Con Fuoco: A Podcast about Classical Music and its Future

This week, we have a rebroadcast of my conversation from September of 2020 with performer and educator Vanessa Mulvey. The Question of the Week we discussed was, "Should understanding the body be a priority in music education?" Ms. Mulvey and I discuss how everything in our body is connected, how modernity encourages us not to use or understand our bodies, the disconnect between good and bad performances, and how all music performance revolves around movement. Truly understanding the body and its various connections and nuances is not something that is prioritized in music education, the effects of which are shown through the disturbing number of musicians who suffer from body issues. As I’ve developed as a conductor and violinist, looking at music through the scope of my body has been one of the most helpful and healthiest changes I’ve made as a musician. That shift in focus happened for me as a student in Vanessa Mulvey’s Body Mapping class and I learned even more through this conversation with her. Please enjoy this rebroadcast of my conversation with Vanessa Mulvey. 

Simon Woods joined the League of American Orchestras as President and CEO in 2020. Born in London, England, Mr. Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, he worked as a record producer at EMI Classics in London, where he initiated and produced recordings at Abbey Road Studios and on location with many of the world’s foremost classical artists and ensembles. From 1997 to 2004, he was Artistic Administrator and later Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations at The Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2004 to 2005, he was President & CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving back to the UK in 2005 to become Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of the United Kingdom’s leading symphony orchestras. Returning to the US in 2011, he became President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony, a post he held for seven years. In November 2017, Woods was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held until September 2019. From February to August 2020, Woods was Interim Executive Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.Woods brings more than 30 years of experience working with orchestras. He is deeply committed to equity, to the role of arts organizations in community, and to nurturing the next generation of arts leaders. He is known throughout the sector as a highly trusted mentor to orchestra management professionals, emerging leaders, and conductors. For two decades he has contributed to the League of American Orchestras’ professional development programs, including acting as Director of the League’s signature immersive training program, Essentials of Orchestra Management. In March 2020 he joined the Board of Directors of National Arts Strategies.The Question of the Week is, "What are the characteristics of a strong organization in classical music?" Simon and I discuss what it was like becoming President and CEO of the League of American Orchestras during a pandemic, his experience running some of the biggest classical music organizations around the world, the difference between the American and British classical music scenes, what he hopes to pass on to the next generation of leaders, and why he hopes we do not go back to normal. You can find out more about the League of American Orchestras on their website, https://americanorchestras.org.

Dr. Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. She is a scientist, inventor (holder of several patents), and amateur musician who uses hearing as a window into brain health. She began her career measuring responses from single auditory neurons and was one of the first to show that the adult nervous system has the potential for reorganization with learning; these insights in basic biology galvanized her to investigate sound processing in the brain in humans. Through a series of innovative studies involving thousands of research participants from birth to age 90, her research has found that our lives in sound, and our experiences, for better (musicians, bilinguals) and for worse (concussion, language disorders, noise), shape how our brain makes sense of the sounds we hear. Using the principles of neuroscience to improve human communication, she advocates for best practices in education, health, and social policy. The Question of the Week is, "How does music affect the human brain?" Dr. Kraus and I discuss her journey and how she came to be researching sound and the brain, the role sound plays in our everyday lives, why making music is the healthiest thing you can do for your brain, the similarities between meditation and making music, and why silence is just as important as sound. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Kraus and her research, please visit www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu  

This episode is a rebroadcast of my conversation with President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, Afa Dworkin. Afa Dworkin is the President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, where she oversees all fundraising, strategic, and artistic initiatives. Founded in 1997, the Sphinx Organization has four program areas - Education and Access, Artist Development, Performing Artists, and Arts Leadership - which form a pipeline that develops and supports diversity and inclusion in classical music at every level of our field: music education, performing artists, repertoire programmed, the communities represented in audiences, and artistic and administrative leadership. Sphinx Organization reaches more than 100,000 students and artists as well as live and broadcast audiences of more than two million annually. Ms. Dworkin’s leadership of the organization is informed by her musical training, over twenty-five years of experience in the field, as well as her international corporate experience as a trilingual interpreter and Executive Assistant to the President of ARCO, The International Oil and Gas Company in Baku in Azerbaijian. Ms. Dworkin and I discuss the question: Why is a lack of diversity harmful to classical music? We discuss why classical music is not a meritocracy, steps organizations can take to address diversity in a meaningful way, why this issue poses an existential threat to our field, and doing and saying the difficult things when no one is looking.You can find out more about Ms. Dworkin and the Sphinx Organization at their website www.sphinxmusic.org. 

Ben Yee-Paulson is an internationally recognized American composer, who's music has been premiered at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Harvard University, Curtis Institute, Warwick Castle in England, La Schola Cantorum in Paris, the DiMenna Center in New York City, and the world opening of Microsoft’s flagship store in New York City. Nationally, Ben’s music was awarded first-place in the Costello Competition, both a Merit Award and “Emerging Composer” status from the Tribeca New Music Festival, honorable mention from the Charles Ives Concert Series, and finalist position from ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers multiple times. Internationally, he received honorable mention in the Future Blend Composition Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the Tampa Bay Symphony’s Composition Competition. Ben was a composer-in-residence at the Zodiac Music Festival and DePaul University. He is represented by PARMA Recordings.Ben’s music has been played renowned ensembles like the American Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Del Niente, the American Modern Orchestra, the NEC Contemporary Ensemble, and the New York Youth Symphony. Other premieres occurred at the European American Musical Alliance, the Bard Conductor’s Institute, the Atlantic Music Festival, the Zodiac Music Festival, the Mostly Modern Festival, and the International Horn Symposium in Belgium. His music has been played by prominent artists like Grammy-nominated cellist Thomas Mesa, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra violinist Chelsea Kim, and internationally-acclaimed harpist Abigail Kent. Ben is a Doctor of Music student at Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music, studying with Aaron Travers and Claude Baker. He has a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and Bachelors of Music from New York University, where he studied with Michael Gandolfi, Kati Agócs, and Justin Dello Joio.The Question of the Week is, "What defines a successful partnership between performer and composer?" Ben and I discuss fruitful relationships he has had with performers, what the general mindsets and goals of modern day composers are, how performing and playing piano has informed his own composition style, and how he would hope his music would be performed in two hundred years. 

With the “energy, creativity and charisma not seen since Leonard Bernstein” and “vibrant,” “mind-blowing,” and “spectacular” conducting, Ming Luke is a versatile conductor that has excited audiences around the world.  Highlights include conducting the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow, performances of Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella at the Kennedy Center, his English debut at Sadler’s Wells with Birmingham Royal, conducting Dvorak’s Requiem in Dvorak Hall in Prague, recording scores for a Coppola film, and over a hundred performances at the San Francisco War Memorial with San Francisco Ballet.  The 20-21 season Luke conducts San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, and at Classical Tahoe with musicians of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  He has been recognized nationally for his work with music education and has designed and conducted education concerts and programs with organizations such as the Berkeley Symphony, Houston Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and others.  Luke has soloed as a pianist with Pittsburgh Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, and San Francisco Ballet, and currently serves as Music Director for the Merced Symphony and Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra; Principal Conductor of the Nashville Ballet, Associate Conductor for the Berkeley Symphony; and Principal Guest Conductor for the San Francisco Ballet.  Long time critic Allan Ulrich of the San Francisco Chronicle said, “Ming Luke delivered the best live theater performance I’ve ever heard of [Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet]” and in 2016 Luke’s War Requiem was named best choral performance of 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Passionate about collaboration with dance companies and deepening the impact of movement to live music, Luke has guested with Boston Ballet, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Nashville Symphony/Ballet, San Diego Ballet and others and conducted l’Orchestre Prométhée in Paris as part of San Francisco Ballet’s residency with Les Etés de la Danse. Famed dancer Natalia Makarova stated, “Ming has a mixture of pure musicality and a sensitivity to needs of the dancers, which are such rare qualities.”The Question of the Week is, "How can classical musicians be effective collaborators with others?" Ming and I discuss his experience working with dancers as a conductor of ballet, what he believes is the key to being an effective collaborator, and his definition of a "successful classical musician." You can find out more about Ming on his website, mingluke.com. 

My guest this week is violinist, Liana Branscome! Liana is the first prize winner of the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota Competition Junior Division (2015), Boca Raton Symphonia Concerto Competition (2014), the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (2014) and second prize winner of the New World Symphony Young Artist Competition (2014). She has appeared as soloist with the Vidin Philharmonia in Bulgaria, Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony, the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra and the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony. She has also performed as guest artist at the Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island and the Auras Nunes Aula de Cámara in Santiago, Spain. Recent engagements include a recital tour of Portugal, Spain and London with pianist Bernardo Santos and a tour of South Florida with pianist Lewis Warren Jr.Liana is pursuing her Master of Music in violin performance at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music where she studies under Glenn Dicterow. She received her Bachelor of Music at the New England Conservatory under the instruction of Paul Biss and Lucy Chapman. Her precollege teachers include David and Linda Cerone. She has attended the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institute. Liana served as a Fellow in NEC’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program where she presented numerous solo and duo recitals in the Boston community. Liana is currently a teaching assistant at the University of Southern California in non-major violin and has presented several masterclasses and recitals at schools around South Florida. Liana is currently part of the administrative team of Project Build: Peer Masterclass Series, an organization that seeks to create a space in which young professional musicians can learn from and connect with each other.While at the New England Conservatory, Liana also received a minor in creative writing and served as an editor of New England Conservatory’s academic journal Hear, Here! and student newspaper, The Penguin.

Jan Swafford is an author and composer. His musical works range from orchestral and chamber to film and theater music, including four pieces for orchestra, Midsummer Variations for piano quintet, They That Mourn for piano trio, and They Who Hunger for piano quartet. His music has been played around the U.S. and abroad by ensembles including the symphonies of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Springfield, Jacksonville, Chattanooga, and the Dutch Radio. His degrees are from Harvard and the Yale School of Music. In 1989 he was a Mellon Faculty Fellow at Harvard. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary Harvard Phi Beta Kappa. In 2012 his online music journalism won a Deems Taylor Award.As a music journalist and scholar, Swafford has written for Slate, The Guardian, Gramophone, and 19th Century Music among others. He is a longtime program note writer for the Boston Symphony, and has written program and liner notes for the symphonies of Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco, for Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, and Deutsche Grammophon. Recently he has appeared in television documentaries in Germany and England. His books include the biographies Charles Ives: A Life with Music (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award); Johannes Brahms: A Biography; and Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph. All these books were Critics’ Choices in the New York Times. HIs biography on Mozart was just published in December of 2020. His books have been widely translated in Europe and China.The Question of the Week is, "Do classical musicians really understand our own history?" Jan and I discuss the habit classical musicians have of deifying composers, assumptions and narratives he needed to unlearn, how the teaching of the history of Western classical music has changed, how his research and writing of composers has informed his own composition process, and why he believes talent does exist. 

Donato Cabrera is the Music Director of the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and served as the Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and the Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2009-2016. Since Mr. Cabrera's appointment as Music Director of the California Symphony in 2013, the organization has reached new artistic heights by implementing innovative programming that emphasizes welcoming newcomers and loyalists alike, building on its reputation for championing music by living composers, and committing to programming music by women and people of color. Mr. Cabrera has also greatly changed the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s concert experience by expanding the scope and breadth of its orchestral concerts, hosting engaging and lively pre-concert conversations with guest artists and composers, and by creating the Spotlight Concert series that features the musicians of the Las Vegas Philharmonic in intimate chamber music performances. Deeply committed to diversity and education through the arts, Cabrera evaluates the scope, breadth, and content of the California Symphony and Las Vegas Philharmonic’s music education programs. In the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Cabrera will continue to work with California Symphony and Las Vegas Philharmonic to give vibrant, high-quality performances in a reimagined way that will keep musicians and audiences safe during COVID-19 restrictions. In March 2020, Mr. Cabrera launched two new online projects to stay engaged with audiences during the Coronavirus pandemic. MusicWise -Conversations about Art and Culture with Donato Cabrerais a weekly interview series presented on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. The Music Plays On is a series on Cabrera’s blog about his favorite performances and recordings.The Question of the Week is a continuation of the question from our episode with Aubrey Bergauer, "Does the field of classical music focus enough attention on its audiences?" Donato and I discuss what a community-minded approach looks like in the concert hall, why classical musicians are like brain surgeons, how classical music has brought him closer to his Mexican heritage, and the lessons he believes we will take from COVID-19. You can find out more about Donato on his website https://www.donatocabrera.com/

Called “one of the Boston music scene's most valuable players” by The Art Fuse,  percussionist, composer, and producer Julian Loida's musical curiosity and open-mindedness has propelled him towards a wide-range of sounds, genres, and artistic endeavors. He’s performed jazz, folk, and classical, collaborating with dancers, visual artists, songwriters/composers, and musicians of all stripes. The thirst to participate in and experience this range of sounds is partly a product of Loida’s synesthesia. Music is a full- body experience for him, with sounds often invoking involuntary sensations of color, texture, or even taste. Loida has toured internationally as a featured artist at Korrö, Sweden’s largest folk music festival, and played some of the most prestigious music festivals in the U.S. such as Spoleto, New World Festival, the Exit Zero jazz festival, Caramoor American Roots Festival, and Round Top Music Festival. He has performed with groups such as Alarm Will Sound, the Callithumpian Consort, and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. As an educator, Loida shares his scores and deep rhythmic knowledge with students of all ages. In 2017, he received his Master’s Degree in Classical Percussion from New England Conservatory. Julian is also the host and creator of A Millennial Musician, a podcast that speaks to young musicians about their journeys through music. The Question of the Week is, "What direction will the next generation of musician take us?" Julian and I discuss how his past experiences inform his current outlook on life, what we can learn from young musicians, common themes amongst the young musicians he has talked to, and his advice on having a good sense of rhythm. You can follow Julian and the podcast on Instagram @julianloida, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-millennial-musician/id1505891593