ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this candid, wide-ranging conversation, Kara sits down with internationally renowned pianist, composer, author, and educator Sara Davis Buechner for a deeply personal discussion about music, identity, aging, politics, and what it means to stay creatively alive in an increasingly hostile cultural climate.
From growing up in a Baltimore suburb to entering Juilliard on her 17th birthday, Sara reflects on the mentors who shaped her, the musicians who taught her how not to grow old, and why great artists never truly retire — they simply keep discovering.
The conversation moves seamlessly between humor and gravity, touching on trans visibility in the arts, political disillusionment in the United States, and why Beethoven’s Ninth might just become a sing-along event in Hiroshima.
** Special thanks to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for its lovely rendition of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9: Ode to Joy Excerpt 1
SARA DAVIS BUECHNER
Sara’s upcoming performances: https://saradavisbuechner.com/
Instagram: @sdbfan1959
Substack, Facebook, and YouTube: @saradavisbuechner
BlueSky: @sdbue.bsky.social
KARA KAVENSKY
Website: Kara Kavensky
@karakavensky on Substack, FB, IG, LinkedIn and Threads
Receive updates on Kara's new memoir release, TELL ME ABOUT JOY
Sponsored by: Adam Gibson Design and Remain Relevant, a corporate storytelling masterclass
Produced by: Marilou Marosz
Original music written and performed by: Adam W. Gibson
CHAPTERS
[01:00] Introduction: Sara Davis Buechner
[03:28] Great musicians don't retire
[05:51] Nurturing a child prodigy
[07:44] Pianos and pig farming
[09:16] Reynaldo Reyes, more than a mentor
[11:19] Teaching others
[12:44] Upcoming projects, no trans biography
[15:40] Doing all the same things, just in a new key
[16:51] Anti-trans sentiment
[19:20] Living and traveling around the world
[20:56] Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Hiroshima
