I was honoured to record this interview with Boman Desai, whose wonderful recent novel “Brahms Comes to Dinner” I highly recommend. You’ll hear how this work came out of Boman’s larger novel “Trio” and he shared stories about several of his other acclaimed novels including “The Memory of Elephants”,  “Portrait of a Woman Madly in Love” and his book about the Lennon-McCartney Beatles songs “Dancing About Architecture”. Some of Boman’s writing comes from his Parsi family history and the life of his grandmother, and you’ll hear about several life-changing moments including with the legendary editor and writer Diana Athill. Podcast/Video/Transcript

 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 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. You can watch the video  on my YouTube  or listen to the podcast, and I’ve also linked the transcript. 

Duo FAE violinist Charlene Kluegel and pianist Katherine Petersen join me with a focus on their album Dissidents of the Gilded Age with music of Dame Ethel Smyth, Cécile Chaminade and Amy Beach. We got into conversations around education, what a path to a career in classical music can look like, and how they have dealt with challenges including becoming mothers. Podcast, Video and Transcript. Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman.