Composer Sean Hickey joins The Piano Pod to discuss Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — his monumental piano cycle inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling book.

From imagined orders and human cooperation to empire, biology, AI, and the future of artistic sustainability, this episode explores what it means to create — and remain human — in a rapidly changing world. Performed by pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev, Sapiens translates big philosophical questions into sound, structure, and silence.

This conversation moves from macro-history to the deeply personal — from Detroit and electric guitar to leading major recording labels — and ultimately asks: What allows music to endure?

• 📺 Watch the 2/1/24 premiere of A Brief History of Humankind at Klavierhaus, NYC (Vladimir Rumyantsev) HERE
• 🎧 Listen to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind for Solo Piano
• 📺 Watch the Trailer for Recorder Concerto “A Pacifying Weapon” (Recorder: Michala Petri | Royal Danish Academy of Music Concert Band | Jean Thorel)
• 📚 Read “Release Rationale, Why and Why Now”

From Harari’s sweeping vision of human history to the realities of AI in today’s music industry, this episode centers on one enduring question: How do we remain authentic — and human — in the age of acceleration?

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share to support independent classical media.

[SEAN HICKEY - Composer and Record Label Executive]

• 🌐 Website: https://seanhickey.com
• 📝 Read our blog about Sean

[THE PIANO POD]

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Subscribe for more conversations on creativity, mentorship, and the future of classical music.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with pianist, composer, visual artist, and poet Asiya Korepanova for a wide-ranging conversation on extreme repertoire, transcription as a creative act, long-form artistic commitment, and what it means to think at scale as a musician today.

Born into a deeply musical family in Izhevsk, Russia, and now based in the United States, Asiya’s career is defined by projects many would consider “impossible”: performing the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff during the composer’s 150th-anniversary year, Liszt’s 24 Études, and Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier. In this conversation, Asiya reflects on what draws her to repertoire that unfolds over years rather than hours, and how long-form thinking shapes her artistic identity.

A central focus of the episode is Asiya’s work as a transcriber. She speaks candidly about transcription as a form of composition—an act she once described as “taming a wild animal”—and how her deep understanding of orchestral, vocal, and chamber music informs the way she reimagines works for solo piano. We hear excerpts from her transcriptions of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, alongside reflections on craft, risk, and responsibility.

The conversation also explores Asiya’s work beyond performance: her compositions, her multidisciplinary projects that integrate visual art and poetry, her commitment to education and access through her nonprofit Music for Minds, and her curatorial leadership at Festival Baltimore and Festival Flatiron NYC.

This episode offers a rare, unfiltered look into the inner life of an artist whose work is driven not by spectacle, but by depth, rigor, and fearless vision.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES

• Asiya Korepanova — Official Website
• Asiya's Merch on Etsy
• Sounds of Inspiration — Piano Works from Season 6 (Music mentioned in this episode)
• Read the accompanying blog on Substack

🎧 THE PIANO POD

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• 🌐 Website: https://thepianopod.com
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In this episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with pianist, recording artist, and multidisciplinary creator Aïda Lahlou for an in-depth conversation on Ravel’s Miroirs, sound as physical reality, and what it means to build an artistic life through curiosity, risk, and purpose.

At the center of the conversation is Aïda’s debut album, Mirrors and Echoes—a recording that places Ravel’s Miroirs as its reflective core, surrounded by carefully curated piano miniatures from across cultures and centuries. Rather than treating the album as a collection of pieces, Aïda speaks about programming as experience: sequencing, resonance, and how sound can function as landscape rather than emotional narrative.

We also explore her broader artistic practice—from environmental engagement and rethinking institutional success, to her one-woman show blending stand-up comedy with solo piano performance, and her advocacy for the return of the modern impresario / creative producer in today’s classical music ecosystem.

• 🎧 Listen to Aïda's album, Mirrors and Echoes, on Spotify
• 📝 Meet Our Guest — Aïda Lahlou: Read the accompanying blog exploring Mirrors and Echoes and Aïda’s artistic vision

🎧 THE PIANO POD

• 💖 Become a VIP Member / Unlock exclusive content HERE.
• 📫 Join our newsletter HERE
• 🌐 Website: https://thepianopod.com
• 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thepianopod

In this episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with concert pianist and recording artist Ammiel Bushakevitz for a wide-ranging conversation on Franz Schubert, the German Lied tradition, and what makes 19th-century music speak powerfully to 21st-century audiences.

Ammiel shares insights from his major long-term projects, including Schubert 200 — a multi-album Lied collaboration building toward Schubert’s bicentennial in 2028 — and his ongoing recording of Schubert’s complete solo piano works. We explore intimacy versus scale, collaboration between singer and pianist, audience-building for a new generation, and why Schubert’s music remains profoundly human and relevant today.

🎧 Note: This video episode concludes around the 51-minute mark. The audio version continues further, with additional reflections on collaboration, teaching, empathy, and artistic legacy. Find the full episode wherever you listen to podcasts.🎹 Meet Our Guest — Ammiel Bushakevitz

• 📝 Read the blog post exploring Ammiel’s artistry and his approach to Schubert

About Ammiel: Concert pianist, recording artist, and one of today’s leading interpreters of Schubert and the German Lied tradition. Ammiel performs internationally across six continents and is also the Artistic Director of Les Voix d’Orphée, an organization dedicated to song, education, and cultural exchange.

• 🔗 Learn more about Ammiel Bushakevitz
• 🎧 Listen to all the pieces mentioned during the episode here

🎧 THE PIANO POD

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• 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thepianopod

What does a piano recital have to do with war, faith, and forgiveness?

In this episode of The Piano Pod, pianist and educator Anli Lin Tong shares the story behind Bells of Nagasaki: Music for Contemplation—a profoundly moving concert created for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

What began as a single song her father used to sing—The Bells of Nagasaki—became a powerful act of remembrance, shaped by the legacy of Dr. Takashi Nagai, a survivor who transformed unimaginable loss into a life devoted to peace.

This conversation moves beyond repertoire and performance into questions rarely asked in classical music:

• What responsibility does an artist carry when history is still unresolved? • How does sound hold memory when words fail?

From the history of Urakami Cathedral’s bells, silenced for decades, to Anli’s own journey—moving to the U.S. alone as a child, studying with legendary teachers, and carrying artistic lineage forward—this episode reveals how music can become a moral witness.

It’s a conversation about remembrance, responsibility, and the quiet power of sound to hold history—and humanity—together.

Learn More About Anli Lin Tong

• 📝 Read my blog exploring Anli’s artistry and work
• 📰 Press Coverage: Bells of Nagasaki: Music for Contemplation
• 🎓 Juilliard Feature The Juilliard School highlights Anli’s writing on her teacher Mieczysław Munz:

🎹 THE PIANO POD

• 🎵 Subscribe to the Season 6 Piano Playlist — a collection of every piano work mentioned throughout the episodes:
• 💖 Become a VIP Member or unlock exclusive content:
• 📫 Join our newsletter:
• 🌐 Website: https://thepianopod.com 📱 IG: @thepianopod | FB: @thepianopod | TikTok: @thepianopod 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thepianopod

In this episode, I sit down with pianist and educator Mirna Lekić for a conversation that spans continents, sound worlds, and the deeper layers of what music can mean in a human life.

Born and raised in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War and now based in New York City, Mirna brings a rare perspective to the piano — one shaped by resilience, migration, devotion, and an unshakable belief in music as a stabilizing, healing force.

We explore her acclaimed 2023 album MIRAGE, a breathtaking collection of sonic illusions and cultural crossings that reimagines the piano as a global storyteller — moving from Azerbaijan to Spain, Armenia to Java, and beyond.

This episode dives into:

• how early musical experiences during war shaped Mirna’s artistic identity
• the healing and stabilizing role music played during her family’s resettlement
• the depth of Bosnian and Balkan musical influences
• how cultural diversity becomes musical philosophy, not performance
• MIRAGE and its groundbreaking approach to sound, resonance, and identity
• collaborative work with living composers, shadow puppeteers, and multidisciplinary artists
• how educators can guide young musicians toward authenticity in a rapidly changing world

It’s a conversation about healing, devotion, heritage, and the power of sound to help us make sense of where we come from — and where we’re going.

🌟 SOUND BITES

“Music was a healing presence.” “Music study demands devotion.” “Music can be a lifeline.”

🎧 FEATURED LINKS FROM MIRNA'S WORK

From the album Masks:

• Debussy, The Toybox (opening)
• Villa-Lobos: Negrinha, No. 5 from Baby’s Family

From MIRAGE:

• Ali-Zadeh — Music for Piano
• Lachenmann — Guero
• Cowell — Aeolian Harp

From Eastern Currents: Ramin Heydarbeygi — Aramesh

Mirna’s Shadow Puppetry Collaborations:

• https://youtu.be/V5Tj2ZHDGS8?si=Aa05gwPs0R0evO8r
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duMJtVPVOIs&t=262s

Read my review on Mirna's Album, MIRAGE on Substack

In this episode of The Piano Pod, I sit down with Elena Riu — pianist, groundbreaking recording artist, educator, and yoga/mindfulness teacher — whose work has reshaped how we think about artistry, embodiment, and the future of piano performance. Elena has long been a force of quiet revolution.

Long before conversations about inclusivity and expanded repertoire entered the mainstream, she was commissioning bold new works, centering Latin-American and women composers, and exploring how breath, movement, and somatic awareness can transform the way we play and teach music.

This conversation travels across the full spectrum of her artistry — from embodied performance to cultural identity, from the menstrual cycle as a source of creativity to breaking nineteenth-century norms about who pianists should be and what they should play. If you’ve ever wondered how breath shapes sound, how identity shapes expression, or how artists can create courageously beyond convention, this is a conversation you won’t forget.

[Explore Elena’s Work]

Salsa Nueva — Score (16-piece anthology):

• 📘 Purchase on Stretta
• 📘 Purchase on Presto Music

Salsa Nueva — Album (with Latin percussionist Wilmer Sifontes):

• 🎧 SOMM Recordings

Out of the Blues / R&B Collection — Score:

• 📘 Purchase on Presto Music

Piano Icons for the 21st Century (Linn Records):

• 🎧 Amazon

🌐 Elena’s Website

✨ If you enjoyed this episode…

• Please like, comment, and subscribe — it truly helps our community grow.
• Follow The Piano Pod on social media for more conversations at the intersection of creativity, connection, and the evolving world of classical music.
• 📝 My blog on Elena & her album Salsa Nueva:
• 🎵 Listen to our Sounds of Inspiration – Piano Works from Season 6 Playlist

Thank you for listening — and for supporting a space where artists can be fully themselves.

#ThePianoPod #Season6 #ElenaRiu #EmbodiedMusician #EmbodiedPianist #ClassicalMusic #Piano #SalsaNueva #MindfulnessForMusicians #Somatics #YogaForMusicians #NewMusic #LatinAmericanComposers #CreativeCourage #PianistLife

🎶✨ What if jazz could be taught as naturally as language—where freedom, creativity, and collaboration drive learning?

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 5 of The Piano Pod, featuring Quentin Walston — pianist, composer, educator, and founder of This Is Jazz™. In this conversation, we explore how Quentin bridges performance, pedagogy, and entrepreneurship through his acclaimed book How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation and his growing online platform empowering educators worldwide.

In our talk, Quentin shares:

• ✅ His mission to make jazz approachable for every student
• ✅ How his book helps teachers with little or no jazz background start confidently
• ✅ Turning small classroom moments into creative breakthroughs
• ✅ Building a thriving online community for jazz educators
• ✅ Balancing artistry and business as a modern musician
• ✅ His personal journey — from discovering jazz as a child to releasing his album Retro Future

👉 Stay tuned until the end for rapid-fire fun and key insights on creativity, confidence, and cultivating joy through improvisation.

🎼 Explore Quentin’s Work

• 🌐 Website: quentinwalston.com
• 📘 Book: How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation
• 🎵 Platform: This Is Jazz
• 💿 Album: Retro Future

🎧 The Piano Pod 💖 Subscribe or unlock exclusive content: thepianopod.substack.com 🎵 Listen to our Sounds of Inspiration – Piano Works from Season 6 playlist: YouTube Playlist 📫 Join our newsletter: Sign Up

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