Uncover creativity behind exceptional music

>

Uncover creativity behind exceptional music >

Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

From the Stage to the Executive Suite: How James Roe's Career as an Oboist Prepared Him to Lead the Orchestra of St. Luke's

After more than two decades as one of New York City's busiest freelance oboists, James Roe decided to pivot his career. 

He packed up his oboe case, reed knife, and metronome to take on leadership positions at two of the ensembles he had regularly performed with. First he spent two years as president and CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving into his current role as president and executive director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, where he's been since 2015.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Why Time for Three Is Itching to Do Classical Music Differently

In business, marketing strategies often revolve around defining your ideal customer. What specific interests and demographics do they represent? The more specific you are in your targeting, the better.

But Time for Three proves just how wrong that approach to building an audience can be. Performing their unique blend of Americana, modern pop, and classical music, the acclaimed string trio has grown a large fan base that defies demographics — people who are just as likely to listen to Brahms as bluegrass and the Beatles.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Dmitry Sitkovetsky on the Year That Changed His Musical Career and Celebrating 20 Years Leading the Greensboro Symphony

1983 proved a pivotal year in violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky's life. That was the year the Azerbaijan-born musician became a U.S. citizen, married his wife, and bought the Stradivarius violin he still plays to this day. It was also the year he discovered Glenn Gould's final recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Mozart Meets Betty Boop: How Joel Pierson and the Queen's Cartoonists Are Getting People Hooked on Classical Music and Jazz with Classic Cartoons

From dinosaurs dancing to The Rite of Spring in Disney's Fantasia to a tuxedoed Bugs Bunny performing Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, classic cartoons have long been a delightful entry point for kids of all ages to get to know classical music.

That's a tradition composer and jazz pianist Joel Pierson is breathing new life into as artistic director of The Queen's Cartoonists. Working at the crossroads of classical music, jazz, and the golden age of animation, The Queen's Cartoonists perform the scores of classic animated films from around the world, perfectly synchronizing their brilliant jazz-band arrangements with the films projected on stage.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Pianist Javier Perianes on Performing Saint-Saëns with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Art of the Short Siesta, and His Four-Word Definition of Success

The Spanish pianist Javier Perianes is racking up quite a lot of frequent flyer miles these days.

This season alone, his concert schedule has him zigzagging the globe to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dallas Symphony here in the States, Europe's Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic, and a whirlwind trip to Australia for concerts with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, among many other engagements.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Rediscovering Mozart: How Soprano Marie-Eve Munger Is Creating a Fuller Picture of the Composer on Her New Album, Maestrino Mozart

In early 2012, the coloratura soprano Marie-Eve Munger received an offer every opera singer dreams of — a lead role in a Mozart opera.

But there was a catch. It wasn't a role in Don Giovanni, or The Marriage of Figaro, or any of the popular Mozart operas performed every season across the globe. The opera was Il sogno di Scipione, which Mozart wrote when he was just 16 years old.

Read More
Podcast, Celebrity Artist Jonathan Eifert Podcast, Celebrity Artist Jonathan Eifert

Leading With Curiosity: Hilary Hahn on Her New Album, Eclipse, Falling for Ginastera, and the Many Wonders of a Facial Massage

For violinist Hilary Hahn, finding success as an international soloist has never been about sticking to the same menu of concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius. Now in the fourth decade of her storied career, the three-time Grammy Award winner has consistently worked to expand the scope of the violin canon — commissioning a slate of new works from composers like Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Higdon, and Lera Auerbach.

Read More
Rebecca Davis Rebecca Davis

Upon Further Reflection: Pianist John Wilson on Making His Solo Album Debut and Recording the World Premiere of Mentor Michael Tilson Thomas’ Three Movement Suite for Piano 

This fall, AVIE Records released Upon Further Reflection, the solo album debut by American pianist John Wilson featuring the world-premiere recording of the title track written by Wilson’s friend and mentor, Michael Tilson Thomas. Aaron Copland’s Piano Sonata and Earl Wild’s virtuoso arrangements of iconic George Gershwin tunes complete the Americana-themed program.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Shades of Light and Dark: Conductor Gary Thor Wedow on Seeing Colors in Music, Leading Handel's Atalanta at Juilliard Opera, and Living the Queens Life

Conductor Gary Thor Wedow has often found inspiration for his music-making in the visual arts. But a recent visit to an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gave Wedow, a specialist in Baroque opera, an altogether new view of ancient Greek and Roman art — and early music.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Spirituality Meets Science: Composer Robot Koch on Reimagining His Album ‘The Next Billion Years’ and Finding Inspiration in the Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau

The life of composer Robert Koch is a study in contrasts.

Raised in the same area of Germany as the Brothers Grimm — with its foggy forests and medieval castles — he now lives among the sunny splendor of Los Angeles. And although Koch leads a monk-like spiritual practice of yoga, meditation, and pranayama breathwork, he relies on digital technologies to produce the lush, atmospheric sounds of his electronic music.

Read More
Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Questions of Time: Pianist Klaudia Kudełko on Her Debut Album, Finding Inspiration in Fashion, and Her Mission to Make Musical Introductions

When most musicians join me to record the Classical Post podcast, they need a few minutes to settle in. This makes sense — whether they're an instrumentalist, singer, or composer, they're used to communicating through a medium outside of their speaking voice. So it can take some time to shake off the nerves.

But the moment I sat down with pianist Klaudia Kudełko to discuss her stunning debut album, Time, she was fired up and ready to dive into her personal artistic mission: to connect people with classical music.

Read More