🎬 TPP LIVE IN CONCERT REPRISE | Recorded Live at Mannes Prep, The New School

WEBVTT
00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.089
Hello friends, welcome to a new episode of the
00:00:03.089 --> 00:00:05.450
PianoPod. And this one is a little different,
00:00:05.570 --> 00:00:08.269
because it comes straight from our very first
00:00:08.269 --> 00:00:11.310
live event, the PianoPod Live in Concert, which
00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.650
took place and was recorded on October 4, 2025
00:00:14.650 --> 00:00:18.469
at Stiefel Hall at the New School in collaboration
00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:22.230
with Manus Prep. This project had been cooking
00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:25.829
for over a year, and it finally happened. For
00:00:25.829 --> 00:00:28.510
me, it was truly a dream come true, a moment
00:00:28.510 --> 00:00:31.390
where I could bring together all parts of my
00:00:31.390 --> 00:00:34.549
background in piano, education, and journalism
00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:38.429
broadcasting. Those live hosting chops had to
00:00:38.429 --> 00:00:41.490
be dusted off, but after years of producing this
00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:44.189
show, I felt completely at home on stage again.
00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:48.270
And oh boy, so many people showed up. The hall
00:00:48.270 --> 00:00:51.549
was full of energy with artists, educators, students,
00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:54.649
and longtime listeners coming together to celebrate
00:00:54.649 --> 00:00:57.990
creativity and connection through music and conversation.
00:00:58.530 --> 00:01:02.469
A huge thank you to Manus Prep and their director,
00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:06.109
Caroline Sonnet Asser, for their partnership
00:01:06.109 --> 00:01:09.290
and generosity in making this collaboration possible.
00:01:09.769 --> 00:01:13.090
And of course, to Donna Wang Friedman, who was
00:01:13.090 --> 00:01:16.170
not only one of our featured guests, but also
00:01:16.170 --> 00:01:19.290
one of the show's biggest supporters for connecting
00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:22.109
us and helping us this wonderful collaboration
00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:25.709
come to life. If you are new to The Piano Pod,
00:01:25.890 --> 00:01:29.930
please visit thepianopod .com and follow us on
00:01:29.930 --> 00:01:33.709
YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts to catch
00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:36.489
more inspiring conversations and performances.
00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:40.769
And now, please enjoy this special episode, The
00:01:40.769 --> 00:01:44.230
Piano Pod Live in Concert, a bold new chapter
00:01:44.230 --> 00:01:52.670
in classical music. You are listening to The
00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:55.090
Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds
00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:57.569
in the industry about how they are bringing the
00:01:57.569 --> 00:02:00.530
piano into the future and thriving in a complex,
00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:06.500
ever -evolving world. Good afternoon, everyone,
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:09.419
and welcome to the PianoPod Live in Concert,
00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.099
a bold new chapter in classical music. My name
00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:16.500
is Yukimi Song, and I am the host and the creator
00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:20.240
and executive producer of the PianoPod. It's
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.099
an award -winning podcast and YouTube show that
00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:27.240
I started in 2020 that amplifies candid conversations
00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.960
with leading artists exploring how classical
00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:35.289
music stays relevant, human, and connect it to
00:02:35.289 --> 00:02:40.530
modern audiences. It's such a joy to see all
00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:43.370
of you here. I can't believe you guys are here.
00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:46.389
It's a dream come true for me, and you are making
00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:48.789
the piano part history with me. So thank you
00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:51.669
so much for being here. And I also want to make
00:02:51.669 --> 00:02:54.150
a quick shout out to those who are tuning in
00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:57.710
later when this event becomes an episode. You
00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:01.590
are definitely with us in spirit. Now, years
00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:05.169
ago, I was teaching piano door to door, literally
00:03:05.169 --> 00:03:07.610
running around this neighborhood like a crazy
00:03:07.610 --> 00:03:12.710
maniac person. And at one point, I had over 40
00:03:12.710 --> 00:03:16.569
students a week. It was survival, and I survived.
00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:21.669
But it gave me the front row view of how music
00:03:21.669 --> 00:03:27.449
education was perceived. And I couldn't notice
00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:32.000
the disconnect that I felt. And as musicians,
00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.159
we understand that the discipline and daily practice
00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.939
lead to growth and ultimately transformation
00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:43.699
at any level of learning. But to many families,
00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.199
the piano lessons are simply an after -school
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:49.560
program for their children. So in the meantime,
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.599
I also kept hearing among fellow musicians, fellow
00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.419
pianists, that, oh, classical music is dying.
00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.159
It's dead. And also, I've read a few articles
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:05.520
expressing that sentiment. So those contrasting
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.439
perspectives, what I was witnessing as a teacher
00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:12.400
and hearing from my peers, made me question whether
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.540
my vision was outdated. And you know, in our
00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:20.069
field, often we... feel detached from everyday
00:04:20.069 --> 00:04:22.889
life, and then the voices of educators and performers
00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:26.649
like myself can easily go unheard. So out of
00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:30.329
desperation, in 2020, with a microphone in my
00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:33.410
hand, with one mission, I launched the PianoPod
00:04:33.410 --> 00:04:36.269
and hoping to get some answers from my fellow
00:04:36.269 --> 00:04:41.949
pianists and then fellow music educators. I also
00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:45.810
wanted to merge my background in piano and teaching
00:04:45.810 --> 00:04:48.730
and journalism into a space where musicians can
00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:53.709
share stories, struggles, and passions without
00:04:53.709 --> 00:04:57.449
any judgment. And my goal was, and still is,
00:04:57.730 --> 00:05:00.910
to bridge the gap between classical music and
00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:03.730
modern audiences, making what we do relevant,
00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:08.449
impactful in the communities that we serve. Since
00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:13.000
then, I conducted over 100 interviews. From Grammy
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.819
winners to Steinway Yamaha artists to innovative
00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:20.399
piano pedagogues to neuroscientists. And, you
00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:23.740
know, what I discovered is that this industry
00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:27.600
is very much alive. It's not dying at all. It's
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.060
actually evolving to something different or maybe
00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:34.899
keeping the same tradition but presenting in
00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:38.410
different ways. Buzzing with... daring and inventive
00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:41.850
voices, that discovery, inventive voices. And
00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:45.490
then that discovery truly encouraged me profoundly.
00:05:46.310 --> 00:05:49.389
And then today I'm standing in front of you after
00:05:49.389 --> 00:05:52.529
five years of dreaming about this and for the
00:05:52.529 --> 00:05:55.550
first time live event, and I'm so grateful. And
00:05:55.550 --> 00:05:59.149
where I get to share that daring and inventive
00:05:59.149 --> 00:06:03.040
spirit with you. through extraordinary artists
00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.000
on stage today. I also want to thank you Manus
00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.759
Prep, a pre -college music program offering comprehensive
00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.500
and nurturing pre -professional training in the
00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.699
new school for hosting us today. And then I have
00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.519
been amazed by the state -of -the -art facilities
00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:23.259
throughout this building. And look at these fine
00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:25.959
instruments and the acoustics are amazing. So
00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:29.339
I walked around this building and then all the
00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:32.189
practice studios. have fine instruments, and
00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:35.350
the interior design of the school is so modern.
00:06:35.470 --> 00:06:38.810
I love it. So discovering this truly brainwashed
00:06:38.810 --> 00:06:42.829
me, my excitement, to partner with Manus Prep
00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:46.230
today and as the school demonstrates their commitment
00:06:46.230 --> 00:06:49.129
to music education. Special thanks to Caroline
00:06:49.129 --> 00:06:53.579
Sonnet -Asser, director of Manus Prep. for her
00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:57.420
invaluable support, as well as other menace personnel
00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:00.459
I've got to work with in prep for this event.
00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.839
Now, lastly, a shout out to Donna Wing Friedman.
00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.339
She is the honored faculty member here whom I
00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:10.420
adore, who is one of the great guest artists
00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:13.720
today for helping to facilitate this collaboration.
00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:19.300
Now, today, what we do is we bring together four
00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:24.180
pianist thought leaders. starting with Dr. Jihoon
00:07:24.180 --> 00:07:29.199
Kerska, Eleanor Byneman, Nena Ogwo, and Donna
00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.199
Wang Friedman. I have interviewed all four of
00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:37.860
them in the past, and each artist today embodies
00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:40.319
creativity, innovation, and a deep commitment
00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:43.180
to community. And those qualities are the very
00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:46.519
heart of our current season's theme, Creativity
00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:49.300
in Connection. Now, we'll start out with the
00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:53.410
four. performances back to back afterwards we'll
00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:55.610
sit down i'll sit down with all four artists
00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:58.490
on stage and we'll have have an interview session
00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:02.889
afterwards now you get to participate by asking
00:08:02.889 --> 00:08:06.029
us questions so i want you to stick around till
00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:08.110
the end i won't i'm not going to make you uh
00:08:08.110 --> 00:08:11.149
stay for a long time so it's going to be a an
00:08:11.149 --> 00:08:15.560
hour event so please stick around now of the
00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:19.339
hall you'll find a table where you can find postcards
00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:22.639
and flyers from each artist as well as from the
00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.959
pianoforte please feel free to take them on your
00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.019
way out it's a fantastic way to learn more about
00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:32.860
what we do what each artist is doing and also
00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:36.720
to stay connected beyond today Now, let's begin
00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.039
our concert finally segment with Dr. Jihoon Kerska.
00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:42.840
Her journey has taken her from Juilliard training
00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:47.419
to MIT, pursuing a career in electrical engineering.
00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:51.580
While she has also collaborated with world -renowned
00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:54.399
artists like Yo -Yo Ma, she is also the founder
00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.879
of Keys to Success, a program that provides free
00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.240
piano education to young people in New York.
00:09:01.070 --> 00:09:03.429
When I first spoke with her in Season 3, I was
00:09:03.429 --> 00:09:06.629
struck by her story and her vision, especially
00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:10.490
her powerful words on inclusion and what it means
00:09:10.490 --> 00:09:13.429
to truly connect with people, which had a profound
00:09:13.429 --> 00:09:16.370
impact on me, and that conversation remains one
00:09:16.370 --> 00:09:19.710
of the most memorable episodes of The Piano Pop.
00:09:19.870 --> 00:09:22.629
Today, she will perform Rachmaninoff's Prelude
00:09:22.629 --> 00:09:27.470
Op. 23 No. 2 in B -flat major, a fiery piece
00:09:27.470 --> 00:09:30.840
perfectly suited to her passion. Please welcome
00:09:30.840 --> 00:14:53.730
Dr. Jihoon Kerska. her story, please visit season
00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:58.529
three. I believe it was episode 11 or 12. She
00:14:58.529 --> 00:15:01.250
talks about her organization and her life story.
00:15:01.289 --> 00:15:03.990
It's beautiful. Now, let me ask, how many of
00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:06.409
you are pianists here today? We'll play the piano.
00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:11.710
Great. Wonderful. Now, how many of you love playing
00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:17.830
Bach all day long? Oh, great. One person. Yes.
00:15:18.210 --> 00:15:20.289
Thank you for being honest. I love the laugh.
00:15:20.730 --> 00:15:23.809
Well, I love Bach music too, but sometimes pieces
00:15:23.809 --> 00:15:25.929
like, you know, to be honest, the Volta and Proclavia
00:15:25.929 --> 00:15:30.429
is not always beginner friendly in terms of like
00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:33.870
listening. So, and then also learning to fugue
00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:36.470
is very difficult. Now, this is where our next
00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:39.629
guest, Eleanor Bynum, shines. Through her innovative
00:15:39.629 --> 00:15:43.470
Bach transcriptions and her widely followed YouTube
00:15:43.470 --> 00:15:46.549
channel, she has reintroduced Bach's most beloved
00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:50.049
works from the orchestral suites to the cello
00:15:50.049 --> 00:15:52.899
suites. to pianists worldwide. I'm especially
00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:55.980
delighted to join her on stage today to perform
00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:59.399
her transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's
00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.340
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 for four -hand piano.
00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:05.580
Now, Brandenburg Concertos are among Bach's most
00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:08.539
celebrated orchestral works, filled with joyful
00:16:08.539 --> 00:16:11.399
energy and inventive interplay between instruments.
00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:14.299
And if you are not familiar with the term transcription,
00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:18.059
it simply means reimagining a work for a different
00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:21.360
ensemble. So today, please enjoy Brandenburg
00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.059
Concerto No. 2 arranged for four -hand piano.
00:16:24.080 --> 00:22:16.660
Please welcome Eleanor Bindman. It's a challenging
00:22:16.660 --> 00:22:19.559
but fulfilling field. If you ever are interested,
00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:23.740
please talk to us afterward. Now, next artist
00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:26.460
shows us just how powerful music can be as a
00:22:26.460 --> 00:22:29.299
bridge to community. Dr. Nena Ogwu, who joined
00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:32.900
me in season four, is the founder of Juneteenth
00:22:32.900 --> 00:22:35.680
LP. Since our conversation, I've attended several
00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:39.059
of her concerts in New York, culminating each
00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:43.299
June 19th is a powerful celebration at the iconic
00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:46.400
venue, Joe's Pub. To truly understand what it
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.500
means for classical pianists to connect with
00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:52.799
their audiences, you must experience Juneteenth
00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:58.319
LP's events in every June. Today, Nena performs
00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:02.759
The Sun is Rising by Consuela Lee, a trailblazing
00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:06.099
black composer whose work she champions. Please
00:23:06.099 --> 00:30:36.069
welcome Dr. Nena Avro. Donna Wayne Friedman,
00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:39.990
who is no stranger to this Manist community as
00:30:39.990 --> 00:30:42.930
an honor faculty member here. And beyond her
00:30:42.930 --> 00:30:45.509
brilliance as a pianist, Donna is a storyteller
00:30:45.509 --> 00:30:49.130
who uses music and film to bring people together.
00:30:49.390 --> 00:30:52.289
Through projects like Never Fade Away and A Silent
00:30:52.289 --> 00:30:55.130
Cry, she has transformed deeply personal and
00:30:55.130 --> 00:30:57.789
cultural narratives into works that resonate
00:30:57.789 --> 00:31:01.309
far beyond the concert hall. She is truly a leader
00:31:01.309 --> 00:31:04.299
in our field. with a bold, innovative vision
00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:07.700
for how music can be used to tell powerful stories.
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:12.400
She and I will close this program together, performance
00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:16.220
part, with William Hurt's Wizard of Oz fantasy,
00:31:16.440 --> 00:31:20.220
dazzling forehand work based on beloved themes
00:31:20.220 --> 00:31:23.240
from the film. Please welcome Donna Wink -Friedman.
00:40:12.710 --> 00:40:14.849
At Manus Prep, we offer pre -college music training
00:40:14.849 --> 00:40:17.969
for students ages 4 through 18, from beginners
00:40:17.969 --> 00:40:20.269
just discovering their love of music to advanced
00:40:20.269 --> 00:40:22.829
young artists who may be preparing for collegiate
00:40:22.829 --> 00:40:25.909
music study. Each Saturday during the academic
00:40:25.909 --> 00:40:29.630
year, our recital halls and classrooms are filled
00:40:29.630 --> 00:40:31.969
with students rehearsing and performing in small
00:40:31.969 --> 00:40:34.590
and large ensembles, studying theory and ear
00:40:34.590 --> 00:40:37.710
training, practicing their instruments, and exploring
00:40:37.710 --> 00:40:40.070
electives such as chamber music, film scoring,
00:40:40.369 --> 00:40:45.110
musical theater, composition, As an all -Steinway
00:40:45.110 --> 00:40:47.809
school, our young pianists can expect a practice
00:40:47.809 --> 00:40:51.269
that performs on the finest instruments. In addition
00:40:51.269 --> 00:40:53.710
to our curricular offerings, we program a wide
00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:56.190
variety of extracurricular opportunities for
00:40:56.190 --> 00:40:59.309
our students. We have regular workshops, recitals,
00:40:59.489 --> 00:41:02.250
master classes with esteemed guest artists, and
00:41:02.250 --> 00:41:04.510
hold yearly concerto competitions and faculty
00:41:04.510 --> 00:41:08.010
-adjudicated creative showcases. What makes Madness
00:41:08.010 --> 00:41:10.210
Prep truly special, though, is our community.
00:41:12.170 --> 00:41:15.130
create, collaborate, and discover their own artistic
00:41:15.130 --> 00:41:17.889
voices in a supportive and inspiring environment
00:41:17.889 --> 00:41:21.989
led by dedicated faculty. Our students are really
00:41:21.989 --> 00:41:24.489
incredible and they go on to do amazing things
00:41:24.489 --> 00:41:27.690
in this world. Whether you dream of dedicating
00:41:27.690 --> 00:41:30.570
your life to music or you simply love to make
00:41:30.570 --> 00:41:33.010
music, Madness Prep is a place where you can
00:41:33.010 --> 00:41:48.340
belong, learn, and thrive. you get to ask the
00:41:48.340 --> 00:41:50.599
question. I have one who is asking a question
00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:56.260
to each guest. So Jihoon, when you appeared on
00:41:56.260 --> 00:41:58.559
my show three years ago, what stood out most
00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:03.420
was your candid discussion on inclusion. You
00:42:03.420 --> 00:42:07.780
also spoke openly about witnessing stark disparities
00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:11.119
in access to quality music education in your
00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:15.789
area, not just limited to your areas. But even
00:42:15.789 --> 00:42:18.530
between, you know, neighborhoods so close to
00:42:18.530 --> 00:42:21.590
each other, you see the stark difference. So
00:42:21.590 --> 00:42:23.909
what was the missing that pushed you to create
00:42:23.909 --> 00:42:27.150
Keys to Success? And what drove you to take that
00:42:27.150 --> 00:42:34.829
step? So maybe just what I consider my formative
00:42:34.829 --> 00:42:40.469
moments in my life growing up. So I was born
00:42:40.469 --> 00:42:42.610
in Malaysia. I'm an immigrant, came over when
00:42:42.610 --> 00:42:46.349
I was 11 years old. And just like most immigrant
00:42:46.349 --> 00:42:50.389
parents, my parents came over with huge dreams
00:42:50.389 --> 00:42:57.289
for what they wanted for their kids. And so my
00:42:57.289 --> 00:43:03.409
mom called up Juilliard and got us in touch with
00:43:03.409 --> 00:43:06.909
a wonderful woman. Her name is Olenia Fuski.
00:43:07.610 --> 00:43:10.630
She was the director of the pre -college program
00:43:10.630 --> 00:43:17.170
back then. Ms. Husky is actually the person that
00:43:17.170 --> 00:43:22.309
made my immigrant story unique because she intercepted
00:43:22.309 --> 00:43:28.170
my life and put it on a trajectory that I wouldn't
00:43:28.170 --> 00:43:31.389
have been on without her, really. So with that
00:43:31.389 --> 00:43:38.650
background, fast forward. 30 years later, I'm
00:43:38.650 --> 00:43:44.750
very comfortable living in New Jersey with my
00:43:44.750 --> 00:43:50.469
beautiful family. When my first son was born,
00:43:50.550 --> 00:43:55.730
I realized that I started to realize the differences
00:43:55.730 --> 00:43:59.010
in people's experiences in America based on the
00:43:59.010 --> 00:44:04.190
zip code. I realized that I wanted my kids to
00:44:04.190 --> 00:44:08.340
know me. the way I grew up. And so we just started
00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:11.079
going to church in Newark, you know, where the
00:44:11.079 --> 00:44:13.820
airport is, which is only like 10 miles away
00:44:13.820 --> 00:44:17.000
from our neighborhood. But here's the difference.
00:44:17.119 --> 00:44:21.260
In our neighborhood, New Providence, my kids
00:44:21.260 --> 00:44:25.059
were getting free music lessons starting from
00:44:25.059 --> 00:44:29.340
pre -K, instrumental music starting very early
00:44:29.340 --> 00:44:33.199
on, almost semi -private coaching, all free.
00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:35.719
And if we wanted to pay, We just went down the
00:44:35.719 --> 00:44:39.360
street. And there was, you know, well, private
00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:42.940
studios everywhere, for sure. But also community
00:44:42.940 --> 00:44:44.960
music schools that were real good. Meanwhile,
00:44:45.119 --> 00:44:48.019
in Newark, there was none of that. Under state
00:44:48.019 --> 00:44:49.739
control, all the music had been stripped out
00:44:49.739 --> 00:44:52.039
of the, and arts, actually, had been stripped
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:56.940
out from the school system. And I saw the effects
00:44:56.940 --> 00:44:58.900
it had on the kids, starting at a very young
00:44:58.900 --> 00:45:01.699
age. You know, even first grade, there was differences
00:45:01.699 --> 00:45:04.880
in reading and math levels. And by third grade,
00:45:04.920 --> 00:45:11.000
the levels in math and English were like several
00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:16.960
grades apart by that time. And so I also noticed
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:20.239
something else in cities like Newark, which is
00:45:20.239 --> 00:45:23.159
that there's actually a lot of money going in
00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:27.050
for scholarship programs and building. state
00:45:27.050 --> 00:45:30.090
-of -the -art concert venues, which is all very,
00:45:30.170 --> 00:45:33.929
very, very important. However, programs like
00:45:33.929 --> 00:45:37.929
that only reaches the top 1%, those that seem
00:45:37.929 --> 00:45:43.170
naturally talented. Meanwhile, 99 % of the 40
00:45:43.170 --> 00:45:46.869
,000 kids that grow up in Newark are not developed
00:45:46.869 --> 00:45:49.849
to their full potential. So I wanted to stress
00:45:49.849 --> 00:45:51.750
something different, something that addresses
00:45:51.750 --> 00:45:56.960
the 99%. After working in electrical engineering
00:45:56.960 --> 00:46:00.780
for 20 years, I changed paths and started a nonprofit,
00:46:01.019 --> 00:46:03.900
Keys to Success. Then tell us about Keys to Success
00:46:03.900 --> 00:46:06.139
and what's so unique about the organization.
00:46:06.579 --> 00:46:09.579
So, I mean, on the surface, there's nothing that
00:46:09.579 --> 00:46:13.079
unique about it. We give free piano lessons in
00:46:13.079 --> 00:46:16.239
a group setting. We go into public housing. Maybe
00:46:16.239 --> 00:46:21.880
that's a little bit unique. You know, we go there
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.679
every day. The reason we go into public housing
00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:29.019
is because there's a lot of kids there and there's
00:46:29.019 --> 00:46:32.340
a lot of other programs serving there. So it
00:46:32.340 --> 00:46:36.840
makes it, it's a captive audience. So as it turns
00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:39.119
out, I think most of us know, you know, the 10
00:46:39.119 --> 00:46:43.159
,000 hour rule, you know, you just need to practice
00:46:43.159 --> 00:46:47.099
and then you get good at it. So on the surface,
00:46:47.159 --> 00:46:50.179
that's what we do. But we're really not strictly
00:46:50.179 --> 00:46:55.619
a piano program. We're really about developing
00:46:55.619 --> 00:47:01.340
leaders. So the goal of our students in our program
00:47:01.340 --> 00:47:04.539
is to become urban fellows within our program.
00:47:04.679 --> 00:47:09.800
So urban fellows are the teenage high school
00:47:09.800 --> 00:47:14.920
interns that work with us. They don't just fill
00:47:14.920 --> 00:47:19.360
out papers for us. They are actually the primary
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:23.869
teachers that we utilize. Because, you know,
00:47:23.869 --> 00:47:27.329
for me to go into public housing, you know, when
00:47:27.329 --> 00:47:30.210
I don't live there, the barriers that come up,
00:47:30.289 --> 00:47:32.210
these kids are a little bit afraid. They don't
00:47:32.210 --> 00:47:35.949
know who I am. But when you have teenagers that
00:47:35.949 --> 00:47:39.150
grew up side by side with the younger kids and
00:47:39.150 --> 00:47:42.369
their moms know each other, the barriers, they
00:47:42.369 --> 00:47:45.269
don't exist. And the kids immediately learn.
00:47:45.449 --> 00:47:48.710
And they also see themselves as they see the
00:47:48.710 --> 00:47:52.860
possibilities in another person. So that's one
00:47:52.860 --> 00:47:55.579
thing that's true. I would say it's unique about
00:47:55.579 --> 00:47:59.019
what we do. The other thing that goes hand in
00:47:59.019 --> 00:48:03.440
hand with that is we partner. And so you can
00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:06.280
kind of see that as mirroring my life. In my
00:48:06.280 --> 00:48:10.199
life, my parents were my champions. Actually,
00:48:10.239 --> 00:48:13.119
my mom, who never played above like a grade three
00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:18.260
level, and her sister were my primary teachers
00:48:18.260 --> 00:48:22.440
for three years. Teaching is at home. And then,
00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:27.579
you know, partnering with Miss Husky, who is
00:48:27.579 --> 00:48:31.260
a world -class pianist, opened up doors for us.
00:48:31.300 --> 00:48:35.579
So it's like both the at -home concern and world
00:48:35.579 --> 00:48:39.309
-class partnerships. Yeah, and then you can learn
00:48:39.309 --> 00:48:41.670
more about, I mean, I wish we had more time to
00:48:41.670 --> 00:48:44.170
hear her story, but you can check out season
00:48:44.170 --> 00:48:47.929
three, episode 11 or 12 that she appeared, and
00:48:47.929 --> 00:48:51.269
you can go to thepianopod .com. And also, if
00:48:51.269 --> 00:48:52.769
you want to learn more about her organization,
00:48:52.949 --> 00:48:57.769
please go to keysnewwork .com. Thank you, Jihoo.
00:48:58.449 --> 00:49:07.820
Thank you. So Donna, Thank you so much for playing
00:49:07.820 --> 00:49:11.559
today with me. Oh, yeah, always fun. I'm so sorry.
00:49:11.579 --> 00:49:14.739
I have to go teach, which is why I'm going next.
00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:19.099
Now, Kuju, I know I interviewed you in season
00:49:19.099 --> 00:49:21.739
two, and since then, so much has happened to
00:49:21.739 --> 00:49:27.019
you and wonderful things. Yeah. Yes. But can
00:49:27.019 --> 00:49:29.460
you tell us about this multi -award winning film,
00:49:29.559 --> 00:49:32.380
Never Fade Away? I know you hinted the idea in
00:49:32.380 --> 00:49:35.159
that episode we discussed, but can you tell us?
00:49:35.630 --> 00:49:39.050
Well, Never Fade Away is my father's immigration
00:49:39.050 --> 00:49:45.409
story. I never intended to make a movie because
00:49:45.409 --> 00:49:49.190
I'm not a filmmaker. I'm a musician. But during
00:49:49.190 --> 00:49:51.809
the pandemic, a lot happened. I think hate crimes
00:49:51.809 --> 00:49:55.329
against our AAPI community were rising. I was
00:49:55.329 --> 00:49:59.570
assaulted in the park while walking my dog. And
00:49:59.570 --> 00:50:03.690
it became very important to me to share stories.
00:50:04.250 --> 00:50:08.429
of heritage, not just of Asian Americans, but
00:50:08.429 --> 00:50:10.329
of everybody's, because I do believe that these
00:50:10.329 --> 00:50:14.789
stories connect us. Our stories of heritage are
00:50:14.789 --> 00:50:16.969
the ties that bind, because we all come from
00:50:16.969 --> 00:50:20.809
somewhere else, and we have, whether it's your
00:50:20.809 --> 00:50:23.329
mother, your grandfather, your aunt or uncle,
00:50:23.809 --> 00:50:30.030
their bravery, their courage to come to a country
00:50:30.030 --> 00:50:32.409
where they didn't speak the language, didn't
00:50:32.409 --> 00:50:35.699
have any money, And they made sacrifices for
00:50:35.699 --> 00:50:38.320
all of us so that we could have better lives.
00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:42.860
That's what this country is all about. So during
00:50:42.860 --> 00:50:44.800
the pandemic, when all these things were happening,
00:50:44.980 --> 00:50:50.079
I started creating programs with WQXR, the National
00:50:50.079 --> 00:50:54.039
Women's History Museum, to share stories of underrepresented
00:50:54.039 --> 00:50:57.300
musicians, musicians from underrepresented communities,
00:50:57.780 --> 00:51:02.010
women, our BIPOC communities. And then finally
00:51:02.010 --> 00:51:05.969
I started sharing my father's story, and I was
00:51:05.969 --> 00:51:11.250
overwhelmed by the response. People were writing
00:51:11.250 --> 00:51:14.469
in to me. I was doing this online, virtual performances,
00:51:15.130 --> 00:51:17.489
and people were writing in to me, that's my father's
00:51:17.489 --> 00:51:19.909
story too, that's my grandfather's story. And
00:51:19.909 --> 00:51:24.710
so the story involves, it's basically about how
00:51:24.710 --> 00:51:26.590
he came to this country with nothing but his
00:51:26.590 --> 00:51:29.570
hopes and dreams, and how a radio and a waltz
00:51:29.570 --> 00:51:33.090
changed his life. And that waltz became pivotal
00:51:33.090 --> 00:51:37.610
because that was, you know, our connection. It
00:51:37.610 --> 00:51:40.429
was a very special Chopin waltz. So when the
00:51:40.429 --> 00:51:42.590
doors started opening, I started telling his
00:51:42.590 --> 00:51:46.130
story and playing the waltz. And then through
00:51:46.130 --> 00:51:48.449
my dear friend Stefania DeKennessey, who is here
00:51:48.449 --> 00:51:51.650
today, the composer, I went to hear one of her
00:51:51.650 --> 00:51:56.429
pieces performed, choreographed by Ariel Grossman
00:51:56.429 --> 00:51:59.159
with the Ariel Rivka Dance Company. And it was
00:51:59.159 --> 00:52:02.320
so breathtakingly beautiful. I asked Arielle,
00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:06.320
I said, would you consider choreographing the
00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:10.139
waltz so I can tell the story with dance? And,
00:52:10.159 --> 00:52:13.519
you know, Arielle's amazing and she only really
00:52:13.519 --> 00:52:17.340
choreographs for living composers. But when I
00:52:17.340 --> 00:52:20.340
told her the story, you know, it resonated with
00:52:20.340 --> 00:52:23.099
her too. So she did that. We started doing that
00:52:23.099 --> 00:52:25.239
in person. And I think that's when we first met,
00:52:25.380 --> 00:52:28.000
right? You came to one of the first concerts.
00:52:28.940 --> 00:52:31.519
And then after one of these concerts where I
00:52:31.519 --> 00:52:34.340
told the story and had the dance and it was beautiful,
00:52:34.440 --> 00:52:38.880
a woman came over to me and she said, you really
00:52:38.880 --> 00:52:42.159
have to make a film about this. She was a filmmaker.
00:52:43.099 --> 00:52:45.519
And I said, oh, well, I'm not a filmmaker. She
00:52:45.519 --> 00:52:47.179
goes, no, you really should think about that.
00:52:47.280 --> 00:52:49.320
So I started thinking about it. And I started
00:52:49.320 --> 00:52:51.280
thinking, okay, well, I'll just do the story
00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:54.820
and maybe film the dance. And so I started setting
00:52:54.820 --> 00:52:58.619
up, you know, a space to rent out the space.
00:52:58.739 --> 00:53:01.780
And the dancers, I asked the dancers who had
00:53:01.780 --> 00:53:04.500
been working together with me if they could do
00:53:04.500 --> 00:53:06.760
it. And the male dancer, Jesse Obramski, who
00:53:06.760 --> 00:53:09.940
portrayed my father, who was phenomenal. He couldn't
00:53:09.940 --> 00:53:12.400
do it that day. He was on tour. And I'd already
00:53:12.400 --> 00:53:14.760
put the deposit down for the space, and I was
00:53:14.760 --> 00:53:17.900
going, oh, my God. And then I thought, you know,
00:53:17.940 --> 00:53:25.000
why not ask my friend who is the pianist for
00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:27.320
New York City Ballet? You know, at my age, I'm
00:53:27.320 --> 00:53:30.800
not afraid to get no's. So I said, do you think
00:53:30.800 --> 00:53:35.099
you could make an intro to me to Chen Wei Chen?
00:53:35.219 --> 00:53:38.710
Chen Wei Chen is the first... ever uh principal
00:53:38.710 --> 00:53:42.190
dancer of Asian descent at the New York City
00:53:42.190 --> 00:53:46.309
Ballet in 75 years they never had one so he he
00:53:46.309 --> 00:53:49.349
he is it and he dances like oh my god it's so
00:53:49.349 --> 00:53:53.409
beautiful but so Alan said sure made an intro
00:53:53.409 --> 00:53:56.329
we had a lovely conversation and Chen Wei said
00:53:56.329 --> 00:53:59.010
send me the script and I did and then two days
00:53:59.010 --> 00:54:02.570
later he called me this is my story too I will
00:54:02.570 --> 00:54:09.670
do this And after I gained consciousness, I realized
00:54:09.670 --> 00:54:12.690
that if I have someone like Chen Weichan on board,
00:54:12.869 --> 00:54:15.349
I better not make it this four -minute little
00:54:15.349 --> 00:54:17.989
thing. I better expand it a little bit. But,
00:54:18.030 --> 00:54:20.090
you know, expanding it means funding and all
00:54:20.090 --> 00:54:22.590
that sort of thing. So I did. So I literally
00:54:22.590 --> 00:54:25.849
made this little film from the back end because
00:54:25.849 --> 00:54:28.690
the dance comes at the end. And then I put in
00:54:28.690 --> 00:54:32.699
the story of why my father left China. the reason
00:54:32.699 --> 00:54:36.440
why he was forced to flee. And then I added another
00:54:36.440 --> 00:54:39.940
little beginning part about my mom and some very
00:54:39.940 --> 00:54:43.039
fun personal things. And I asked Chun if he would
00:54:43.039 --> 00:54:47.719
kindly improvise the middle section when my father
00:54:47.719 --> 00:54:53.559
is first in this country, and he did. So it was
00:54:53.559 --> 00:54:57.960
the most personal project I've ever, ever made,
00:54:58.079 --> 00:55:04.260
I think. I cried every single day because my
00:55:04.260 --> 00:55:07.460
parents are not with me. And it was like bringing
00:55:07.460 --> 00:55:12.280
them home again. And I wanted to do a good job
00:55:12.280 --> 00:55:19.960
for them. I'm sorry, but it's so emotional. So
00:55:19.960 --> 00:55:22.860
every single day, putting this together was like
00:55:22.860 --> 00:55:26.059
a rollercoaster of emotions. And finally, it
00:55:26.059 --> 00:55:30.159
was screening at NYU. for the world premiere,
00:55:30.380 --> 00:55:34.039
and I told my husband, I said, I'm pulling it.
00:55:34.760 --> 00:55:37.320
I'm not going to have it shown today because
00:55:37.320 --> 00:55:43.539
I'm not a filmmaker, and why would I think anybody
00:55:43.539 --> 00:55:48.139
would want to see a film about my family? And
00:55:48.139 --> 00:55:51.219
my husband said to me, this may be your first
00:55:51.219 --> 00:55:53.340
film, but you've been telling stories all your
00:55:53.340 --> 00:55:56.880
life through music. And that's what you do. And
00:55:56.880 --> 00:56:00.219
everyone has a story, and you need to share this
00:56:00.219 --> 00:56:03.300
tonight. And you can't back out. And he's been
00:56:03.300 --> 00:56:07.400
such a great supporter. So anyway, I went through
00:56:07.400 --> 00:56:10.960
it. I don't even know if I breathed, but got
00:56:10.960 --> 00:56:14.619
through it. And I'm very proud of this little
00:56:14.619 --> 00:56:18.360
film, because since then it's won 46 awards and
00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:28.179
film festivals worldwide. It's streaming on PBS,
00:56:28.599 --> 00:56:31.059
Rhode Island, so you can see it on Arts Inc.
00:56:31.159 --> 00:56:34.619
if you like. It's only 12 minutes. Again, I'm
00:56:34.619 --> 00:56:38.440
not a filmmaker, but this story meant a lot to
00:56:38.440 --> 00:56:43.780
me. Then I was just literally blown away when
00:56:43.780 --> 00:56:48.619
I had received this invitation. Now, Never Fade
00:56:48.619 --> 00:56:51.500
Away is archived at the Statue of Liberty at
00:56:51.500 --> 00:56:58.190
Ellis Island in perpetuity. That shows you who
00:56:58.190 --> 00:57:03.190
you are, and then that filmmaking bug got you,
00:57:03.289 --> 00:57:07.130
and then you've made another one in Silent Cry.
00:57:07.309 --> 00:57:10.429
I know you have so much to say about the film,
00:57:10.510 --> 00:57:15.030
but as of now, when we were in the back room,
00:57:15.110 --> 00:57:18.969
she was like, oh, I won another award. What I
00:57:18.969 --> 00:57:22.090
do want to say about Silent Cry is I never meant
00:57:22.090 --> 00:57:24.829
to make a film for this. It's just that the music
00:57:24.829 --> 00:57:27.320
was so great. And I do want to talk about, just
00:57:27.320 --> 00:57:30.519
for one more minute, about the music. I recently
00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:33.860
recorded Microvids by Stefania DeKennessey, who
00:57:33.860 --> 00:57:37.519
is with us here today. And she wrote Microvids
00:57:37.519 --> 00:57:39.320
during the pandemic, too. I think a lot of us
00:57:39.320 --> 00:57:42.099
became very creative during the pandemic. We
00:57:42.099 --> 00:57:44.340
had space. Yeah, we had space, but we also had
00:57:44.340 --> 00:57:47.139
motives. We had motivations. Stefania's motivation
00:57:47.139 --> 00:57:51.030
was she was thinking about young people. Teens
00:57:51.030 --> 00:57:53.750
and tweens, how they were coping during the pandemic.
00:57:53.829 --> 00:57:57.110
Very tough time, you know. And so she wrote 19
00:57:57.110 --> 00:58:00.230
miniatures, each one reflecting a different emotion
00:58:00.230 --> 00:58:03.349
that we were all going through that time. But,
00:58:03.409 --> 00:58:06.630
you know, in particular for this age group, I
00:58:06.630 --> 00:58:09.650
call it classical music's answer to TikTok because
00:58:09.650 --> 00:58:13.010
each miniature is 20 seconds to one minute in
00:58:13.010 --> 00:58:17.019
length. In any case. We have this album. It's
00:58:17.019 --> 00:58:21.940
on Spotify. And the 15th one, Clouds, the first
00:58:21.940 --> 00:58:26.019
disc, we had the great, great violinist Curtis
00:58:26.019 --> 00:58:32.119
Stewart, who is a Manus Prep alum. And he, six
00:58:32.119 --> 00:58:35.760
-time Grammy -nominated violinist, improvises
00:58:35.760 --> 00:58:37.559
like nobody's business. And I said, Curtis, would
00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:41.300
you improvise with me on this album? And with
00:58:41.300 --> 00:58:44.429
Stefania's blessing, of course. And it's outrageous.
00:58:44.550 --> 00:58:47.989
It's so beautiful because he adds jazz. It's
00:58:47.989 --> 00:58:50.289
like a mixture of classical and jazz, what he
00:58:50.289 --> 00:58:54.289
does so well. Number 15 is Clouds. I could not
00:58:54.289 --> 00:58:58.059
get it out of my head. I just couldn't. It was
00:58:58.059 --> 00:59:02.280
just so powerful that I decided to put some visuals
00:59:02.280 --> 00:59:05.619
with it. My daughter is in AI, and I saw her
00:59:05.619 --> 00:59:08.059
post something on Instagram that was interesting.
00:59:08.119 --> 00:59:11.539
I said, can you create this into a globe, a spinning
00:59:11.539 --> 00:59:15.219
globe? So I started with that imagery, and then
00:59:15.219 --> 00:59:18.820
I was reading about different things about saving
00:59:18.820 --> 00:59:24.280
the planet and our equilibrium in the Appalachian
00:59:24.280 --> 00:59:27.460
Mountains. And I started reading about these
00:59:27.460 --> 00:59:28.860
stories and I said, you know, I really want to
00:59:28.860 --> 00:59:32.960
just have a little message here. And if there's
00:59:32.960 --> 00:59:35.719
nothing else to say, it's about the importance
00:59:35.719 --> 00:59:39.179
of preserving what is irreplaceable in this world.
00:59:40.280 --> 00:59:42.360
And so I put together this two -minute little
00:59:42.360 --> 00:59:45.420
film. I call it A Silent Cry. If you ever see
00:59:45.420 --> 00:59:49.139
it, you'll understand why. And I did it just
00:59:49.139 --> 00:59:53.679
because I felt like it. And a week later, I put
00:59:53.679 --> 00:59:57.000
it into, just for fun, a film festival. And it
00:59:57.000 --> 01:00:02.360
won. And on Thursday, it received its 30th film
01:00:02.360 --> 01:00:05.900
festival award in three months, which is crazy.
01:00:06.460 --> 01:00:13.500
And it's up for, well, it's been submitted to
01:00:13.500 --> 01:00:17.760
the Grammys in the music video. section, which,
01:00:17.860 --> 01:00:19.500
you know, I have absolutely no expectations.
01:00:19.619 --> 01:00:22.000
I just want to raise awareness that classical
01:00:22.000 --> 01:00:24.480
musicians don't really, you know, are not really
01:00:24.480 --> 01:00:26.860
part of that category, and we should be part
01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:29.619
of every category. So my little film in my name
01:00:29.619 --> 01:00:33.500
was right underneath David Byrne, Coldplay, Rihanna.
01:00:33.559 --> 01:00:39.059
It's kind of cool. I'm proud of you. Thank you
01:00:39.059 --> 01:00:49.239
so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Elena,
01:00:49.460 --> 01:00:53.179
thank you so much for performing Brandenburg
01:00:53.179 --> 01:00:56.460
with me. It's her transcription. So you've dedicated
01:00:56.460 --> 01:00:59.159
years to arranging Bach from, you know, Brandenburg
01:00:59.159 --> 01:01:02.039
duets to cello suites for piano to stepping stones
01:01:02.039 --> 01:01:05.920
for Bach. Could you briefly introduce your Bach
01:01:05.920 --> 01:01:09.059
transcriptions? What drew you to transcribe his
01:01:09.059 --> 01:01:13.019
orchestral instrumental music for piano in a
01:01:13.019 --> 01:01:16.070
specific niche? I'd love to do that, Yukimi,
01:01:16.150 --> 01:01:18.230
but before that, I'd like to take an opportunity,
01:01:18.230 --> 01:01:20.630
in case it doesn't arise anymore, to thank you.
01:01:21.010 --> 01:01:24.489
We know how much work you put into this event
01:01:24.489 --> 01:01:28.489
and how well you've done, and that's in the middle
01:01:28.489 --> 01:01:31.510
of all of the other podcasts and scheduling December
01:01:31.510 --> 01:01:35.710
ones and everything else that you do. playing
01:01:35.710 --> 01:01:37.929
with you with a sheer pleasure. You're amazing.
01:01:38.329 --> 01:01:42.510
So it's just unbelievable how much talent and
01:01:42.510 --> 01:01:52.019
how many hats you wear. Thank you. Thank you.
01:01:52.059 --> 01:01:54.719
And as far as my work, it's funny, I'm not tempted
01:01:54.719 --> 01:01:57.079
to talk about my heritage because I'm also an
01:01:57.079 --> 01:02:00.900
immigrant. But the Bach work is very much a part
01:02:00.900 --> 01:02:04.159
of my cultural heritage, starting in the Russian
01:02:04.159 --> 01:02:09.000
piano school back where I'm from. and my transcriptions
01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:13.059
came about just out of a very selfish desire
01:02:13.059 --> 01:02:15.679
to be able to play them. I've done transcriptions
01:02:15.679 --> 01:02:18.260
prior, and of course, as many classical musicians
01:02:18.260 --> 01:02:20.579
have done, Rachmaninoff transcriptions, Liszt
01:02:20.579 --> 01:02:22.860
transcriptions. I always enjoyed the feeling
01:02:22.860 --> 01:02:26.199
of transmitting other instruments, and preferably
01:02:26.199 --> 01:02:29.420
an orchestra, just a very different feeling than
01:02:29.420 --> 01:02:31.340
just playing something written for piano. It's
01:02:31.340 --> 01:02:34.019
almost a different, not almost, it's a different
01:02:34.019 --> 01:02:38.320
mindset. And I also loved playing duets, and
01:02:38.320 --> 01:02:41.119
I had a piano duet partner with whom we tried
01:02:41.119 --> 01:02:43.639
the existing transcription of the Brandenburgs,
01:02:43.639 --> 01:02:46.400
which just unfortunately, much to my really shock,
01:02:46.559 --> 01:02:50.780
it just was not playable. Well, it wasn't, yet
01:02:50.780 --> 01:02:53.679
it was on people's shelves, and since having
01:02:53.679 --> 01:02:55.840
done the Brandenburgs, I've had many kindred
01:02:55.840 --> 01:02:58.260
souls write to me and say, yeah, no, you just
01:02:58.260 --> 01:03:03.289
can't play the rigor. I thought that we really
01:03:03.289 --> 01:03:07.030
need this body of work for the piano duet repertoire
01:03:07.030 --> 01:03:10.369
by Bach, the six concertos done. And long story
01:03:10.369 --> 01:03:13.969
short, I ended up redoing them. And it took a
01:03:13.969 --> 01:03:16.409
very long time, but it was extremely gratifying
01:03:16.409 --> 01:03:19.929
to play. And in between the three years that
01:03:19.929 --> 01:03:24.829
it took me, between starting and making the recording,
01:03:24.989 --> 01:03:28.130
an adult amateur friend of mine asked me about
01:03:28.130 --> 01:03:32.309
a particular... beginning of one of the cantatas
01:03:32.309 --> 01:03:34.929
called gotes zeit which a lot of people play
01:03:34.929 --> 01:03:37.309
and she said i just can't find a transcription
01:03:37.309 --> 01:03:40.429
that i like they're either too hard or they're
01:03:40.429 --> 01:03:44.130
too easy or i don't like them so i looked and
01:03:44.130 --> 01:03:46.090
i didn't find anything either and i did a little
01:03:46.090 --> 01:03:48.829
two -hour thing and then i played that and it
01:03:48.829 --> 01:03:52.650
was really satisfying to play and That really
01:03:52.650 --> 01:03:54.869
gave me an understanding that what was missing
01:03:54.869 --> 01:03:57.329
in the repertoire, especially transcriptions,
01:03:57.329 --> 01:04:00.510
is our ideas about transcriptions are that they're
01:04:00.510 --> 01:04:04.269
either virtuosic, thereby only playable by 1
01:04:04.269 --> 01:04:08.889
% of the piano elite, basically, who usually
01:04:08.889 --> 01:04:11.929
make them for themselves. or they're too simple
01:04:11.929 --> 01:04:14.730
and they're missing the essence of the work,
01:04:14.829 --> 01:04:16.829
or they're, you know, quote -unquote cheesy.
01:04:17.670 --> 01:04:23.090
So I ended up also, as far as COVID, I did my
01:04:23.090 --> 01:04:27.849
stepping stones to box set, which made me appreciate
01:04:27.849 --> 01:04:30.289
how much people needed it because as people were
01:04:30.289 --> 01:04:34.730
in lockdown, I had these 48 one -page transcriptions
01:04:34.730 --> 01:04:39.429
of box. excerpts from his cantatas or other instrumental
01:04:39.429 --> 01:04:43.110
works and I made them available to people from
01:04:43.110 --> 01:04:45.030
my mailing list so every week there was a new
01:04:45.030 --> 01:04:46.889
piece that they could practice because there
01:04:46.889 --> 01:04:50.969
wasn't that much to do and I got so much great
01:04:50.969 --> 01:04:53.570
feedback and so much appreciation and that made
01:04:53.570 --> 01:04:56.630
me realize that there's a hole in the adult amateur
01:04:56.630 --> 01:05:00.260
repertoire for pieces, not only by Bach, but
01:05:00.260 --> 01:05:02.860
especially by Bach, that they can play without
01:05:02.860 --> 01:05:06.019
having to work very hard, without all the frustration
01:05:06.019 --> 01:05:09.179
of putting the counterpoint hands together. And
01:05:09.179 --> 01:05:12.159
in general, I began to understand how important
01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:15.300
adult amateurs are in the music business, you
01:05:15.300 --> 01:05:18.309
know, in the classical music. because they're
01:05:18.309 --> 01:05:21.690
the concert goers, they're the ones who are listening,
01:05:21.869 --> 01:05:24.989
they buy the records, they collect. And yet,
01:05:25.090 --> 01:05:29.730
as far as literature, they very often feel very
01:05:29.730 --> 01:05:31.989
frustrated because they cannot be as good as
01:05:31.989 --> 01:05:36.409
Horowitz or Yuja. And it's just kind of the state
01:05:36.409 --> 01:05:39.650
of mind. So that took care of that. There were
01:05:39.650 --> 01:05:42.250
a few other cycles I kind of got going, and it
01:05:42.250 --> 01:05:45.210
felt, like the ladies were saying, it felt to
01:05:45.210 --> 01:05:47.610
me like it was the right thing to do. It was
01:05:47.610 --> 01:05:51.150
not anything that I set out. Then I did the cello
01:05:51.150 --> 01:05:56.070
suites, which turned out to be the most interesting
01:05:56.070 --> 01:06:01.130
focus into Bach's writing for one line at a time
01:06:01.130 --> 01:06:03.489
and really gave me so much insight in his structure.
01:06:03.809 --> 01:06:07.880
So I never looked at his keyboard. real keyboard
01:06:07.880 --> 01:06:11.239
works with the same eyes because it gave me a
01:06:11.239 --> 01:06:13.000
huge understanding. And I understood that there's
01:06:13.000 --> 01:06:16.860
also a shortage of simpler Bach repertoire that's
01:06:16.860 --> 01:06:19.659
even easier than the depart conventions that
01:06:19.659 --> 01:06:22.659
people could enjoy playing. So then there were
01:06:22.659 --> 01:06:25.380
the orchestral suites as a sequel to the Brandenburgs
01:06:25.380 --> 01:06:27.119
and then the lute suites which just came out
01:06:27.119 --> 01:06:31.969
this March. So that's my... Bach transcriptions.
01:06:31.969 --> 01:06:34.230
And I really enjoyed playing your transcriptions.
01:06:34.230 --> 01:06:37.610
And by the way, Eleanor generously printed out
01:06:37.610 --> 01:06:42.570
a score of orchestral suite. The Badinuri, very
01:06:42.570 --> 01:06:45.690
popular movement from orchestral suite. For you
01:06:45.690 --> 01:06:47.690
to take home and you'll find them. You're welcome
01:06:47.690 --> 01:06:50.250
to take that home. Yes, and then you can try
01:06:50.250 --> 01:06:52.849
them. And if you try, I want you to video record
01:06:52.849 --> 01:06:55.449
it and tag the piano part so that I can just
01:06:55.449 --> 01:06:58.510
watch it. All right. Now, one more question for
01:06:58.510 --> 01:07:02.079
you before. You know, you are reaching out to
01:07:02.079 --> 01:07:05.139
adult amateurs, and then I got to know you through
01:07:05.139 --> 01:07:09.199
one of the biggest fans of yours, and he recommended
01:07:09.199 --> 01:07:13.400
me to reach out to you. So how do you reach out
01:07:13.400 --> 01:07:16.519
to these markets? So what are some creative tools,
01:07:16.639 --> 01:07:19.559
approaches you use to help adult amateurs connect
01:07:19.559 --> 01:07:23.239
more deeply with the music? Well, the transcription
01:07:23.239 --> 01:07:28.179
themselves, and that's something that is kind
01:07:28.179 --> 01:07:31.519
of... two -way street because they already know
01:07:31.519 --> 01:07:34.280
and love the music and they're able to play it.
01:07:34.360 --> 01:07:40.019
And I create playlists of the originals of those
01:07:40.019 --> 01:07:42.519
transcriptions so that they can listen on Spotify
01:07:42.519 --> 01:07:45.559
or they can listen on iTunes or however they
01:07:45.559 --> 01:07:47.460
listen because all the recordings are streaming
01:07:47.460 --> 01:07:51.420
and they can... take part of that. And, you know,
01:07:51.420 --> 01:07:53.780
finally, I have this little Bach action figure
01:07:53.780 --> 01:07:57.440
that really makes my videos extremely popular.
01:07:57.519 --> 01:08:01.460
And I think adults see that and, you know, whatever
01:08:01.460 --> 01:08:04.760
childlike quality we all have, it kind of brings
01:08:04.760 --> 01:08:07.760
that up and they just enjoy things more. So I
01:08:07.760 --> 01:08:10.980
think, you know, using this, the idea of enjoyment,
01:08:11.059 --> 01:08:13.960
which is, we all could use a little more of these
01:08:13.960 --> 01:08:17.920
days as opposed to this. you know, very serious
01:08:17.920 --> 01:08:21.180
and sometimes a bit of drudgery of practice before
01:08:21.180 --> 01:08:23.600
you actually get somewhere is just something
01:08:23.600 --> 01:08:25.579
that I think we're lacking. And also for piano
01:08:25.579 --> 01:08:28.119
for younger students, as you were telling me,
01:08:28.159 --> 01:08:31.100
a lot of times young students are, they think
01:08:31.100 --> 01:08:33.159
it's very serious to play Bach and there's no
01:08:33.159 --> 01:08:36.800
emotional connection. So it's the emotional connection
01:08:36.800 --> 01:08:40.640
that Bach's other pieces are so different from
01:08:40.640 --> 01:08:43.539
his keyboard music. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, more
01:08:43.539 --> 01:08:46.590
melodic. more melodic and the brand he wrote
01:08:46.590 --> 01:08:48.829
he was very young and he wrote them for fun he
01:08:48.829 --> 01:08:51.189
didn't write them for church service it's just
01:08:51.189 --> 01:08:53.430
a very different body of work it sounds so different
01:08:53.430 --> 01:08:56.609
and then you told me he just like me he wore
01:08:56.609 --> 01:09:00.979
lots of Hats, right? Yes, he wore a lot of hats
01:09:00.979 --> 01:09:04.300
and wigs. Oh, that's right. Oh, I don't wear
01:09:04.300 --> 01:09:07.479
wigs. No, no, unlike you. Well, you know, I'm
01:09:07.479 --> 01:09:10.079
comparing myself to Barbara. I shouldn't have
01:09:10.079 --> 01:09:14.060
done that. Anyway, well, thank you. If you want
01:09:14.060 --> 01:09:17.359
to learn more about Eleanor, please go to EleanorBindman
01:09:17.359 --> 01:09:20.920
.com, right? And then also, I forgot to mention
01:09:20.920 --> 01:09:23.800
that DonnaWangFreedman .com if you want to watch
01:09:23.800 --> 01:09:27.560
her films, and then also you can... Check her
01:09:27.560 --> 01:09:31.359
out, her films on YouTube as well. All right,
01:09:31.399 --> 01:09:35.340
Nena, finally. Oh, my goodness. Now, I want to
01:09:35.340 --> 01:09:39.100
know a lot about Juneteenth LP, but before that,
01:09:39.220 --> 01:09:42.699
just quickly tell us about the piece that you
01:09:42.699 --> 01:09:45.380
performed, Consuelo Lee. The powerful performance.
01:09:45.520 --> 01:09:47.579
Oh, my gosh, that piece was amazing. It's a beautiful
01:09:47.579 --> 01:09:54.909
piece. I do a lot of work with... The American
01:09:54.909 --> 01:09:57.970
Composers Alliance, I've become dear friends
01:09:57.970 --> 01:10:00.909
with their executive director, Gina Genova. They
01:10:00.909 --> 01:10:03.270
have a wonderful, dedicated staff that has been
01:10:03.270 --> 01:10:07.210
doing amazing work preserving and archiving and
01:10:07.210 --> 01:10:11.989
engraving the works of Black composers of the
01:10:11.989 --> 01:10:14.970
20th century that are in their archives. And
01:10:14.970 --> 01:10:19.250
so she introduced me to Consuela Lee's work.
01:10:21.159 --> 01:10:24.239
And she told me to check out Ray of Light and
01:10:24.239 --> 01:10:28.659
this piece, which is a transcription of a performance
01:10:28.659 --> 01:10:33.300
that was done in, I think, the early 80s at Baruch.
01:10:34.399 --> 01:10:38.880
And I played Ray of Light maybe two years ago
01:10:38.880 --> 01:10:41.579
at Joe's Pub. And I was fortunate that her daughter
01:10:41.579 --> 01:10:44.819
was there. And she gave me a rare recording of
01:10:44.819 --> 01:10:48.300
her mom's. And she told me a lot about her mother.
01:10:50.090 --> 01:10:52.590
And the transcription was interesting because,
01:10:52.689 --> 01:10:57.949
you know, with transcriptions, and especially
01:10:57.949 --> 01:11:05.149
as pianists, you know, when you have a recording
01:11:05.149 --> 01:11:09.189
of, you know, Ravel playing Ravel or Rachmaninoff
01:11:09.189 --> 01:11:12.210
playing Rachmaninoff, you know, there's a thing
01:11:12.210 --> 01:11:17.130
attached to that, right? But it's Rachmaninoff
01:11:17.130 --> 01:11:20.699
and then there's a score that he wrote. But this
01:11:20.699 --> 01:11:24.279
was a transcription of an improvisation. And
01:11:24.279 --> 01:11:28.520
we know that there are bits and pieces of paper
01:11:28.520 --> 01:11:33.319
with these ideas in her estate, in the collection
01:11:33.319 --> 01:11:36.880
of her papers, but we have not yet found a completely
01:11:36.880 --> 01:11:40.000
written out score. So this is effectively a jazz
01:11:40.000 --> 01:11:44.939
improvisation that is, we have this transcription.
01:11:46.470 --> 01:11:49.130
And so there's a recording of this performance.
01:11:50.010 --> 01:11:53.130
And so what do you do with that? And I was so
01:11:53.130 --> 01:11:55.670
cognizant of the fact that it was a very specific
01:11:55.670 --> 01:11:58.750
kind of thing that I was going to be doing. And
01:11:58.750 --> 01:12:01.090
then I was going, and I had heard it, and then
01:12:01.090 --> 01:12:03.130
I said I was never going to listen to that recording
01:12:03.130 --> 01:12:05.609
again. Because what I didn't want to do was copy
01:12:05.609 --> 01:12:08.630
what she did. Because even though that is absolutely
01:12:08.630 --> 01:12:13.310
how she wants it to be played, I also felt like...
01:12:13.659 --> 01:12:15.779
If I was going to respect her as a composer,
01:12:16.039 --> 01:12:20.020
I actually should do the work of interpreting
01:12:20.020 --> 01:12:24.060
her compositional intent. Because she's actually
01:12:24.060 --> 01:12:26.739
a brilliant composer, and I have her actual written
01:12:26.739 --> 01:12:29.859
compositions to attest to that. So what I did
01:12:29.859 --> 01:12:32.680
was I looked at the score of it and started to
01:12:32.680 --> 01:12:35.399
say, okay, what do these melodic figures mean?
01:12:35.640 --> 01:12:38.779
How are these harmonies moving? How does she
01:12:38.779 --> 01:12:41.720
develop ideas? How does she move? How does she
01:12:41.720 --> 01:12:45.399
structure these things? And then I decided what
01:12:45.399 --> 01:12:48.579
that meant. And so if you listen to her recording
01:12:48.579 --> 01:12:51.579
versus what you heard me do, it's actually very
01:12:51.579 --> 01:12:55.619
different. But I think that I rendered her intention.
01:12:55.720 --> 01:12:58.800
I believe that I rendered her intention. It's
01:12:58.800 --> 01:13:01.600
just that I played it differently, as one should,
01:13:01.680 --> 01:13:05.119
because I am not Consuela Lee. I also don't have
01:13:05.119 --> 01:13:11.350
her jazz chops at all. And I think that, and
01:13:11.350 --> 01:13:13.090
that's one of the things that there's going to
01:13:13.090 --> 01:13:15.630
be another edition of the score that comes out
01:13:15.630 --> 01:13:18.489
where I actually talk about the unique space
01:13:18.489 --> 01:13:22.430
that this particular piece exists in where the
01:13:22.430 --> 01:13:25.289
pianist that chooses to play this is going to
01:13:25.289 --> 01:13:28.649
have to, you have an added responsibility of,
01:13:28.829 --> 01:13:34.590
you can't be lazy. You have to actually interpret.
01:13:35.310 --> 01:13:39.739
I mean, you could copy what she does. But I would
01:13:39.739 --> 01:13:43.460
hope that we're raising pianists to do more and
01:13:43.460 --> 01:13:48.399
better than that. But it was a real joy to engage
01:13:48.399 --> 01:13:52.340
on that level. Brilliant, brilliant piano piece
01:13:52.340 --> 01:13:56.180
and brilliant performance. Thank you. So let's
01:13:56.180 --> 01:13:58.840
talk about Juneteenth LP. I've attended so many
01:13:58.840 --> 01:14:02.180
events, the Juneteenth LP events. Wow, incredible.
01:14:02.619 --> 01:14:05.739
The last one was last June. It was the 10th anniversary
01:14:05.739 --> 01:14:08.840
at Joe's Pub. I mean, I don't usually go to the
01:14:08.840 --> 01:14:10.819
concert raising my hands, that kind of guy, but
01:14:10.819 --> 01:14:14.800
I was doing it all by myself. It was so good.
01:14:17.899 --> 01:14:21.319
So tell us about Juneteenth LP, what you do,
01:14:21.439 --> 01:14:26.020
what's your mission? Our mission is to change
01:14:26.020 --> 01:14:31.260
how people experience classical music. We want
01:14:31.260 --> 01:14:37.079
to make... classical music more accessible to
01:14:37.079 --> 01:14:39.659
as many people as possible. And because I'm a
01:14:39.659 --> 01:14:41.859
black person, I want black people to show up
01:14:41.859 --> 01:14:45.100
in concert spaces. But that doesn't mean I only
01:14:45.100 --> 01:14:46.739
want black people to show up in concert spaces.
01:14:47.039 --> 01:14:50.520
But I'm keenly aware of the fact that I spent
01:14:50.520 --> 01:14:52.819
my whole life being the only black person in
01:14:52.819 --> 01:14:55.119
a classical music hall and the only black people
01:14:55.119 --> 01:14:59.340
in the audience were my relatives. Unless there
01:14:59.340 --> 01:15:01.920
was one other black person performing, and then
01:15:01.920 --> 01:15:07.899
it would be also their well -being. But what
01:15:07.899 --> 01:15:11.760
I think is interesting is that classical music,
01:15:11.840 --> 01:15:14.739
for me, was something that I grew up with because
01:15:14.739 --> 01:15:18.180
my mother grew up with it, and my parents met
01:15:18.180 --> 01:15:20.699
at Howard University, and that was all very exciting.
01:15:20.840 --> 01:15:23.180
But my father was a very interesting Nigerian
01:15:23.180 --> 01:15:26.180
immigrant. He took a musicology course, an introduction
01:15:26.180 --> 01:15:32.449
to... Musicology. And he fell in love with, of
01:15:32.449 --> 01:15:40.630
all things, Renaissance counterpoint, Bach, and
01:15:40.630 --> 01:15:43.630
Beethoven. Those three things. Like he landed
01:15:43.630 --> 01:15:46.489
on that and he landed hard. So I grew up listening
01:15:46.489 --> 01:15:52.270
to Lasus and Palestrina and Bach and Beethoven.
01:15:54.199 --> 01:15:57.439
I knew all the symphonies by the time I was five
01:15:57.439 --> 01:16:00.899
or six. And I knew, I didn't know how much Lassus
01:16:00.899 --> 01:16:03.279
and Paulistrina I actually knew until I was taking
01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:06.699
a two and three part counterpoint class. And
01:16:06.699 --> 01:16:11.439
I was like, why do I know this? And my mom was
01:16:11.439 --> 01:16:14.220
like, oh, you didn't know that your dad actually
01:16:14.220 --> 01:16:17.720
played motets all the time? And I was like, no,
01:16:17.739 --> 01:16:24.899
I don't know that, but okay. And so, I got a
01:16:24.899 --> 01:16:28.399
little distracted, I'm sorry. My point being
01:16:28.399 --> 01:16:33.739
that, so I grew up with those sounds, but what
01:16:33.739 --> 01:16:36.220
I find is that when you grew up listening to
01:16:36.220 --> 01:16:38.560
classical music radio stations, you know, they're
01:16:38.560 --> 01:16:41.020
very much like, you know, this is the most wonderful
01:16:41.020 --> 01:16:43.460
music in the world, and, you know, great music,
01:16:43.579 --> 01:16:45.859
everybody loves great music. And I'm like, yeah,
01:16:45.899 --> 01:16:48.460
no, not all classical music is actually music
01:16:48.460 --> 01:16:52.000
that everybody loves. Some music is really clearly
01:16:52.000 --> 01:16:55.979
visceral. And everyone does respond to it. Like,
01:16:56.000 --> 01:16:58.260
it doesn't matter who you play the Rite of Spring
01:16:58.260 --> 01:17:02.680
for. Everyone goes, what is that? You know, like,
01:17:02.720 --> 01:17:06.239
because everybody responds to the sort of, like,
01:17:06.380 --> 01:17:11.079
tribal, earthy, we're going to sacrifice some
01:17:11.079 --> 01:17:14.300
blood today. You know, it doesn't matter where
01:17:14.300 --> 01:17:16.479
you come from. It's very clear someone's going
01:17:16.479 --> 01:17:19.140
to get killed because spring is coming, right?
01:17:19.359 --> 01:17:23.729
There will be blood, right? You know, I'm sorry,
01:17:23.850 --> 01:17:26.590
you can play a Clemente Sonatina and that's just
01:17:26.590 --> 01:17:30.449
not going to reach everybody on the planet. Like
01:17:30.449 --> 01:17:33.189
whatever Clemente is trying to offer you, it's
01:17:33.189 --> 01:17:35.310
not going to reach everybody. But if you grew
01:17:35.310 --> 01:17:37.949
up with Clemente and you love it, then of course
01:17:37.949 --> 01:17:40.789
that speaks to you. And so I wanted to sort of
01:17:40.789 --> 01:17:44.109
create this environment where I explain to people
01:17:44.109 --> 01:17:46.710
that no matter what it is you love. We're going
01:17:46.710 --> 01:17:49.210
to find a way to bring you to this music. And
01:17:49.210 --> 01:17:50.649
you're going to understand that there are all
01:17:50.649 --> 01:17:52.649
these avenues by which you can appreciate it.
01:17:52.750 --> 01:17:55.229
So if you grow up, if you're a grandma that grew
01:17:55.229 --> 01:18:00.329
up loving Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and Gladys
01:18:00.329 --> 01:18:02.210
Knight and the Pips, we'll play some of that.
01:18:02.409 --> 01:18:05.850
And you're going to understand that. You're going
01:18:05.850 --> 01:18:09.520
to understand that. that the other composers
01:18:09.520 --> 01:18:11.659
that we play that are writing classical music,
01:18:11.760 --> 01:18:14.199
these black composers, they also grew up loving
01:18:14.199 --> 01:18:16.520
that music, or their parents grew up loving that
01:18:16.520 --> 01:18:21.130
music, and that they actually like... They write
01:18:21.130 --> 01:18:23.550
and they actually write that stuff into their
01:18:23.550 --> 01:18:26.510
music. Not literally, but they're feeling that
01:18:26.510 --> 01:18:29.289
and they're writing like blues inflected music
01:18:29.289 --> 01:18:32.189
and soul inflected music. And it's not obvious
01:18:32.189 --> 01:18:35.090
necessarily, but sometimes they'll slip in like
01:18:35.090 --> 01:18:37.470
a little refrain from a spiritual or a little
01:18:37.470 --> 01:18:40.109
refrain from a, you know, whatever. And sometimes
01:18:40.109 --> 01:18:42.189
I'll be rehearsing with my friends and I'll be
01:18:42.189 --> 01:18:46.409
like, does this baseline remind you of, you know?
01:18:47.630 --> 01:18:50.310
of this Delphonics tune, and we'll be like, oh
01:18:50.310 --> 01:18:54.489
my gosh, it does! And we don't know if that's
01:18:54.489 --> 01:18:56.810
really what's happening, but we're kind of listening
01:18:56.810 --> 01:19:00.909
with this. All of the people that we love, these
01:19:00.909 --> 01:19:04.529
black composers that we love playing, we realize
01:19:04.529 --> 01:19:07.569
that they actually grew up listening to the music
01:19:07.569 --> 01:19:10.109
that we grew up listening to. So when we program,
01:19:10.470 --> 01:19:14.810
we're actually, we're sort of making it an educational
01:19:14.810 --> 01:19:18.329
experience, and we're saying, these people love
01:19:18.329 --> 01:19:21.369
the music that you love. And they're actually
01:19:21.369 --> 01:19:24.890
relatable in all of these ways. And we program
01:19:24.890 --> 01:19:27.630
it so that they get to experience the music that
01:19:27.630 --> 01:19:29.289
they love, and they get to hear a little bit
01:19:29.289 --> 01:19:31.850
of Lizzo, and they get to hear a little bit of,
01:19:31.850 --> 01:19:33.810
you know, Chateaubriand, and they get to hear
01:19:33.810 --> 01:19:36.510
a little bit of Duke Ellington. And on a multi
01:19:36.510 --> 01:19:39.510
-generational level, they get to have this concert
01:19:39.510 --> 01:19:42.649
experience that's sort of wonderful and kind
01:19:42.649 --> 01:19:45.710
of wild and crazy. Like, I remember, I mean...
01:19:46.279 --> 01:19:51.039
I remember one year playing Lil Nas X. And it
01:19:51.039 --> 01:19:53.039
was kind of wild because people were like, what
01:19:53.039 --> 01:19:55.739
are you doing? And we were like, you like that,
01:19:55.779 --> 01:19:58.579
don't you? Because back then it was pretty fresh.
01:19:58.739 --> 01:20:00.760
Yeah, but the great thing about it is that all
01:20:00.760 --> 01:20:03.140
the musicians are classical musicians. And they're
01:20:03.140 --> 01:20:06.619
playing all these wild, wild music. Oh, so great.
01:20:06.659 --> 01:20:10.880
The Afropop. Thank you. If you want to learn
01:20:10.880 --> 01:20:14.060
more about Juneteenth LP, please go to juneteenthlp
01:20:14.060 --> 01:20:18.800
.org. And every June, she has this amazing event.
01:20:18.880 --> 01:20:23.640
So please attend her crazy, amazing events in
01:20:23.640 --> 01:20:27.079
June. And then, yeah, a couple years ago, I remember
01:20:27.079 --> 01:20:29.619
particularly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
01:20:29.640 --> 01:20:32.439
you performed. It was so great. Anyway, I know
01:20:32.439 --> 01:20:34.979
we have more time. I wish we had more time. You're
01:20:34.979 --> 01:20:38.819
right. It goes 90 minutes. I was wrong. So anyway,
01:20:38.939 --> 01:20:42.560
if you have any questions to an artist, I can
01:20:42.560 --> 01:20:45.369
give you the microphone. Do you have any questions
01:20:45.369 --> 01:20:54.850
to anyone? Yes. Excuse me. Thank you so much.
01:20:55.010 --> 01:20:58.630
I really recently read a text that was talking
01:20:58.630 --> 01:21:03.270
about what makes language memorable. And there
01:21:03.270 --> 01:21:07.069
was an emphasis on credibility. And there was
01:21:07.069 --> 01:21:09.470
an emphasis on surprisingness, right? Something
01:21:09.470 --> 01:21:13.579
unexpected. And what you said about... Our reference
01:21:13.579 --> 01:21:16.319
with music really captured me, and I would love
01:21:16.319 --> 01:21:20.560
it if you would just kind of reflect on how we
01:21:20.560 --> 01:21:25.680
can make music more credible to people. As a
01:21:25.680 --> 01:21:29.000
teacher or as a performer? Hearing in what you're
01:21:29.000 --> 01:21:30.960
saying that you're developing a different level
01:21:30.960 --> 01:21:34.220
of reference for music for people as part of
01:21:34.220 --> 01:21:37.140
their experience that can really last over time.
01:21:38.260 --> 01:21:40.640
And I would just love to hear a little bit more
01:21:40.640 --> 01:21:43.689
about how you're creating that experience. Well,
01:21:43.689 --> 01:21:47.510
I know that for me, I feel like programming needs
01:21:47.510 --> 01:21:50.489
to hit on a lot of different levels. And it depends
01:21:50.489 --> 01:21:55.310
on what you have available to you. So, for example,
01:21:55.430 --> 01:21:57.670
our Juneteenth Festival, we do a lot of different
01:21:57.670 --> 01:22:00.329
kinds of performances. Like we will do a completely
01:22:00.329 --> 01:22:02.369
classical performance at the Dementa Center.
01:22:02.550 --> 01:22:07.149
But we're also starting this creative intersections
01:22:07.149 --> 01:22:12.000
concert series where we will perform. For a brief
01:22:12.000 --> 01:22:15.260
bit of time, like 20 minutes. But we're going
01:22:15.260 --> 01:22:17.979
to invite, we're inviting a writing workshop
01:22:17.979 --> 01:22:22.060
facilitator to come. And it's actually her idea.
01:22:22.140 --> 01:22:25.079
I'm not, I didn't think this up. It's her idea
01:22:25.079 --> 01:22:28.260
to use our performance as a writing prompt. And
01:22:28.260 --> 01:22:31.819
so the guests, our concert goers are going to
01:22:31.819 --> 01:22:36.840
have the opportunity to use our performance as
01:22:36.840 --> 01:22:39.520
a prompt for their creative writing exercise.
01:22:40.670 --> 01:22:44.770
And then we'll play for five minutes, they'll
01:22:44.770 --> 01:22:47.149
write, and then we'll play for five minutes,
01:22:47.149 --> 01:22:48.869
and then they'll write. And then what they'll
01:22:48.869 --> 01:22:51.390
have an opportunity to do is take the microphone
01:22:51.390 --> 01:22:54.270
and read their writing. And so what we'll get
01:22:54.270 --> 01:22:56.949
is this really great interaction where, I don't
01:22:56.949 --> 01:22:59.189
know if any of you guys have read John Burr's,
01:22:59.289 --> 01:23:04.020
is it Burr? Ways of Seeing. Well, he posits that
01:23:04.020 --> 01:23:06.479
we don't have control of things after we send
01:23:06.479 --> 01:23:08.800
it out into the world as artists, right? And
01:23:08.800 --> 01:23:11.960
so you can intend something to be received in
01:23:11.960 --> 01:23:15.800
a way, but there's no guarantee that that's what
01:23:15.800 --> 01:23:18.340
happens. And so now what we get is this opportunity
01:23:18.340 --> 01:23:22.399
for artists to respond creatively to what we
01:23:22.399 --> 01:23:25.539
just did. And so we're going to have that, and
01:23:25.539 --> 01:23:27.420
then we're also going to have them a different
01:23:27.420 --> 01:23:30.880
concert where they get to be. respond um artistically
01:23:30.880 --> 01:23:33.439
like they get to draw or paint and then what
01:23:33.439 --> 01:23:35.260
we're going to do is we're going to play some
01:23:35.260 --> 01:23:37.260
of those pieces at the dometic concert and then
01:23:37.260 --> 01:23:39.960
we're going to display their art and their writing
01:23:39.960 --> 01:23:42.279
at joe's pub in the vestibule so we're going
01:23:42.279 --> 01:23:44.880
to create this like creative community that grew
01:23:44.880 --> 01:23:47.819
out of responding to our performances and then
01:23:47.819 --> 01:23:50.000
we're all going to be in community at the final
01:23:50.000 --> 01:23:55.060
show which is new for us right but we feel like
01:23:55.060 --> 01:24:00.300
in that way we get to like lessen the distance
01:24:00.300 --> 01:24:02.539
between performer and audience, which I think
01:24:02.539 --> 01:24:04.699
is also important because there's a lot of like,
01:24:04.800 --> 01:24:07.659
oh, the artist, and then we're out here and we
01:24:07.659 --> 01:24:09.880
pay for a ticket. I think that's one of the ways
01:24:09.880 --> 01:24:12.220
that we can do that. But I also feel like every
01:24:12.220 --> 01:24:15.880
season we're trying something different. I don't
01:24:15.880 --> 01:24:18.199
know if that answers the question. Thank you.
01:24:18.300 --> 01:24:23.520
Sure. Anyone else? This is for Eleanor. So you
01:24:23.520 --> 01:24:26.340
were saying that when you were transcribing the
01:24:26.340 --> 01:24:31.380
cello concertos, you understood something about
01:24:31.380 --> 01:24:36.840
Bach. I want to know what that was. Thank you.
01:24:37.319 --> 01:24:40.079
I would have talked about it, but we're short
01:24:40.079 --> 01:24:43.399
on time. I was actually describing the cello
01:24:43.399 --> 01:24:48.420
suites by Bach, and they are essentially very
01:24:48.420 --> 01:24:51.279
bare bones. It's just, as you can imagine, the
01:24:51.279 --> 01:24:53.779
cellist usually plays one note at a time, and
01:24:53.779 --> 01:24:55.500
then there will be some double, triple stops
01:24:55.500 --> 01:24:59.829
as chords. There are six suites, so there's a
01:24:59.829 --> 01:25:03.189
total of 36 movements, and it fills up a whole
01:25:03.189 --> 01:25:07.510
CD. So also because I was recording them, not
01:25:07.510 --> 01:25:12.470
only transcribing, I really needed to, as you
01:25:12.470 --> 01:25:15.130
were saying, to internalize them. I needed to
01:25:15.130 --> 01:25:17.970
understand what they are and how I can transmit
01:25:17.970 --> 01:25:22.449
them on the piano. So Bach's music essentially
01:25:22.449 --> 01:25:25.550
is best defined by structure. What we respond
01:25:25.550 --> 01:25:29.100
to with some Some people don't really respond
01:25:29.100 --> 01:25:31.739
to Bach because it really takes a certain region
01:25:31.739 --> 01:25:34.960
of the brain which really understands structure
01:25:34.960 --> 01:25:41.659
and symmetry and non -verbally. So the complexity
01:25:41.659 --> 01:25:45.319
of Bach is usually overwhelming when we hear
01:25:45.319 --> 01:25:47.119
it, when there are many voices. But when you
01:25:47.119 --> 01:25:50.800
look at one voice, you can see how he structures
01:25:50.800 --> 01:25:54.949
one voice. and you see the smaller building blocks
01:25:54.949 --> 01:25:58.449
of each voice, and you see how it already contains
01:25:58.449 --> 01:26:02.390
the hidden counterpoint and the complexity. So
01:26:02.390 --> 01:26:05.350
for a pianist, as we're used to seeing a lot
01:26:05.350 --> 01:26:07.729
of notes, when we're looking at Bach, we're trying
01:26:07.729 --> 01:26:10.770
to manage everything, but as a pianist looking
01:26:10.770 --> 01:26:14.210
at his cello works and really just zooming into
01:26:14.210 --> 01:26:19.250
one line, it's really amazing. how much he does
01:26:19.250 --> 01:26:21.949
that way and then when you blow it up and play
01:26:21.949 --> 01:26:25.590
music that has more layers happening it just
01:26:25.590 --> 01:26:27.810
gives you a completely different understanding
01:26:27.810 --> 01:26:31.310
and also a different level of attention that
01:26:31.310 --> 01:26:33.890
you bring when you play because we look at music
01:26:34.520 --> 01:26:37.539
And very often we don't really pay attention
01:26:37.539 --> 01:26:39.760
to what's going on because we're often thinking
01:26:39.760 --> 01:26:43.079
about what we're going to have for lunch or who's
01:26:43.079 --> 01:26:46.739
pinging us on our cell phone. But when you understand
01:26:46.739 --> 01:26:51.220
what every little nook and cranny in his lines
01:26:51.220 --> 01:26:54.500
really contains, then when you play more, it's
01:26:54.500 --> 01:26:58.439
really like more of your brain lights up, I guess,
01:26:58.579 --> 01:27:01.920
as they say in videos. Did you look at the chaconne
01:27:01.920 --> 01:27:07.479
when you were... Yes. The violin. People tell
01:27:07.479 --> 01:27:10.319
me I should do the violin works, but I don't
01:27:10.319 --> 01:27:13.000
like the higher register. I don't think people
01:27:13.000 --> 01:27:17.020
could go through a CD's worth of higher registers.
01:27:17.460 --> 01:27:20.920
I love the cello suites and that particular timbre.
01:27:21.380 --> 01:27:25.300
Just one suggestion for your audience. I'm one
01:27:25.300 --> 01:27:27.859
of them. I would love to hear more about this.
01:27:28.439 --> 01:27:33.310
Hear what? This explanation? I have recordings
01:27:33.310 --> 01:27:38.710
of all of my sets and on my website I wrote extensive
01:27:38.710 --> 01:27:44.289
booklet notes to every CD. So I actually... The
01:27:44.289 --> 01:27:47.010
cello suite's booklet notes were the hardest
01:27:47.010 --> 01:27:48.949
thing I feel I've ever done as far as writing
01:27:48.949 --> 01:27:51.720
because I felt I had to justify... playing them
01:27:51.720 --> 01:27:54.420
on the piano. I actually had a rash for like
01:27:54.420 --> 01:27:56.359
three weeks, literally, because I didn't know
01:27:56.359 --> 01:27:59.560
why I had it, but it was because I felt so daunted
01:27:59.560 --> 01:28:03.520
to explain what this is. So it is there, but
01:28:03.520 --> 01:28:07.979
thank you for asking. Did you mean like a podcast?
01:28:08.560 --> 01:28:14.000
Did you mean like a podcast? This question is
01:28:14.000 --> 01:28:15.960
for Dr. Kerska, but potentially for all three
01:28:15.960 --> 01:28:19.520
of you. So I grew up playing classical music,
01:28:19.600 --> 01:28:22.760
not piano, but violin. And one thing that I found
01:28:22.760 --> 01:28:25.859
is that most of the people that I played with,
01:28:25.979 --> 01:28:29.119
even those at a pretty high level, there came
01:28:29.119 --> 01:28:32.159
a day when they turned 18 or maybe 21 and they
01:28:32.159 --> 01:28:35.819
kind of stopped playing. And so I wonder for
01:28:35.819 --> 01:28:39.420
you and maybe all three of you, how do we get
01:28:39.420 --> 01:28:43.630
people to continue to play? if they don't pursue
01:28:43.630 --> 01:28:46.930
it professionally? That's a good question. I
01:28:46.930 --> 01:28:51.449
think music has to mean something to you. I do
01:28:51.449 --> 01:28:57.510
think the way classical music has gone, it's
01:28:57.510 --> 01:29:02.409
become very technical, and I find it unusual
01:29:02.409 --> 01:29:06.689
to find a person who will actually have a story
01:29:06.689 --> 01:29:09.710
going on in their head that is meaningful to
01:29:09.710 --> 01:29:13.270
them when they're playing a piece. I think, and
01:29:13.270 --> 01:29:18.850
it does, I mean, at least for me and my daughter
01:29:18.850 --> 01:29:22.550
also, who's right here, it comes a point when
01:29:22.550 --> 01:29:25.069
it has to mean something to you. When it means
01:29:25.069 --> 01:29:28.090
something to you, then you won't stop. But if
01:29:28.090 --> 01:29:31.569
it's just about competitions and, you know, that's,
01:29:31.569 --> 01:29:34.649
you're going to get tired and you're going to
01:29:34.649 --> 01:29:37.050
be so relieved when you don't have to do it anymore.
01:29:37.510 --> 01:29:41.970
May I say something? When I first get a child
01:29:41.970 --> 01:29:48.430
and we're at a grand piano, the very first lesson
01:29:48.430 --> 01:29:51.270
is I put them on a little step stool and I open
01:29:51.270 --> 01:29:56.729
up the piano and we compose a piece using the
01:29:56.729 --> 01:29:59.569
inside of the piano. And we bounce balls and
01:29:59.569 --> 01:30:02.170
we, you know, the pedal and paper and we, you
01:30:02.170 --> 01:30:04.350
know, thunder and lightning and this, or we make
01:30:04.350 --> 01:30:06.590
a spooky Halloween story or whatever. And the
01:30:06.590 --> 01:30:09.369
first thing they learn is that you... You can
01:30:09.369 --> 01:30:14.369
make a story with this instrument in all kinds
01:30:14.369 --> 01:30:17.210
of wild and crazy ways. And their eyes get really
01:30:17.210 --> 01:30:20.970
big. And all I say after that is every piece
01:30:20.970 --> 01:30:23.449
that you play is a composer trying to tell a
01:30:23.449 --> 01:30:26.390
story. And your job is to help them tell the
01:30:26.390 --> 01:30:30.149
story, like make the story come to life. That's
01:30:30.149 --> 01:30:33.109
what your job is. Loud sounds and soft sounds,
01:30:33.189 --> 01:30:35.880
that's what your job is. And all of a sudden
01:30:35.880 --> 01:30:38.579
they have all of this reverence for the act of
01:30:38.579 --> 01:30:42.300
music making. And our job as piano teachers is
01:30:42.300 --> 01:30:45.840
to make that feel special and alive and exciting
01:30:45.840 --> 01:30:51.260
every single week. And to work with whoever else
01:30:51.260 --> 01:30:54.920
they're working with, their choral teacher and
01:30:54.920 --> 01:30:57.479
their composition teacher and their theory teacher.
01:30:57.560 --> 01:31:02.020
And we should be like making them like improvise
01:31:02.020 --> 01:31:05.279
from then. And I can't tell you how hard it is
01:31:05.279 --> 01:31:07.359
to get that to happen in these institutions.
01:31:07.539 --> 01:31:10.079
It's very, very frustrating. But I think that's
01:31:10.079 --> 01:31:11.960
how you do it. Like, we should be, kids should
01:31:11.960 --> 01:31:14.600
be improvising from the very beginning. From
01:31:14.600 --> 01:31:17.039
the very beginning. Because you can't, why are
01:31:17.039 --> 01:31:20.560
we having them, like, learning how to improvise
01:31:20.560 --> 01:31:23.260
to blues, a 12 -bar blues, like, when they discover
01:31:23.260 --> 01:31:25.560
the blues? They should learn it, like, at six.
01:31:26.420 --> 01:31:29.020
It should be fun from the beginning. Why can't
01:31:29.020 --> 01:31:31.850
you rock out now? You know, why does it have
01:31:31.850 --> 01:31:33.869
to be later when your parents tell you about
01:31:33.869 --> 01:31:37.369
the Beatles? Come on. It's all fun. All of it.
01:31:38.229 --> 01:31:45.949
Sorry. I think related to, you know, what Nana
01:31:45.949 --> 01:31:48.229
was saying and also what you said earlier about
01:31:48.229 --> 01:31:53.069
making music in community. Yeah. I think when
01:31:53.069 --> 01:31:55.409
we discover that music actually connects us to
01:31:55.409 --> 01:31:58.109
other people in more interesting ways than we
01:31:58.109 --> 01:32:02.180
would possibly be doing without music I mean
01:32:02.180 --> 01:32:06.300
that's inspiring too and I could just briefly
01:32:06.300 --> 01:32:08.779
add something I wanted to there was a different
01:32:08.779 --> 01:32:11.100
question but we didn't get time but it's also
01:32:11.100 --> 01:32:13.359
playing together in the community I remember
01:32:13.359 --> 01:32:17.399
when I was five and I couldn't play yet and everything
01:32:17.399 --> 01:32:19.800
was just like black and white what do I do I
01:32:19.800 --> 01:32:22.319
learned some little piece and my piano teacher
01:32:22.319 --> 01:32:25.359
just got up and she just started playing three
01:32:25.359 --> 01:32:27.140
hands with me right because I was playing with
01:32:27.140 --> 01:32:31.060
one hand and that moment of like Everything changed
01:32:31.060 --> 01:32:34.359
for me because I had no idea what I was doing,
01:32:34.380 --> 01:32:36.439
and I was like five. And then all of a sudden,
01:32:36.479 --> 01:32:40.840
there was music happening because she came and
01:32:40.840 --> 01:32:43.720
we played together. And that's my gripe with
01:32:43.720 --> 01:32:46.960
piano teachers is I know it's hard to schedule,
01:32:47.140 --> 01:32:49.920
but you need to have the kids play together,
01:32:50.020 --> 01:32:53.720
even if it's something different. And piano duets
01:32:53.720 --> 01:32:55.439
are very special because you're sitting with
01:32:55.439 --> 01:32:58.000
somebody right there, and it's just so much more
01:32:58.000 --> 01:33:00.779
joyful than... being the solitary, you know,
01:33:00.779 --> 01:33:04.359
morose pianist who needs to practice for hours
01:33:04.359 --> 01:33:07.840
and hours. It's a different world now. You know,
01:33:07.859 --> 01:33:11.399
pedagogy needs to just open up to, you know,
01:33:11.420 --> 01:33:18.079
a new dimension. Thank you. Now we're coming
01:33:18.079 --> 01:33:20.760
to an end of this event. Thank you so much for
01:33:20.760 --> 01:33:23.720
really being an active participant today. Wow,
01:33:23.800 --> 01:33:25.739
I'm so impressed with this crowd, and thank you
01:33:25.739 --> 01:33:28.699
so much for coming. I hope you enjoyed the recording
01:33:28.699 --> 01:33:32.100
from the PianoPod Live in Concert, a bold new
01:33:32.100 --> 01:33:35.340
chapter in classical music. So what did you think
01:33:35.340 --> 01:33:38.140
of blending what the PianoPod does bi -weekly,
01:33:38.140 --> 01:33:41.560
music performance, in -depth interviews, and
01:33:41.560 --> 01:33:44.779
adding a live audience with a Q &A panel discussion?
01:33:45.319 --> 01:33:48.239
It was such a joy to see everything come together
01:33:48.239 --> 01:33:51.300
in one afternoon. I truly hope to do this again
01:33:51.300 --> 01:33:54.750
next fall. And I am already in touch with several
01:33:54.750 --> 01:33:57.829
educational institutions, both within New York
01:33:57.829 --> 01:34:01.609
City and beyond, to make it happen. If you would
01:34:01.609 --> 01:34:04.090
like to support future live events like this,
01:34:04.189 --> 01:34:06.869
please consider making a financial contribution
01:34:06.869 --> 01:34:09.970
by tapping the PayPal link in the show notes.
01:34:10.210 --> 01:34:13.689
Every bit helps us continue bringing music and
01:34:13.689 --> 01:34:18.010
conversation to more people. Many thanks to Manus
01:34:18.010 --> 01:34:21.470
Prep and The New School, especially Caroline
01:34:21.470 --> 01:34:25.250
Sonnet -Asser and Mary Catherine Blazek for their
01:34:25.250 --> 01:34:28.470
incredible support. Heartfelt thanks also to
01:34:28.470 --> 01:34:31.430
the entire Manus team for assisting us behind
01:34:31.430 --> 01:34:36.229
the scenes. And to Scott Chu and Brian from Portable
01:34:36.229 --> 01:34:40.050
Recording Studio for their expert audio and video
01:34:40.050 --> 01:34:44.109
work. And to Jenny Bai, my heroine of the day,
01:34:44.250 --> 01:34:47.930
for page turns and stage transitions. Special
01:34:47.930 --> 01:34:51.189
thanks to our photographer, Vincent, for capturing
01:34:51.189 --> 01:34:54.649
every beautiful moment of the event. And of course,
01:34:54.670 --> 01:34:58.670
to our extraordinary guest artists, Dr. Jihoon
01:34:58.670 --> 01:35:02.770
Kurska, Eleanor Byneman, Dr. Nana Oguo, and Donna
01:35:02.770 --> 01:35:05.470
Wang Friedman, whose performances, insights,
01:35:05.630 --> 01:35:08.010
and presence made this concert unforgettable.
01:35:08.609 --> 01:35:12.930
To explore more, Simply scan the QR code on your
01:35:12.930 --> 01:35:15.470
screen, which will take you to the live event
01:35:15.470 --> 01:35:18.789
tab at thepianopod .com, where you will find
01:35:18.789 --> 01:35:23.369
each guest's story and bio. Season 6 of The Pianopod
01:35:23.369 --> 01:35:26.229
is just getting started under the theme Creativity
01:35:26.229 --> 01:35:28.949
and Connection, featuring more extraordinary
01:35:28.949 --> 01:35:33.149
guests and conversations ahead. Thank you for
01:35:33.149 --> 01:35:36.210
listening, and until next time, keep creating,
01:35:36.449 --> 01:35:39.229
keep connecting, and keep the music alive.