In this episode, we talk about Chuck’s excellent album Oshki Manitou, which expands his work as a trumpet player, arranger, and composer. He’s woven together ceremonial sweat-lodge melodies with jazz, funk, dance and electronica and this episode features tracks from that album. He’s such a powerfully lyrical trumpet player, and you’ll be deeply touched to hear his inspiring story of moving through trauma and addiction to helping others through counseling and music.

Guy Donis grew up in Belgium, where he had fallen in love with the banjo and proceeded to dedicate his life to it. In this episode, he describes how he taught himself 5 string banjo, learned about Bluegrass, and expanded his musical horizons by collaborating with jazz and classical musicians. He immigrated to Canada many years ago, and is well-known in the Montreal music scene. He has toured Canada extensively with Notre Dame de Grass and other bands, and in this episode he talks about his newest project, the Montreal Bluegrass League, and a track from their latest album is included in this podcast. Some tracks from his two trio albums are also included earlier in this episode, in which you can hear Guy’s progressive jazz-influenced original music. Like all my episodes, this is available as a podcast, video, and transcript, all linked here.

Jeeyoon Kim is a very special concert pianist who has opened meaningful connections to new audiences through her innovative concerts, albums, podcast, and now her book “Whenever You’re Ready”. You’ll learn how she sold out her Carnegie Hall debut recital without knowing one person in New York, without an agent or winning a competition. She’s generously shared 3 tracks from some of her albums that punctuate this episode, and please head over to her website which linked in the description. I was so honoured when Jeeyoon agreed to be part of this series, because I knew her wisdom, personal story and her music making would resonate strongly with you.

In-depth interview with accordion virtuoso Michael Bridge; the podcast and video versions feature a lot of great music and the transcript is linked here as well. In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael spoke to me about how best to engage with audiences, the subtleties intrinsic to programming digital accordion sounds, and how to forge lasting relationships. Michael was awarded his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Toronto, and is a prize-winning soloist and chamber musician who tours worldwide. This is also an episode which features many novel sounds you won’t have heard before from an accordion, and also music with the groups Bridge and Wolak and the Ladom Ensemble.

In this episode, you get to hear the brilliant and engaging keyboard player and composer Kait Dunton in both conversation and a mini theory workshop on her hit tune This One’s For You! In this wide-ranging conversation, we talked about her early days with Snarky Puppy, recording the soundtrack to A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, her love of vintage keyboards and the challenges they present, and her unique approach to teaching which has been influenced by her mentor John D’earth. Kait has gained a huge following on social media like Instagram and TikTok, so I was curious to get her perspectives on connecting with her fans, and dealing with necessary boundaries. Kait’s new album Keyboards features the sounds of the 1970s and we got into some of her influences and her personal journey to becoming a full-time performer.

The Canadian performer and composer Jack Hui Litster has developed a satisfying creative career after some interesting twists and turns. In this episode, you’ll learn about his experiences as a jazz drummer, his pivot into international development, and his path back to composing, producing and recording music in different styles. There is a lot of music featured in the episode as well; the podcast, video and transcript are all linked here.

Jah’Mila: Rooted in Reggae and Connecting with New Audiences

Linked here are the podcast, video and transcript for this in-depth interview with the Reggae artist Jah’Mila which also features tracks from her album Roots Girl.

Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are composers with Bleeding Fingers Music and together wrote with Hans Zimmer the acclaimed score to the incredible tv series Prehistoric Planet. I was so impressed by this series, and the first part of this episode digs into the unique instruments that were created for this powerful score, and the other part of this episode is a personal and in-depth conversation with Kara and Anže about their lives. They shared their individual stories about challenges, mentors, and have great advice for younger composers. You can listen to the podcast, watch the video, read the transcript and check out the bonus tracks, all linked here.

I had a lot of fun stitching together some of the many highlights from this Season 3 so far, in a 10 minute compilation in which I've included clips from every full episode in 2023 so far! It’s time for my summer break, but the podcast will be back September 2nd with a special episode with two composers who are life partners and also work together with Hans Zimmer at Bleeding Fingers Music. Anže Rozman and Kara Talve will inspire you with both the music of Prehistoric Planet and their personal stories, insights and compositions.

 Bukhu Ganberged is an incredible Mongolian-Australian musician who is a master of both the Morin Khuur, the Horsehead fiddle,  and Khuumii, the Mongolian Overtone Throat Singing. This episode features a lot of special music, and  Bukhu’s personal story of growing up in Mongolia and emigrating to Australia. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video with Closed Captions, a transcript, and a podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Interview featuring the Venezuelan composer Sandro Morales-Santoro, who composes for film, television and new media, based in L.A. In this episode you’ll hear lots of music and our in-depth conversation during which Sandro tells the inspiring story of how he learned to read and write music while attending law school in Venezuela, then was accepted into the Berklee college of music, and was awarded their achievement scholarship, then how moved to L.A. and created community both professionally and personally. Sandro is on the Executive committee for the Composers’ Diversity Collective and we talked about biases in the industry and increasing exposure for composers from diverse backgrounds.

Kavisha Mazzella is a renowned Australian songwriter and singer who has won both an ARIA award and an Australia Day Honor. We talked about her work through the lenses of social justice, community building, and the search for deeper meaning and connection. This is a personal, in-depth conversation with lots of beautiful singing in both Italian and English.

Podcast and Video interview with lyra player Kelly Thoma. This episode has beautiful music and a wide-ranging conversation including Kelly’s personal story of becoming a musician after training as a dancer, Cretan culture, the influence of Ross Daly and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop which he founded in 1982. Kelly speaks so eloquently about her love of music and collaboration, I hope you will be inspired by Kelly’s perspectives and music!

It’s hard to sum up how important Verna Gillis has been for music lovers. First of all, she is an ethnomusicologist who recorded traditional music around the world .This episode will bring you along on some of these journeys. 25 of these recordings are available through Smithsonian Folkways and Lyrichord, and I’m very grateful to Smithsonian Folkways for allowing us to use some of these tracks for this specific episode. In 1979 Verna opened Soundscape, the first multi-cultural performance space in New York City, which put on hundreds of performances over 5 years. You’ll also hear Verna reminisce about her work on career development with phenomenal international musicians including Youssou N’dour from Senegal, Salif Keita from Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. As a producer, Verna was twice nominated for a GRAMMY award for two of the albums she produced with Roswell Rudd. She’s also a writer and spoken word performer. We’ve included in this episode one of her recent spoken word videos with British musician Jennifer Maidman. There’s so much more in this episode, and I hope a wide audience will be inspired by Verna Gillis’ reflections on her remarkable life in music.

I’m joined by my colleague in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, violinist Frédéric Moisan. Originally from the Breton town of Saint-Brieuc in France, he immigrated to Finland and then Canada. In this wide-ranging conversation we talked about wind-surfing,family, languages, different cultures’ approaches to education, the challenges of playing the violin, the original version of the Sibelius violin concerto (which was the subject of Fred’s Doctoral Dissertation), life balance, and fly fishing. We talked about the differences between being a freelancer to being an orchestra member; Fred has great advice for colleagues and students preparing auditions, and you can find these various topics in the timestamps.

Daniel Ramjattan is a phenomenal classical guitarist and this episode features some of his performances as well as many valuable insights in his work as a performance coach and educator,  and from his reflections on the significant challenges he has overcome in his life and career. Like all my episodes, this is available on your favourite podcast player, a video on YouTube, and the transcript.

Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto is a California-based Koto performer and teacher, and she also created “Hidden Legacy”, the story of the Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the American WWII Internment Camps. In this episode she performs some incredibly beautiful koto music, and there are wonderful stories with each piece.

Martin Hayes is an internationally renowned Irish fiddler beloved for his expressive playing and his collaborations with many great musicians in different genres. Martin speaks eloquently about life, culture, friendship, identity, and staying true to what you value, and I hope this episode will thrill lovers of Irish music and bring new listeners to many of Martin’s projects including The Common Ground Ensemble, The Gloaming, and many more. We talked about the loss and legacy of Dennis Cahill, how he met Thomas Bartlett, the rich depths of traditional music that Martin learned from the older generation, and the rhythm of life growing up on the farm in County Clare. Like all my episodes, this is available as both a video and a podcast on your favourite podcast platform, and the transcript is also linked here as well.

Immanuel Abraham is a very special musican, who is an inspiring violinist, educator and composer. His phenomenal talent, discipline and creativity is even more inspiring since he didn’t have an opportunity to learn a musical instrument until the age of 14 and 4 years later, he was auditioning for the renowned University of Michigan in violin performance, playing the same Paganini caprice he’d heard Ithak Perlman play on Shalom Sesame as a child. He speaks candidly in this interview about his perseverence in the face of very difficult challenges. He’s well-known on social media as The Violin Doctor, which is a Dr. Who reference, but Immanuel actually is Doctor of Musical Arts, awarded from the University of Arizona. When he was a student, in an effort to learn as much as he could that was violin-related, he started The Violin Guild which is an amazingly supportive Facebook group of over 60,000 string players worldwide. Our conversation focused on different aspects of music education, personal development, and you’ll get to hear some clips of Immanuel performing some of his 24 Caprices for solo violin. I

I’m delighted to feature the master bansuri player Milind Date, who joined me from his home in Pune, India, and played his flutes as well as shared his perspectives from his life in music.