Greenroom Conversations

About our Interview with Hosts Greenroom After 48 episodes, we have been downloaded in over 30 countries. Listen in as we wrap-up our first season of GRC, and shamelessly pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. In this episode we discuss the overall themes we have heard from our guest interviews including; building relationships, saying “yes,” and always being in the process no matter what stage you’re at. We also take time to reflect on creating the podcast and what to expect for season 2 of GRC. Links to lern more Greenroom Conversations Ryan Michael Hartman Manhattan School of Music

About our Interview with David Dubal The legendary David Dubal joined us with a studio audience for an interview at Klavierhaus in New York City. We had a lively conversation about; growing up in Cleveland, finding his love of the piano, juggling writing, painting and playing the piano, his choice of choosing a piano career instead of an art career, finding peace in enjoying his multifaceted career, his process of writing, planning for his radio programs, working with Aaron Copland, choosing music for his radio programs, his time with Vladimir Horowitz, the making of piano careers today, the difference between being a pianist and an artist and how to become an artist, the difficulty of being a pianist in today’s culture, the great Pianists and the problems with piano competitions. Links to lern more David Dubal's Website YouTube Clip Article About David [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] A photo of David Dubal at Klavierhaus in NYC[/caption]

This weeks guest, violinist, Joyce Hammann, sits down to discuss her own journey from being young and broke to playing on Broadway.  Paying rent by playing music on street corners, to eventually playing Phantom of the Opera for 25 years and becoming the Concertmaster. Joyce lets us in on the duties of being a concertmaster: knowing when to step in, and when to let problems solve themselves. She also opens up about how crossword puzzles and the quite support of her colleagues helped her through her own rough patch dealing with “the pressure of perfectionism.”

New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Principal of Timpani and Percussion, Kyle Zerna talks about his position and audition process.  We discussed his; transition from being a student to immediate professional, the logistics of practicing and learning, the organization of the percussion section, the importance of consistency across all the nine percussion instruments for auditions, path to choosing percussion as an instruments and how he was consistently motivated with new instrument discoveries within the percussion family, recent discovery of his ability to Deejaying and the parallel to playing percussion, timpani tuning and how his teaching has enhanced his own playing.

Janet Rarick, Associate Professor of Music Career Development at Rice University Shepherd School of Music shared how her own career developed and how she found her way to teaching.  We talk about; the importance of taking chances on opportunities, the importance of having support system of colleagues, the process in creating a career class, various ways in teaching career skills, defining a successful career and finding a creative outlet no matter what career path one takes, understanding your inner critic, the importance of performance experience in helping with performance anxiety, the importance of personal skills in getting and keeping a job and the skill of speaking to an audience.

Elissa Weinzimmer, Voice and Movement Coach, found her career path when overuse and acid reflux caused her to loose her voice and through her study of Fitzmaurice Voicework TM she found her path to teaching and helping others with helping others to find their own voice.  After pursuing an MFA in Theatre Voice Pedagogy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton Canada she recently moved to New York City and is building her own teaching studio and Vibrant Voice Techniques.  We talk about; the importance of maintaining your voice under demands, how to build a teaching studio, using technology to expand the scope of the teaching geographically, helping performers find their public speaking voice, differences between the younger voice and older voice and how to open their awareness to their instruments, when to seek vocal help and how a voice coach can help singers stay healthy. 

Trombonist and Conductor Dr. Per Brevig, joined us in the studio to talk about how his career evolved over time and how it lead him to conducting.  He talks about how everything in his career has been progressive.  We talk about; the diversity of his career, his interest in Jazz, Big Band and Contemporary Music, the importance of playing a broad choice repertoire, the shift in his career to conducting, his promotion of avant-garde music, how to be a good colleague, his conducting schedule and positions, programming choices, finding pleasure in various repertoire as a listener, what a soloist can expect when meeting with a conductor, his involvement as founder in the Grieg Society, and about his close work with the various composers including Carlos Chávez for the premier of the trombone concerto. 

Instrument case designer and maker, Howard Wiseman talked with Kevin Chavez during the summer 2014-Double Reed Conference in New York.  Howard made his first case when he was 15 years old as a result of having difficulties carrying his heavy bassoon.  The first order for a case was from his bassoon teacher, which lead to more requests for cases.  While studying for a performance bassoon career, he continued making cases.  Howard today continues to play and teach bassoon along side of his case and sports coaching businesses.  Producing only bassoon cases for the first 13 years, he later branched out to other instruments and multiple instruments.  A lifetime guarantee is offered with all his cases and he never compromising on quality.  Known for his innovation, he is always looking towards new designs and projects following his passion for creating and building things. 

Principal Bassoonist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Billy Short shares his path to tenure and how he settled into his position.  Playing four different operas a week offers him a variety of repertoire and he tells how the Principal Bassoonists decide their playing schedule.  He talks about; the challenges of playing in an opera orchestra, acoustical challenges of changing venues, managing repertoire practicing, the process for learning new music, reed making and research, how to cultivate time management and practice skills, the process of auditioning and how to cultivate self confidence along the way, the importance of teaching in his career plans, the importance of self reflection in learning, performing and the focus on the process of learning.

Multi award winning producer, Barbara Whitman sits down with us to discuss her most recent Tony Award winning show Fun Home, and the over 150 people it takes to support the 9 actors onstage. She also delves into some of the attributes that have made her such a success on Broadway, including being a mother. We also chat about theatre being an “industry of relationships,” and just where this industry is headed next. Barbara does a great job of demystifying the role of the producer, while offering great advice for those who wish to follow a path into producing.