100 Works, One Mission: Leah Claiborne - Yamaha Artist & Scholar

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This episode is brought to you by Juneteenth
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LP, a dynamic ensemble and organization dedicated
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to celebrating Black history and artistry through
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music. Learn more about their powerful mission
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and upcoming events at JuneteenthLP .org. Thank
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you, Juneteenth LP, for supporting this episode.
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Welcome back to another episode of The Piano
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Pod, everyone. This month marks a truly special
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moment for our show. We are honoring Juneteenth,
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a time to celebrate Black liberation, creativity,
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and resilience. And what better way to close
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out Season 5, a season dedicated to authenticity
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and joy, than by partnering with Juneteenth LP
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for two powerful episodes that spotlight the
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voices shaping a more inclusive future for classical
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music. I first met Dr. Nena Aguo, the visionary
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pianist and founder of Juneteenth LP, when she
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joined us as a guest last season. Since then,
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our connection has grown into a meaningful collaboration,
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and I am honored to celebrate the work she and
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her ensemble have been doing for over a decade,
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amplifying Black artistry and building community
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through music. To commemorate this partnership,
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I am thrilled to welcome two phenomenal guests
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this month, Dr. Leah Claiborne and Dr. Maria
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Thompson Corley, artists, educators, and thought
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leaders who are boldly reshaping the musical
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landscape. Today's guest, Dr. Leah Claiborne,
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is a trailblazing pianist, educator, and advocate
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for representation in classical music. As the
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founder of Ebony Music, Inc., She is leading
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a national movement to make piano music by Black
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composers more accessible, visible, and celebrated.
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Most recently, she spearheaded a monumental recording
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project at Yamaha Studios, where 10 Black pianists
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recorded over 100 works by Black composers, with
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support from the Sphinx Foundation. Her groundbreaking
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pedagogical publications through Hal Leonard
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are already transforming how piano is taught
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across the country. In this episode, we explore
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the mission and national impact of Ebony Music
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Inc., the making of the 100 -piece recording
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project and what it revealed about legacy and
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representation, how her educational resources
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are reshaping piano pedagogy, and her bold, joyful
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vision for the future of music education. Season
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5 has been an incredible journey. 20 episodes,
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21 phenomenal guests spanning 6 countries and
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3 continents. Our YouTube community has grown
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to over 2 ,900 subscribers and we saw a major
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rise in our audio downloads as well. We launched
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our sub stack where over 10 % of subscribers
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are now VIPs and we were honored to be named
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one of the three finalists for the 2025 Quill
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Podcast Awards in the Best Video Podcast category.
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And this is just the beginning. We are already
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preparing for Season 6, launching in September,
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with the themes of creativity and connection,
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and an exciting lineup of guests ready to inspire,
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challenge, and uplift. Plus, For the first time
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ever, we are hosting a live event on October
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4 at Stiefel Hall at the New School in collaboration
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with Manus Prep, an evening of performance, conversation,
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and community. So if you believe in the work
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we are doing, uplifting bold voices, sparking
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important conversations, and building community
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in classical music, I invite you to support the
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show by becoming a subscriber on Substack. thepianopod
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.substack .com, you will receive early access
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to episodes, behind -the -scenes reflections,
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and curated playlists that keep the dialogue
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going. This is a powerful and timely episode,
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so please sit back and join me in welcoming the
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remarkable Dr. Leah Claiborne to The Pianopod.
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Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The
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Piano Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds
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in the industry about how they are bringing the
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piano into the future and thriving in a complex,
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ever -evolving world. Welcome to The Piano Pod,
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Leah. It's truly wonderful to have you here and
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your work as a pianist educator and an advocate
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has been incredibly inspiring. And from, you
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know, founding Ebony Music Inc. to reshaping
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piano pedagogy through your scholarship recordings
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and publications, you're helping redefine what
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it means to be a classical musician today. So,
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and then especially this episode, as we celebrate
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Juneteenth this month, because this episode comes.
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during the month of June. So it's an honor to
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feature voices like yours. It's very important,
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especially now, and voices that continue to enrich
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and diversify the classical music landscape.
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And so to start, here's my first question. If
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you were to capture the essence of your artistry,
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mission, passion in just a few sentences, how
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would you define who you are as an artist today?
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I would probably define... Well, one, I think
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it's okay that this question that maybe five
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years from now, I will change it, right? And
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maybe five years previously, I would have changed
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it too, right? But something I always think about
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is one of my favorite artists, her name is Nina
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Simone. And she always talks about the artist's
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mission is to change the perspective of society
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and to be a voice for the people of society.
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And right now, just as I've been growing up,
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The thing that's most important to me is making
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sure that people feel seen in whatever space
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that they're in. So beyond music, right? For
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me, it is music. But what I try to do with my...
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with my work, with my scholarship, is making
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sure that people have perhaps a different perspective
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of what classical music is and what it sounds
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like, and then kind of challenging those perspectives
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too. So if it's someone who looks like me, I
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identify as a Black female on a concert stage,
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and being willing to hear my story about that,
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because when we share our stories, we can find
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so many connections between us. broadening our
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scope, challenging perspectives through music.
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That would be probably my mission. Thank you.
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Now, so you've built such a powerful and a far
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reaching body of work from championing Black
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composers to leading DI efforts, publishing,
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launching major initiatives. So let's take a
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moment to spotlight some of your most recent
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recognitions and what they represent. So first
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of all, Congrats to receive several major honors
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in recent years, including the Stecker and Horowitz
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Power of Innovation Award, which is a huge deal,
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and a Yamaha's 40 Under 40 as a Yamaha artist.
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And that's also a huge deal. And then the University
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of Michigan Alumni Artist Award. So could you
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tell us what each of those awards represent and
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what they've meant to you personally and professionally?
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Sure. Well, I'll start with the Stecker and Horwitz
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Power of Innovation Award. That was given through
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the Music Teachers National Association, an organization
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which has been such an incredible organization
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to be part of, especially as I fully left my
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collegiate years and stepping into the professional
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world as a pianist and teacher. But this award,
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it had different pillars. If I'm remembering
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correctly, one was artistic excellence. One is
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pedagogical leadership. And I think impact, yeah,
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impact and leadership are pedagogy. And if I
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can talk a little bit about Stecker and Horowitz,
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who have been just incredible pillars, what I
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think a 21st century artist should be or could
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aspire to be. These are two figures who are absolutely...
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incredible pianists, but also with every performance
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that they had, they're always giving back to
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different communities and always looking to see
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how can I help the next generation. And that's
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something that really, really spoke to me. So
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I applied for this award, I forget what year,
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maybe 2022. And that was the inaugural year of
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it. It's for artists who are, I believe the year
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it's 36 and under in age. And they gave me this
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award. And I have to say, since being a recipient
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of the award, Steckman Horts have been incredible,
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incredible mentors and heroes and people that
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I still look up to. And they're still revolutionizing
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music education to this day. They've given even
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more money and more opportunities for the next
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generation. So I'm a benefactor of that and still
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reaping the benefits of that award. What was
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the 40 under 40 for Yamaha? So that was an unexpected,
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real honor. This was an award that is based on
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nominations from teachers or students and community.
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All the awards are very, you know, very heartfelt
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to me, but I really, really, really feel grateful
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when the community speaks up and says, this is
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someone that we want to recognize. This is someone
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who's impacting our families or our society.
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And that's deeply really what that award was
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about. And when you look at the roster of these
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incredible teachers in America, the work that
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they're doing is well beyond teaching, you know,
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quarter notes and half notes, which is important,
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right? But it's more about what are these teachers
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doing in the lives of the people that they work
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with every day? And how does that have that ripple
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effect in the areas that they live? So that's
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a lot of what. the 40 under 40 was. And then
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the alumni award, yes, University of Michigan,
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go blue. I just love my school so much. The school
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that I graduated, I did my master's in DMA there.
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And that was really... Just a wonderful time
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to go back to the university that really nurtured
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and started my journey with looking at music
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by Black composers. I always tell people I never
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touched a piece by a Black composer until I was
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in graduate school and not even performing it
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publicly until my DMA, well into my DMA. So that
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was the place where it all started. So it was
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really wonderful to come back. share with faculty
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and students my journey, where it all started
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and kind of where I'm at right now. So it's been
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a great journey. It's been a great ride. And
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I'm deeply honored for those type of recognitions.
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Hello, my name is Dr. Leah Claiborne, and I am
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founder of Ebony Music Incorporated, which is
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a nonprofit organization that promotes Black
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pianists and piano music by Black composers.
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This week we are at Yamaha Studios in New York
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City and me and nine other black pianists are
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here to record 100 pieces by black composers.
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This project is being sponsored by the Sphinx
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Foundation and we are all incredibly excited
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to be in New York City and recording these pieces.
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I am so excited to be sharing the music that
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you will be hearing as coming out of this project.
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Then let's talk about really the career -defining
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milestone, which is the Ebony Music, Inc., which
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is the organization you founded to promote Black
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pianists and then the music of Black composers,
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right? Yes, that's right. Yeah, so, you know,
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it's interesting. I don't consider ebony music
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the, you know, like a career defining moment.
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And that's mainly because the work had been happening
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for many years prior to starting, you know, officially
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getting that legal nonprofit status. So really,
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I have to credit my years at University of Michigan,
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because that's when I had developed a program
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where Black youth would come into the University
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of Michigan, and I would teach them piano for
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free every Saturday. And this was, this was,
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it was a love project and a passion project.
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I kind of used them a little bit as guinea pigs
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for my dissertation work because I was researching
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piano music by Black composers, but I just didn't
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want it to be music that I liked. I wanted to
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see how could this help or what would be the
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pedagogical benefits for this demographic, for
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these students. So I did that for several years
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as a student and it well exceeded my expectation.
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I thought that I was, you know, building community
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and that is... But what I also realize is that
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when you build community, again, you have parents
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that are being exposed to aspects of music that
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they've never been to exposed to before you have
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definitely the students are opening their eyes
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up of possibilities of what it could mean, not
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just to be an artist, but what it means to come
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every week and work hard at something, you know,
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I Just received a text yesterday from my advisor,
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Dr. John Ellis, who leads the pedagogy area there,
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showing me pictures of the program. They just
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had their final, you know, their end of the year
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recital. And it's so, so nice when... A person
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who creates a program can leave, right? And the
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community still says, this is something that's
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important to us. This is what we want to continue
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to do. So really, that is the place where it
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all started for me. Really looking at the demographic
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of Black youth and making sure that they had
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good representatives of what a life in classical
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music could look like. And that that can look
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like someone who looks like them. The music that
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they're studying, they can also have representation
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of people who look like them. Although that was
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the start of it, what I realized very quickly,
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no matter your skin tone, right? White, Black,
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Asian, Hispanic, doesn't matter. This music is
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fantastic music that everyone can benefit from.
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And when we broaden our understanding of... classical
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music, I think in that aspect that all music
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is beneficial and all music is so worthy to be
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performed and studied and shared that that's
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really what can help bridge understanding and
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allow our awareness to be even larger of everything
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that this field has to offer us. So what you
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started as something grassroots work, let's say,
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while you were studying at the University of
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Michigan and then the neighborhood kids would
00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:03.259
come and you're basically teaching piano, right?
00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.559
Yes. But you're trying to make an effort, try
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:09.940
to engage with them. Yes. Yeah. Instead of just,
00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.359
oh, here's Mozart, here's Beethoven. But, right.
00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:19.460
So then became this years later. So that's very
00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:23.779
interesting that, I guess, years of hard work
00:17:23.779 --> 00:17:26.619
of grassroots and that became the inspiration.
00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:31.880
For sure. For sure. And I think it's a continued
00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:35.960
journey, right? That keeps going because it started
00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.400
that way. And then I'll definitely say during
00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.579
COVID, right? When we're all locked down, right?
00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:44.500
That also became like this other wave where...
00:17:44.890 --> 00:17:48.849
I realized I was put into different organizations
00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:51.829
and institutions, right? Where the collective
00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:55.650
starts getting larger and larger, right? So my
00:17:55.650 --> 00:17:58.730
own network of being exposed and partnering with
00:17:58.730 --> 00:18:01.049
other Black pianists and other Black musicians
00:18:01.049 --> 00:18:04.069
is growing as well. And you realize we all have
00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:06.750
the same, very similar stories, different lives,
00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:09.599
but similar stories. So we started... really
00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.460
building community in that aspect. So yeah, it
00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:14.420
was kind of it was bringing all of these things
00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:17.140
together community within, you know, the next
00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.599
generation, but community, really for myself,
00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:22.200
as well, you know, like, where I'm not the only
00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.119
one out here. And you know, these other people
00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.380
are not the only ones out here, that there's
00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:31.099
huge, beautiful power in numbers. Wow, Ben. Very
00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:34.319
recently, which is last year, your organization
00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:39.099
was awarded a major grant from the Sphinx Venture
00:18:39.099 --> 00:18:41.440
Fund. That's correct. The Sphinx organization,
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:47.599
yes. To support a bold and unprecedented project,
00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:52.420
which is the 100 Works by Black Composers project.
00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.339
Can you tell us about this whole thing, how it
00:18:56.339 --> 00:19:00.480
happened, and also how's it going? Yeah, great
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.779
question. How's it going? Yeah, so this was,
00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:08.180
it's through the Sphinx organization. And Sphinx
00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:11.000
is an incredible, really incredible organization
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.980
that promotes Black and Latinx classical musicians.
00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:20.440
really, really big. And orchestra has done so
00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.400
much work with bringing advocacy and awareness
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:25.799
of representation, or I should say the lack of
00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.839
representation within orchestras. This project,
00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:34.759
the Sphinx Venture Fund, it's a grant that allows
00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.859
organizations to I believe their words are transformed
00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:41.799
the understanding of classical music in some
00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:45.140
capacity. So what I wanted to do was to find
00:19:45.140 --> 00:19:47.619
a way to amplify the work that I was already
00:19:47.619 --> 00:19:51.480
doing. And what I wanted to really, really highlight,
00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:56.460
first and foremost, is that there have been so
00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:02.119
many incredible Black classical pianists. I would
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.740
not be where I am today without the generation
00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:06.839
before me. They wouldn't be where they are today
00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:09.779
without the generation before them, right? So,
00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:12.200
you know, in pedagogy, we love to talk about
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.299
the lineage, right? The lineage of teachers are
00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:18.160
like, I'm, you know, five generations removed
00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:22.380
from Rachmaninoff, right? We deeply have that
00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:25.490
in the Black community too. And when we come
00:20:25.490 --> 00:20:28.529
together, we can hear these stories and it's
00:20:28.529 --> 00:20:31.849
just such a beautiful collective. So that is
00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:33.789
something that I wanted to highlight. And I believe
00:20:33.789 --> 00:20:36.990
that was done and it's continuing to be done
00:20:36.990 --> 00:20:40.450
through this recording project where me and nine
00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:42.690
other Black pianists came together at Yamaha
00:20:42.690 --> 00:20:45.650
Studio in New York. Yamaha was absolutely wonderful
00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:47.990
and allowed us to come in there to their studio
00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:52.099
for a week. Each performed at least 10 pieces
00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:56.519
by Black composers. The total is like 122 pieces
00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.240
that we were able to record in that first year.
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:04.220
That was in July of 2024. And each of us performed
00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:08.160
music at the beginning level, intermediate, and
00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:11.039
advanced level. And that was really important
00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:14.529
for me because... I'll probably share later on,
00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:18.569
but when these recordings are available, I wanted,
00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:21.130
you know, the youngest pianist to be able to
00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:24.529
see, you know, like we have Michelle Kan, a Grammy
00:21:24.529 --> 00:21:28.069
award winning, you know, pianist. Maybe they'll
00:21:28.069 --> 00:21:31.009
be reminded, hey, Michelle Kan at some point
00:21:31.009 --> 00:21:33.809
had to learn where middle C was, right? And she
00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:36.430
kept up with it. And now, you know, she just
00:21:36.430 --> 00:21:40.170
won a Grammy. So it was important that all of
00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:43.079
us were. recording music at all these different
00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.019
pedagogical levels so that there would be a great
00:21:46.019 --> 00:21:48.759
entry point for anyone who wanted to be exposed
00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:50.940
or learn a little bit more about this music.
00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:11.299
The second round of this grant is that we're
00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:14.920
commissioning 10 composers to write pedagogically
00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:17.339
as well at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced
00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:20.460
levels. They'll be working with the pianists
00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.819
that were part of their recording project. And
00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.579
then we'll do another round of recording of those
00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:30.660
commissioned works as well. So that's the scope
00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:33.500
of the project. It's going well. I think it's
00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:37.799
going well. Yeah. Wow. So it's ongoing. Yes,
00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:42.579
it's ongoing. It's still continuing. We finished
00:22:42.579 --> 00:22:46.319
the first round, which was like the 122 recordings.
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:50.319
We have a few albums that will come out from
00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:54.640
that. And then this year, once we're in May right
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:57.839
now, but once this academic year comes to a close,
00:22:57.900 --> 00:23:00.740
I'll be able to start working on the commissioning
00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:05.559
aspect of it as well. Wow. Yes. So that is spectacular.
00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:08.400
Thank you. I've been having a really fun time.
00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.420
It's been a good time. But, you know, projects
00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:15.039
like this, it's not just happened overnight or
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.359
it's not an overnight idea. It's really definitely
00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:21.859
coming from the grassroots work that you started
00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:25.039
in Michigan, right? For sure. For sure. Definitely.
00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:29.769
I'm always thinking about what I needed. When
00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:32.890
I was starting piano, you know, whether it was
00:23:32.890 --> 00:23:35.710
more community, seeing more people who look like
00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:39.230
me, I think that would have made my time at different
00:23:39.230 --> 00:23:42.430
stages a lot easier. Also seeing people that
00:23:42.430 --> 00:23:45.730
I would want to aspire to be that look like me,
00:23:45.869 --> 00:23:50.359
you know, or having music. by, by people who
00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:53.220
looks like me, it would, it would have solidified
00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:56.500
my place and belonging. I think earlier on, instead
00:23:56.500 --> 00:24:01.019
of more questionings or doubt even. So I definitely,
00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:02.940
I think that's, that's truly the heart of this
00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:07.460
mission. Now tell us about those 10 amazing black
00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:11.700
pianists. So, yeah. So you mentioned that there's
00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.119
a first round you already taped and the second,
00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:17.720
third around all these 10 pianists, are they
00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:20.220
going to be in this? like first and second and
00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:23.660
third rounds, like all the same? That's the hope.
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:29.000
Okay. Let me tell you about the pianist for the
00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.799
first round of this. Yes. And the hope is that
00:24:31.799 --> 00:24:34.240
we, you know, we would have the same pianist
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:37.480
for the second round of this when the commissioning
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.900
project comes. But it's been so wonderful to
00:24:41.900 --> 00:24:46.690
not only record with pianists who I... just tremendously
00:24:46.690 --> 00:24:49.869
respect their artistry, but have absolutely become
00:24:49.869 --> 00:24:54.710
dear friends as well. And that just made this
00:24:54.710 --> 00:24:58.369
project even more special. So we had William
00:24:58.369 --> 00:25:01.450
Chapman Nyaho, who's a dear friend, beautiful
00:25:01.450 --> 00:25:04.750
person, definitely has become a huge mentor.
00:25:05.009 --> 00:25:08.630
And I always tell this story that I knew about
00:25:08.630 --> 00:25:12.390
Nyaho's works well before I ever met him, right?
00:25:12.549 --> 00:25:16.730
And I remember thinking, wow, like if someone
00:25:16.730 --> 00:25:20.890
like Miyaho did this, it's possible, right? It's
00:25:20.890 --> 00:25:24.690
possible for me to do that as well. So all this
00:25:24.690 --> 00:25:27.750
to say, he's on the recording project. He's on
00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:30.210
this recording project because I would not have
00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:32.549
even been able to start my dissertation work
00:25:32.549 --> 00:25:35.609
had it not been for the foundation that he created.
00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:37.569
I always get emotional when I talk about Miyaho.
00:25:37.869 --> 00:25:41.789
And then we also have Karen Wallin, Dr. Karen
00:25:41.789 --> 00:25:46.829
Wallin. Also huge figure, the very first pianist
00:25:46.829 --> 00:25:50.150
to be able to record Florence Price Piano Concerto.
00:25:50.329 --> 00:25:54.750
She has dedicated her life to programming and
00:25:54.750 --> 00:25:56.970
bringing so much awareness to Florence Price.
00:25:57.210 --> 00:26:02.450
This is also well before the industry even put
00:26:02.450 --> 00:26:05.130
a spotlight and said, who is this figure, Florence
00:26:05.130 --> 00:26:09.329
Price, right? Karen was at Howard University,
00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:12.349
which was down the street from my institution.
00:26:12.569 --> 00:26:16.109
So it's always been wonderful to be in D .C.
00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:20.809
and to have a figure like her to talk about this
00:26:20.809 --> 00:26:24.029
journey, being a Black female pianist. And then
00:26:24.029 --> 00:26:30.700
we had Maria Thompson Corley. Just a wonderful
00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:34.079
powerhouse, powerhouse pianist. She actually
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:39.059
is the second guest of this month. So I was able
00:26:39.059 --> 00:26:42.559
to book her. Yes, I'm so happy. You will love
00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.259
it. You will love her. It's going to be a good
00:26:44.259 --> 00:26:48.099
time. What a delight she is. She recorded so
00:26:48.099 --> 00:26:54.059
much music for us. I came to know Maria's works
00:26:54.059 --> 00:26:58.180
through Leslie Adams' etudes. And I believe she
00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:02.400
recorded two of the etudes and many, many other
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:06.039
works as well. She has two incredible albums.
00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:10.720
I'll say historic albums of Black female composers.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.940
So it was wonderful to have her voice on it.
00:27:14.099 --> 00:27:17.759
What you'll notice with the artists, they're
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:21.200
different generations. you know, of artistry
00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:22.720
on here. And that was important to showcase.
00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:26.119
We also have Artina McCain, who I know is on
00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:30.019
your show. Yes, fantastic. Absolutely incredible,
00:27:30.500 --> 00:27:34.000
incredible musician, pianist. She did two world
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.230
premieres, actually, of Joseph Joubert. And I'm
00:27:39.230 --> 00:27:41.630
so excited for everyone to hear these pieces.
00:27:41.890 --> 00:27:45.490
We had Michelle Kan. As I said, she did an all
00:27:45.490 --> 00:27:49.950
-Black female recording for us. We had Joe Williams
00:27:49.950 --> 00:27:54.970
out in Seattle, Washington. He did a program
00:27:54.970 --> 00:27:59.009
of all living composers. He really advocates
00:27:59.009 --> 00:28:03.430
representation of millennials, right? And that
00:28:03.430 --> 00:28:05.710
we're still here, we're out here, and we're doing
00:28:05.710 --> 00:28:10.390
great work. And then we had, who am I forgetting?
00:28:10.569 --> 00:28:13.450
Who am I forgetting? Elizabeth Hill, Dr. Hill.
00:28:13.589 --> 00:28:17.549
She's also here out in the DC area. Did wonderful,
00:28:17.730 --> 00:28:19.630
wonderful recordings of William Grant Steele,
00:28:19.730 --> 00:28:22.930
who is one of my first Black composers I ever
00:28:22.930 --> 00:28:29.230
performed. And we had, I'm so sorry. Did you
00:28:29.230 --> 00:28:33.579
also invite Kyle? Thank you. Kyle Walker. Yes,
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:36.079
because I interviewed him and I remember. Amazing.
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:41.000
Yes. Three, two seasons ago. Yes. Yes. Yes. Kyle.
00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:44.839
Kyle is on this wonderful recordings. Irene Britton
00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:47.680
Smith, Samuel Coleridge Taylor. He did a few
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:51.400
of my pieces in my publication as well for young
00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:54.859
students. And then we had Lewis Warren as well.
00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:57.039
I think that's the 10th one. Lewis Warren. I
00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:01.559
learned of Lewis's work. He won. uh the mtna
00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:04.720
um i guess there was the collegiate level or
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.660
the young artists competition um i think he also
00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:09.900
won the chopin prize that year and then he took
00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:12.859
on the ebony prize as well um so he just kind
00:29:12.859 --> 00:29:15.460
of did like you know clean clean sweep there
00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:19.880
um and one of the pieces he he performed is by
00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:23.500
anthony green living composer Oh my goodness,
00:29:23.579 --> 00:29:26.759
I cannot wait for you all to hear that fugue.
00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:29.059
It's an etude and a fugue mixed together. It's
00:29:29.059 --> 00:29:32.859
just definitely for your most advanced artists.
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.559
But yeah, I hope I didn't leave anyone out. I
00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:39.920
believe that's all of them. And like I said,
00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:44.059
we all were able to record music that we loved
00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:47.829
the most. And then also... recording music that,
00:29:47.829 --> 00:29:50.750
you know, the beginning pianist or the intermediate
00:29:50.750 --> 00:29:55.210
pianist will be able to listen and hear a great
00:29:55.210 --> 00:30:00.730
artist perform that piece as well. Wow. But those
00:30:00.730 --> 00:30:05.470
are like name dropping that you did. I get excited
00:30:05.470 --> 00:30:08.049
all the time thinking about it, you know? And
00:30:08.049 --> 00:30:11.589
it was just, the music was, you know, the forefront
00:30:11.589 --> 00:30:14.269
of this project, right? But there was something
00:30:14.269 --> 00:30:18.109
so special. about all of us being together in
00:30:18.109 --> 00:30:21.509
New York, right? And I realized that was bigger
00:30:21.509 --> 00:30:25.970
and more impactful than anything, really. Just
00:30:25.970 --> 00:30:28.930
to sit at a table together in fellowship and
00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:31.730
just say, I love you. I love the work that you're
00:30:31.730 --> 00:30:35.329
doing, you know, fangirling this entire time.
00:30:35.789 --> 00:30:38.109
Yeah, just to be in community with each other
00:30:38.109 --> 00:30:41.109
and to continue that well after this recording
00:30:41.109 --> 00:30:43.809
project has been really, really special and amazing.
00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:47.970
But to be able to curate that and organize everything.
00:30:48.269 --> 00:30:52.009
Yeah. What a visionary you are. Thank you. Yeah.
00:30:52.589 --> 00:30:56.990
Then is there any moment where, wow, this is
00:30:56.990 --> 00:31:00.130
a big shock or surprise or, you know, by doing
00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:04.529
this, especially with this particular project
00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:08.470
or maybe a surprising discovery, for example,
00:31:08.470 --> 00:31:11.390
you discovered a new artist, a new, you know,
00:31:11.390 --> 00:31:15.230
composer, that sort of thing. Definitely. You
00:31:15.230 --> 00:31:19.869
know, when I was thinking about getting the music
00:31:19.869 --> 00:31:23.569
together for this recording, I had like my top
00:31:23.569 --> 00:31:26.890
100 pieces, if you will, that I wanted to record.
00:31:27.569 --> 00:31:29.950
And then it was more about thinking about, okay,
00:31:29.950 --> 00:31:31.730
well, who would I want to give this piece to?
00:31:31.769 --> 00:31:33.650
Or who would I want to give this piece to? And
00:31:33.650 --> 00:31:36.950
the reason why behind that, right? And then there
00:31:36.950 --> 00:31:40.490
became a point when I realized it also might
00:31:40.490 --> 00:31:42.990
be wonderful just to open this up to say, hey,
00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:45.539
I would love for you to be on this project. What
00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:49.500
works are speaking to you right now? So I would
00:31:49.500 --> 00:31:53.460
say most people, most of the pianists at least
00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:56.240
recorded three advanced pieces. And those are
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:59.779
the pieces that I had nothing to do with. It
00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:01.920
was the works that they were either concertizing
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:03.960
or they said, this is what I want to be, you
00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:07.079
know, to offer for this. The other part of it
00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:12.359
was a shock. And in the best way possible was.
00:32:13.019 --> 00:32:16.519
For example, Joe Williams, he offered so many
00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:20.859
pieces for me at that intermediate or late beginning
00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:23.619
level, which honestly, I felt like that was my
00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:25.880
area, my specialty of scholarship, right? But
00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:28.460
to know that living composers and young, like
00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:33.460
under 40 composers are writing for young people,
00:32:33.559 --> 00:32:37.099
for young pianists, that was new to me. So the
00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:39.900
whole entire process was a lot of discovery.
00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:45.140
you know, as you keep learning, you realize how
00:32:45.140 --> 00:32:47.480
much you don't know, right? And that was definitely
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:50.000
that moment. I was like, wow, I thought I understood
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:53.440
this literature pretty well, especially at the
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:56.900
beginning level. But even then, when you bring
00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:01.000
more people, you know, to the gathering, you
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:04.940
start to learn from each other. With literature,
00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:07.599
I'm still learning constantly and I'm learning
00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:10.500
through these artists. So that was a big wow
00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:15.140
and a shocker. And I'm so glad that I went with
00:33:15.140 --> 00:33:19.759
the route of bring what you want to the table.
00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:24.500
And there can be a bit of collaboration in that
00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:28.680
aspect too. So yeah, I think that was really
00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:32.880
good for me. That's fantastic. Now then, how
00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:37.960
are we able to access to your, is it going to
00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:42.140
be streamed on music services and also videos
00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:46.039
available? Yes. Some publications. Can you tell
00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:50.700
us? Yes. All the above. Oh, wow. That's awesome.
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:55.339
So the first album will come out in August of
00:33:55.339 --> 00:33:59.759
this year, August 2025. And the first album is
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.839
geared towards children, because that for me,
00:34:02.859 --> 00:34:04.960
that's always the heart, the heart of it. And
00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.500
this is not to say that this is music, that all
00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:13.289
the music is. is music that maybe your five,
00:34:13.369 --> 00:34:15.690
six, or seven -year -old can play, but it is
00:34:15.690 --> 00:34:20.090
music that I believe will inspire them to think
00:34:20.090 --> 00:34:23.949
about fantasy or imagination or get them excited
00:34:23.949 --> 00:34:28.989
about music at large. So the first album that's
00:34:28.989 --> 00:34:31.469
coming out, this will be coming out through Parma
00:34:31.469 --> 00:34:35.809
Records, and we're titling it Arise and Shine,
00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:39.449
Piano Music by Black Composers for Kids. All
00:34:39.449 --> 00:34:43.389
10 pianists will be represented on this album.
00:34:43.789 --> 00:34:48.230
And once that is available, we'll also have open
00:34:48.230 --> 00:34:51.250
access through YouTube channels, through social
00:34:51.250 --> 00:34:54.650
media of the videography that was taken as well.
00:34:55.469 --> 00:35:00.130
We had the most incredible videographer on this
00:35:00.130 --> 00:35:04.460
project as well. The music is wonderful, but
00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:07.239
it's also important that they see the person,
00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.900
the artist behind creating this music. And also
00:35:10.900 --> 00:35:12.639
pedagogically, there's some really fun things
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.079
happening. So we have a great bird's eye view
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:17.360
that's happening so that, you know, pianists
00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:21.219
can see, you know, fingering and all the fun
00:35:21.219 --> 00:35:23.400
things that are happening kind of behind the
00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:26.380
scenes or behind the piano. So that will be all
00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:29.500
open access. We'll have another album coming
00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:33.380
out, which. I don't have a title just yet, but
00:35:33.380 --> 00:35:35.860
I have signed the contract, so it's fine. It'll
00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:37.880
also be through Palmer Records, and that'll be
00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:42.900
somewhat of our top 10. Each artist on the recording
00:35:42.900 --> 00:35:46.880
project, it's one of their best features of the
00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:49.760
recording session or a piece that really speaks
00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:52.460
to them or was an important step in their journey.
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:57.099
So that will come out in early of 2026. Wow.
00:35:57.260 --> 00:36:00.300
Do you have a website for your organization?
00:36:00.829 --> 00:36:04.590
Yes, these will also be available on my website,
00:36:04.670 --> 00:36:09.510
which is ebonymusic .org. And Parma will also
00:36:09.510 --> 00:36:13.869
be creating a site specifically for these, for
00:36:13.869 --> 00:36:17.130
the albums that are coming out as well. And we
00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:20.150
are in the early stages of talking, but there
00:36:20.150 --> 00:36:21.949
will be another, there will be a publication
00:36:21.949 --> 00:36:24.530
as well. So that when you're listening to the
00:36:24.530 --> 00:36:26.110
music, you can say, hey, I want to play that
00:36:26.110 --> 00:36:29.449
and it's readily available as well. Oh, as a
00:36:29.449 --> 00:36:32.809
score, as a sheet music. Wonderful. That's wonderful.
00:36:33.170 --> 00:36:37.030
And then so helpful and educational, too, in
00:36:37.030 --> 00:36:39.329
so many ways. Yeah, it's been really wonderful
00:36:39.329 --> 00:36:43.469
for me to witness is that Ebony Music also sponsors
00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:46.889
the Ebony Prize at Music Teachers National Association.
00:36:47.150 --> 00:36:50.210
So this is a prize for the best performance of
00:36:50.210 --> 00:36:52.369
the piece by a Black composer at the national
00:36:52.369 --> 00:36:56.039
level. And it's been such an honor to listen
00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:59.820
to the music that's coming out of these incredible
00:36:59.820 --> 00:37:04.059
children, you know, young artists and young pianists
00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:07.460
each year. I believe this is the third year that
00:37:07.460 --> 00:37:12.199
we've done or sponsored the prize. And it's so
00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:16.519
encouraging to hear even before the competition.
00:37:17.239 --> 00:37:21.019
Teachers reaching out and sharing their exposure
00:37:21.019 --> 00:37:23.980
to this music and how much it has helped them
00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:26.679
or how much it's helped their studio or their
00:37:26.679 --> 00:37:29.699
student. If it's their first time, how much they've
00:37:29.699 --> 00:37:32.739
enjoyed programming it or doing it for a competition.
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:37.059
So it's helpful to me because sometimes I think
00:37:37.059 --> 00:37:39.860
we always feel like I wish I could be doing more
00:37:39.860 --> 00:37:43.079
or it's just not enough. And those those type
00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:46.239
of emails, it really. it gives me the motivation
00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:51.800
to keep going. So I'm very grateful for the teachers
00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:56.619
across the country. Also at large, there's quite,
00:37:56.719 --> 00:37:58.739
there's quite, there's a lot happening too, you
00:37:58.739 --> 00:38:01.519
know, in Europe as well with my publication.
00:38:01.539 --> 00:38:06.300
So it's really wonderful to see that the impact,
00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:09.039
I guess you could say, that teachers are utilizing
00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:12.929
this music. Before we continue, we'd like to
00:38:12.929 --> 00:38:15.269
take a moment to highlight our sponsor of the
00:38:15.269 --> 00:38:18.969
month, Juneteenth LP, an inspiring organization
00:38:18.969 --> 00:38:22.929
and ensemble dedicated to celebrating Black artistry,
00:38:22.949 --> 00:38:26.250
history, and legacy through music. Their support
00:38:26.250 --> 00:38:30.079
makes this episode possible. Hello! I'm Dr. Nena
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.519
Ogwo, pianist and founder of Juneteenth LP, a
00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:34.440
Harlem -based collective of Black classically
00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:37.099
trained musicians dedicated to celebrating the
00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.679
music of the African diaspora through bold, genre
00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:42.239
-defying performances that redefine what classical
00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:45.519
music can be and who it's for. At Juneteenth
00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:47.960
LP, we believe in access, outreach, and community
00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:50.380
building through music. Whether we're performing
00:38:50.380 --> 00:38:53.219
a rarely heard music, piece of music by a Black
00:38:53.219 --> 00:38:56.340
composer, or reimagining soul and gospel classics,
00:38:56.380 --> 00:38:58.860
or creating immersive education modules. for
00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:01.400
schools, we're always expanding and growing audiences.
00:39:01.619 --> 00:39:04.179
When we play, we invite listeners into a richer,
00:39:04.260 --> 00:39:07.019
more inclusive musical world. This year marks
00:39:07.019 --> 00:39:09.980
a huge milestone for us, 10 years of our Juneteenth
00:39:09.980 --> 00:39:12.599
celebration at Joe's Pub. What started as a single
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:14.440
night of music and liberation has blossomed into
00:39:14.440 --> 00:39:16.619
a full week of concert and events, thanks to
00:39:16.619 --> 00:39:18.579
support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council,
00:39:18.739 --> 00:39:21.139
the Aaron Copland Fund, and Chamber Music America.
00:39:21.710 --> 00:39:24.329
We are thrilled to invite you to Juneteenth Festival
00:39:24.329 --> 00:39:27.150
Week 2025, a week of concerts and conversations
00:39:27.150 --> 00:39:29.889
across New York City. We kick things off with
00:39:29.889 --> 00:39:31.869
Portrait of an Artist event at Reservoir Studios
00:39:31.869 --> 00:39:35.210
in Midtown Manhattan. And continue on with a
00:39:35.210 --> 00:39:37.510
noonday concert at Interchurch Center, followed
00:39:37.510 --> 00:39:39.269
by date night performances at the Metropolitan
00:39:39.269 --> 00:39:42.769
Museum of Art. Finally, on Juneteenth at 6 .30
00:39:42.769 --> 00:39:46.019
p .m., June 19th, join us. for our 10th annual
00:39:46.019 --> 00:39:48.159
Juneteenth Celebration Concert at Joe's Pub.
00:39:48.500 --> 00:39:50.780
It's our signature event where genre -defying
00:39:50.780 --> 00:39:53.099
performances, powerful storytelling, and a spirit
00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:55.460
of joy come together in one unforgettable night.
00:39:55.880 --> 00:39:58.539
We're also so excited to be sponsoring the June
00:39:58.539 --> 00:40:00.900
episodes of Yakimi Songs, the PianoPod podcast,
00:40:01.320 --> 00:40:04.579
wrapping up Season 5. Pianist Dr. Leah Claiborne
00:40:04.579 --> 00:40:07.019
and Dr. Maria Thompson -Corley are incredible
00:40:07.019 --> 00:40:09.760
artists and educators with truly fascinating
00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:12.579
lives, and these interviews promise to be absolutely
00:40:12.579 --> 00:40:16.349
captivating. At Juneteenth LP, we center representation,
00:40:16.969 --> 00:40:19.030
cultural connection, and musical excellence.
00:40:19.369 --> 00:40:22.269
Whether through performances, education, archival
00:40:22.269 --> 00:40:24.869
work, our goal is simple, to make classical music
00:40:24.869 --> 00:40:28.570
more inclusive and more expansive. We're reimagining
00:40:28.570 --> 00:40:30.809
what classical music can be by honoring its past,
00:40:31.010 --> 00:40:33.429
transforming its present, and opening doors for
00:40:33.429 --> 00:40:36.050
the future. Please join us on the 19th at Joe's
00:40:36.050 --> 00:40:38.110
Pub for a wonderful, wonderful concert. We know
00:40:38.110 --> 00:40:49.039
you'll enjoy it. You shared in the guest form
00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:51.340
because I asked each guest to fill out the guest
00:40:51.340 --> 00:40:56.139
form. And then what struck me was that you mentioned
00:40:56.139 --> 00:40:58.340
that being the only Black person in classical
00:40:58.340 --> 00:41:01.659
music spaces gave you a unique perspective on
00:41:01.659 --> 00:41:04.000
the gaps in performance pedagogy and education.
00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:09.000
Now, that kind of awareness so early in your
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:13.139
musical professional journey speaks to a really
00:41:13.139 --> 00:41:16.059
deep... clarity about who you are as an artist
00:41:16.059 --> 00:41:18.780
as a person and how you want to shape the field
00:41:18.780 --> 00:41:22.440
before we dive deeper into how that awareness
00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:24.940
evolved into your mission and so on i'd love
00:41:24.940 --> 00:41:28.400
to rewind our time and they hear about the early
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:32.199
influences that shaped your path so can you take
00:41:32.199 --> 00:41:35.059
us back to the beginning how did your musical
00:41:35.059 --> 00:41:37.760
journey start and what role did your upbringing
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:40.920
and community play in shaping your early passion
00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:45.219
for the piano Yes. Well, my my upbringing is
00:41:45.219 --> 00:41:48.820
laid the foundation for everything. And it still
00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:53.500
does. And, you know, very much of my my dad is
00:41:53.500 --> 00:41:57.820
a jazz bass player. So there's always jazz music
00:41:57.820 --> 00:42:02.500
in my household. I will say, you know, it's not
00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:04.820
that there was classical music in my household.
00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:08.820
I think that's important because my first love
00:42:08.820 --> 00:42:12.480
was jazz music. I did not know about Beethoven
00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:15.380
or Bach or Mozart, right? I didn't know any of
00:42:15.380 --> 00:42:20.039
these composers. So my first love was jazz. And
00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:24.320
not only was the music exciting to me. I loved
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:28.019
how my dad would talk about these artists, that
00:42:28.019 --> 00:42:31.219
these were not just musicians, but these were
00:42:31.219 --> 00:42:35.800
citizens who were changing the world through
00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:39.659
music. That they were saying, hey, in my society,
00:42:39.739 --> 00:42:43.679
in my community, my community is not being treated
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:48.239
fairly. And how can I use my talent of art to
00:42:48.239 --> 00:42:52.059
change perspectives, right? I thought that...
00:42:52.619 --> 00:42:56.599
I always put musician and activist or activism
00:42:56.599 --> 00:43:00.099
together. I thought that that's just what artists
00:43:00.099 --> 00:43:05.500
did. So because that was my foundation, I just
00:43:05.500 --> 00:43:08.039
thought, you know, being a musician must be the
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:11.940
best thing that you could aspire to be. So I
00:43:11.940 --> 00:43:16.920
started with a teacher who lived, you know. pretty
00:43:16.920 --> 00:43:20.239
close, pretty close to me. And she started me
00:43:20.239 --> 00:43:24.179
with classical music. And not just started with
00:43:24.179 --> 00:43:27.199
me, started me with classical music, but she
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:32.820
developed such a huge love for these composers.
00:43:33.980 --> 00:43:39.619
And that's why I stuck with it. I definitely
00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:44.139
wanted, I realized that my first love was jazz,
00:43:44.380 --> 00:43:47.909
but I... created a new love right with classical
00:43:47.909 --> 00:43:51.750
with classical music and even with that in the
00:43:51.750 --> 00:43:55.130
back of my mind I was still thinking there seems
00:43:55.130 --> 00:43:58.949
to be this divide though right in the jazz world
00:43:58.949 --> 00:44:01.750
that's um you know that was my first love and
00:44:01.750 --> 00:44:03.389
not only first love but I definitely saw more
00:44:03.389 --> 00:44:06.210
people who looked like my family members or you
00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:09.150
know my dad and you know the reason I started
00:44:09.150 --> 00:44:11.769
it and then in the classical world also a huge
00:44:11.769 --> 00:44:15.590
love for this um for this music Not seeing anyone
00:44:15.590 --> 00:44:18.389
who looked like me. Not always not seeing anyone,
00:44:18.409 --> 00:44:20.989
but also not really having the musical language
00:44:20.989 --> 00:44:28.190
that first got me into this space. But I was
00:44:28.190 --> 00:44:33.230
still very much okay with that. My parents were
00:44:33.230 --> 00:44:38.360
so good. And I think probably intentional that
00:44:38.360 --> 00:44:41.719
I was often in spaces where I was the only Black
00:44:41.719 --> 00:44:45.159
person. Same with my sister, all doing other
00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:47.300
extracurricular activities where we were the
00:44:47.300 --> 00:44:50.519
only Black person. And I think they normalized
00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:54.599
that for us. And I'm so glad that they did because
00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:58.380
what they taught us was that. Community is what
00:44:58.380 --> 00:45:00.900
we create. You can get that within family, right?
00:45:01.380 --> 00:45:04.460
You can have your music community. You can have
00:45:04.460 --> 00:45:06.599
your Girl Scouts community. You can have your
00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:09.699
church community, right? And all of those different
00:45:09.699 --> 00:45:12.880
types of communities, it's what helps create
00:45:12.880 --> 00:45:16.719
the overall individual. So I wasn't necessarily
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:20.969
looking at the time. um for more representation
00:45:20.969 --> 00:45:25.130
in classical music um i felt very secure uh in
00:45:25.130 --> 00:45:27.829
who i was i knew where i came from and i i had
00:45:27.829 --> 00:45:30.530
my feeling of family and community in other spaces
00:45:30.530 --> 00:45:35.349
um it really wasn't until i got into school um
00:45:35.349 --> 00:45:37.590
excuse me when i was in my undergrad manhattan
00:45:37.590 --> 00:45:40.389
school of music um and you know really thinking
00:45:40.389 --> 00:45:42.769
seriously it definitely when i got to michigan
00:45:42.769 --> 00:45:44.610
as well university of michigan where i did my
00:45:44.610 --> 00:45:47.849
master's in dma um that's when you start thinking
00:45:47.849 --> 00:45:51.650
you know What is my place in classical music?
00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:55.349
Do I have something to offer? And if the answer
00:45:55.349 --> 00:45:57.650
is yes, would anyone even be willing to listen
00:45:57.650 --> 00:46:03.789
to anything that I have to say? So I started
00:46:03.789 --> 00:46:07.130
kind of, you know, going back and forth a little
00:46:07.130 --> 00:46:10.409
bit in my mind, still very sure that this is
00:46:10.409 --> 00:46:14.809
what I wanted to do. Just not sure how that road
00:46:14.809 --> 00:46:19.639
would look. And I keep going back to my parents,
00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:25.099
but I'm so grateful that my start of this world
00:46:25.099 --> 00:46:28.659
of music was understanding that musicians were
00:46:28.659 --> 00:46:31.559
the ones that were changing their communities.
00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:36.300
And I felt invigorated all over again to get
00:46:36.300 --> 00:46:40.050
back to where it started from. If that's the
00:46:40.050 --> 00:46:42.989
case, you know, Thelonious Monk and Nina Simone,
00:46:43.309 --> 00:46:48.289
right? And Miles Davis, if they did it, you know,
00:46:48.289 --> 00:46:52.329
they were these change agents. How can I do that
00:46:52.329 --> 00:46:54.909
in classical music? So that's, you know, when
00:46:54.909 --> 00:46:57.929
I got to Michigan, in a way, I feel like I was
00:46:57.929 --> 00:47:00.469
able to start that in, as you said, I love it,
00:47:00.510 --> 00:47:03.969
like in this grassroots type of way. And once
00:47:03.969 --> 00:47:08.960
I did, I mean, it felt so right. It felt so right.
00:47:09.019 --> 00:47:12.500
I felt that I understood my purpose. I felt like
00:47:12.500 --> 00:47:16.960
I was living out my purpose and my calling. And
00:47:16.960 --> 00:47:21.320
I'm grateful that I often keep having those moments.
00:47:21.380 --> 00:47:25.340
And that really, really centers me. Yeah, but
00:47:25.340 --> 00:47:29.400
your purpose and mission is clearly being stated.
00:47:29.460 --> 00:47:33.260
Whatever you do, I can really sense that. And
00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:38.320
I guess also university was. support being supportive
00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:41.659
especially university of michigan uh of the projects
00:47:41.659 --> 00:47:45.380
and also were you discovering a lot more black
00:47:45.380 --> 00:47:48.960
composers then for sure yeah you know michigan
00:47:48.960 --> 00:47:53.920
was it was um it was just the perfect it was
00:47:53.920 --> 00:47:56.880
perfect in many ways it was a great institution
00:47:56.880 --> 00:48:01.400
but The people who became my mentors were the
00:48:01.400 --> 00:48:05.880
best people to be my mentors. The person who
00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:09.380
was in charge of the pedagogy area, Dr. John
00:48:09.380 --> 00:48:16.900
Ellis, one of his teachers was a Black composer,
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:23.440
Black pianist, and he knew so much already about
00:48:23.440 --> 00:48:25.980
the literature. I didn't know anything, right?
00:48:26.460 --> 00:48:30.159
So he was such an incredible guide to me and
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:35.880
for me and continues to be. I also was part of,
00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:38.400
within the community, it was called Ypsilanti
00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:40.960
Community. I was part of a church that was part
00:48:40.960 --> 00:48:44.539
of a larger church network. And in that network,
00:48:44.679 --> 00:48:51.440
there is a gentleman, a great man, a great giant
00:48:51.440 --> 00:48:55.059
in the classical music industry, certainly in
00:48:55.059 --> 00:48:58.699
the Black classical music world, of Dr. Willis
00:48:58.699 --> 00:49:02.440
Patterson. He was the first Black dean at University
00:49:02.440 --> 00:49:04.920
of Michigan in the School of Music, Theater and
00:49:04.920 --> 00:49:09.619
Arts, and had this revolutionary anthology for
00:49:09.619 --> 00:49:14.659
voice of art songs by Black composers. Really
00:49:14.659 --> 00:49:17.900
incredible work. Well before it was, you know,
00:49:17.900 --> 00:49:21.719
popular to do so. And for whatever reason, and
00:49:21.719 --> 00:49:23.960
I'm so grateful for whatever that reason was,
00:49:24.099 --> 00:49:27.119
but he definitely took me under his wing while
00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:30.369
I was at University of Michigan. We had so many
00:49:30.369 --> 00:49:33.489
lunch dates, so many talks, so many phone calls.
00:49:33.630 --> 00:49:36.809
And he really laid out the foundation of what
00:49:36.809 --> 00:49:41.250
it meant to build and get support for your community
00:49:41.250 --> 00:49:47.670
before you do anything. So with John Ellis, Willis
00:49:47.670 --> 00:49:51.530
Patterson, my love for students in the next,
00:49:51.630 --> 00:49:53.840
you know. making sure the next generation were
00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:57.460
well equipped. It really just became the beautiful
00:49:57.460 --> 00:50:03.440
scenery for that to take place. My own teacher,
00:50:03.639 --> 00:50:08.230
my piano teacher, Arthur Green. Also, hugely,
00:50:08.309 --> 00:50:11.610
hugely helpful, because any time I came to the
00:50:11.610 --> 00:50:15.010
lesson with with music by black composers, he
00:50:15.010 --> 00:50:18.969
wanted and expected the best from me in the same
00:50:18.969 --> 00:50:21.690
way that, you know, if I was performing a Beethoven
00:50:21.690 --> 00:50:25.610
sonata, the level of excellence he demanded was
00:50:25.610 --> 00:50:28.750
was absolutely right and what was needed. So
00:50:28.750 --> 00:50:33.400
I I just had the best people. to learn from and
00:50:33.400 --> 00:50:37.480
who helped make these visions or ideas just come
00:50:37.480 --> 00:51:30.710
to life. Yeah. you mentioned uh dr artina mccain
00:51:30.710 --> 00:51:35.090
and she who was also you know the guest actually
00:51:35.090 --> 00:51:38.730
this season but honestly seems it seems like
00:51:38.730 --> 00:51:43.110
a long time ago because it was when i interviewed
00:51:43.110 --> 00:51:48.159
her it was september 2024. oh wow okay So a lot
00:51:48.159 --> 00:51:51.239
had happened, right? Yeah, for sure. A lot's
00:51:51.239 --> 00:51:54.219
happened since then. I know. At the time, our
00:51:54.219 --> 00:51:57.440
conversation was like really hopeful. And so
00:51:57.440 --> 00:52:04.800
then, of course, November happens. And so I asked
00:52:04.800 --> 00:52:07.159
a similar question to her. So I'm going to ask
00:52:07.159 --> 00:52:10.179
you, but I think the context is a little different.
00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:15.199
Now, conversations around DEI, you know. at one
00:52:15.199 --> 00:52:19.900
point once at the forefront and now feel more
00:52:19.900 --> 00:52:24.059
cause we have to be careful or you know you don't
00:52:24.059 --> 00:52:27.719
want to risk it that time has moved so fast and
00:52:27.719 --> 00:52:32.739
what was once galvanizing in 2020 can feel really
00:52:32.739 --> 00:52:35.400
vulnerable and distant I wouldn't say distant
00:52:35.400 --> 00:52:38.420
it's pretty much really close to my heart too
00:52:38.420 --> 00:52:41.460
but vulnerable so as much as you feel comfortable
00:52:41.460 --> 00:52:45.079
sharing I'd love to ask How are we doing? Not
00:52:45.079 --> 00:52:48.139
politically. That's nothing we can do except
00:52:48.139 --> 00:52:52.199
for voting and so on. But in music education
00:52:52.199 --> 00:52:55.679
and performing arts. So what real progress have
00:52:55.679 --> 00:52:58.880
you seen despite the circumstances? And where
00:52:58.880 --> 00:53:03.400
do you feel the work is still unfinished? Sure.
00:53:04.059 --> 00:53:10.800
I mean, it's a loaded question. It's loaded.
00:53:10.940 --> 00:53:15.099
But I will say whatever I would have said in
00:53:15.099 --> 00:53:18.860
September 2024, it remains the same for, what
00:53:18.860 --> 00:53:22.340
is this, May 2025, despite leadership changing
00:53:22.340 --> 00:53:25.059
in the country and despite the feelings around
00:53:25.059 --> 00:53:29.920
that. That hasn't changed my feelings on what
00:53:29.920 --> 00:53:34.480
is needed still in this field of classical music.
00:53:36.039 --> 00:53:39.940
Sometimes I it seems funny or, you know, maybe
00:53:39.940 --> 00:53:42.760
eye rolling, but sometimes I have to remind people
00:53:42.760 --> 00:53:46.239
that, you know, I'm black and, you know, I was
00:53:46.239 --> 00:53:50.320
born black. Right. And because of that, I don't
00:53:50.320 --> 00:53:53.420
have the luxury of other people to, you know,
00:53:53.420 --> 00:53:56.840
change a name or change a title or to kind of.
00:53:57.440 --> 00:54:00.739
erase something to make it more acceptable or
00:54:00.739 --> 00:54:04.920
adaptable to other people, right? Other colleagues
00:54:04.920 --> 00:54:09.260
of mine do have that luxury. But because I don't,
00:54:09.260 --> 00:54:12.460
and even if I did, I don't think I would exert
00:54:12.460 --> 00:54:16.099
that. Because I think it is so incredibly beautiful
00:54:16.099 --> 00:54:20.480
when we can look at each other and say, I see
00:54:20.480 --> 00:54:24.480
you for all that you are, which is a black female
00:54:24.480 --> 00:54:28.619
classical pianist. And that is worthy to be celebrated,
00:54:28.860 --> 00:54:32.079
that I don't need to mute myself or anyone that
00:54:32.079 --> 00:54:35.000
looks like me who is offering something to this
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.760
field based on their identity. So because of
00:54:39.760 --> 00:54:44.079
that, we still have work to do, right? We have
00:54:44.079 --> 00:54:49.860
a lot of work to do. What I have seen was that
00:54:49.860 --> 00:54:54.980
in 2020, there was a huge wave of this work of
00:54:54.980 --> 00:54:59.239
bringing more voices to the field, to classical
00:54:59.239 --> 00:55:02.599
music, whether it's in performance, maybe a little
00:55:02.599 --> 00:55:05.699
bit in teaching. I think that we've done a good
00:55:05.699 --> 00:55:10.300
job. We always can do more of concertizing more
00:55:10.300 --> 00:55:13.659
music by different composers. Where my heart
00:55:13.659 --> 00:55:16.559
is, which I still think needs so, so much more
00:55:16.559 --> 00:55:21.320
attention, is making sure that our youth is well
00:55:21.320 --> 00:55:24.780
equipped with this music. And I always target
00:55:24.780 --> 00:55:29.539
the youth first because we as teachers, we always,
00:55:29.579 --> 00:55:33.010
I feel we have the most power. Because when we
00:55:33.010 --> 00:55:36.570
keep teaching Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart, we're
00:55:36.570 --> 00:55:39.369
telling that generation and their parents and
00:55:39.369 --> 00:55:41.570
the community, right, that these are the most
00:55:41.570 --> 00:55:44.329
important voices. And they are great voices.
00:55:44.429 --> 00:55:48.469
But there's also other voices, right, that has
00:55:48.469 --> 00:55:52.869
created so, so much literature for our field.
00:55:54.030 --> 00:55:58.829
And then if we were to start that awareness early
00:55:58.829 --> 00:56:02.880
on, we wouldn't have to unteach or do so much
00:56:02.880 --> 00:56:07.360
unlearning later on in their journey. So I do
00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:10.699
feel that in the education or specifically the
00:56:10.699 --> 00:56:14.519
pedagogy aspect of classical music, that there's
00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:19.719
a lot, a lot more work to be done. And that's
00:56:19.719 --> 00:56:23.199
what I believe is what a lot of my work is, is
00:56:23.199 --> 00:56:25.820
equipping teachers to have the resources to do
00:56:25.820 --> 00:56:31.190
so. Yeah. Does that answer? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:56:31.190 --> 00:56:34.190
Sure, sure. I know it's such a big question.
00:56:34.250 --> 00:56:38.829
And I included several questions into one. Yeah.
00:56:39.329 --> 00:56:44.590
Then I think including works by composers of
00:56:44.590 --> 00:56:48.730
color in our pedagogy is so crucial, not just
00:56:48.730 --> 00:56:52.210
in teaching, but competitions and concert programs,
00:56:52.389 --> 00:56:58.519
which is happening. Now. And your work really
00:56:58.519 --> 00:57:02.460
has made such a remarkable impact, not just through
00:57:02.460 --> 00:57:05.539
your personal work, but through other organizations
00:57:05.539 --> 00:57:10.500
like Francis Clark Center and so on. And I think
00:57:10.500 --> 00:57:13.400
you are the director of DEI. Yes. Right. Amazing.
00:57:13.639 --> 00:57:17.820
So now as a teacher, I've also at the same time,
00:57:17.840 --> 00:57:21.360
I observed how some students or even parents
00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:27.099
without. any harmful or negative intention still
00:57:27.099 --> 00:57:30.260
believe that playing what some still consider
00:57:30.260 --> 00:57:34.239
the standard or usual suspects we call it, you
00:57:34.239 --> 00:57:41.159
know, a repertoire carries more weight and prestige.
00:57:41.380 --> 00:57:46.780
That's their mindset. And it's, it takes a lot
00:57:46.780 --> 00:57:51.070
to. really change that mindset you know what
00:57:51.070 --> 00:57:53.869
i mean yes for sure that's why you're doing what
00:57:53.869 --> 00:57:57.329
you're doing being an advocate right 100 yes
00:57:57.329 --> 00:58:01.969
and you know i'm also i have to remind myself
00:58:01.969 --> 00:58:05.510
that real change is not something that's going
00:58:05.510 --> 00:58:09.190
to happen overnight yeah you know i think real
00:58:09.190 --> 00:58:12.070
change is something that's going to take generations
00:58:12.070 --> 00:58:17.610
after generations to really um to really have
00:58:17.610 --> 00:58:19.309
the change that we want, where it's something
00:58:19.309 --> 00:58:23.389
so rooted within us that that now becomes a new
00:58:23.389 --> 00:58:27.010
makeup, like new identity, new DNA, right? And
00:58:27.010 --> 00:58:30.150
I think what we're aiming for is that we are
00:58:30.150 --> 00:58:34.070
able to normalize many different voices in classical
00:58:34.070 --> 00:58:37.090
music, that we can celebrate Bach and Beethoven
00:58:37.090 --> 00:58:40.590
who have stood, you know, the testament of time.
00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:44.679
But along with that, we can also celebrate Margaret
00:58:44.679 --> 00:58:47.840
Bond and Florence Price and Nathaniel Dead and
00:58:47.840 --> 00:58:53.239
William Grant Still at the same level as the
00:58:53.239 --> 00:58:58.500
other standard composers, right? And I don't
00:58:58.500 --> 00:59:01.820
know, I don't believe we'll get to that point,
00:59:01.880 --> 00:59:04.519
probably even my generation, my lifetime, right?
00:59:04.659 --> 00:59:07.420
And maybe it'll be even better for my nephews,
00:59:07.420 --> 00:59:09.920
and maybe it'll be even better for their children,
00:59:10.019 --> 00:59:13.719
right? But the point of it is that, you know,
00:59:13.739 --> 00:59:16.260
without Miyako and Karen, I wouldn't be where
00:59:16.260 --> 00:59:18.500
I am today, right? When they were doing this
00:59:18.500 --> 00:59:21.400
work, when, you know, there was no spotlight
00:59:21.400 --> 00:59:25.460
or hardly any celebration, right? And now there's
00:59:25.460 --> 00:59:30.519
this huge flood of at least curiosity. So I get
00:59:30.519 --> 00:59:34.260
excited thinking about maybe, you know, 70 years
00:59:34.260 --> 00:59:37.860
from now, what it will look like. And maybe 140
00:59:37.860 --> 00:59:41.119
years from now, what it will look like. But we
00:59:41.119 --> 00:59:43.199
all have a job to do while we're on this earth
00:59:43.199 --> 00:59:47.119
now. So that's what my aim is, to do as much
00:59:47.119 --> 00:59:52.500
as I can, as well as I can for now, knowing that
00:59:52.500 --> 00:59:54.880
the work that really needs to be done, hopefully
00:59:54.880 --> 01:00:00.139
it gets carried off to more people. Yeah, that's
01:00:00.139 --> 01:00:05.019
my biggest hope. And you are also a dedicated
01:00:05.019 --> 01:00:08.099
educator, and you've said that teachers, fellow
01:00:08.099 --> 01:00:11.840
teachers, hold immense power in shaping the narrative
01:00:11.840 --> 01:00:15.699
of what we are just talking about, how music
01:00:15.699 --> 01:00:19.539
is taught and what sort of music is taught. So
01:00:19.539 --> 01:00:21.480
what would you say to a teacher who genuinely
01:00:21.480 --> 01:00:24.679
wants to make their music lessons more inclusive
01:00:24.679 --> 01:00:30.159
and reflective of today's society, but feels
01:00:30.159 --> 01:00:35.579
unsure? Where to begin? Yeah, it's such an important
01:00:35.579 --> 01:00:37.719
question because it's a question that I always
01:00:37.719 --> 01:00:40.219
get. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. You know, and it's
01:00:40.219 --> 01:00:44.699
funny because I feel that whenever I do a lecture,
01:00:44.920 --> 01:00:48.340
you know, I'll be presenting music by Black composers
01:00:48.340 --> 01:00:51.159
or in some type of capacity, and then I'll get
01:00:51.159 --> 01:00:54.059
the hand and say, this was phenomenal. But I
01:00:54.059 --> 01:00:56.159
don't know if I'm the person to teach it, right?
01:00:56.380 --> 01:00:59.590
It's that like... It's this isn't for me type
01:00:59.590 --> 01:01:02.349
of thing or how what are the first steps that
01:01:02.349 --> 01:01:08.150
I can take? And I don't know if it's OK, but
01:01:08.150 --> 01:01:12.920
really one of the one of the courses. piano teaching
01:01:12.920 --> 01:01:15.039
through the lens of diversity equity inclusion
01:01:15.039 --> 01:01:17.599
um that will that we published i published the
01:01:17.599 --> 01:01:21.019
francis clark center um it talks about those
01:01:21.019 --> 01:01:23.900
first steps for piano teachers and it has a lot
01:01:23.900 --> 01:01:26.239
of different um teachers throughout the country
01:01:26.239 --> 01:01:29.280
um kind of talking about and giving interviews
01:01:29.280 --> 01:01:33.440
of their their first steps if you will um in
01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:37.239
this and there are a couple things many things
01:01:37.239 --> 01:01:40.739
that we can do but something as simple as when
01:01:40.739 --> 01:01:44.940
we share even videos, right? That when we share
01:01:44.940 --> 01:01:48.860
videos of a Mozart Sonata or a Clementi Sonatina,
01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:52.019
right? We can also broaden people's awareness
01:01:52.019 --> 01:01:55.519
by the artist that we choose who's performing
01:01:55.519 --> 01:01:58.780
the music, right? Something with starting to,
01:01:58.780 --> 01:02:02.219
you know, broaden the exposure of what it looks
01:02:02.219 --> 01:02:06.280
like to be a classical pianist is a huge step
01:02:06.280 --> 01:02:09.679
before we even might even, you know, put a piece
01:02:09.679 --> 01:02:12.099
by, you know, a different, uh, underrepresented
01:02:12.099 --> 01:02:16.099
composer in front of them. Um, the other part
01:02:16.099 --> 01:02:19.300
that I, that I love to do, um, with, with people
01:02:19.300 --> 01:02:22.800
in my studio, there's so much teaching that has
01:02:22.800 --> 01:02:26.360
to be done for the parent. I would think more
01:02:26.360 --> 01:02:28.860
so than the student because parents have their
01:02:28.860 --> 01:02:32.780
level of expectation as well. Right. Of what
01:02:32.780 --> 01:02:34.880
their students should be performing or what they
01:02:34.880 --> 01:02:36.860
want to be hearing in their home, you know, during
01:02:36.860 --> 01:02:40.099
their practice hours or the music that they keep
01:02:40.099 --> 01:02:44.949
hearing is winning competitions. So. One thing
01:02:44.949 --> 01:02:48.110
that I do, I like to teach my parents about this
01:02:48.110 --> 01:02:51.289
music as well. Whether it's women composers or
01:02:51.289 --> 01:02:54.369
Black composers or Filipino composers or Brazilian
01:02:54.369 --> 01:02:57.469
composers or Asian composers, right? I highlight
01:02:57.469 --> 01:03:01.409
a composer a month. And the parent gets to learn
01:03:01.409 --> 01:03:04.590
about it. The student gets to learn about them.
01:03:04.690 --> 01:03:08.530
We collectively create YouTube videos. So there's
01:03:08.530 --> 01:03:10.969
a great playlist by the end of the month, right?
01:03:11.030 --> 01:03:14.559
So that is, it's education, right? And that's
01:03:14.559 --> 01:03:18.119
not just about taking a piece and plopping it
01:03:18.119 --> 01:03:20.000
in front of a student and say, we're going to
01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:22.599
learn this piece. It's creating a foundation
01:03:22.599 --> 01:03:25.800
of, again, I keep saying, opening up awareness
01:03:25.800 --> 01:03:28.139
of all these other voices that have contributed.
01:03:28.599 --> 01:03:33.159
So even if we feel that you're a teacher and
01:03:33.159 --> 01:03:36.039
you don't feel that you're equipped just yet
01:03:36.039 --> 01:03:39.219
to teach a piece by an underrepresented composer,
01:03:39.929 --> 01:03:43.309
there's so much you can still do, right? In the
01:03:43.309 --> 01:03:45.730
meantime, while you're still gaining your tools
01:03:45.730 --> 01:03:49.289
and your resources or seeking out help from colleagues,
01:03:49.469 --> 01:03:53.030
that doesn't mean that we have to be stagnant
01:03:53.030 --> 01:03:56.369
in our development of exposing our communities
01:03:56.369 --> 01:03:59.730
to this music. There's so many other steps that
01:03:59.730 --> 01:04:03.369
we can be taking along the way. Yeah. And one
01:04:03.369 --> 01:04:07.710
of the ways maybe our listeners can be more...
01:04:09.750 --> 01:04:13.170
being informed and also educational is maybe
01:04:13.170 --> 01:04:18.250
you offer courses. One is out of, of course,
01:04:18.349 --> 01:04:21.090
the University of the District of Columbia, which,
01:04:21.130 --> 01:04:25.690
right? Yeah. Yeah. History of African -American
01:04:25.690 --> 01:04:28.610
music. But of course, that's for someone who
01:04:28.610 --> 01:04:32.849
are, you know, participating or the student of
01:04:32.849 --> 01:04:36.750
the university. But then there's another. way
01:04:36.750 --> 01:04:39.610
to do which is the online course unsung heroes
01:04:39.610 --> 01:04:43.369
20 pieces by the black composers to use in your
01:04:43.369 --> 01:04:46.250
studio now is this is this course still available
01:04:46.250 --> 01:04:48.949
uh the course is still available yes that's through
01:04:48.949 --> 01:04:51.449
the francis clark center yeah um that course
01:04:51.449 --> 01:04:55.289
is available um francis just has so many courses
01:04:55.289 --> 01:04:57.829
you all have to you know there's you know at
01:04:57.829 --> 01:05:00.269
this point i just feel there are so many resources
01:05:00.269 --> 01:05:03.690
so many resources available um so there's the
01:05:03.690 --> 01:05:08.530
20 you said the title yes yes unsung heroes 20
01:05:08.530 --> 01:05:10.849
pieces by black composers there's that one there's
01:05:10.849 --> 01:05:14.579
the um the teaching um Teaching piano through
01:05:14.579 --> 01:05:17.320
the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion. I know
01:05:17.320 --> 01:05:19.960
that you had, I think you had people from A Seat
01:05:19.960 --> 01:05:23.739
at the Piano on the podcast. They had, they created
01:05:23.739 --> 01:05:27.960
the women's course. There's the Latin American
01:05:27.960 --> 01:05:31.360
course. I think that's close to 100 pieces by
01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:35.659
Latin American composers. And just so many, so
01:05:35.659 --> 01:05:38.300
many courses that are available for teachers.
01:05:39.309 --> 01:05:41.210
And what I love about the center, the Francis
01:05:41.210 --> 01:05:44.670
Clark Center, it's the courses are not just here's
01:05:44.670 --> 01:05:47.869
this piece, right? It's really deeply diving
01:05:47.869 --> 01:05:51.349
into what student is going to benefit from this
01:05:51.349 --> 01:05:53.610
piece. What are the first steps that a teacher
01:05:53.610 --> 01:05:57.210
is going to take? Throughout the process, what
01:05:57.210 --> 01:05:59.349
are some aspects that you're going to want to
01:05:59.349 --> 01:06:01.510
make sure that you're, you know, kind of checking
01:06:01.510 --> 01:06:04.110
off to help with their development and their
01:06:04.110 --> 01:06:06.710
journey? So these are really, really wonderful
01:06:06.710 --> 01:06:10.150
courses that anyone, teacher, student, could
01:06:10.150 --> 01:06:12.769
take right now to help with those first steps.
01:06:13.150 --> 01:06:17.969
And also, I purchased your... Oh, my goodness.
01:06:18.469 --> 01:06:21.969
I purchased actually when they came out. I have
01:06:21.969 --> 01:06:24.610
two volumes, but I just can't find the level
01:06:24.610 --> 01:06:28.050
one right now. That's okay. This was published
01:06:28.050 --> 01:06:35.250
about two years ago, no? Was it 2020? I think
01:06:35.250 --> 01:06:38.400
they came out 2023. I think you're right. Yeah,
01:06:38.800 --> 01:06:41.760
I saw your post and I was like, oh, I'm buying
01:06:41.760 --> 01:06:46.139
this. Thank you. You know, there are lots of
01:06:46.139 --> 01:06:48.599
different styles of music in here. You know what
01:06:48.599 --> 01:06:51.099
I mean? Like one is like a literally like piano
01:06:51.099 --> 01:06:54.019
solo work. And the other ones are like almost
01:06:54.019 --> 01:06:57.219
like a hymnal, like chorale style of writing.
01:06:57.480 --> 01:07:01.820
Exactly. So it all depends on that. Sometimes
01:07:01.820 --> 01:07:07.670
I choose one like spiritual song. And then I
01:07:07.670 --> 01:07:11.409
let my student learn only the melody. And then
01:07:11.409 --> 01:07:14.210
I use it as a harmonization and a little bit
01:07:14.210 --> 01:07:16.750
of improv. Is that okay? Is that a good way?
01:07:16.789 --> 01:07:20.340
Absolutely. Absolutely. There's so many teachers
01:07:20.340 --> 01:07:22.679
who they're adopting this in their class piano
01:07:22.679 --> 01:07:24.360
teaching, which is not something that I thought
01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:27.099
about, you know, initially, but for the same
01:07:27.099 --> 01:07:29.199
exact reasons that you're saying that they're,
01:07:29.199 --> 01:07:30.739
you know, the melodies, a lot of the melodies
01:07:30.739 --> 01:07:33.719
are recognizable and they're using those melodies
01:07:33.719 --> 01:07:36.579
to guide in harmonization and transposition as
01:07:36.579 --> 01:07:41.860
well, which those, the spirituals, especially
01:07:41.860 --> 01:07:47.699
by Blanche Thomas is she put in her publication
01:07:47.699 --> 01:07:51.139
that. In order to be a successful pianist, you
01:07:51.139 --> 01:07:53.980
ought to be able to play all of your music in
01:07:53.980 --> 01:07:58.179
all 12 keys, right? And I'm just like, what?
01:07:58.340 --> 01:08:00.719
It's a revolutionary thing to think about, right?
01:08:00.780 --> 01:08:03.079
But when you think about, you know, Courtauld,
01:08:03.179 --> 01:08:05.619
what does Courtauld do in the etudes? He says
01:08:05.619 --> 01:08:09.380
the pianist extract an aspect of the etude. play
01:08:09.380 --> 01:08:11.980
it in multiple keys, and then go back to it,
01:08:12.079 --> 01:08:15.039
right? So there is something pedagogically, you
01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:18.140
know, it's very beneficial to be able to play
01:08:18.140 --> 01:08:20.500
these melodies in different keys. It really helps
01:08:20.500 --> 01:08:23.159
to build the full pianist, the full artist, and
01:08:23.159 --> 01:08:28.399
the full musician. Wonderful. So for my audience,
01:08:28.680 --> 01:08:31.939
what we were talking about is the piano music
01:08:31.939 --> 01:08:36.899
of Black composers, which Leah, Dr. Claiborne,
01:08:36.979 --> 01:08:42.289
curated. uh many different types of uh compositions
01:08:42.289 --> 01:08:45.890
by black composers and then compiled into two
01:08:45.890 --> 01:08:50.130
volumes and available for early intermediate
01:08:50.130 --> 01:08:52.369
to intermediate student that's the level two
01:08:52.369 --> 01:08:54.829
maybe level one was for beginner students for
01:08:54.829 --> 01:08:57.229
beginning students yes right beginning elementary
01:08:57.229 --> 01:09:00.130
yeah beginning um to late elementary i think
01:09:00.130 --> 01:09:02.810
low two is like late elementary to intermediate
01:09:02.810 --> 01:09:06.470
yeah yeah and then these two volumes are available
01:09:06.470 --> 01:09:11.319
on Hal Leonard publication. And they are wonderful.
01:09:11.560 --> 01:09:15.319
I mean, a wonderful way to be introduced or introduce
01:09:15.319 --> 01:09:19.260
your students to compositions by Black composers,
01:09:19.800 --> 01:09:22.079
right? For sure. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
01:09:22.159 --> 01:09:26.619
Okay. So looking ahead, I mean, you've done already
01:09:26.619 --> 01:09:29.800
so much. You're still very young, but you've
01:09:29.800 --> 01:09:32.000
accomplished so much. So what's the next frontier
01:09:32.000 --> 01:09:36.100
for your work? Of course, keep doing the ebony.
01:09:36.890 --> 01:09:42.350
uh right yeah project but do you have any bigger
01:09:42.350 --> 01:09:48.210
ambition or yes great I think my problem is the
01:09:48.210 --> 01:09:50.869
opposite it's you know something that you know
01:09:50.869 --> 01:09:54.350
what I'm really working on right now is um I
01:09:54.350 --> 01:09:57.789
want to be in the moment a little bit more like
01:09:57.789 --> 01:10:00.670
really settle settle in the moment and what that
01:10:00.670 --> 01:10:03.760
looks like for me is looking at the projects
01:10:03.760 --> 01:10:09.960
that I have on the table. And, you know, not
01:10:09.960 --> 01:10:13.460
to say that I don't dive deeply, but really appreciating
01:10:13.460 --> 01:10:18.979
what my hands are on right now. So I say that
01:10:18.979 --> 01:10:23.720
to say I want to be fully committed with carrying
01:10:23.720 --> 01:10:27.239
out the rest of this grant, specifically the
01:10:27.239 --> 01:10:31.159
commissioning project that's coming up. I have...
01:10:31.520 --> 01:10:34.979
Big ideas for that. And I and I want that to
01:10:34.979 --> 01:10:42.899
go well. And, you know, I have such great joy
01:10:42.899 --> 01:10:47.399
with at the Francis Collection. And we did something
01:10:47.399 --> 01:10:50.640
new this year, which was the Community Impact
01:10:50.640 --> 01:10:56.220
Initiative, which was piano teachers around the
01:10:56.220 --> 01:10:59.880
country could come. We created like these cohorts,
01:10:59.880 --> 01:11:05.180
if you will. that allowed teachers to create
01:11:05.180 --> 01:11:09.159
a project that could impact the community, their
01:11:09.159 --> 01:11:12.880
community, while advancing piano education. And
01:11:12.880 --> 01:11:17.960
it's been so wonderful to learn about the projects
01:11:17.960 --> 01:11:22.329
that other people are doing right um or the ideas
01:11:22.329 --> 01:11:24.850
that they have and they might need um not only
01:11:24.850 --> 01:11:28.130
just you know financial support but uh peers
01:11:28.130 --> 01:11:32.949
and colleagues to to talk to um so it this year
01:11:32.949 --> 01:11:35.590
we did our first cohorts and i got to share you
01:11:35.590 --> 01:11:37.930
know a little bit about my journey with creating
01:11:37.930 --> 01:11:40.729
an idea and making you know the steps that i
01:11:40.729 --> 01:11:43.430
took um whether it's getting grants or creating
01:11:43.430 --> 01:11:46.579
a budget knowing when to pivot. And we had other
01:11:46.579 --> 01:11:50.399
experts come in to talk about that. This is the
01:11:50.399 --> 01:11:54.020
first, just a few weeks ago, we wrapped up the
01:11:54.020 --> 01:11:57.560
first round or the first year of grants. So the
01:11:57.560 --> 01:12:01.819
application process is underway. But I say that
01:12:01.819 --> 01:12:05.500
because I'm excited and I'm encouraged and I
01:12:05.500 --> 01:12:09.939
feel inspired to continue that type of work.
01:12:10.079 --> 01:12:14.569
Because I think now more than ever, We want to
01:12:14.569 --> 01:12:19.289
have more impact. We want to take our artistry
01:12:19.289 --> 01:12:24.989
and our music and our love for piano and share
01:12:24.989 --> 01:12:28.229
that with people, right? We want to share that
01:12:28.229 --> 01:12:30.289
because we know how it changes and affects our
01:12:30.289 --> 01:12:32.810
lives and we want to share that with other people.
01:12:33.109 --> 01:12:37.090
And we want, once we do share that, we want...
01:12:37.560 --> 01:12:40.020
to know that we walked away making a difference
01:12:40.020 --> 01:12:44.579
in someone's life. So I feel that this particular
01:12:44.579 --> 01:12:48.880
initiative highlights that on a national level.
01:12:49.140 --> 01:12:53.619
And I'm, along with my grant at Ebony for Ebony
01:12:53.619 --> 01:12:56.520
Music, that's another area that I'm looking forward
01:12:56.520 --> 01:12:59.500
to see how that continues to develop. Yeah, I
01:12:59.500 --> 01:13:02.939
look forward to it too. So how can we get in
01:13:02.939 --> 01:13:06.000
touch with your work? Through your website at
01:13:06.000 --> 01:13:12.260
leahclayburn .com. Yes, and Ebony Music, ebonymusic
01:13:12.260 --> 01:13:16.619
.org. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram, El
01:13:16.619 --> 01:13:20.319
Playborn Piano. Excuse me, that's another really
01:13:20.319 --> 01:13:24.520
great way to keep in touch. Wonderful. Then before
01:13:24.520 --> 01:13:26.600
we go to the last segment, which is the rapid
01:13:26.600 --> 01:13:28.500
fire questions, I didn't explain to you, but
01:13:28.500 --> 01:13:30.960
I hope, yes, it's going to be fun. Wait a second.
01:13:31.939 --> 01:13:37.229
Now you're prepared for this. Maybe last question,
01:13:37.270 --> 01:13:41.449
a little philosophical. So why classical music
01:13:41.449 --> 01:13:45.229
still matters in this, you know, crazy world?
01:13:45.909 --> 01:13:49.489
What keeps us going? What keeps you going? Yeah,
01:13:49.489 --> 01:13:52.729
I mean, for me, well, you know, I said I started
01:13:52.729 --> 01:13:55.729
I started music because I wanted to I wanted
01:13:55.729 --> 01:13:58.329
I want to be a jazz musician because that's what
01:13:58.329 --> 01:14:00.390
I knew. Right. And that's only because I wasn't
01:14:00.390 --> 01:14:03.750
exposed. I had not been exposed yet to classical
01:14:03.750 --> 01:14:07.369
music. But why classical music and does it have
01:14:07.369 --> 01:14:11.710
a place in today's world? Absolutely. I think
01:14:11.710 --> 01:14:14.369
there's a reason. There is a reason we continue
01:14:14.369 --> 01:14:17.729
to celebrate Beethoven and Mozart and Bach, right?
01:14:18.210 --> 01:14:23.649
That in this music, we hear all emotions, whether
01:14:23.649 --> 01:14:28.010
it's sadness or depression or loss or love or
01:14:28.010 --> 01:14:31.329
heartbreak, right? These are composers who are...
01:14:31.600 --> 01:14:35.199
sharing these universal truths and feelings that
01:14:35.199 --> 01:14:38.479
no matter where you come from, no matter what
01:14:38.479 --> 01:14:41.439
class you belong to, no matter your socioeconomic
01:14:41.439 --> 01:14:44.779
status, we all have these feelings. And that's
01:14:44.779 --> 01:14:47.300
what unifies us. And I think it's a beautiful
01:14:47.300 --> 01:14:50.699
thing that we can use music to remember that
01:14:50.699 --> 01:14:55.439
these feelings that we all experience is what
01:14:55.439 --> 01:15:00.800
brings us together. classical musicians, whether
01:15:00.800 --> 01:15:04.340
they be white or black or Asian or Hispanic,
01:15:04.739 --> 01:15:09.920
that they have had their own unique lens of how
01:15:09.920 --> 01:15:13.439
to share those emotions with us. And I can't
01:15:13.439 --> 01:15:17.670
think of a better time, right? Or a more needed
01:15:17.670 --> 01:15:20.949
time where we need to draw upon beauty and art
01:15:20.949 --> 01:15:25.989
to help us to navigate these times and give us
01:15:25.989 --> 01:15:28.729
space in an outlet for our emotions and all that
01:15:28.729 --> 01:15:32.909
we're feeling. So for those who are listening
01:15:32.909 --> 01:15:37.010
or watching, please go to LeahClaybone .com to
01:15:37.010 --> 01:15:40.470
learn more about her work. And also, what is
01:15:40.470 --> 01:15:43.890
it? EbonyMusic .org to learn more about Ebony
01:15:43.890 --> 01:15:47.699
Music, Inc. This has been such a fun and inspiring
01:15:47.699 --> 01:15:49.720
conversation, Leah. But before I let you go,
01:15:49.779 --> 01:15:53.279
we have to do one more thing, which is the PianoPod
01:15:53.279 --> 01:15:57.020
Rapid Fire questions. It's almost like inspired
01:15:57.020 --> 01:16:01.539
by Colbert questions. Sure. I like it. All right.
01:16:01.600 --> 01:16:04.260
So please answer each question with the shortest
01:16:04.260 --> 01:16:07.779
response as possible. No explanation is necessary.
01:16:08.260 --> 01:16:11.159
Okay. Yeah. I will try. All right. No judgment
01:16:11.159 --> 01:16:13.899
here. All right. So question number one, what's
01:16:13.899 --> 01:16:18.840
your comfort food? Oh, yeah. Amen. How do you
01:16:18.840 --> 01:16:22.060
like your coffee in the morning? Ooh, cream.
01:16:22.300 --> 01:16:26.779
No sugar. Cats or dogs? Dogs. Dogs. I know you
01:16:26.779 --> 01:16:30.000
just told me you have a big dog person. Oh, yeah.
01:16:30.859 --> 01:16:35.960
Sunrise or sunset? Ooh, sunset. I'm not up early
01:16:35.960 --> 01:16:40.420
enough for the sunrise. Summer or winter? Summer.
01:16:40.760 --> 01:16:43.460
What skill have you always wanted to learn but
01:16:43.460 --> 01:16:48.739
haven't had a chance to? Double Dutch. Oh, that's
01:16:48.739 --> 01:16:51.960
a good one. Yeah. What is your word or words
01:16:51.960 --> 01:16:57.319
to live by? Boldness. Yes. Great. What is the
01:16:57.319 --> 01:17:00.720
most important quality you look for in other
01:17:00.720 --> 01:17:05.119
people? Integrity. Now, the next one is a little
01:17:05.119 --> 01:17:09.619
difficult. Okay. Name three people who inspire
01:17:09.619 --> 01:17:14.739
you, living or dead. Ooh, what a good one. Three
01:17:14.739 --> 01:17:17.800
people who inspire me. I'm going to first say
01:17:17.800 --> 01:17:22.659
my nephews. Because the next generation, or I
01:17:22.659 --> 01:17:25.420
could even say the next generation inspires me
01:17:25.420 --> 01:17:31.560
deeply. Who else inspires me? This sounds weird,
01:17:31.699 --> 01:17:35.960
but my dog inspires me. Great. I love the ability,
01:17:36.340 --> 01:17:39.899
you know, I'm his favorite thing every day. Despite,
01:17:40.020 --> 01:17:42.939
you know. Despite whatever happens that day,
01:17:43.100 --> 01:17:47.159
I'm his favorite thing. And I hope I can be that
01:17:47.159 --> 01:17:50.619
or people feel that from me that when they, you
01:17:50.619 --> 01:17:53.779
know, experience me that they feel like, wow,
01:17:53.840 --> 01:17:57.520
that was, you're my favorite part of the day.
01:17:59.500 --> 01:18:02.300
What else? Who else or what else inspires me?
01:18:03.539 --> 01:18:08.199
My friends inspire me. I have a good, just a
01:18:08.199 --> 01:18:11.289
good group of friends who are doing. Really just
01:18:11.289 --> 01:18:14.729
phenomenal, transformative work. And I feel inspired
01:18:14.729 --> 01:18:19.670
to call them at any time of the day and that
01:18:19.670 --> 01:18:23.369
they're there for me. Wonderful. Yeah. Name one
01:18:23.369 --> 01:18:28.229
piece in your current playlist. Oh, does that
01:18:28.229 --> 01:18:32.590
be classical? No. Okay. One piece. Ready to run.
01:18:33.569 --> 01:18:38.000
Dixie Chicks. Oh. Or now, The Chicks. Oh, really?
01:18:38.119 --> 01:18:40.319
Right now, The Chicks? Okay. I need to listen
01:18:40.319 --> 01:18:45.060
to them. Yeah. Last question. Fill in the blank.
01:18:45.340 --> 01:18:52.539
Music is blank. Music is powerful. Leah, that's
01:18:52.539 --> 01:18:54.380
amazing. Thank you so much for joining us today
01:18:54.380 --> 01:18:57.960
and for sharing your remarkable journey and insights
01:18:57.960 --> 01:19:00.979
and advocacy with such authenticity and purpose
01:19:00.979 --> 01:19:05.500
and joy. To our wonderful audience, if you'd
01:19:05.500 --> 01:19:07.899
like to learn more about Dr. Claiborne's work,
01:19:07.960 --> 01:19:11.159
visit her website at leahclaiborne .com and follow
01:19:11.159 --> 01:19:15.020
her on Instagram at leahclaiborne underscore
01:19:15.020 --> 01:19:18.319
piano to stay up to date. up to date on her latest
01:19:18.319 --> 01:19:20.779
projects, performances, publications, and so
01:19:20.779 --> 01:19:22.779
on. And of course, thank you to our faithful
01:19:22.779 --> 01:19:24.880
fans and listeners for tuning in. If you enjoyed
01:19:24.880 --> 01:19:26.960
today's episode, please give it a thumbs up and
01:19:26.960 --> 01:19:28.899
subscribe to The Piano Pod on YouTube. Thank
01:19:28.899 --> 01:19:31.319
you. And don't forget to share and review this
01:19:31.319 --> 01:19:33.600
episode on your social media and tag The Piano
01:19:33.600 --> 01:19:36.699
Pod. For the latest piano news and updates, be
01:19:36.699 --> 01:19:39.359
sure to follow The Piano Pod on Substack, TikTok,
01:19:39.659 --> 01:19:42.260
and LinkedIn. I will see you for the next episode
01:19:42.260 --> 01:19:45.289
of The Piano Pod. Bye, everyone. Thank you, Dr.
01:19:45.449 --> 01:19:48.210
Claiborne. So, so much. This was wonderful. Thank
01:19:48.210 --> 01:19:49.270
you. Thank you.