Crushing Classical

Crushing Classical is a series of interviews with classical musicians who are forging unique paths with their talent, creating their own artistic fulfillment and financial comfort, and finding ways to thrive. I celebrate these brave people who are taking routes outside of traditional orchestral or academic employment! As always, I invite you to listen for your own sparks and breadcrumbs, and use these interviews to find the possibilities that exist in your own life.

Live AMA with Khara Wolf 04/18/2024

Happiest Musician Minisode: What if you don't NEED the money? 04/11/2024

Ashley Danyew: Musician and Company 04/04/2024

Looking Forward: Work Life Balance 5 03/29/2024

About JOY: Work Life Balance 4 03/28/2024

About TIME: Work Life Balance 3 03/27/2024

About the MONEY: Work Life Balance 2 03/26/2024

Why it's so HARD - Work Life Balance 1 03/25/2024

Brendan Slocumb: From musician to best-selling author! 03/21/2024

Brendan Slocumb: From musician to best-selling author! I'm offering a FREE Five Day Challenge starting March 25. . We'll meet on zoom (or you'll enjoy the replay) every day to look at how you could intentionally rebalance your pillars of MONEY, TIME, and JOY and thrive in your creative career! Today you'll hear my interview with Brendan Slocumb, whose life was changed by the books he wrote during the pandemic! I read the Violin Conspiracy a year or so ago, on the recommendation of a non-musical friend. When your thriller, based in the world of classical music, is picked up and enjoyed by people outside of our insular little world, and when it has something really important to say about money and family and race and music and about the world we live in now - that is something we should all be paying attention to! Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in music education, concentrations on Violin and Viola. For the past two decades, he has been a public and private school music educator from kindergarten through twelfth grade, teaching general music, orchestra and guitar ensembles. His students were often chosen for district and regional orchestras. In 2005, Brendan was named Teacher of the Year for Robert E. Lee High School; he has been named to Who’s Who of American teachers, and is a Nobel Teacher of distinction. Brendan also serves as an educational consultant for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Music has always played a major part of Brendan’s life. He believes that it’s a life-saving force, and a gift we should always offer our children. When he was nine, he started playing violin through a public school music program. Friends he grew up with are today sitting in jail; when they were out running the streets, he was in rehearsals. When they were breaking into people’s houses, he was practicing Dvorak and Mozart. His violin opened the door to opportunity, and he ran through it. Since then, Brendan has performed with the Washington Metropolitan Symphony, the McLean Symphony, the Prince George's Philharmonic, and the Alexandria Symphony. He has served as the concertmaster for the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs chamber music with members of the Alexandria Chamber Music Society. He maintains a private music studio teaching lessons to students on violin, guitar and piano. Brendan believes that everyone can learn to appreciate and love music, and that it can be a new way of communicating, building bonds, and connecting with people who may look, sound, or speak differently. In 2022, Brendan published his first novel, (Anchor Books), a GMA Book Club Pick, the riveting story of a young Black musician who discovers that his old family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius: when it’s stolen on the eve of the world’s most prestigious classical music competition, he risks everything to get it back. In 2023, Brendan published his second novel, (Anchor Books), about a music historian who discovers that the world's greatest composer may have stolen the music from a neurodivergent Black woman – and the powers-that-be will do anything to silence the historian. Brendan is now at work on his third novel, to be published in early 2025. You can find Brendan at his , or follow him on Instagram @brendanslocumb Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! Theme music by . You can join my email list so you never miss an episode! I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. I'm your host, I love you all. Stay safe out there! /episode/index/show/crushingclassical/id/29997993

Happiest Musician Minisode: Hitting the CAP 03/14/2024

Helen Cha-Pyo: Conductor, Educator, and Arts Leader 03/07/2024

Helen Cha-Pyo: Conductor, Educator, and Arts Leader It's incredible to speak with Helen Cha-Pyo because she is so filled with joy and wisdom. Her optimism about the next generation of humans is inspiring, as is her mission and story. This is a feel-good episode if I've ever recorded one! What is YOUR artistic mission statement? You'll want to lean into this question as you listen to Helen's story! Helen H. Cha-Pyo, the current Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, leads an organization that serves nearly 2,000 students from 12 New Jersey counties. Her impactful leadership spans across four key programs: the Wharton Performing Arts School, New Jersey Youth Symphony, New Jersey Youth Chorus, and the Paterson Music Project. In her role as the Principal Conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), she has led tours to Italy and France, championing the performance of works by women and BIPOC composers, effectively amplifying the voices of underrepresented composers. Under her guidance, NJYS had the distinguished honor of performing at the Juneteenth Celebration concert at Carnegie Hall (2022) and the Motif Award Ceremony at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (2023). Prior to her role at Wharton Arts, Cha-Pyo served as Music Director and Conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) for 16 years. Her tenure was marked by the orchestra's transformative international tours to Germany, Czech Republic, China, Korea and Portugal. Her dedication to promoting works by American composers earned ESYO the prestigious ASCAP's Adventurous Programming Awards. Her positive impact extended to the founding of ESYO CHIME in 2015, a program dedicated to serving underprivileged youth in Schenectady and Troy, NY. In 2018, ESYO introduced the Helen Cha-Pyo Golden Baton Award and Scholarships to honor students who shared her passion for using music to uplift and enrich communities. Cha-Pyo's contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards, including The Dove Leadership Award from the David & Dovetta Wilson Scholarship Fund in 2019, and the Angelos Artist Award from the Angelos Mission Ensemble in 2022. She was further honored with the Eastman Centennial Award from the Eastman School of Music in the same year. You can check out Wharton Arts at its , or follow Helen Cha-Pyo at her , , or . Psst - I’m entering my pre-launch phase for the Happiest Musician Accelerator, a three month group program designed to help classical musicians uncap their income and thrive in their creative careers. If you have been feeling like there’s MORE out there for you - but something is keeping you stuck? I’d love to speak with you. I have secret early-enrollment offers that are only available this week and next - or to find out more. Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! Theme music and audio editing by . You can join my email list so you never miss an episode! I'm your host, I love you all. Stay safe out there! /episode/index/show/crushingclassical/id/29997818

Happiest Musician Minisode: Money Hygiene 03/05/2024

Happiest Musician Minisodes: Tune in to Excellence 02/27/2024

Michael Pratt: The Copyists 02/22/2024

Happiest Musician Minisode: CEO Level Work 02/13/2024

John Jeter: Rediscovering the music of Louis Ballard 02/08/2024

Happiest Musician Minisodes: Momentum 01/30/2024

Ian Campbell: What is Partimenti? 01/25/2024

Happiest Musician Minisode: Happy New Year! 01/16/2024

Cody Weisbach, Doctor of Physical Therapy 01/11/2024

Cody Weisbach, Doctor of Physical Therapy Cody Weisbach is a Boulder, CO based Doctor of Physical Therapy with an interest in the prevention and treatment of playing related musculoskeletal disorders in musicians. He earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy from Simmons College in 2007 and has since gone on to become Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy in 2009 and a Fellow of the American Association of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists in 2010. Professionally, Cody works for a hospital based outpatient clinic in Longmont, CO. He is a member of the Performing Arts Medical Association, the American Physical Therapy Association Performing Arts Special Interest Group, an advisor on the Performance Healthcare Committee of the National Flute Association, and the founder of Musician’s Maintenance, a website dedicated to connecting musicians with quality, science-based injury prevention and performance health information. While in Massachusetts he frequently worked with students from the Berklee College of Music. He is also the past Chair of the APTA of Massachusetts Manual Therapy Special Interest Group, where he helped physical therapists from around the state improve their manual therapy skills. He has taught continuing education courses and has held adjunct and affiliate faculty positions in several doctoral level physical therapy programs in the Boston area. He has published in peer reviewed PT journals, co-authored a textbook and presented nationally on topics related to evidence based physical therapy. Following a childhood in Boulder, Cody moved to Boston for grad school where he met his amazing wife Cara and together they started their family. It took him 12 years, but he finally convinced Cara to move back to Boulder where they now live with their two kids and spend their time hiking, mountain biking, climbing, playing at playgrounds, playing a little music and enjoying the Colorado outdoors. I loved this conversation. Why do we not have this information, as performing musicians? I was taught that if I hurt, I should rest. Period. Oh, and I was told to warm up before I play, which … whatever. I love warmups, I talk about them all the time, but blowing air through my instrument and playing scales is not an injury prevention tactic. I absolutely signed right up for Cody’s video series and I’m looking forward to whatever his upsell is on the back end. If you, like me, would be better off if you were taking better care of your body? This is the episode for you. Check out Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! Theme music and audio editing by . You can join my email list so you never miss an episode! Or you could to brainstorm your next plan. I'm your host, I love you all. Stay safe out there! /episode/index/show/crushingclassical/id/28845303

Dr. Tonya Lawson, Musician, Blogger, SEO Specialist! 12/28/2023

Happiest Musician Minisode: Merry Gigmas 12/20/2023

Tim Corpus: Composer, Sound Designer, Arts Manager 12/14/2023

Happiest Musician Minisode: Refining 12/05/2023

Kincaid Rabb: Navigating Burnout and Creativity 11/30/2023

Happiest Musician Minisode: Black Friday 11/21/2023

Merideth Hite Estevez: Artists for Joy! 11/16/2023

Merideth Hite Estevez: Artists for Joy! Grab my UNRELEASED chapter, ! Of course, you might want to read the , too... Today you’ll hear my interview with Dr. Meredith Hite Estevez. She's an Oboist, Author, Coach, and Podcaster, which might lead you to believe that I only ever interview people who are exactly like me. You’d be wrong, though. Meredith is uniquely herself - and so wise and interesting! You’ll hear me speechless over and over at the ideas and frameworks that come out of her mouth. I’ve long been listening to her podcast, Artists for Joy, admiringly, but with full awareness of how differently we approach our work. And this is what makes humanity so wonderful! An active freelancer and sought-after recitalist, oboist Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez has performed and taught throughout North and South America, Asia, and Europe. She has performed with top orchestras in the US and abroad, including the Met Opera Orchestra and PhillyPops, and is currently the English hornist/Second Oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of NY. She has served on faculties of numerous universities and schools of music, most recently as Associate Professor of Oboe at University of Delaware. As the founder and director of "Artists for Joy," she invites artists into community to unleash joy in the creation of art and to consider creativity as a spiritual practice. Her podcast of the same name was a winner of the Award of Excellence in 2022 Communicator Awards. She has degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her first book, “The Artist’s Joy: A Guide to Getting Unstuck, Embracing Imperfection, and Loving Your Creative Life,” debuts in Spring 2024 through Broadleaf Books. Find Merideth at her , her , or follow her ! Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! Theme music and audio editing by . You can join my email list so you never miss an episode! I'm your host, I love you all. Stay safe out there! /episode/index/show/crushingclassical/id/28595608

Happiest Musician Minisode: Structures and Schedules are FOR YOU 11/07/2023

Happiest Musician Minisode: WHY? 10/31/2023

Kristin Leitterman: Relax and Take a Deep Breath! 10/26/2023

Kristin Leitterman: Relax and Take a Deep Breath! Dr. Kristin Leitterman, a solo artist of oboe and voice, defies modern convention, bringing exciting and unusual programs to audiences. She has performed compositions employing both oboe and voice that she commissioned from Michael-Thomas Foumai, Jason Coleman, Whitney George, and Lyle Davidson in major concert venues around the world, taking her to Spain, Brazil, and Canada, as well as throughout the United States, including Carnegie Hall and Jordan Hall. As Assistant Professor of Oboe at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, since 2018, Dr. Leitterman teaches oboe and bassoon and double reed techniques, coaches chamber ensembles, and acts as the woodwind area coordinator. For many years she has served as director of the Lucarelli Oboe Master Class, a weeklong immersive oboe workshop founded by Humbert Lucarelli. As a guest artist, she has presented master classes at many institutions, including Manhattan School of Music and New York University, both in New York City, and the Hartt School, West Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Leitterman has presented her research on the life and works of composers Mary Chandler and Marie de Grandval, as well as the musical autograph album of oboist and composer Gustave Vogt, at The Juilliard School, New York, Music by Women Festival, the International Double Reed Society conferences, and the conference of the Associação Brasileira de Palhetas Duplas (ABPD) in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. She holds degrees from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, the Hartt School, University of Hartford, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory. Besides her long association with Humbert Lucarelli, her teachers include Mark McEwen, Barbara Bishop, and Amy Burton (voice). We spoke about her new book, "Relax and Take a Deep Breath: The Lucarelli Approach to Oboe Playing", which is available from Carl Fischer. Follow Kristin at her or on . Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! Theme music and audio editing by . You can join my email list , so you never miss an episode! Or you could to see how I might support you. I'm your host, I love you all. Stay safe out there! /episode/index/show/crushingclassical/id/28241549

Crushing Classical

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