The Piano Pod - a global hub for innovation, education, and connection in classical piano music

The Piano Pod - a global hub for innovation, education, and connection in classical piano music

by Yukimi Song
Performing ArtsMusic Interviews
Season 2

The Piano Pod, Season 2, Episode 3, Part 1: Josh Massicot - Keyboardist, Author, Songwriter, and Educator

Part 1 of 2. For Season 2 Episode 3, TPP was privileged to interview Josh Massicot: keyboardist, author, songwriter, and educator. We invited him for this episode for his approach to music education and particularly for his views on the Rolling Stone article (March 8, 2021): "Julliard Must Modernize, Or It Will Die," written by Emma Sutton-Williams. As a keyboardist, Josh has performed both with major symphony orchestras and shared the stage with international touring acts. For the past thirteen years, he has served on the faculty of Nazareth College, where he teaches piano lessons, pedagogy, and functional piano. His textbook, Functional Piano for Music Therapists and Music Educators: An Exploration of Styles, is a required text for college and graduate students both domestically and internationally. Josh is also a successful singer-songwriter, and his alt-Americana group, “Stella Hill,” has two EPs that are available to stream and download on all major music platforms. Recently, Josh became the production manager at Concerts at Point of the Bluff Vineyards, where he oversees all aspects of day-of-operations for some of the biggest international touring acts and artists in the world.
S2 · E3
Oct 6, 2021
39:00

Part 2 of Season 2, Episode 2: Min Kwon - Concert Pianist, America/Beautiful, Center for Musical Excellence

Part 2 of 2. Korean-born American pianist Min Kwon excels in a versatile career that encompasses concerti, solo recitals, and chamber music appearances, while in high demand around the world as a pedagogue, arts advocate, and administrator. She has held professional engagements in over 60 countries on seven continents and all 50 U.S. states, and currently is the Professor of Piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2002. Dr. Kwon is also the founder and director of the Center for Musical Excellence (CME), a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and supporting gifted young musicians. She served as Co‐Director of Vienna ConcertoFest in Austria and is the first music alumna to have been invited to serve on the Juilliard School Council in New York. Her latest project, America/Beautiful, is a modern-day Diabelli Variations with contributions from over 70 contemporary composers. Min Kwon is a Steinway Artist.
S2 · E2
Sep 29, 2021
28:08

Part 1 of Season 2, Episode 2: Min Kwon - Concert Pianist, America/Beautiful, Center for Musical Excellence

Part 1 of 2. Korean-born American pianist Min Kwon excels in a versatile career that encompasses concerti, solo recitals, and chamber music appearances, while in high demand around the world as a pedagogue, arts advocate, and administrator. She has held professional engagements in over 60 countries on seven continents and all 50 U.S. states, and currently is the Professor of Piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2002. Dr. Kwon is also the founder and director of the Center for Musical Excellence (CME), a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and supporting gifted young musicians. She served as Co‐Director of Vienna ConcertoFest in Austria and is the first music alumna to have been invited to serve on the Juilliard School Council in New York. Her latest project, America/Beautiful, is a modern-day Diabelli Variations with contributions from over 70 contemporary composers. Min Kwon is a Steinway Artist.
S2 · E2
Sep 22, 2021
38:32

Part 2 of Season 2, Episode 2: Jeffrey Biegel - Concert Pianist, Arranger, Composer

Part 2 of 2. Welcome to Season 2 of The Piano Pod! To celebrate the start of the new season, we interviewed Jeffrey Biegel, the renowned concert pianist, Steinway artist, recording artist, composer, and arranger. Mr. Biegel has performed with many major orchestras throughout the world, such as the London Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Symphony, among many others; and he is a professor of piano at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. He is both a traditional virtuoso, and a dedicated champion of new music, having created more than a dozen commissioning projects. His recording of one of them, Kenneth Fuchs's Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist'; won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium. His own composition, "Three Reflections," will have its premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on October 7, 2021. He also has multiple new recordings coming out in the next few months, including the 1924 version of Rhapsody in Blue with the original orchestration, Islamey on the Steinway Label, and "A Planet's Odyssey" by Daniel Perttu. BONUS OPPORTUNITY FOR TPP FANS! Mr. Biegel played so many excerpts during the interview, we couldn't keep up! If you hear a melody you recognize, write the title of the piece in the comments on YouTube! Everyone who correctly identifies an excerpt will get a mention in the credits of a future episode!
S2 · E1
Sep 15, 2021
27:51

Part 1 of Season 2, Episode 1: Jeffrey Biegel - Concert Pianist, Arranger, Composer

Part 1 of 2. Welcome to Season 2 of The Piano Pod! To celebrate the start of the new season, we interviewed Jeffrey Biegel, the renowned concert pianist, Steinway artist, recording artist, composer, and arranger. Mr. Biegel has performed with many major orchestras throughout the world, such as the London Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Symphony, among many others; and he is a professor of piano at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. He is both a traditional virtuoso, and a dedicated champion of new music, having created more than a dozen commissioning projects. His recording of one of them, Kenneth Fuchs's Piano Concerto 'Spiritualist'; won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium. His own composition, "Three Reflections," will have its premiere with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on October 7, 2021. He also has multiple new recordings coming out in the next few months, including the 1924 version of Rhapsody in Blue with the original orchestration, Islamey on the Steinway Label, and "A Planet's Odyssey" by Daniel Perttu. BONUS OPPORTUNITY FOR TPP FANS!Mr. Biegel played so many excerpts during the interview, we couldn't keep up! If you hear a melody you recognize, write the title of the piece in the comments on YouTube! Everyone who correctly identifies an excerpt will get a mention in the credits of a future episode!
S2 · E1
Sep 8, 2021
41:34

The Piano Pod, Season 2, Special Edition!

Bonus
TPP has some important announcements to make for the audience on our audio platforms--in case you missed our social media posts lately. In this special edition, Clara and Yukimi discussed the future of The Piano Pod🎙--how we can use this platform to spread the message of love and positivity. Starting in the next episode, we will change up the format of the show a little bit to bring hotter and more informative content to our audience in a creative way! Please follow our social media on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePianoPodNYC/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_piano_pod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/podpiano Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/the_piano_pod LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-piano-pod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePianoPod bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV13r4y1C7uW/
S2
Nov 17, 2021
28:56

The Piano Pod, Season 2, Episode 0: Welcome to Season 2!

Bonus
WE ARE BACK!!!! After a brief hiatus to rest and catch up on our own projects, The Piano Pod is ready to launch our second season! In this episode, we talk a bit about how we spent our summers, what we learned from our first season, and our plans for the new one, including our first three guests. Join us on YouTube for the premiere: https://youtu.be/u7yEBdZXE2s We were also recently featured on two other podcasts: 🎙All Keyed Up, Episode 38: https://www.benkapilow.com/allkeyedup 🎙And If Love Remains, Episode 74: https://andifloveremains.podbean.com/e/episode-74-the-piano-pod/ We are very excited about this new season! Hope you will enjoy all the great content we have coming up!
S2
Sep 1, 2021
27:20
Season 1

Part 2 of Season 1, Episode 16 (Season Finale) Ben Laude, Head of Piano at tonebase.co

Part 2 of 2. For our final episode of Season 1, TPP interviewed Ben Laude, Juilliard-trained pianist, and Head of Piano at tonebase.co, a premium video subscription platform for classical music education. Tonebase revolutionizes music education by providing its users with a vast database of lessons, masterclasses, and interviews with some of the biggest names in performance and pedagogy - previously only accessible at elite institutions. We picked Ben's brain on the subject of this great new platform for content distribution.
S1 · E20
Jun 30, 2021
34:43

Part 1 of Season 1, Episode 16 (Season Finale): Ben Laude, Head of Piano at tonebase.co

Part 1 of 2. For our final episode of Season 1, TPP interviewed Ben Laude, Juilliard-trained pianist, and Head of Piano at tonebase.co, a premium video subscription platform for classical music education. Tonebase revolutionizes music education by providing its users with a vast database of lessons, masterclasses, and interviews with some of the biggest names in performance and pedagogy - previously only accessible at elite institutions. We picked Ben's brain on the subject of this great new platform for content distribution.
S1 · E19
Jun 23, 2021
35:49

The Piano Pod, Season 1, Episode 15: James Redcay, MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall

TPP had the privilege of interviewing James Redcay: Senior Executive Overseeing Operations and Sales at MidAmerica Productions (https://www.midamerica-music.com/), the most prolific presenter of choral concerts in the history of Carnegie Hall. James explained to us how a six-year diversion in Macau, China 🇲🇴 where he created and managed entertainment programs for the world's largest casino company - helped to shift his career path from the traditional one of a composer and classical pianist to a choir booking manager working closely with the famous venue 🎭. Join us to hear his fun anecdotes from backstage, as well as learn how his company dealt with the sudden cancellation of all concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic. [James Redcay, composer/pianist/manager] A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, James Redcay spent four years in New York City as an accomplished pianist, composer and teacher, performing and composing for numerous concerts and institutions. During this time Redcay also held the position of Composer-in-Residence at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. After graduating from NYU, Redcay moved abroad to Macao, where he taught music at the Conservatory of Macao and created and managed arts and entertainment programs for Sands China Ltd., a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands. After six fruitful years, Redcay relocated to the United States and now resides in New York City. He joined MidAmerica Productions in April of 2015. https://www.youtube.com/user/jredcay7 https://www.instagram.com/redcayjames/
S1 · E18
Jun 9, 2021
55:13
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