Soundboard: Jeff Beal

Spontaneous composition starts with listening — and knowing when to lead, support, or stop. Pianist and organist John Medeski joins Ben Finane live at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville to explore the musical language of Medeski Martin & Wood, what Bach, Oscar Peterson, and John Coltrane opened up for him, and why finding your voice means being honest about who you are. He also reflects on the individuality of piano touch and his experience of music as meditation and healing.

Composer Eunike Tanzil begins with a motif, then builds an emotional and structural world around it. Tanzil describes what different media ask of a composer — from concert music and recordings to film.

Steinway Artist and composer Jeff Beal discusses writing for solo piano.

Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, is a choreographer and dancer as well as the founder, CEO and Artistic Director of The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts in New York City. She joins us to talk about the enduring music of her grandfather and her own journey as an artist.

Pianist Alexandre Kantorow discusses his musical family, piano as orchestra, what to practice, creating a recital program, and what he's learned so far.

Steinway Artist Sullivan Fortner joins Soundboard to discuss coming up in jazz, ancient practices, the greats, urgency, and showing up to battle with a plan.

Reflections on Van Cliburn, on the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and on the legacy of classical music in America.

Jazz pianist and Steinway Artist Kris Davis takes us through her process, her love of Herbie Hancock, and what she gained from listening to other instruments.

Chopin International Piano Competition winner and Steinway Artist Yulianna Avdeeva discusses her most recent recording project for Pentatone: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87.

The songwriter Sunny War talks about her eclectic influences, when less is more, her Americana dream, and taking inspiration from her racist neighbors.