Cathy Milliken is an oboist, composer, and visionary educator who takes great joy in facilitating creativity and participation. She has won international recognition as a leading composer, creative director, performer and educational program consultant. She was a founding member of the Ensemble Modern Frankfurt. As a composer, she has been commissioned by the Berliner Staatsoper, Donaueschinger Musiktage, South Bank Centre London, The Experimental Electronic Studio of Freiburg, Concerto Köln, and Musica Viva of Munich, to name just a few of many. From 2005 – 2012, Cathy Milliken was Director of the Education Program of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Participatory compositional projects in recent years have taken her to South Africa, Japan, and Oman. She is part of the creative team for the Munich Biennale for Music Theatre and serves as an honorary member of advisory boards for the German Music Council and the Goethe Institute. Her collaborative composition Stadtlied (City Song) was premiered in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg in 2019. Elena last saw Cathy in October 2020 at the Radialsystem in Berlin, where her work Ode for All was premiered as part of a celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. It was originally supposed to be a work for six female choirs from across Eastern Europe all composing and improvising their own odes to joy, and in the end, because of the pandemic, it became a video installation featuring the soloists of those choirs, which was very moving. In this episode, we talk about: How the pandemic influenced her listening and creating Working with female choirs from Eastern Europe in her project Ode for All Meeting in Istanbul (watch the video) “Improvisers” vs. “readers” Bringing very different people together to create new synergies How she got into facilitating composition Her book Zukunft@Bphil How the design of a project should be like a composition Planning a project the way you would plan a party to make everyone feel welcome and valuable: have a structure and then throw it away if necessary The importance of having enough time in order to transport people out of their everyday How improvising helps all performers, even if it’s only playing in your own room The importance of good friends to help pick you up if a concert didn’t go so well, and of people who challenge you Knowing the difference between challenging and destructive Prejudice, intentional or not, against female composers Switching from creator to performer --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
We were thrilled to have Johnny Gandelsman on our podcast. Elena first met Johnny in the late 1990s and he has made a fascinating career ever since. As a founding member of Brooklyn Rider and a member of the Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny has closely worked with such luminaries as Bela Fleck, Martin Hayes, Kayhan Kalhor, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Morris, Anne Sofie Van Otter, Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova, Joshua Redman, Suzanne Vega, Abigail Washburn and Damian Woetzel. He has appeared with Bono, David Byrne, Renee Fleming, Rhiannon Giddens, I'm With Her, Christian McBride, and many others. Here are some of the topics we covered in this long and fascinating conversation: The Russian school of violin playing and crying in lessons The Wild Ginger Philharmonic, a student-founded orchestra Elena and Johnny both played in in the 1990s, and how the innovative aspects of it influenced how he makes music now How he approaches music education for his own children— music and soccer and pure passion for childhood pursuits Missing out on childhood and choosing your own path “There isn’t some higher being that knows everything there is to know about how to play Mozart or Beethoven and they will tell you and then you’ll do it and you’ll be perfect.” What is the ‘right way’ to interpret a score? Curiosity and inquiry in interpretation Brooklyn Rider’s omnivorous approach to music-making and collaborations with amazing musicians from genres across the board Different kinds of improvisation and learning to assimilate new styles The Bach cello suites on the violin What would a creative musical education look like? Brooklyn RIder’s album Healing Modes, which asked 5 different composers what healing means to them in a variety of contexts Celebrating great living composers and the joy of being able to ask them questions about their intentions Bringing music into the middle of our lives and the power of just being in a room together with people Performers taking their audiences for granted “You cannot create magic without the active participation of the audience” Taking risks in performance and creating memorable moments Making the concert hall a place where people can really be themselves as they can at home while watching a livestream (but maybe with pants on) Pandemic pursuits: sourdough baking, playing the ukulele, time with family You can learn more about Johnny and find tour dates on his website: https://johnnygandelsman.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
In this episode, we talk about the importance of a nurtured community of people, or as Erin says, “framily,” supporting one another and setting intentions collectively, investing in the human beings around you, and knowing when to let go of relationships that are not nurturing. We discuss why cultivating passions outside of music and having friends who are not musicians is important, getting out of a limiting mindset, showing up for ourselves, and taking baby steps out of our comfort zones. Erin is a creative powerhouse whose colorful resume includes major roles as an opera singer, producing live television, and making snow sculptures. We loved this conversation with her and so did our students, and we think you will too. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
This episode has been in the cupboard for a reeeeeallly long time for reasons we went into in our first episode of the season, but we still think it's a fantastic listen. It was a pleasure discovering the fearless creator that is Steph Richards. We talk about Steph’s latest album “Supersense” (listen here: https://stephrichards.bandcamp.com/album/supersense), her creative process, and how one of her goals is creating music that you can almost taste! We also speak to Steph about concerts as spell casting, which includes taking things into consideration like the temperature of the room. We discuss what can be learned from commercial music, why building a rich community is so essential, and the idea that “you are what you eat” as an artist. We also talk about the best time for musicians to take risks and what risk-taking has to do with artistry. We explore the following questions: what does it mean to think past our own instruments? What can we learn from musicians who play other instruments, and what role can different materials play in our music-making? https://www.stephrichards.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
In this episode, we talk about what we are currently thinking about and struggling with as the pandemic allows for more freedom. Are we trying to go back to how things were as fast as possible? Are we holding on to ideas just because they are familiar to us? Or are we consciously entering a new era and building musicals lives that allow us to thrive? We also introduce our new podcast season. Our fascinating guests are all innovators in the music landscape, and we loved digging into the details of the paths they carved and how they are actively shaping the future of music. What does your reboot look like? Leave us a message on Facebook or Instagram, or you can leave us a voice message on Anchor (https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
Fabiana Biasini is both an internationally acclaimed concert pianist and a specialist for learning and development. As a piano soloist, she has performed with the Bolshoy Opera Minsk Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the Kiev State Symphony Orchestra, and many more. She began to work as a freelance learning and development specialist for FAO in 2011, and in 2017 she became a full-time employee of UNICEF while continuing to play concerts regularly in Italy, Germany, and even New York's Carnegie Hall. In this second part of our conversation, we talk about adaptability and the health of being 'only a musician' rather than having other sources of income, like many visual artists. We also toy with an idea that would be truly revolutionary for our industry... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
Fabiana Biasini is both an internationally acclaimed concert pianist and a specialist for learning and development. As a piano soloist, she has performed with the Bolshoy Opera Minsk Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the Kiev State Symphony Orchestra, and many more. She began to work as a freelance learning and development specialist for FAO in 2011, and in 2017 she became a full-time employee of UNICEF while continuing to play concerts regularly in Italy, Germany, and even New York's Carnegie Hall. In this episode, we talk to her about her choices in life, making a positive impact in the world, and why we don’t improvise as classical musicians. This is part one of our 2-part conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
This is part 2 of our conversation with Stella Whalley about creativity and resilience. In our continued conversation, we talk about: creating within and outside of the institution artist residencies using everything you find to create how musicians might use audience feedback to energize our creation and creativity Follow us on Instagram @outofrichdarkness to see the picture Stella talks about! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
I, Elena, first met Stella Whalley at an the Obras artist residency in Portugal, where I learned so much about what art can be and how different artists work. Stella struck me as an artist who uses everything that comes into her life as material for her work, and even years later, I remembered her story of how she used a hereditary shake of her hand as part of a piece of video art. Stella describes herself as an artist who produces work in response to space and place, to architecture and environment, to objects and materials, archaeological references and archives, and to local histories and narratives. She has exhibited at Empire II of the Venice Biennale 2017, at the Nakanojo Biennale Japan 2015, the Wilson Gallery Cheltenham, the Victoria & Albert Museum London, and the Birmingham City Art Gallery. In this first part of our conversation, we talk about using your mistakes, getting audience feedback, and how a disaster transformed Stella's life and work. Stella talks about releasing the personal attachment to what you are creating in order to be able to see everything that happens to you as material for your work. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message
This episode is a continuation of last week’s conversation with the wonderful Jason Alexander Holmes, director of the Cincinnati Boychoir. These are some of the topics we cover in this conversation: connecting to people at a deeper level The perils of adventurous programming Fear of not looking like an expert Reflecting students’ backgrounds in programming Honoring cultures that are not our own Nourishing classical music through diversity Inclusivity --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message