Ayano is a great friend of mine and one of the world’s best teachers and percussionists. She teaches at UMASS Amherst and plays with the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center. She and I killed thousands of cockroaches at Yale in the practice rooms.
Read MoreDr. Batson is a Trinidadian educator and musician who ran the steel band program at Florida Memorial University, becoming a hub for steel pan education in the US. Many of my Caribbean students at NYU and my friends in Brooklyn worked with her in college. Her composition “Black Holes Do Exist” for Steel Orchestra is mind-bending in all the best ways. She’s a national treasure…
Read MoreErin founded and runs the Young Women Composers Camp. It’s a great org for young female and non-binary composers in high-school. Her work with this festival is gonna change the future of composition.
Read MoreBill is a good friend of mine and we chat about advocacy and the current state of afairs in the US. He is also involved in the PAS Diversity Alliance and we talk about their great and important work.
Read MoreArone is a member of Buke and Gase as well as a composer and advocate. She has a great project called Drone Choir. You should check it out.
Read MoreRob is a composer living in Princeton, NJ. We talk about his growing up listening to classical music as a kid. His writing for percussion is amazing. You should check him out.
Read MoreAndy is a steel drum builder/tuner and advocate living in Trinidad and Tobago. We talk about his upbringing in Trinidad and the flourishing of pan worldwide.
Read MoreRichard blows my mind with a mathematical analogy to show just how little of the covid-19 virus actually exists on earth (that we know of) as a way of showing how seriously we should take this.
Grey and I chat about a the nature of discourse in the world right now. I love having friends in my life who think about things as thoughtfully as he does. He’s also an amazing guitar player.
Cenk and I chat about the way he generates material, what the difference between composing and improvising is, and his new project he started during quarantine. I’m a big fan of Cenk., and honored to call him a friend.
Read MoreDan and I chat about how to think about making music during times like these. Dan is a really unique thinker. I highly recommend you check this out.
Read MoreNicky is a composer and dj based in Canada. She’s written two pieces for So Percussion—Dystopian Suite and White Label Experiment. Her music is incredible.
Read MoreElliot is a great percussionist and former student from the first SoSI in 2009. It’s been great to see him grow. We talk about his career as well the ethics around interacting on Facebook and meme-sharing culture.
Read MoreAndy and I chat about the origins of the steel pan in Trinidad and Tobago among other topics surrounding the steel pan.
Read MoreSondra is a music teacher in the NYC Public Schools and she is an old friend of mine from The Ohio State University. I broke one of her deck chairs, and lived to tell the story. Sondra is amazing. I know you’ll love her.
Read MoreRobert van Sice is the professor of percussion at Yale University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Eric is a member of So Percussion. We talk about Bob’s teaching ethos and how it affected So’s work and approach to chamber music.
Read MoreMekka is a DJ based in Miami, Florida. We met on a live show called Soca Passion Live, with our mutual friend Sheldon Hoyte. Mekka lost her brother to police violence and it has been a real joy to get to know her. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Read MoreWayne is a member of the Brooklyn Steel Orchestra as well as the captain of Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra in Brooklyn. He works for the NY Fire Department in their emergency response department. I always enjoy talking to Wayne.
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