The Piano Pod - a global hub for innovation, education, and connection in classical piano music

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Season 7 begins with Yamaha Artist, composer, author, and UCLA professor Inna Faliks.

In this conversation, we explore her recent album Stranger Things: Piano Works from a Young Refugee’s Backpack, the childhood compositions she carried with her from Odesa, her 2024 album Manuscripts Don’t Burn, her relationship with literature and contemporary music, Gabriel Prokofiev’s Minimoog concerto, her memoir Weight in the Fingertips, and the teachers and experiences that shaped her artistic voice.

From memory and migration to artistic curiosity and reinve...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

From childhood compositions carried out of Odesa to performing a concerto on Minimoog, Inna Faliks has built an artistic life around memory, curiosity, and reinvention.

What happens when the music you wrote as a child returns decades later?

Here’s the trailer for the Season 7 premiere of The Piano Pod: Carrying Memory Forward, featuring Yamaha Artist, composer, and author Inna Faliks.

We talk about her latest album, Stranger Things: Piano Works from a Young Refugee’s Backpack, her other boun...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Welcome to Season 7 of The Piano Pod: Culture & Courage.

After six seasons and more than 100 episodes, the show is entering a new chapter. In this short introduction, host Yukimi Song shares what is changing, why the podcast is moving to a monthly schedule, and how her own evolving identity and work inspired this season’s theme.

What remains unchanged is the heart of The Piano Pod: thoughtful, authentic conversations that look beyond professional biographies to discover the people and stories behind th...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Know someone who embodies Culture & Courage?

I'm currently curating Season 7 of The Piano Pod and looking for musicians, educators, composers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and creative leaders who are expanding what it means to be an artist today.

If someone comes to mind—or if that person is you—I would love to hear from you.

Please submit your nomination here:

Nominate Guest Here

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

How do we bring our full musical selves to the stage?

In this Season 6 finale of The Piano Pod, concert pianist, composer, arranger, educator, and artistic leader David Berry joins host Yukimi Song for a rich and deeply personal conversation on virtuosity, improvisation, composition, contemporary music, artistic identity, and the connections that unite seemingly different musical worlds.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, Berry has built a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, curator, and...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎙️ SEASON 6 FINALE TRAILER

How do we bring our full musical selves to the stage?

In the Season 6 finale of The Piano Pod 🎙, host Yukimi Song sits down with concert pianist, composer, arranger, educator, and artistic leader David Berry for a rich and deeply personal conversation on virtuosity, improvisation, composition, contemporary music, and artistic identity.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School, Berry has built a multifaceted career as a perfor...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

What does it mean to become a "Sound Liberator"?

In this episode of The Piano Pod, pianist, composer, educator, filmmaker, scholar, and advocate Joe Williams joins host Yukimi Song for a wide-ranging conversation on artistry, legacy, belonging, improvisation, education, and the evolving landscape of concert music.

Currently pursuing a PhD in composition at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Williams has built a multifaceted career championing composers of African descent while developing his own distinctive creative voice. From premiering ne...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎙️ NEW TRAILER: Sound Liberation

What does it mean to be a Sound Liberator?

In our upcoming episode of The Piano Pod, pianist, composer, educator, and scholar Joe Williams reflects on artistry, identity, freedom, Black excellence, and the power of music to preserve histories and connect communities.

“My responsibility is really to free people through my art.”

A powerful conversation on belonging, authenticity, representation, and what it means to move through the world on your own terms.

🎧 Sound...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, we are joined by Steinway Artist, pianist, and pedagogue Dr. Oscar Macchioni.

Born in Argentina, shaped by years of study in Poland, and now serving as Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of North Texas, Macchioni reflects on a life in music that moves across borders — culturally, intellectually, and artistically.

A central focus of this conversation is his album Mostly Tangos: Piano Music from the Americas. But this episode goes far beyond ta...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Here is the Trailer for:

Season 6 Episode 18: Beyond Borders: From Argentina to Poland to Texas—Oscar Macchioni Reflects on a Life in Music

In our upcoming episode, we welcome Steinway Artist and renowned piano pedagogue Dr. Oscar Macchioni.

This conversation goes far beyond tango.

Together, we explore: • tango as a universal concert genre • artistic labels and misconceptions • audience engagement and concert programming • Szymanowski and William Bolcom • music across borders and cultures • and the evolving role of classical music today

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, we are joined by concert pianist Anna Shelest.

Her work spans major orchestral collaborations, recording projects, and repertoire advocacy — but this conversation centers on her latest album A Romantic from Kharkiv; Music of Sergei Bortkiewicz and the deeper artistic and cultural meaning behind it.

Together, we explore how music becomes a form of testimony — shaped by memory, identity, and history — and how Shelest’s connection to Kharkiv, Ukraine informs her interpretation of Bortkiewicz’s music. We...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎬 TRAILER — Music as Witness

What does it mean for music to carry memory?

In this upcoming episode of The Piano Pod, concert pianist Anna Shelest traces her roots from Kharkiv, Ukraine—through forgotten voices and the music of women composers she continues to bring into focus.

This is not about novelty. It is about identity, history, and a lifelong artistic search for voice.

Throughout the episode, you will hear music you may not know— but through her playing...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, we welcome Joy Luck Trio — a newly formed ensemble bringing together pianist Donna Weng Friedman, pipa virtuoso Gao Hong, and erhu virtuoso Karen Han-Ottosson.

Together, these three Chinese-American artists unite piano, pipa, and erhu in a rare chamber collaboration rooted in heritage and shaped by contemporary expression.

In this conversation, we explore how the trio first came together, the histories and sound worlds of the pipa and erhu, what makes these instruments distinct from We...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

What happens when piano, pipa, and erhu come together in one ensemble?

Tonight on The Piano Pod, meet Joy Luck Trio — Donna Weng Friedman, Gao Hong, and Karen Han-Ottosson — three acclaimed artists creating a bold new chamber voice rooted in heritage, virtuosity, and contemporary expression.

In this powerful conversation, we explore the origins of the trio, the fascinating histories of the pipa and erhu, remarkable careers spanning concert halls and film soundtracks, and the excitement of building something entirely new together.

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, we are joined by composer, conductor, & Music Director at Univeristy of Cologne, Michael Ostrzyga

His work spans composition, conducting, editorial scholarship, and large-scale projects — but this conversation centers on his piano writing, especially his recent solo album Perseus.

Together, we explore how music begins — whether from structure, memory, or sound itself — and how these ideas shape a body of work that moves between tradition and exploration. We also discuss his pedagogical work Der singende Wind...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Here is the trailer for Season 6, Episode 15 of The Piano Pod. Guest: Michael Ostrzyga — Composer & Conductor In this episode, we explore his piano writing, centered around his album Perseus — a body of work shaped by structure, memory, and lived experience. In our conversation, we talked about:

🎥 YouTube Premiere tonight at 8:00 P...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, concert pianist Han Chen joins TPP for a deep conversation about virtuosity, vision, and what it means to build something meaningful in today’s classical music landscape.

Han Chen is a GRAMMY Award–nominated pianist known for his fearless approach to some of the most demanding repertoire in the piano canon — from György Ligeti’s Complete Piano Études to Beethoven’s Hammerklavier. His recent recording of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with conductor John...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Here is the trailer for our upcoming episode with GRAMMY-nominated pianist Han Chen.

From mastering Ligeti to building Infinite Staircase, this conversation goes beyond performance — into vision, risk, and creating something that lasts.

🎥 Premieres tonight at 8 PM ET: https://youtu.be/2JqDeHYSk58?si=QgFPTfWf0ch_7WBl

🎧 Audio: https://linktr.ee/thepianopodaudio

Read Our Blog: https://open.substack.com/pub/thepianopod/p/meet-our-guest-han-chen-concert-pianist?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Accents of Love: Vivian Fang Liu on Artistry, Belonging, and Music for the Next Generation

The Piano Pod — Season 6, Episode 13

In this episode of The Piano Pod, pianist, singer-songwriter, composer, educator, and music researcher Vivian Fang Liu joins host Yukimi Song for a powerful conversation about identity, creativity, and the role of music in shaping the next generation.

Vivian Fang Liu is a classically trained pianist whose work spans classical performance, cross-genre songwriting, children’s music, and music education rese...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Here is the trailer for our upcoming episode of The Piano Pod.

Concert pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer Vivian Fang Liu joins us for a powerful conversation about music, identity, and belonging.

From her award-winning children’s albums to cross-genre artistry shaped by classical piano, Vivian shares how her work brings together performance, storytelling, and education to empower the next generation.

🎥 Full episode premieres tonight, March 17, at 8 PM ET on YouTube.https://youtu.be/bH4YCXAZX5M

🎧 The audio ep...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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 p...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎥 Here is the trailer for our new eps featuring Sean Hickey, Composer/Record Label Executive

Composer Sean Hickey joins The Piano Pod to discuss Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind for the Piano — 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 conversation explores what it means to create — and remain human — in a rapidly accelerating world.

Performed by pianist Vla...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

This surprise bonus episode was created in collaboration with Mannes School of Music at The New School.

In this conversation, I sit down with Pavlina Dokovska — internationally active concert pianist, Chair of the Piano Department at Mannes School of Music, and Artistic Director of the Mannes International Piano Festival — to explore what it truly means to build artists in today’s musical and cultural moment.

We discuss serious piano study, long-term mentorship, artistic identity, and the role institutions play in shaping the ne...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🚨 Bonus Episode Drops Tonight

Here’s the trailer.

Building Artists Through Music & Mentorship with Pavlina Dokovska

What does it really take to build an artist?

In this special collaboration, The Piano Pod sits down with Pavlina Dokovska — internationally active concert pianist, Chair of the Piano Department at Mannes School of Music, and Artistic Director of the Mannes International Piano Festival — for a candid conversation on serious piano study, mentorship, and artistic formation.

We discuss:

• Why l...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎬 Official Trailer — Fearless Visionwith Asiya Korepanova

For our upcoming episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with Asiya Korepanova — pianist, composer, visual artist, and poet — for a deep conversation on long-form artistic commitment, transcription as a creative act, and what it means to build a life in music shaped by depth, curiosity, and fearless vision.

Asiya is known for her daring piano transcriptions and for taking on extreme repertoire, including the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff and Liszt’s 2...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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 centur...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎬 OFFICIAL TRAILER Season 6, Episode 10 Mirrors and Echoes — Ravel, Resonance, and Reframing Tradition

What happens when Ravel’s Miroirs becomes the center of a much larger listening journey? In this episode of The Piano Pod, I sit down with Aïda Lahlou — UK-based, award-winning pianist and multidisciplinary artist — for an in-depth conversation on her debut album Mirrors and Echoes and the ideas shaping her work today.

At the heart of our discussion is Ravel: how Miroirs functions not as a self-contained cycle, but as a ref...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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 ne...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎬 OFFICIAL TRAILER

Season 6, Episode 9 Schubert Now — Concert Pianist, Ammiel Bushakevitz on Storytelling, Connection, and the Road to the 2028 Bicentennial

Why does Schubert still matter today?

In our first episode of 2026, I sit down with concert pianist and recording artist Ammiel Bushakevitz for a wide-ranging conversation on Schubert, the German Lied tradition, and why intimacy — not scale — may shape the future of classical music.

From his bold Schubert 200 project and the journey toward recording Schubert’s complete pi...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

To close out 2025, The Piano Pod brings you a special year-end bonus episode featuring composer and storyteller Stefania De Kenessey. Earlier this season, we explored her MICROVIDS project; today, Stefania takes us behind the scenes of another major undertaking: her opera The Bonfire of the Vanities, based on Tom Wolfe’s iconic novel.

In this conversation, Stefania reflects on the creative risks, structural challenges, and artistic values behind adapting a 700-page book for the operatic stage. She shares insights on distillation, libretti, character re...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

✨ Happy Holidays, friends!

This extra segment comes from Season 6, Episode 2 with the award-winning Mada & Hugh Piano Duo. Our conversation ran longer than expected, and while this part didn’t make it into the final episode, I couldn’t keep it from you — it’s just too good.

In this excerpt, Mada & Hugh open up about creativity in its purest form:

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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 surviv...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

The trailer for our upcoming episode is now live—and it offers a glimpse into one of the most reflective and quietly powerful conversations of this season.

In Season 6, Episode 8 of The Piano Pod, I sit down with pianist and educator Anli Lin Tong for a deeply moving conversation about music as memory, faith, lineage, and moral witness.

At the heart of this episode is Anli’s recent project, Bells of Nagasaki: Music for Contemplation—a concert created to honor the 80th ann...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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 bre...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Here is the TRAILER — Between Worlds: From Sarajevo to New York: A Conversation on Cultural Crossings, Sonic Identity, and the Art of Connection feat. Mirna Lekić

This week on The Piano Pod, I sit down with pianist and champion of new music Mirna Lekić for a conversation that moves between cultures, sound worlds, and the deeper layers of artistic identity. From Sarajevo to New York, we explore cultural crossings, sonic imagination, and the power of music to connect and ground us.

✨ The fu...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Happy Thanksgiving! In this bonus episode, I’m sharing something deeply personal — a part of my identity I’ve rarely spoken about publicly. I am a third-generation Zainichi Korean, born and raised in Japan, and I’m finally stepping into that history through a new creative initiative called The Zainichi Music Project, now sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts.

This episode marks the beginning of that journey — a project that will grow into a living archive of research, new music commission...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

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...

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Get ready for our next episode of The Piano Pod: The Embodied Pianist with Elena Riu — pianist, groundbreaking recording artist, educator, and yoga/mindfulness teacher.

In this powerful conversation, we explore embodied performance, somatics, breath, creativity, cultural identity, and even the menstrual cycle as a source of artistic insight. Elena’s work challenges long-held assumptions about what pianists should play, how they should train, and how the body shapes sound.

In this episode, Elena and I talk about:

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

🎶✨ 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: