Hi Friend! One silver lining of this seemingly never-ending pandemic is that I have time to practice for practice’s sake. Usually I’m practicing in “putting out fire mode” aka, I have a concert and I just need to NOT FALL ON MY FACE. Normally I wouldn’t have time (nor the inclination) to practice Paganini’s knuckle-busting Caprices for […]
Hi Friend! Well, so far 2021 has some explaining to do — it’s been a rough week, so far, huh? Some incredible highs (THANK YOU GEORGIA, YOU’RE A REAL PEACH!) and truly terrible lows (trash removal needed at the White House, please. STAT.) So, I’m offering some meditative music, Bach’s pensive Sarabanda from his Partita […]
Hi Friend! Happy New Year! Phew, we made it! Please enjoy a classic by the OG PRODIGY: Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, I. Allegro (cadenza by Sam Franko). You guys, good old Amadeus wrote this at the ripe old age of 19. Whoa…O.o Anyway, I love this concerto and its sunny disposition. This […]
Saying “2020 has been a weird year” is an understatement. Nevertheless, I’m really grateful when I look back at the inspiring guests who were generous enough to sit down and chat with me this year. So, I thought, wouldn’t it be great to revisit some of the most popular “Is it Recess Yet?” episodes of […]
Hi Friend! I made a solo violin arrangement of BTS (방탄소년단) Dynamite! BOOM! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I don’t need to tell you about BTS, the world dominating South Korean boy band phenomenon! I had a blast covering DYNAMITE, their infectious dance track that currently boasts more than 700 million views on YouTube. This was so fun! […]
I’m excited to revisit the very first episode of the “Is it Recess Yet?” podcast, from 2018. My dear friend and colleague, the wonderful violinist and human, Miki-Sophia Cloud, graciously agreed to be my first interviewee. In our chat, we talk about her former life as a strolling ‘gypsy violinist’; playing by ear versus playing from sheet […]
Check out my 2018 podcast interview with performance psychologist, Noa Kageyama, where we learn what he meant at age 2 when he said “oa wike mugas”; what it was like to studying with Mr. Suzuki himself in Japan as a little kid, how inconsistency in his performances lead to his study of performance psychology at […]
In my conversation with the Rev. D. Maurice Charles, the first African American chaplain at the University of Chicago, he shares how he was called to the ministry; his family heritage of slavery and survival; his scholarly work in religion and violence; why denying the existence of systemic bias is damaging to BIPOC and oppressed […]
In my conversation with composer and musician Kenji Bunch, we discuss the value of listening to all music with respect and curiosity; why he draws parallels between his eclectic approach to music and classically trained food chefs; why improvising and playing in non-classical styles can be really difficult for classical musicians; what it was like […]
In my conversation with writer Karen Rile, we discuss her experience of parenting four artistic children and her interest in musicians; how flexibility and creative courage led to her founding Cleaver Magazine, a successful literary magazine; why creative writing and small amounts of deliberate practice create a vast foundation for a successful life; and […]