The Piano Pod, Season 1, Episode 15: James Redcay, MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall

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You are listening to the PianoPod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
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about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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Welcome back to another episode of the PianoPod.
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I'm Yukimi Song.
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I'm Clara Zhang.
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And I'm Eric Hunter.
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Let me start by asking some questions to you, viewers and listeners.
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And I'm sure you still clearly remember the moment that the pandemic became reality for
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you and for your loved ones and the moment you knew your life was about to change completely.
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My questions are, where were you in that moment?
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And were you with anyone?
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What did you hear?
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What was the feeling you experienced?
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Any physical symptoms you had?
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So I want to share my personal story.
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And that was back in early March 2020.
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And I was still living in the pre-pandemic lifestyle.
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And New York City was still open.
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And then I was teaching in-person lessons still.
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So I took a subway, but I was wearing the pair of latex gloves.
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And I bought this most expensive mask from Amazon.
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And then I was equipped and I took the subway.
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Then as I got out of the subway, there was a phone call.
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That phone call to me was the moment I realized, wow, this is real.
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I mean it.
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The life is changing completely.
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What was the phone call?
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The phone call, yeah, I was going to say the phone call on the other end was actually a
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very good friend of mine who is the guest of this episode.
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And then, so let me just before I continue my story, let me just introduce you to our
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guest today who is a pianist, composer, and educator of over two decades.
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He lived for six years abroad in Macau, China where he created and managed entertainment
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programs for the world's largest casino company, Las Vegas Sands.
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He's been back in the United States now and is now a senior executive overseeing operations
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and sales at Mid-America Productions, the most prolific presenter of choral concerts
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in the history of Carnegie Hall.
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So everyone, let's welcome Mr. James Redkay.
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Welcome James.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you for having me.
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Thank you.
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So let's just continue the story.
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So I received a call from you and then, you know, one of the things was that we usually
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text each other because our work schedules are so different.
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So you know, either email exchange or text.
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So that was just like a biggest alert.
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Oh my gosh, right.
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Then what also struck me was the tone of your voice, that tone of distress.
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And you know, usually you're like totally chilled and poised, but that wasn't the case.
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So that got me thinking, whoa, I am panicked.
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I am fearful.
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And so, and I was like trying to comfort you, but the only thing I could say was, oh, you
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know, it's going to be only three weeks.
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It started out as three weeks and then that became three months.
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And hopefully it's not going to be three years.
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Anyway, so let's talk about that content of the phone call.
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So I want to know exactly where you're calling from and what was the background?
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Well I was, it was a pretty remarkable time.
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I was in the middle of representing my company at a handful of regional conventions for the
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American Choral Directors Association or the ACDA, regional conventions that they hold
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every two years.
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And I had the first week of was March 2020.
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I was in Little Rock, Arkansas doing a convention there and COVID was, it was something that
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was in the news, but it wasn't something that seemed to be, you know, of great concern to
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everyone.
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And then that convention wrapped up and I ended up taking a short road trip through
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the South and made my way to Mobile, Alabama for the second convention that I was doing.
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And that's when I called you.
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And I remember that, I will never forget that convention.
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It was around the second week of March and you know, COVID had just started to be this
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thing that everyone was now starting to worry about.
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And I remember it very well.
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The convention ended on a Saturday, but this was Friday when Carnegie Hall announced that
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they were going to start closing and Broadway was going to close and cancel performances
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and concerts and you know, being there on the convention floor with all of these little
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booths that all of the vendors operate, we were just kind of having to bear witness to
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all of these things just closing and being canceled all across the country and especially
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in New York and in big metropolitan areas.
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And I remember very well, I was talking to a director who was talking to me about her
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program and you know, all the things that they were doing and all of these performances.
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And in the middle of talking to me, she had to stop and take a phone call from the president
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of her university who told her that she needed to get on a bus and get the kids and get them
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back to their hometown because the whole university was closing and she wasn't legally allowed
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to have the children on a trip, you know, have these students.
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And she had to just drop everything and run away, you know, completely end our conversation
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in the middle of it.
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And I just thought it was, it seemed like the beginning of, you know, the apocalypse
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or something happening.
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Everyone was heading for the hills.
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So you know, the convention ended early on Saturday.
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I remember the organizers came to us and they told the vendors, all the performances are
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canceled.
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Everyone's heading home.
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You're welcome to, you know, head out yourselves.
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There's probably not going to be anybody here and that really was the case.
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And I remember talking to you, I was on the balcony of, I think it was the downtown quality
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in Mobile, Alabama, where my hotel was living luxuriously, you know, and I just, you know,
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everything seemed to be kind of falling apart, you know.
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So at that time we thought that and that was only, I think we had two concerts canceled
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at Carnegie Hall at that point in time, which was two out of, I think, 15.
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Little did I know that only a month or so later, everything would be canceled for the
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entire year.
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And you know, the company I worked for has done 38 years of concerts, almost 600 concerts
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in that hall without ever having anything canceled on us.
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So it was quite an experience.
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Wow.
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Thank you for describing all that.
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I mean, I could only really sense, but what kind of scary experience that must have been,
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you know.
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So, but everybody can relate to that in so many ways because everybody experienced maybe
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in different ways, but the same thing.
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So now just to, I'm just curious to know, you know, New York state, tri-state area announced
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Monday that they're lifting all, almost all the pandemic restrictions by May 19th.
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And then mayor of New York city announced that the New York city will open a hundred
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percent by July 1st.
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So does that mean, does that include Carnegie Hall?
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Do you know anything about?
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I think part of the provisions in that, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm certainly not a
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public health official, but I've also seen that they're essentially planning to maintain
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social distancing, I think at various venues and restaurants and all of that in the city
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and the state.
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But Carnegie has a plan to reopen now for their fall season.
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I think that's September, October.
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It's been, it's been interesting working with them and you know, the company I work for
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has a huge history with them.
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And they've been very kind with us and been keeping us up to date as soon as they know
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what their, what their plans are, but they've been very incremental.
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And we understand that, you know, when you're the Metropolitan Opera or you're a Broadway
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production, you have huge sets and huge casts.
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And you know, it's, it's very difficult to open for one month out of an entire season.
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Whereas, you know, Carnegie can do a solo piano recital or a string quartet concert,
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and they have social distancing essentially built in, at least for the performers.
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They seem very optimistic about reopening in the fall, and we're very hopeful for that
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as well.
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Mid-America season operates essentially in from spring and summer of every year.
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So thankfully, our first concerts are not until March 2022.
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And I think we've learned our lesson in terms of trying to be prognosticators for the future.
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You know, the situation on the ground in September will be certainly different from the situation
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on the ground in March.
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So thankfully, we're being updated and we're just trying to follow, you know, as everyone
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is, I think, CDC guidelines and New York State and New York City public health guidelines.
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And who knows what the world will look like in a year or two.
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Everything looks pretty positive and hopeful.
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And I imagine we've all been vaccinated here.
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I hope so.
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And a lot of the people that I've been talking to around the country, because I talk to groups
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every day from Alaska to Florida and Maine to California, a lot of folks are as well.
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So everything looks like it's moving in the right direction.
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But I know all of these venues are being very, very careful about their plans, because social
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distancing is still going to, I think, be a part of any performance that happens certainly
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in 2021.
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Right.
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Thank you for updating that.
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Yeah.
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Hope that everything comes back, you know, as soon as possible.
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I miss going to shows and concerts.
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So who doesn't, right?
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So yeah, I've never seen the amount of desire to come and do live music concerts in New
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York, anywhere in the world.
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And so we're very optimistic about having a very big season in 2022.
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I mean, the only concert I played live personally as a pianist last year was a Christmas concert
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in a church a block from my home.
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And I was just so happy to be playing jingle bells, let alone a big cup of snot.
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It is what it is.
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Yeah.
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Let's just turn the clock backwards now.
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And so we went to NYU together.
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I mean, you're much younger, so I shouldn't say together, but you were undergrad and I
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was a graduate student, and we were in the same studio.
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So tell us about your background and what led to, you know, working and going to foreign
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country and so forth.
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But first of all, maybe your NYU and also as a composer.
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Sure, I, you know, as a child, piano was a big part of our family life.
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I have a lot of musicians in the family and both of my sisters had studied piano.
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And so as the baby of the family, it just seemed to be a natural thing that I started
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teaching myself to play when I was very young.
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And you know, for a long time throughout my adolescent childhood, I really actually wanted
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to be a concert pianist.
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And I was very fortunate at the time to study with a really excellent teacher in my teens
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who she was very harsh and very strict and a real disciplinarian.
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But one of the things that she really insisted that I practice and learn were all of the
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well-tempered clavier, preludes and fugues.
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And that was the thing that really actually started me thinking about composition and
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really thinking about, you know, getting under the hood of the car and seeing how everything
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actually worked.
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And so I started composing at a very late age.
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I was 15, 16 years old.
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But I decided that that was actually what I wanted to do as opposed to just be a pianist.
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So you know, when I was and I think I also valued a liberal arts education and being
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well-rounded, it's something that my parents also valued very much.
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And so NYU was it was a really a wonderful decision that I, you know, and that I was
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able to get in and that I was able to go.
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You know, I mean, I think you remember, you know, from our friendship and our time there,
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it was just being there was an education, musically in and of itself, let alone being
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in class and actually, you know, studying counterpoint and all of that.
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I mean, just to be there, you had the opportunity to to perform with other people who were like-minded
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and you were able to go and see 15 different concerts every night in New York City.
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And so I was fortunate in that I was able to actually work on my way through college
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and get a lot of experience.
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And you know, the education was, of course, top notch, too.
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So that didn't hurt anything.
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And also, I learned a lot from actually outside of campus.
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I learned a lot from streets of New York.
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Yeah.
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So I love the location of NYU.
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You know, you learn a lot.
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You see a lot.
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I just wanted to say that, James, although you say you started composing very late at
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15 or 16, I did not begin really composing myself seriously until I was 30.
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So I just want to remind our viewers that it's never too late.
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I always say that to students, too.
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Especially in this pandemic, I have seen so many adults.
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I mean, it was one of the things that I've actually seen.
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I thought that and I'm sure you all would agree.
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I thought that I would lose students from my private studio teaching throughout 2020
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because people would move or financial concerns.
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But I've grown a studio and it's been amazing to see how many people have flocked back to
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music and many adults that wanted to pick it up again.
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And I always tell folks the same thing.
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It's not too late to pick it up.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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So now I want to know all experiences after you graduated.
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So tell us what happened.
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So at the time, I graduated with my undergraduate degree and I had happened to be in a relationship
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with a person that was from Macau, China.
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And so I had thought in just my own crazy way, I would take a year off and I would go
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and live there and I would work abroad.
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And it seemed to me to be essentially a sort of a personal study abroad in a way to have
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another experience that was outside the usual mainstream way of graduating and getting a
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job and doing things.
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And so I think two days after I graduated at NYU, I actually got on a flight and I moved.
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I had been there a few times prior to visit.
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And so I ended up by a circuitous way, I ended up teaching for the Macau Conservatory there
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and doing things like ballet accompanying at the piano and all of these things.
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And I taught there for about three years.
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And I had briefly considered coming back and doing graduate work or whatnot, but I ended
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up meeting, it's a small place, it's only about 10 square miles as the country goes.
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So everybody knows everybody, especially in the arts.
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I ended up meeting someone who managed the entertainment program for the Venetian Macau,
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which was at the time, it was the largest casino in Macau.
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And of course, Macau is this huge gambling mecca that makes six or seven times what Las
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Vegas makes.
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And the Venetian there is essentially a copy of the Venetian that's in Las Vegas.
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So I met this person that had managed these programs and they needed someone, amazingly,
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who had a composition background to come on board and rearrange shows that they did live
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in the casino, in the shopping malls that they had.
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They have a 300 shop mall there.
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And they did programs with classically trained vocalists, violinists, pianists, cellists,
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guitarists, flautists, you name it.
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And they would do a 30 minute show here, a 10 minute show there.
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And I had gotten into, it was something that was very not in my wheelhouse is an understatement
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to be in that kind of an industry and that kind of a business setting.
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It is, there is a big gap between entertainment and the arts in some ways.
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And that was very scary for me.
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But I thought, what the heck, I will give it a try.
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And I ended up re-editing and rearranging all of these shows that they did.
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And then it was very fun to do.
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It was a big challenge.
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And I ended up also seeing that the department that was there was, they had about 120 to
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about 130 full time musicians that were incredibly capable, incredibly talented.
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Some really of the finest musicians that I had met.
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And they hailed from all of these countries around Southeast Asia.
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And it was really kind of, it was really remarkable.
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So I made many friends there.
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And it was something that I ended up finding that I really enjoyed it.
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You know, I know you as, especially you're more like a Mozart Bach Beethoven player.
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So knowing that and then working in casino just always blows my mind.
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It's a huge mental transition from the wall tempered clavier to O Sole Mio.
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But it can be done.
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And so I was there and I was working in kind of this coordinator supervisor, technically
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sort of a lead artist capacity in this department.
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And the company was always building, building, building, building more casinos, building
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more hotels.
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And I was there for about six months.
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And I had put in a lot of time and worked weekends and all of that.
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This was around 2011 when after the global recession in 2008, things were starting to
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pick up again and the economy was roaring and booming, especially there.
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And the company started construction again on a property across the street from the Venetian
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called Sands Cotai Central.
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And when it was built, it was actually the largest integrated resort in the world.
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It was a 6,000 room hotel.
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And they needed someone in the company to go over and create and manage and lead the
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entertainment department there.
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And so I was very fortunate that I was there at the time and I must have done enough overtime
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that they asked me to go and do that.
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So that was another just it was an incredible learning experience.
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I was very fortunate to be able to do that job.
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Wow.
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James, I have so many questions for you now.
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You know, I'm originally from China, so I've been to my Cal a few times.
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Well, actually, really after I came here because I was too young to, I guess, go gamble, you
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know.
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So I was in Hong Kong teaching some master classes.
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We just took a boat.
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I mean, first of all, what language do you speak?
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Do you just use English when you're in Macau because they use Portuguese and Cantonese?
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No.
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My Portuguese is terrible.
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I only know a few words.
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And there's not much you know, it's interesting.
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The accountants, there's the official there's two official languages, which are Cantonese
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and Portuguese.
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But really in business, you know, people mostly speak English or they speak either Mandarin
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or Cantonese.
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When I worked at the Macau Conservatory, everything was in Mandarin or Cantonese.
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And I was the only Westerner in the school.
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And so nothing was done in English.
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Even the documents weren't done in English.
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Do you understand Mandarin?
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My Mandarin is very limited.
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Okay.
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Mostly to ballet terminology and then anything else.
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But I learned quite a bit of Cantonese while I was there.
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So I was able to get around and take care of myself and not be totally lost.
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Wow.
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You're a living a dream.
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That must be fun.
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I mean, I know I'm thinking I've been to Macau a few times, but I think I've only been to
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the casinos.
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That's that's like the only places people go.
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Right.
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But so when you were there, like, where do the musicians like what do they do other than,
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I mean, they play for the shows.
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So you said there's a big conservatory as well.
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There is.
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I mean, it still is in some ways a sleepy fishing town, you know, that it's been for
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thousands of years.
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I mean, it's an interesting place because it is it is the oldest and it was the first
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and it was the last European colony in Asia.
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Actually, the Portuguese were there before the British were in Hong Kong.
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And they gave it back to China two years after the British gave back Hong Kong.
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So it has an incredible assimilation of cultures there.
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I mean, there are times there are streets when you walk down that you think you're in
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Lisbon and not in China.
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And I think much like in Hong Kong, people appreciate being somewhat separate from the
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mainland, just quite frankly.
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But there is there's just an incredible culture there and an incredible history.
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You know, there's all these UNESCO World Heritage sites.
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And I think it's very different from Vegas in that way.
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You know, Vegas was created as this stopover point in this gambling town.
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McConnell was there for thousands of years before the Portuguese got there.
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Really before the gambling industry, of course, started, which was not that old.
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It's only been there for 60, 70 years.
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So I mean, the musicians there, there's a symphony orchestra that's there.
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There are opera performances that are there.
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There's actually a pretty lively musical scene in terms of classical music concerts.
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So there's there's quite a bit to do, but I think in general, a lot of the musicians
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also teach privately and have studios and things like that.
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That's very interesting.
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Yeah.
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But with all these interesting encounter with people and experiences, then after six years,
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you're back in the United States again in New York City area and you're working as right
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now at Mid America.
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So can you tell us about what exactly you do?
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Oh, absolutely.
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Mid America is a very, very, I think, kind of fascinating entity in and of itself.
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So the company was started in 1983 by its founder, Peter Taboris.
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And essentially, Mid America is kind of the original company that in New York has created
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festival choir performances at Lincoln Center, some, but by and large in majority at Carnegie
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Hall.
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At this point, we've done something like five hundred and ninety two concerts in Stern Auditorium
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and a number of concerts in the hundreds in in Wild Hall as well.
364
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And essentially what we do is we invite conductors from all around the country, largely from
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the United States, but sometimes from Canada, Mexico, all around the world.
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And these are folks that are directors of choral activities at major universities.
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Sometimes they're very accomplished directors from community masterwork, adult choirs.
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Sometimes they're very accomplished children's choir directors on the national scene.
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And we invite them to participate in a concert, in a program that they do the vast majority
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of the programming themselves from a repertoire standpoint.
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And then we invite choirs on their behalf at their personal recommendation and referral
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to us to participate in that program.
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The choirs all pay a small per person registration fee and they get to come here for five days
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to New York City and do rehearsals with the conductor.
375
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They all come together.
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They kind of have this educational collaborative experience.
377
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,860
They do a concert with a full orchestra, which we contract to do the concerts.
378
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We do the concert at Carnegie Hall.
379
00:27:19,020 --> 00:27:21,760
We do a cruise after the after every concert.
380
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,760
We must have done six hundred cruises now down through New York Harbor and Statue of
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00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:27,260
Liberty and all that.
382
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And then they go home.
383
00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:32,480
And that has not changed in thirty eight years, really.
384
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:33,560
Wow.
385
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,440
It includes a lot of different elements to it.
386
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,200
Educational and and it's fun.
387
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:48,160
You know, people from outside of New York come to learn and also to enjoy the tourists
388
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,160
tourism.
389
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:50,160
Yeah.
390
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:55,080
I always call what we do an experience.
391
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,480
And it's kind of ironic to me because that was a word that I never really used until
392
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,800
I worked for Sands in Macau.
393
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,400
And we always talked about that as the integrated resort experience.
394
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,320
You're having entertainment and then you're having shopping and then you're going gambling
395
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,440
and then you have a hotel and all of that kind of stuff.
396
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,080
And here it's it's in a similar way.
397
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,440
It's just a very multifaceted thing.
398
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:26,360
You know, you can of course you can book a recital and come in, practice, do your recital
399
00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:28,480
and then leave.
400
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,720
And you can do that whether you're a pianist or you're a two hundred person choir.
401
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:41,000
But the the the value in what we do is that you're giving an opportunity to be on the
402
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:47,360
world's one of the world's greatest stages, if not this country's greatest stage, to folks
403
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:53,360
from every walk of life, every socioeconomic background, really.
404
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:59,240
And without a sort of aesthetic judgment as to what they can and cannot program, you know,
405
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,880
as long as it fits within a time limit that we have for every program and the orchestra
406
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:10,440
that we contract, which is a 60 person professional orchestra, we will do that.
407
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:19,120
And even though the choirs do the members pay to perform, essentially, they they have
408
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:24,880
an experience that is, you know, by and large, you can be in New York for five days and go
409
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,760
shopping on Madison Avenue and spend a heck of a lot more money doing so.
410
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:35,520
I would say every year I get a call from one or two teachers that tell me that they were
411
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,960
students on a concert that in America did in 1987 or 88.
412
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:42,960
And now they want to bring their choir.
413
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:48,660
So there's a huge legacy to what has been achieved just by doing these concerts and
414
00:29:48,660 --> 00:29:52,720
having people having all of these people.
415
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:57,600
We estimated somewhere around one hundred and fifty thousand individuals have passed
416
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,400
through the stage over these 38 years.
417
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:07,280
So a lot of people that wouldn't have had that opportunity if Carnegie Hall's internal
418
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,400
concert season had to come a knocking, you know, really.
419
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:18,040
And maybe they and by and large, many of them have deserved that that opportunity and then
420
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,040
come.
421
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:20,840
So, yeah, been a wonderful thing.
422
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:25,880
And if anything, I think it's a motivating experience to, you know, when I I remember
423
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,880
when I was when I first came to this country, I went to Kansas to study.
424
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:35,720
And but Carnegie Hall, I mean, I came I was out here on tour at first before I moved to
425
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:36,760
Kansas.
426
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,480
But then they perform in all like Lincoln Center, you know, but we didn't get to perform
427
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:41,480
in Carnegie Hall.
428
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:47,520
And partially, it's just like to me, like to play in Carnegie Hall, you have to be somebody.
429
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:48,520
Right.
430
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,920
Like that was in Kansas and they were going on this tour.
431
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:57,000
And I think I remember I was being chosen as a conductor, the only female conductor.
432
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,640
And they were like, oh, you could go on this tour and we're going to have a concert.
433
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,200
It was like too good to be true that I I couldn't even trust it.
434
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,080
So I actually never came.
435
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:10,160
And I actually later on auditioned at NYU.
436
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,000
And I remember I was sitting across the street from the deli.
437
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:18,840
Like whenever we had a second, you know, I would just like observe all the glory in Carnegie
438
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:19,840
Hall.
439
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,520
And then I remember there was Kissin that just came out of like the rehearsal hall or
440
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:25,520
something with his students.
441
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:27,240
And I was like in shock.
442
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,880
And my friend was like taking a picture of me.
443
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,640
So I'm curious to know what was like for you to be inside.
444
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,520
You know, I mean, I remember I finally played in Carnegie Hall when I was like 28.
445
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,960
It was like finally a dream come true.
446
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:43,920
But for you, you were there all the time.
447
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:44,920
No.
448
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:45,920
Well, it's an interesting note.
449
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:47,120
You mentioned him.
450
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,120
You mentioned Kissin.
451
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:52,600
I mean, I remember once being at the hall and I was right at the backstage door talking
452
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,880
with talking with the owner of our company.
453
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,720
And he just kind of stormed in and walked past us.
454
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,520
And I had to do a double take that it was him walking in.
455
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:08,440
But you know, I went backstage then to Stern Hall, the largest hall.
456
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:14,680
And he was they have, you know, TV cameras that are monitors for all of the halls in
457
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:16,640
the backstage of each one of them.
458
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:22,600
And I happened to see that he was practicing in I think it was Zang Hill Hall at the time.
459
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:28,640
And the some of the stagehands were at the you know, at the mixing board and all of that.
460
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,200
And we we hadn't started our own dress rehearsal yet.
461
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,480
We had, you know, three or four hundred people waiting to go.
462
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:36,920
And I just turned to some of the stagehands.
463
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,080
I said, you know, was that him?
464
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:40,600
And they confirmed it was.
465
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,900
And then we had been doing a dress rehearsal for four, maybe three, four hours.
466
00:32:44,900 --> 00:32:46,720
And I went back and he was still there.
467
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,080
And every time I had gone downstairs, he was still there.
468
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,280
And I said to the one of the head stagehands, I said, has he moved?
469
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:57,900
And they said, no, no, no, we give him the space for eight hours.
470
00:32:57,900 --> 00:32:59,960
And he he doesn't he doesn't move.
471
00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,840
He barely gets up to run, you know, run to the restroom.
472
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:03,920
He doesn't eat.
473
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,320
He just practices straight through.
474
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,240
And he has eight or 10 hours and he's done and he comes back the next day and does the
475
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:11,240
concert.
476
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,000
And I mean, that's wonderful.
477
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,280
You know, I mean, that is sort of it's what we've all been.
478
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:23,680
Taught or shown or, you know, kind of shown as a young child, I think, and as we as we
479
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:29,680
grow up and go through music school, that that is what a musician is, you know.
480
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,320
And I think the experience that I've had with Mid America is that, you know, you start to
481
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:38,960
see the value in more than just this focused definition of what an artist is.
482
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,400
I mean, there's value in all sides of it, but there's a spectrum, right?
483
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:48,560
There's people that, you know, perform in recitals from, you know, Texarkana to Tacoma
484
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,160
and to, you know, Santa Fe to wherever.
485
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,280
And they make beautiful music.
486
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:59,500
You know, I mean, the the great thing about Mid America in a way is we're not in the business
487
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:04,120
of judging who can and cannot have this experience.
488
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:10,540
And I thought when I joined, I remember thinking to myself because I I hold myself to a pretty
489
00:34:10,540 --> 00:34:12,100
high standard performing.
490
00:34:12,100 --> 00:34:15,480
I thought, you know, what are the concerts going to be like that we do?
491
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:20,800
You know, and I have seen some that, you know, went off better than others to a certain degree.
492
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:26,200
But I amazingly, I've never seen us do a concert that I didn't think was Carnegie worthy, at
493
00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,200
least above a certain bar.
494
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:34,920
But that hall just has a way of kind of catalyzing everyone that's performing there to up their
495
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,600
game, you know, to as an understatement.
496
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,840
Yeah, I mean, I remember some of those friends that came back from the performance, you know,
497
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,280
and I didn't know growing up in Asia, it's like you have to make up your decision on
498
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,200
what you want to do when you're like three years old.
499
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:49,200
Right.
500
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,440
But then I remember a couple of friends, they weren't even sure if they were going to be
501
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:53,440
a musician yet.
502
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,040
But after the tour, they came back, they were like, yeah, this is what I'm going to do.
503
00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:02,120
And they make a very successful career, you know, I think partially because of this experience.
504
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,720
So you guys are doing amazing work over there.
505
00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:09,600
Well, it's good to see a young generation be able to be there too.
506
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,160
I mean, I will say it always makes me laugh.
507
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:18,240
The backstage at Carnegie is of course, very, very small.
508
00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:21,640
And you know, being built 130 years ago.
509
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:26,500
And so all of their standby rooms that they have for, they call them orchestra rooms,
510
00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:31,840
but they're really just standby rooms are on floors that are sometimes five or six flights
511
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,880
of stairs above the stage level.
512
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:44,060
And we are because we have choirs that are oftentimes 100 to 200, 250 people, we have
513
00:35:44,060 --> 00:35:47,880
to line everybody up in their rows to get them on stage properly.
514
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,160
We can't have them take elevators, of course.
515
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,440
And so, you know, we're always lining people up and walking them downstairs.
516
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,440
And you know, the young students, especially when they're in high school are always, you
517
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:02,680
know, always venting about having to walk up and down stairs.
518
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,480
Ironically, it's usually not the adults, it's usually the kids.
519
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,120
And I always tell them, you know, many famous people took these stairs.
520
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,600
I told them Vladimir Horowitz took these stairs, Edith Theoph took these stairs.
521
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,680
I try and relate and I say the Beatles took these stairs.
522
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:21,440
And by and large, high schoolers nowadays don't know who the Beatles were, you know.
523
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:28,280
Wow, but you know, as hearing your stories, like, you know, it's not just performers comes
524
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:33,560
in different shapes and sizes, you know, as you mentioned about kissing, being eight hours
525
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:38,880
in that room and practicing, but also there are a bunch of people from different states
526
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,520
and perform at Carnegie Hall.
527
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:47,160
It's like a really people's place, right, to express themselves and the Carnegie Hall
528
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:48,160
is.
529
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:56,040
But also there are people like yourself managing those events and backstage.
530
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,880
So you are a musician and then that's part you're part of it.
531
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:07,080
So it takes a village really to have that amazing experience, either whether either
532
00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:12,400
as a musician or as an audience to experience the whole thing.
533
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:13,400
It takes a village.
534
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,800
And that's what you are describing.
535
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,160
So that's very encouraging to know as a musician.
536
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:25,320
It's not this one thing that you are supposed you meant to do, but there are a whole lot
537
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,240
as a musician you can do right.
538
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:34,320
Well, you know, when I was in Macau and I was finally managing, you know, at the height
539
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:39,920
of our department size, we had about 110 artists.
540
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:44,920
Plus we had a management team of about five to six people that were all direct reports
541
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:46,400
to me.
542
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:55,880
And so I found myself at the age of 25, 26, responsible for the operation of a department
543
00:37:55,880 --> 00:38:02,440
that size, plus all of these very talented, kind, deserving people.
544
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:10,680
And it always struck me that, A, I knew that my success as a manager trying to accomplish
545
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:15,460
something was really based upon the success of all the people that were working with me
546
00:38:15,460 --> 00:38:17,720
and for me.
547
00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:21,040
And I also realized that, you know, everyone who was working there was probably spending
548
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:27,400
more of their working day at work than they were spending at home.
549
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:34,400
And so I kind of took it very, I tried to take it very seriously, the obligation to
550
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:41,120
create a good working environment and create a pathway for people to grow, to learn new
551
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,520
skills, to stay.
552
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:49,160
I developed a saying when I was there, I called it facilitating other people's success.
553
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,040
And that's what we try and do at Mid America now.
554
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:58,080
I tell everyone that we bring on who's helping to manage and produce that, you know, we're
555
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:03,080
not the ones making the music on the stage, but we play a very vital role in making this
556
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,080
all happen.
557
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:09,900
And, you know, as you said, you came in, there's, we have folks that, you know, I would say
558
00:39:09,900 --> 00:39:14,560
probably the majority of people that are on our concerts, you know, this might be the
559
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,840
first time that they're ever in New York City.
560
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:21,000
So there's a whole nother element to all of this, which is, which goes beyond even the
561
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:22,280
performance.
562
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:28,680
It's a cultural experience, it's an educational experience just by getting out of their hometowns,
563
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,400
you know, getting out of the states where they live.
564
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:38,000
And since many of them are young, it's their first view of, you know, a different environment,
565
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,280
you know, certainly.
566
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,080
It's kind of a cultural exchange, right?
567
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:47,680
It is, especially when you're trying to walk everyone through Grand Central Station, you
568
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:49,680
know, eight in the morning.
569
00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:55,000
Yeah, well, New York has its own culture that is certainly unique.
570
00:39:55,000 --> 00:40:00,080
Now we can't avoid this question, so we have to get to it.
571
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:02,720
So it's about COVID.
572
00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:13,040
So how are you guys doing and how did your company handle it when, you know, first we
573
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:20,800
received the news and what has been the most challenging thing experienced, obviously halting
574
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:25,360
its operation itself in itself is extremely difficult.
575
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,600
But you know, how are you handling all the bookings and so forth?
576
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:37,480
Well, it was, I mean, 2020 was just a very difficult year, of course, you know, for every
577
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:45,840
musician and along the whole spectrum, I mean, being a concert producer, being a musician,
578
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:52,400
we of course had to because by the New York State guidelines and the New York City guidelines
579
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,400
and executive orders, the hole was closed for the entirety of the year.
580
00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:03,160
So and it's been closed, of course, this year up until the fall.
581
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:11,440
So we have had to kind of chart our way through two years of no concerts and two years then
582
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,000
of no revenue.
583
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:21,200
And so, you know, we were I remember clearly after that phone call I had with you in March
584
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:26,720
of last year, and, you know, I said to myself sitting down at the desk in that quality and
585
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:29,720
I said, you know, I'm really going to need to go back on Monday morning and I need to
586
00:41:29,720 --> 00:41:35,000
sit down with, you know, our heads of finance and our heads of, you know, program development
587
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:36,120
and these things.
588
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:41,800
And we have to chart some way forward because this is going to be quite difficult.
589
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:48,200
You know, we took all of the performances that were set to take place in 2020 and we
590
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:53,360
superimposed them on a calendar of 2021.
591
00:41:53,360 --> 00:42:02,360
And we offered every group the ability to move to 2021 or to receive some partial refund
592
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:08,280
of monies that would not have been spent going into the actual production of the concert.
593
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:13,880
The vast majority chose to stick it out for a year.
594
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:19,640
And plane tickets removed, hotels removed, etc.
595
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:25,720
Now with the cancellation of Carnegie's 2021 season, we had to do the exact same thing.
596
00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:31,840
It was the worst deja vu ever of having to go back to everyone and explain the same situation
597
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,280
over and over again.
598
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:39,960
I think the vast majority of groups appreciated the fact that even if we could have done a
599
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:45,920
concert in some shape and form, which of course now is not the case, we know now, but in December
600
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,320
and November of last year, we weren't sure.
601
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:53,000
You know, we were very communicative about saying, look, when you're here, can you eat
602
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,040
at a restaurant with 20 students?
603
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,640
Can you be on a bus with 20 students?
604
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:02,040
Do you know how you're going to be able to do a hotel accommodation if you're booking
605
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,400
it on your own?
606
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:05,400
There were so many.
607
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:11,320
I mean, I think one of the themes of this year has been, and this pandemic is just the
608
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:21,480
lack of assuredness that life as we know it can be normal.
609
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:26,000
And so, you know, the crews that we do after every concert, the boats are humongous.
610
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,700
There are three and four levels and they have the seating capacity of 600 people.
611
00:43:31,700 --> 00:43:36,060
In any other year, that would be a pretty awesome experience.
612
00:43:36,060 --> 00:43:40,400
In a year like this, it seems like that is, you know, the last place people would want
613
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:41,400
to be.
614
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:42,400
Right.
615
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:50,440
So we were, again, fortunate that the majority of groups moved over from 2021 to 2022.
616
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:54,680
And now we're actively developing that season.
617
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:59,480
And it's been a good experience.
618
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:05,360
It's been remarkable that we have so much interest to travel and to perform with live
619
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:06,360
music again.
620
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:12,720
You know, we're being cautiously optimistic because I have conversations every day with
621
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:17,960
educators around the country who are still waiting on school boards to approve travel,
622
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:22,480
are still waiting for the school board to say they can take children outside of the
623
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:31,000
state for universities to end lockdowns for various COVID outbreaks they have on campus.
624
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,760
So you know, we still have to kind of wait and see.
625
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,300
But we're very, very optimistic with the amount of desire.
626
00:44:38,300 --> 00:44:41,040
It's just overwhelming at this point.
627
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:50,040
Has this pandemic changed the way the company operates or any biggest lessons you learned?
628
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:54,520
And maybe you can change that toward the future if you could share.
629
00:44:54,520 --> 00:45:00,480
I think, you know, one of the things that we have that we have certainly learned from
630
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:05,680
this and that we're trying to update, too, is the way in which people register.
631
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:11,100
You know, we've understood that people haven't been rehearsing, that people the mechanisms
632
00:45:11,100 --> 00:45:18,120
by which people plan these concerts has changed, of course, dramatically over the year.
633
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,720
Both choirs aren't rehearsing, they can't talk to each other, they can't disseminate
634
00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:23,100
information that way.
635
00:45:23,100 --> 00:45:27,240
They also can't collect registrations and deposits that way.
636
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:34,400
So one of the things we're very thankful for doing is that we've we have implemented an
637
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:41,080
online platform for individual choristers or family and friends and school chaperones
638
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:46,660
and all of that to register online, which is something that amazingly for 38 years we
639
00:45:46,660 --> 00:45:48,100
had never had at the company.
640
00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:51,960
We had we were always able to do everything by ensembles.
641
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:58,600
So we're really hoping that with a larger social media presence and more marketing directed
642
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:05,160
towards individuals participating in concerts, we might see quite a dramatic shift.
643
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:09,320
I think it's going to take a few years, but we're going to see a shift in the number of
644
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:14,200
individual people seeing a concert on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter that they want to
645
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:19,600
participate in and being able to just sign up and do that, just like you would buy a
646
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:23,800
ticket to go to Paris or a ticket to go to Beijing.
647
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:25,840
Wonderful.
648
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:27,080
Last question.
649
00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:32,200
So any advice for young musicians and composers?
650
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:41,840
I mean, I think just in general, you want to kind of be you want to keep an open mind
651
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,680
in everything that you do.
652
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:51,240
And I think, you know, trying to find trying to grow your own skills and grow your experiences
653
00:46:51,240 --> 00:46:58,900
is really key to just your own personal and professional development.
654
00:46:58,900 --> 00:47:04,320
You know, I always would tell any any young persons that are just getting out of college
655
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:10,800
or school that going abroad and living abroad is is a remarkable experience.
656
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:17,200
And it gets you out of your comfort zone and it forces you to rethink your own home country
657
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:21,320
and how you were raised.
658
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:23,920
And it gets you to see things from other people's perspectives.
659
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:31,160
So I think that that is every young person should do that if they're able to.
660
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:38,720
And another thing that I always found so important at Sands certainly was we always asked our
661
00:47:38,720 --> 00:47:43,920
employees to, you know, we would take care of you and we would help you and we would
662
00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:44,920
support you.
663
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:49,080
But, you know, please, as much as you can say yes, if we ask you to do something that's
664
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:56,120
a little bit outside of your outside of your wheelhouse, outside of your your main view,
665
00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:57,120
it would not.
666
00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,080
I mean, it's kind of interesting.
667
00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:06,100
It wouldn't, I guess, surprise surprise us at this time that among the people that hailed
668
00:48:06,100 --> 00:48:13,280
from various countries, you know, among those people that we stopped hiring first were oftentimes
669
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:19,040
young Americans who were extremely talented and extremely educated, but wouldn't do anything
670
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:22,880
beyond what their contract asked them to do.
671
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:27,080
Not one minute more, not one note more of playing.
672
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:34,800
And so the you know, and I have no fault, of course, with folks that want to protect
673
00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:36,480
themselves in various ways in the workplace.
674
00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:39,800
I think that's extremely important.
675
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,760
At the same time, it's very hard to it's very hard to move anywhere.
676
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:46,520
And it's very hard to develop and grow.
677
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:50,440
If you're not willing to do something that's, you know, you haven't been trained for 10
678
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:54,760
years to do it, you know, you have to have a little bit of faith in yourself that you
679
00:48:54,760 --> 00:49:01,400
can accomplish more than what is just your normal everyday thing.
680
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:03,600
Great.
681
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,040
Thank you, James.
682
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:06,040
All right.
683
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:12,440
So the piano pods rapid fire questions for James Redkay.
684
00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:13,440
Question number one.
685
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:14,440
Are you ready?
686
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:19,480
Ready, ready, set and raring to go.
687
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:22,480
What is your comfort food?
688
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:25,080
Pasta I would say.
689
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:27,080
Cats or dogs?
690
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:30,080
Naturally cats, as you know me.
691
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:31,160
Yes.
692
00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:39,280
What is your word or words to live by?
693
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:40,280
Service.
694
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:41,280
Great.
695
00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:42,280
That's great.
696
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:43,980
All right.
697
00:49:43,980 --> 00:49:50,360
What is the most important quality you look for in people?
698
00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:56,000
I would say just a general professionalism in terms of being there, showing up on time
699
00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:59,280
and doing what you're asked to do.
700
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:00,600
Great.
701
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:08,160
What is the worst quality in people you want to stay away from?
702
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:14,720
I think having an overinflated sense of and sense of yourself and your own ego.
703
00:50:14,720 --> 00:50:16,880
All right.
704
00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:18,080
I will continue.
705
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:23,560
What is something that makes you happy?
706
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:24,560
Music in general.
707
00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:30,960
If I didn't still have a piano at home and play, life would not be quite the same.
708
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:32,840
That's a good answer.
709
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:38,320
What is your pet peeve?
710
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:40,280
I think kind of the same.
711
00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:44,160
Well I would say not being able to write an email very well.
712
00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:45,800
That's always a big one for me.
713
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,840
After you read plenty every single day.
714
00:50:48,840 --> 00:50:55,160
Name three people who inspired you, living or dead.
715
00:50:55,160 --> 00:51:01,120
That's a very good question.
716
00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:03,680
I would say Abraham Lincoln.
717
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:08,760
That's always a great, I'm a big history buff, so that's a huge one for me.
718
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:14,480
I would say Glenn Gould is one of my all-time favorite pianists.
719
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:21,360
I would actually have to say my lovely wife Tao, who is a great inspiration and has accomplished
720
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:23,880
a lot in her own life.
721
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:25,360
And congratulations again.
722
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:31,000
He just got married.
723
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,560
Which historic figure or composer do you want to learn or take lessons from if he or she
724
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:38,560
were alive?
725
00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:40,840
That's a good question.
726
00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:46,240
I think that actually if I had to meet and interact with any of them, the most interesting
727
00:51:46,240 --> 00:51:52,720
for me would be Skriyaben, I think who was just a phenomenal pianist, an amazing composer,
728
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:58,560
and sadly so many, no one really took up his mantle, I think very fully in terms of what
729
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:00,560
he was trying to accomplish.
730
00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:02,800
I see.
731
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:08,240
And which historic figure or composer do you wish to hang out at the bar if he or she were
732
00:52:08,240 --> 00:52:09,240
alive?
733
00:52:09,240 --> 00:52:12,160
Definitely Mozart.
734
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:16,840
I think he would be the most fun.
735
00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:18,840
Bach would give me homework, I'm sure.
736
00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:22,920
Work, work, work, as hard as you can.
737
00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:29,680
All right, James, name one piece in your current playlist.
738
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:33,520
I would say John Adams' Dharma at the Big Sur.
739
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:37,800
It's a wonderful piece of music and a favorite of mine.
740
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:39,240
Excellent.
741
00:52:39,240 --> 00:52:42,840
What about a book that you are currently reading?
742
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:48,840
I'm actually reading, I'm rereading Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, which I have
743
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:51,640
on the back there, but I have it on my Kindle.
744
00:52:51,640 --> 00:52:57,440
And for anybody that is interested in management or learning how to deal with people, it's
745
00:52:57,440 --> 00:52:59,240
a great, great read.
746
00:52:59,240 --> 00:53:00,240
Oh, fantastic.
747
00:53:00,240 --> 00:53:04,200
You only get one song or piece to listen to for the rest of your life.
748
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:07,200
What is it?
749
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:14,600
Wow, that is a difficult, difficult question.
750
00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:16,560
Like everybody's nightmare.
751
00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:21,720
I know.
752
00:53:21,720 --> 00:53:25,160
I don't know if I could, I don't know, there's just so many that I don't know if I could
753
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:26,160
pick one.
754
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:27,160
Just pick one.
755
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:31,120
Name the first thing that comes to your mind.
756
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:34,560
I was actually thinking of Perz, Furlina.
757
00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:38,040
It's a small one of his first works for piano.
758
00:53:38,040 --> 00:53:39,040
Beautiful piece.
759
00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:40,040
Yep.
760
00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:41,040
Yep.
761
00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:42,040
All right.
762
00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:43,040
And fill in the blank.
763
00:53:43,040 --> 00:53:47,040
Music is blank.
764
00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:48,040
Music is cathartic.
765
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:49,040
Lovely.
766
00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:50,040
Ding ding.
767
00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:55,240
That's the end of rapid fire questions.
768
00:53:55,240 --> 00:53:56,240
You are the winner.
769
00:53:56,240 --> 00:53:59,240
You win, you win, you win.
770
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:01,480
I'll pick up my prize.
771
00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:06,280
This concludes this episode of the PianoPod and thank you, James, for joining our show
772
00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:10,040
today and sharing your wisdom and expertise.
773
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:13,700
And thank you to our audience for tuning in.
774
00:54:13,700 --> 00:54:19,520
If you enjoyed today's episode, please read and review on whatever pasting platform you
775
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:20,520
use.
776
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:25,960
If you are watching it from YouTube, please hit the thumbs up button and be sure to subscribe
777
00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:27,560
to our channel.
778
00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:32,720
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
779
00:54:32,720 --> 00:54:36,200
The links are in the description below.
780
00:54:36,200 --> 00:54:39,440
And if you have feedback for us, we'd love to hear it in the comments.
781
00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:46,720
You can DM us or you can always email us at the pianopodnyc at gmail.com.
782
00:54:46,720 --> 00:54:50,760
Hope to see you for the next episode of the PianoPod.
783
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:51,760
Bye everyone.
784
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:52,760
Bye everybody.
785
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:53,760
Bye.
786
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:54,760
Thank you, James.
787
00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:55,760
Thank you, James.
788
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:56,760
Thank you for having me.
789
00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:57,760
Thank you.
790
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:26,760
Thank you.