Mary Beth Orr is a wonderful award-winning horn player and folk vocal artist. Throughout this moving episode you’ll be hearing short excerpts from her album “The Singing Horn” which celebrates traditional Appalachian songs with Mahler and contemporary works composed for Mary Beth through Vox Novus’ Fifteen Minutes of Fame Project. Mary Beth is currently 3rd Horn of the Grand Rapids Symphony, and she shares the best advice I’ve heard about succeeding at orchestral auditions. Mary Beth also experienced a serious accident that threatened her life and then her ability to play the horn and she shares many other difficult personal challenges.  I was so moved to hear her story and wisdom and I encourage you to come back and listen to the end. This transcript is linked to the podcast, video and show notes.

Gabriel Kahane Interview: Heirloom, Songwriting, and Creative Practice — Composer, songwriter, writer and storyteller Gabriel Kahane joins Leah Roseman on Conversations with Musicians. Hear excerpts from Heirloom, Book of Travelers, and Magnificent Bird, plus insights on songwriting, conducting, theatre training, his upcoming book, and creating socially engaged music. This transcript is linked to the podcast and video version of this interview.

The transcript to my interview with Thomas Cabaniss. The Podcast and Video versions as well as show notes are linked here as well. Thomas Cabaniss is a wonderful American composer of works for opera, theater, dance, film and the concert stage, and also a visionary Teaching Artist. He’s been a member of the faculty of the Julliard School since 1998, and leads the Lullaby Project at Carnegie Hall, serving young parents in shelters, hospitals and prisons with collaboratively created songs for their children. We talk about all this and much more, inluding his work creating Carnegie Hall’s Link Up. I was curious about these many facets to Thomas’ life as both a composer and educator, and you’ll find this episode has gorgeous, inspiring music , as well as great stories from his diverse career as a Teaching Artist, working with music educators, students of all ages, and meaningful outreach in the community.