Michael of Berkeley Podcasts
British composer and broadcaster on music
- opera
- United Kingdom
- composer, film score composer, radio personality
social networks
Last update
2024-05-14
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This episode features the “Nokia tune”—which actually comes from a Spanish guitar piece. We also have tributes to two late-greats: the clarinetist Stanley Drucker and the organist Frederick Swann. And music by Handel, Berkeley, Guillaume Connesson (b. 1970), et al. A wonderful assortment. Poulenc, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, last movement Debussy, “La plus que lente” Handel, “No, no... SourceJoin the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/music-for-a-while/music-for-a-while-70-ringtones-and-other-tunes/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to Music For a While in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.
2022-06-23 05:48:47
Duration (h:m:s): 56:01
In today’s podcast you’ll hear my interview with James Daly: Pianist, Composer, Teacher, Business Owner. He’s created the San Ramon Academy of Music and the Powerful Piano brand. James is so charming and passionate, and you can just feel his love for the music he makes and the students he teaches. He’s overcome a lot of obstacles to get where he is now, owning a successful teaching business and continuing to perform, compose, and create content with energy and love. I hope you enjoy this conversation! Let’s just say it: Classical music is elitist. The people on our orchestra stages tend to look a certain way, the composers who get played tend to be demographically similar, and our diversity/equity/inclusion efforts often get a surprising amount of internal and external pushback. As a white woman, It makes me really uncomfortable to talk about these issues, but these are conversations that need to be had. The bio my guest James Daly shared with me addresses this head-on, and starts: James is not what people think of when they picture a 'classical pianist'. Being an African American man with full sleeve tattoos and a visible athletic background he is mistaken for a personal trainer more than anything else. But definitely never an artist. How can a meathead be a Chopin aficionado?? James has been a lifelong musician, but his circumstances and background put him in a position similar to many other youths. Before turning 17 he was a high school dropout, working full time, and living on his own. Yet, it was a dedication to music that inspired him to pursue higher education to fulfill his potential. Despite the odds, he achieved a full scholarship to UC Berkeley where he specialized in piano performance and composition. From there he graduated with honors in 2012 and has been teaching the last decade. His unique approach to instruction gained him such success he opened San Ramon Academy of Music in 2018, focusing on online music education and group classes. He started the Powerful Piano brand in 2021 to grow his educational platform and provide access to music education to anyone, not just those who can afford private instruction. I loved this conversation with James. He’s so charming and passionate that it’s obvious why he’s been successful - and at the same time it’s inspiring that he’s overcome so many obstacles and is now trying to clear the way for others to do the same. Connect with James on Instagram, or check out the San Ramon Academy of Music and The Powerful Piano on the web. Thinking of trying FONS to streamline scheduling and payment for your music studio? Click HERE for my affiliate link and a free two week trial! Theme music by DreamVance. You can join my email list HERE, so you never miss an episode! I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there!
People who go to see Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor spend the entire evening waiting for the famous Mad Scene, to hear the soprano’s incredible acrobatics, and to feel her intense emotional changes over the course of the lengthy showstopper. But the Mad Scene is more than a vocal showpiece: it’s a window into what it means to lose touch with reality and the ways women’s real-life challenges can go ignored or, even worse, pathologized as illness. In the opera, Lucia has no control of her life; her brother betrays her and forces her to marry a man she doesn’t love. Alone and out of options, Lucia escapes in the only way she can: she murders her new husband and descends into madness. But how do we understand her crimes and hallucinations? And what can Lucia teach us about how we diagnose and treat mental health conditions today? Host Rhiannon Giddens and her guests dive into the history of women and madness, as well as the story of a woman living with bipolar disorder today. Soprano Natalie Dessay had a thriving career as a coloratura soprano before cashing in her opera chips and turning her talents to theater and jazz. When she sang the role of Lucia at the Met in 2011, she approached it a bit like a circus performer, adding physical challenges to match the vocal ones. Dr. Mary Ann Smart is a professor of music at UC Berkeley. As a grad student, she wrote her dissertation on mad scenes in 19th century opera, and she has since authored multiple books, including Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera. One of the things that she finds most poignant about Lucia’s Mad Scene is the fact that Donizetti spent the end of his life being treated for physical and mental illness. Activist and writer Dr. Phyllis Chesler has written more than 20 books, including the seminal work, Women and Madness. Her work deals with freedom of speech and freedom of thought. Her recent books include Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, and her memoir An American Bride in Kabul. She believes writing is most definitely a form of madness. Author and attorney Melody Moezzi wrote Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life in order to capture her experiences as an Iranian-American Muslim woman with bipolar disorder, and to help others with this condition feel less alone. She is an advocate for destigmatizing mental health conditions, and she believes that sometimes, what looks like madness can actually be a rational response to an irrational world.
People who go to see Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor spend the entire evening waiting for the famous Mad Scene, to hear the soprano’s incredible acrobatics, and to feel her intense emotional changes over the course of the lengthy showstopper. But the Mad Scene is more than a vocal showpiece: it’s a window into what it means to lose touch with reality and the ways women’s real-life challenges can go ignored or, even worse, pathologized as illness. In the opera, Lucia has no control of her life; her brother betrays her and forces her to marry a man she doesn’t love. Alone and out of options, Lucia escapes in the only way she can: she murders her new husband and descends into madness. But how do we understand her crimes and hallucinations? And what can Lucia teach us about how we diagnose and treat mental health conditions today? Host Rhiannon Giddens and her guests dive into the history of women and madness, as well as the story of a woman living with bipolar disorder today. Soprano Natalie Dessay had a thriving career as a coloratura soprano before cashing in her opera chips and turning her talents to theater and jazz. When she sang the role of Lucia at the Met in 2011, she approached it a bit like a circus performer, adding physical challenges to match the vocal ones. Dr. Mary Ann Smart is a professor of music at UC Berkeley. As a grad student, she wrote her dissertation on mad scenes in 19th century opera, and she has since authored multiple books, including Siren Songs: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Opera. One of the things that she finds most poignant about Lucia’s Mad Scene is the fact that Donizetti spent the end of his life being treated for physical and mental illness. Activist and writer Dr. Phyllis Chesler has written more than 20 books, including the seminal work, Women and Madness. Her work deals with freedom of speech and freedom of thought. Her recent books include Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, and her memoir An American Bride in Kabul. She believes writing is most definitely a form of madness. Author and attorney Melody Moezzi wrote Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life in order to capture her experiences as an Iranian-American Muslim woman with bipolar disorder, and to help others with this condition feel less alone. She is an advocate for destigmatizing mental health conditions, and she believes that sometimes, what looks like madness can actually be a rational response to an irrational world.
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- timeline: Composers (Europe).
- Indexes (by alphabetical order): B...