I was thrilled to have this fascinating conversation with virtuoso violinist Kerson Leong @Kerson Leong , who is as eloquent in his musicality as in the way he talks about music and violin playing. I trust that a broad audience will take inspiration from this wide-ranging discussion. At the beginning, we are treated to an impromptu performance of Ysayë's Allemande from Violin Sonata no. 4.

Episode 6 Season 1 of Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman features violinist Veronica Thomas. She speaks about some of the incredible outreach the unique Préville Fine Arts Centre is doing, of which she is General Director, her experience being on the jury of the Canadian Music Competition, playing in different styles, her unique childhood and more.

We get to hear some beautifully realized traditional tunes from Québec from traditional fiddler Alexis Chartrand. He talks about both groove and ornamentation in different traditional styles of fiddling. He talks very thoughtfully and about his background as a son of dancers, his explorations of tone colour with baroque violin, and some of his musical influences and inspiration.

Patty Chan, erhu player, educator, author and Music Director of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra demonstrates different types of erhus, and talks about different aspects of Chinese traditional music and Chinese orchestras. She performs The River of Sorrow and other well-known tunes.

I speak with Yosuke Kawasaki, the wonderful Concertmaster of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada . He talks about the challenges of staying grounded during this pandemic, his experiences studying with Dorothy Delay at both Julliard and Aspen festival, the inspiration he found in many of his peers growing up, and the conversation circles around to his role as concertmaster, and advice for young colleagues playing auditions.

In my very first interview, E1 S1 Kirsty Money introduces us to the nyckelharpa and we learn how she started playing this beautiful and unique instrument. The full transcript is published here, and there are links to both video and podcast, along with bonus episodes. Kirsty performs solo Bach, a traditional Swedish tune and one of her original tunes The Grind Polska during our conversation.

Carissa Kloupoushak is a violinist, singer, Artistic Director of Chamberfest, member of the Ironwood quartet and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. She’s a dynamic, multi-faceted musician who performs a couple of traditional Ukrainian tunes during the interview.