episode, we will change up the format of the show a little bit to bring hotter and more informative content to our audience in a creative way!

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We had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Alexandria Le, concert pianist, Yamaha Artist, educator, and arts advocate.  A winner of over twenty first-prize music awards, her performance career has seen her play everywhere from Carnegie Hall and the Salle Cortot to the jails of Riker’s Island. After establishing her career in New York for over 15 years, she returned to her hometown, Las Vegas, to form the nonprofit organization Notes with a Purpose.  Since its inception several years ago, it has already engaged thousands of children and adults in the Las Vegas area through outreach concerts and special events.  

[Dr. Alexandria Le] Alexandria Le, pianist and Las Vegas native, has appeared as a soloist on the world’s most illustrious stages, such as Carnegie Hall in New York City and Salle Cortot in Paris, and in the most intimate of venues, such as the French Embassy in New York City and the Parrish Museum in the Hamptons. Her performances have been broadcast over radio stations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Seattle.  A winner of over twenty first-prize music awards, she is a laureate of the Pro Musicis International Award and the Ackerman Chamber Music Competition. She was the pianist for two years with Ensemble Connect, the resident ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and appeared regularly in Carnegie Hall’s concert series. She has also performed with principal members of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Brass, and Canadian Brass. She has worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Steve Reich and John Corigliano, and has commissioned and premiered new works, including a solo piano piece (Competing Demands) dedicated to her by Ryan Carter. Alexandria graduated from the Las Vegas Academy, where she was an inaugural inductee in their Hall of Fame. She holds piano performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and SUNY Stony Brook, where she received her Doctorate of Musical Arts. She was named a Yamaha Artist in 2015, of which fewer than 100 worldwide are on their classical piano roster. After establishing a career in New York, she returned to her roots in Las Vegas to make a difference in people’s lives. In 2016, she founded Notes with a Purpose, an award-winning music nonprofit that has enriched the lives of over 15,000 elementary schoolchildren and disenfranchised adults. Through performances, community outreach, and private piano teaching, she is committed to daily adding beauty and cultural growth to her hometown.

 🎹 Alexandria’s Website

🌐 Notes with a Purpose Website

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Part 2 of 2. TPP had the privilege of interviewing Claire Marie Lim, also known as dolltr!ck, for this episode. A professor in the Electronic Production & Design department at Berklee College of Music, she specializes in instruction for live electronic performance, production, and programming, and is an advocate of womxn and Asian representation in music technology. She is an Ableton Certified Trainer, Bitwig Certified Trainer, and Apple Certified Pro. In music education and arts activism, Claire collaborates with the Girls Rock Campaign, Beats By Girlz, and the Queens Public Library network, and has received support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Queens Council on the Arts. She develops curriculum for various ages and experience levels, having consulted for the International Center of Photography, Queens College, Coursera, and the Berklee network. Claire also independently runs the doll troop, a mentorship experience where K-12 girls can shadow her in electronic songwriting sessions and live shows.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 1 of 2.

TPP had the privilege of interviewing Claire Marie Lim, also known as dolltr!ck, for this episode. A professor in the Electronic Production & Design department at Berlkee College of Music, she specializes in instruction for live electronic performance, production and programming, and is an advocate of womxn and Asian representation in music technology. She is an Ableton Certified Trainer, Bitwig Certified Trainer, and Apple Certified Pro. 

In music education and arts activism, Claire collaborates with the Girls Rock Campaign, Beats By Girlz, and the Queens Public Library network, and has received support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and Queens Council on the Arts. She develops curriculum for various ages and experience levels, having consulted for the International Center of Photography, Queens College, Coursera and the Berklee network. Claire also independently runs the doll troop, a mentorship experience where K-12 girls can shadow her in electronic songwriting sessions and live shows.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 2 of 2.

For Season 2 Episode 3, TPP was privileged to interview Josh Massicot: keyboardist, author, songwriter, and educator.  We invited him for this episode for his approach to music education and particularly for his views on the Rolling Stone article (March 8, 2021): "Julliard Must Modernize, Or It Will Die," written by Emma Sutton-Williams.

As a keyboardist, Josh has performed both with major symphony orchestras and shared the stage with international touring acts. For the past thirteen years, he has served on the faculty of Nazareth College, where he teaches piano lessons, pedagogy, and functional piano. His textbook, Functional Piano for Music Therapists and Music Educators: An Exploration of Styles, is a required text for college and graduate students both domestically and internationally. Josh is also a successful singer-songwriter, and his alt-Americana group, “Stella Hill,” has two EPs that are available to stream and download on all major music platforms.

Recently, Josh became the production manager at Concerts at Point of the Bluff Vineyards, where he oversees all aspects of day-of-operations for some of the biggest international touring acts and artists in the world.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 1 of 2.

For Season 2 Episode 3, TPP was privileged to interview Josh Massicot: keyboardist, author, songwriter, and educator.  We invited him for this episode for his approach to music education and particularly for his views on the Rolling Stone article (March 8, 2021): "Julliard Must Modernize, Or It Will Die," written by Emma Sutton-Williams.

As a keyboardist, Josh has performed both with major symphony orchestras and shared the stage with international touring acts. For the past thirteen years, he has served on the faculty of Nazareth College, where he teaches piano lessons, pedagogy, and functional piano. His textbook, Functional Piano for Music Therapists and Music Educators: An Exploration of Styles, is a required text for college and graduate students both domestically and internationally. Josh is also a successful singer-songwriter, and his alt-Americana group, “Stella Hill,” has two EPs that are available to stream and download on all major music platforms.

Recently, Josh became the production manager at Concerts at Point of the Bluff Vineyards, where he oversees all aspects of day-of-operations for some of the biggest international touring acts and artists in the world.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 2 of 2.

Korean-born American pianist Min Kwon excels in a versatile career that encompasses concerti, solo recitals, and chamber music appearances, while in high demand around the world as a pedagogue, arts advocate, and administrator. She has held professional engagements in over 60 countries on seven continents and all 50 U.S. states, and currently is the Professor of Piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2002. Dr. Kwon is also the founder and director of the Center for Musical Excellence (CME), a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and supporting gifted young musicians.  She served as Co‐Director of Vienna ConcertoFest in Austria and is the first music alumna to have been invited to serve on the Juilliard School Council in New York. Her latest project, America/Beautiful, is a modern-day Diabelli Variations with contributions from over 70 contemporary composers.  Min Kwon is a Steinway Artist. 

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 1 of 2.

Korean-born American pianist Min Kwon excels in a versatile career that encompasses concerti, solo recitals, and chamber music appearances, while in high demand around the world as a pedagogue, arts advocate, and administrator. She has held professional engagements in over 60 countries on seven continents and all 50 U.S. states, and currently is the Professor of Piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2002. Dr. Kwon is also the founder and director of the Center for Musical Excellence (CME), a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and supporting gifted young musicians.  She served as Co‐Director of Vienna ConcertoFest in Austria and is the first music alumna to have been invited to serve on the Juilliard School Council in New York. Her latest project, America/Beautiful, is a modern-day Diabelli Variations with contributions from over 70 contemporary composers.  Min Kwon is a Steinway Artist. 

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Part 2 of 2.

Welcome to Season 2 of The Piano Pod! To celebrate the start of the new season, we interviewed Jeffrey Biegel, the renowned concert pianist, Steinway artist, recording artist, composer, and arranger. Mr. Biegel has performed with many major orchestras throughout the world, such as the London Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Symphony, among many others; and he is a professor of piano at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. He is both a traditional virtuoso, and a dedicated champion of new music, having created more than a dozen commissioning projects. His recording of one of them, Kenneth Fuchs's Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist'; won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium. His own composition, "Three Reflections," will have its premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on October 7, 2021. He also has multiple new recordings coming out in the next few months, including the 1924 version of Rhapsody in Blue with the original orchestration, Islamey on the Steinway Label, and "A Planet's Odyssey" by Daniel Perttu.

BONUS OPPORTUNITY FOR TPP FANS!

Mr. Biegel played so many excerpts during the interview, we couldn't keep up!

If you hear a melody you recognize, write the title of the piece in the comments on YouTube!

Everyone who correctly identifies an excerpt will get a mention in the credits of a future episode!