The Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet joins us on the Classical Post podcast today to discuss their latest album, UNCOVERED Volume 2, featuring the music of Florence Price. The star pianist Michelle Cann is also on the show as this album was a collaboration with her.

Brittany Lasch is the Principal Trombone at the Detroit Opera Orchestra (formerly Michigan Opera Theatre) at the Detroit Opera House and an Assistant Professor of Trombone at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts in Bowling Green, Ohio. She’s performed as a soloist with the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, and symphonies around the country. A winner of the 2019 S&R Foundation Washington Award, and a skilled trombonist with performances and workshops filling up summer 2022, Lasch finds a still moment to catch up with Classical Post.

Zachary Carrettin and Mina Gajić are the dynamic duo on the podcast today. Zachary is music director of Boulder Bach Festival and Mina is its artistic and executive director. They have just released a chamber music album on the Sono Luminus label — Confluence — featuring a fascinating juxtaposition of Balkan dances and tango. I know tango speaks deeply to me, so I was very intrigued to hear the backstory of how this album came to be — seemingly disparate styles, but dovetailing so cleverly into a strong artistic statement in this album.

Music Kitchen – Food for the Soul commemorates its fifteenth anniversary with Forgotten Voices – a composite song cycle with text created by those experiencing homelessness set to music by fifteen award-winning composers. The full work had its world premiere in March 2022 at Carnegie Hall.

Film director Ted Braun joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss his new documentary ¡Viva Maestro! that chronicles Grammy-winning conductor Gustavo Dudamel who is famously known as LA Phil’s music director.

There’s music on the page, where it’s preserved for later use, and then there’s music when it’s played, traveling through the air. On each end of that is a body, musician reaching out to listener and touching them via sound. For Augusta Read Thomas too, that’s where the music starts, in the body. Her method of composing—creating new material, shaping it and building it into larger structures and forms—is grounded in the physical sensations of music, especially singing and movement. Sounds from the body become elements in a larger mosaic. That is the subtle, but fundamental connection between her artistry and the subject of her new piece, MAGIC GARDENS, which the Rolston String Quartet will play in its American premiere May 1, at a concert celebrating the bicentennial of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.

Ronaldo Rolim is as sunny as his native Brazil. The pianist positively exudes joy and love for life, especially when talking about music. Trained as a pianist by his mother when he was very young, Rolim would eventually make his way to the United States where he would study with some of the world’s finest pianists. Now he is at the cusp of a brilliant career, performing the European classics and championing the rich musical legacy of Brazil.

For 40 years, innova Recordings, the label of the American Composers Forum, has celebrated new music–whether classical, jazz, world, electronic and other genres, concepts, and approaches. Earlier this year, the label announced its first national call for new artists, which marked what Director of Recordings Chris Campbell has called a “paradigm shift” in how they approach and conduct business with the goals of making the recording process more collaborative, inclusive, equitable, and transparent.

The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra makes its Carnegie Hall debut this month led by Anthony Parnther. The concert features Jon Batiste, who just won five Grammys at this year’s ceremony, including the highly-coveted title, “Album of the Year”.

Elizabeth Sobol joins us on the Classical Post podcast to discuss the magic of synchronicity as a leader; how meditation in the morning and boxing at night helps to sustain well-being; and the important work of the Philadelphia Orchestra programming the works of Florence Price.

Rachel O’Brien’s musical artistry is worthy of her harp. Having studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, O’Brien is now settled in her beloved Appalachia, teaching her own students both locally and around the world on Zoom. She has also written a book to inspire young musicians and she regularly performs herself. On April 10, O'Brien will give a recital in Philadelphia which will celebrate her Appalachian heritage.

The Swedish folk jazz duo — Elise & Tobi — just released their award-winning music video Je te verrai, which is the French translation based off of the American classic song from 1938, “I’ll Be Seeing You”.

There’s a zany book published several years ago by British author and photographer Ben Schott that has “invented words” using the German language. This book — Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition — inspired composer Eric Nathan (who teaches at Brown University) to write an 84-minute magnum opus — Missing Words — that now has its world premiere recording.

German composer Sven Helbig is part of a new generation of composers for whom there are no longer any barriers between the classical world of the orchestra, experimental art, and pop music.

Composer Danaë Xanthe Vlasse recently received a Grammy nomination for her album Mythologies featuring sopranos Hila Plitmann and Sangeeta Kaur. The album is a collection of works inspired by Ancient Greek myths. Danaë’s father Marcus (née Vlassopoulos) grew up on the island of Ithaca, once ruled by Homer’s legendary hero, Odysseus. Centered on vocal works, Mythologies celebrates some of the most lasting myths of history and invites listeners to ponder long-standing cultural concepts, such as idolized heroism, divine power, crisis of faith and morality, and the junction of fate and free-will.

Patrick Cassidy joins us on the Classical Post podcast today. You will certainly know his music from the Ridley Scott film, Hannibal, starring Anthony Hopkins. Patrick wrote the famous aria, “Vide cor Meum”, that was written as a “mini” opera for this film.

My guest today on the Classical Post podcast is the conductor Luke Frazier. He is the founder and music director of The American Pops Orchestra, which is now heard regularly on PBS around the country. He’s done 12 major PBS concert specials that have all been filmed and broadcast during the pandemic. And, they’ve reached 40 million viewers with these concerts. It’s an incredible feat.

French conductor Chloé van Soeterstède is one of the very prestigious Dudamel Fellows this season with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s working with Gustavo Dudamel, but also with other conducting legends like Michael Tilson Thomas and Zubin Mehta. It’s quite an honor for a young conductor to have this experience and really helps set them up for future success as a music director of a major orchestra.

JoAnn Falletta, the internationally acclaimed musical conductor, director, and ambassador, serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. A prolific recording artist for Naxos Records, she has led over 120 titles and received four GRAMMY Awards. Renowned as a “demonstrative, kinetic conductor” (The New York Times), Falletta has conducted over 100 orchestras across the world.

I had the pleasure of speaking with violinist Sean Lee and pianist Peter Dugan about their new digital EP featuring nine of the Paganini Caprices, each with accompanying music videos. It’s a really fantastic project and I hope you listen to it.