For this episode, I talk with Matthew Wardell, the Music Director of the Ocala Symphony, about what inspires him in his work, how he programs for the Ocala Symphony, and how new music plays a role in his programming. In particular, we talk about how he engages this audience in this process by humanizing the composers.

In this episode, I talk with Jeffrey Biegel, an extraordinary pianist who champions the work of living composers. He has performed as a soloist with hundreds of orchestras and has performed 25 commissioned projects by living composers. In this interview, we talk about what inspires him in his work, his commissioning projects, and how commissioning projects with composers, pianists, and orchestras have developed and will continue to evolve.

In this interview, I talk with Maestro Toshi Shimada, music director of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the New Britain Symphony, about what is inspiring to him in his work, and he shares how the best contemporary music for him is new music that speaks to his heart. We also talk about how the best music combines both the emotional content and craft, and we discuss his diverse background and experiences, and how that informs his own views on programming music of composers from diverse backgrounds. Please join us!