Soundboard

'Everything Is Vibration' Recorded live at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, with Steinway artist John Medeski and host Ben Finane. In this conversation: - Spontaneous composition: listening closely, sharing the lead, and knowing when not to play. - Bach’s clarity, Oscar Peterson’s swing, and the repeated listening that helped Medeski connect with John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. - How Medeski Martin & Wood developed a shared language across jazz, funk, classical music, and free improvisation. - The distinction Medeski draws between admiring a musician and being influenced through playing or studying together. - Composing at and away from t...

'Music Always Serves a Purpose' - From motif to structure: using five to ten emotional adjectives, exploring ideas at the piano, and sketching a timeline for a piece’s intensity and climax. - How improvisation can reveal unexpected directions, and how the piano helps test harmonies and musical colors. - The First of Everything: lyricism, soaring melodies, and touches of minimalism. - Why concert works, streaming albums, and film scores call for different priorities—from the musicians playing a piece to the characters on screen. - How a move to Los Angeles during the writers’ strike led to a social media...

'Simple, Beautiful Pieces' Steinway Artist and composer Jeff Beal discusses writing for solo piano.

'This Is How It Should Be' Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, is a choreographer and dancer as well as the founder, CEO and Artistic Director of The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts in New York City. She joins us to talk about the enduring music of her grandfather and her own journey as an artist.

'The Search That Will Never Stop' Pianist Alexandre Kantorow discusses his musical family, piano as orchestra, what to practice, creating a recital program, and what he's learned so far.

'You Can't Find Freedom Unless You Have Structure' Steinway Artist Sullivan Fortner joins Soundboard to discuss coming up in jazz, ancient practices, the greats, urgency, and showing up to battle with a plan.

Reflections on Van Cliburn, on the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and on the legacy of classical music in America.

‘An Element of Storytelling’ Jazz pianist and Steinway Artist Kris Davis takes us through her process, her love of Herbie Hancock, and what she gained from listening to other instruments.

‘When I perform a piece, I‘m co-composing.’ Chopin International Piano Competition winner and Steinway Artist Yulianna Avdeeva discusses her most recent recording project for Pentatone: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87.

‘You Can Just Make Stuff’ The songwriter Sunny War talks about her eclectic influences, when less is more, her Americana dream, and taking inspiration from her racist neighbors.

‘Primordial’ Ambient and electronic music composer Steve Roach discusses his musical philosophy and process.

‘I Want To Honor Their Voices’ Guitarist Nels Cline talks about having no fixed voice, Wilco, pretension, and going down with the set list.

'All The Things You Are' Saxophonist Joe Lovano joins Soundboard live from Big Ears Festival to discuss influence, tone, sound, improvisation — and what's in a name.

'Willingness To Do Different Things' Steinway Artist John Paul Jones, live from Big Ears Festival, talks about his influences, his sound, and his process.

'Jazz Gives The Thinking Person A Place To Go' Jazz bassist Christian McBride, live from Big Ears Festival, talks post-bop, remaining a bass-player-for-hire, bass-on-bass action, preparation, and jazz as democracy.

'The Magic Is The Dedication' Jazz pianist and Steinway Artist Jason Moran, live from Big Ears Festival, talks hip hop, the next generation, the algorithm, Monk & Duke, visual art, and creative approach.

‘There Are Different Ways of Getting Good’ Grandmasters Aman Hambleton and Eric Hansen, the principal hosts of Chessbrah, talk techno and chess and what makes Magnus Carlsen the GOAT.

‘Enjoy The Process of Getting Better’ Steinway Artist Ádám György will play his own transcription of the Union of European Football Associations Champions League Anthem at the UEFA Final Saturday June 10 in Istanbul. György joins Soundboard to discuss football and Franz Liszt.

‘You Should Try To Look Forward’ Steinway Artist Alexander Krichel joins Soundboard to celebrate Sergei Rachmaninoff's 150th birthday.

‘Music Can Tell That Story’ Anthony McGill takes us behind the scenes in his role as Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic and speaks to the wonders of chamber music.

‘And Then Came Beethoven’ Steinway Artist Gerardo Teissonnière discusses the wonder of Beethoven's Last Sonatas.

‘A Sophisticated Juggling Act’ Steinway Artist Andrew Rangell discusses the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. His latest — of many — Bach releases is The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II on the Steinway & Sons label.

‘An Album of Beautiful Days’ Steinway Artist Dr. Karen Walwyn speaks to the legacy and vibrancy of African American composer Florence Price.

‘A Strange Osmosis’ Steinway Artist Rufus Wainwright takes us behind his live album with Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

‘To Make The Piano Sing’ Steinway Artist Jean-Yves Thibaudet discusses his latest album, CARTE BLANCHE, his ultimate goal of making the piano sing, and the utility of the sostenuto pedal.

‘Music Is Infinite’ Steinway Artist Kristhyan Benitez discusses the rich diaspora of Latin American piano music.

‘Always Look Them In The Eye’ Branford Marsalis joins Soundboard to discuss his Emmy®–nominated score for the History Channel documentary TULSA BURNING: THE 1921 RACE RIOT.

‘What If You Put Back The Human?’ Pianist Tiffany Poon discusses bringing humanism back to classical music via YouTube — and expresses her love for Robert and Clara Schumann.

‘There Is Some Kind of Rhythm Around Me’ The pianist Khatia Buniatishvili speaks to the intimacy of performance, finding her own rhythm, and her love for Schubert and Liszt.

‘A Quiet Legend’ Composer Daniel Felsenfeld wonders at the brilliance of Steinway Artist Alfred Brendel.

An Unforeseen Ambassador Steinway Immortal Van Cliburn and legacy of classical music in America

‘It's All Storytelling’ Steinway Artist and Emmy Award–winning composer Kris Bowers takes us inside penning the soundtracks to such projects as GREEN BOOK and BRIDGERTON.

‘I Feel I Have To Be Here’ Steinway Artist Mahani Teave hails from Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. Teave is the first professional concert pianist from Rapa Nui. But after years spent concertizing all over the world, she returned to her island and founded a music school.

‘Using the Crayons in the Crayon Box’ Ann Mincieli is owner and operator of Jungle City Studios in New York City and longtime recording engineer for Alicia Keys. She takes us behind the scenes of a session in her studio.

‘Music Is Communication’ Steinway Artist Jeanne Golan takes us inside her latest release on the Steinway & Sons label, ‘It Takes One To Tango.’

‘Music Should Be Fun’ Steinway Artist Ray Angry takes us on his journey from classical pianist to polymath producer.

‘I Had Stories To Tell’ Comic book artist and writer Sandy Jimenez pens illustrated stories about the South Bronx. He joins Soundboard to discuss his craft.

‘Your Instinctual Moves’ Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and Steinway Artist John Corigliano talks about improvising at the keyboard, his compositional process, and a legacy of teaching.

Beethoven In The Lab Young Steinway Artist Amir Siraj is completing a dual degree in astrophysics and piano performance. His research has explored the moon, comets, asteroids, black holes, and, of course, Beethoven.

‘Wrestling With Scores’ The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter speaks on arts advocacy, Beethoven, John Williams, and her process behind learning new music.