What Would Mozart Do?

10 Episodes
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By: Nico de Villiers

More than ever before, musicians have to think outside the box as reinvention is inevitable in a new era for the performing arts. By asking "What Would Mozart Do?" each episode features musicians who discuss how they have transferred the skills that music had taught them into other fields of work.

047 - Flexing Musical Muscles
#47
06/19/2021

Welcome back to “What Would Mozart Do?” Today I am talking to flautist Angela McCuiston. In our chat Angela passionately shares her story of how a series of playing-related injuries have caused her to become a Fitness Trainer for Musicians.

Angela McCuiston is a NASM-CPT, CES, SFS and CETI-CES (Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, Senior Fitness Specialist and Cancer Exercise Specialist) and owner of Music Strong, a business that specializes in personal fitness training for musicians. 

Winner of the 2007 NFA Piccolo Master class, Angela received her Master of Music in Flute Performance from Flori...


046 - The Lucrative Artist
#46
05/28/2021

Today I am talking to baritone and entrepreneur Brian Witkowski. In our chat  we talk about the path that brought Brian to starting his own business called the Lucrative Artist, a platform where artists are helped to identify their purpose, to recognise their worth, and realise their value.

Brian Witkowski is a singer, actor and voice teacher turned business coach for entrepreneurial artists and educators. As the Founder and CEO of the Lucrative Artist, where he provides boutique business coaching services and trainings for fellow entrepreneurial artists and educators to help them become more prosperous, purposeful and a...


045 - Embracing the Unknown
#45
05/21/2021

Today I am talking to soprano Henriikka Gröndahl. In our chat we discuss how career trajectories can change over time and the possible influence of relationships and parenthood on negotiating a singing career. Henriikka Gröndahl is a versatile lyric soprano with one foot firmly in the chorus of the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, and the other foot happily freelancing. 

Her career began with a boom at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 2004, when she stepped in as the cover of Mimì in La Bohème. She sang a total of 11 performances of it for Scottish Opera...


044 - On Art and Opera
#44
05/07/2021

Today I am talking to mezzo-soprano Carolyn Dobbin. In our chat we discuss Carolyn’s career trajectory from art teacher to opera singer, and how her creativity carried her through loss and grief during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Northern Irish mezzo-soprano and Samling Scholar, Carolyn began her career as a teacher of Art and Design before graduating from the Opera course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Carolyn was Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera in 2010 and spent two years at Luzern opera house, Switzerland in 2012-2014.

She has performed extensively in opera, or...


043 - Nutrition on the Operatic Stage
#43
04/28/2021

Today I am talking to baritone Duncan Rock. In our chat we are discussing how Duncan’s dedication to fitness, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle influences his international career as an opera singer and how by developing his own nutrition brand Duncan combined health and art through his involvement with the Voice Care Centre in London.

Duncan Rock MMus, PGCert (nutritional science) - has an active international career as an operatic baritone. He has performed roles at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera, Teatro Real, Glyndebourne, English National Opera and many others. He is a nutritionist and me...


042 - Designing A Career In Fashion
#42
04/21/2021

Today I am talking to Hendrik Vermeulen, a South African Couturier, fashion designer, singer-songwriter and producer. In our chat we talk about the importance of time management and structuring in order to enhance creativity and we discuss how careers develop through honest and good personal relations.

At the atelier of multifaceted artist, Hendrik Vermeulen, it is not merely about fashion… It’s about expression, it’s about art.

The garments are made with the utmost care by expert hands, with luxury fabrics that they create or select for their high quality and made with the least...


041 - Keys to a Different World
#41
04/14/2021

Today I am talking to pianist Peter Jablonski. We discuss piano repertoire in and outside the canon, how careers take time to develop, and wonder about the influence of social media on the longevity of a career in music.

Peter Jablonski is an award-winning internationally acclaimed Swedish pianist. Discovered by Claudio Abbado and Vladimir Ashkenazy, and signed by Decca in his seventeenth year, Jablonski went on to perform, collaborate, and record with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Kirov (now Mariinsky), La Scala Philharmonic, To...


040 - Creative Minds over Linear Matter
#40
04/07/2021

Today I am talking to countertenor Daniel Keating-Roberts. We discuss the importance of creative minds channeling over linear matter, we consider potential ways in which the pandemic has left a positive mark on the performance industry, and Daniel shares his enthusiasm and interest in performance psychology.

Daniel studied in Sheffield, before completing his Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with awards from the Foyle Foundation and the Countess of Munster Trust. He also won the 2009 Guildhall aria competition. In 2010, he became the first counter-tenor to be accepted onto the English National Opera’s Operaworks pr...


039 - Short Circuits of Creation
#39
03/31/2021

Today I am talking to Frederick Robin a composer and perfumery artist. In our chat Frederick talks about the synergy between his music and processes that brought about creating a series of nine fragrances as well as his passion to collaborating with other artists across the boundaries of various disciplines. 

A strong sense of minimalism guides the artistic philosophy of Frederick Robin as he creates contemporary-classical musical and olfactory works in synergistic collaboration with other artists in various media.

Website:

www.frederickrobin.com


038 - Leading from the Chorus
#38
03/10/2021

Today I am talking to tenor Karl Marx Reyes. During his studies as a pre-med student he was scouted for the chorus of Seattle Opera. Karl  now holds a hybrid position performing compramario & featured roles. In our talk we discuss the career from the perspective of the opera chorus and how Karl’s experience in medicine not only enabled him to maintain a long career in opera but also how it created a safety net for him particularly during the pandemic.

Karl Marx Reyes is a Filipino/American tenor trained in the Pacific Northwest. Reyes ma...