A Musical Soliloquy

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview0:45 Why is Classical Music “boring”?8:43 Why has Classical Music Culture “fallen”?12:00 The Power of Great Art16:30 YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels18:51 How Classical Composers Conceived Music25:30 Development of AI and Technology28:19 How to Appreciate Classical Music30:57 Expressing Yourself through Art34:05 Having a Powerful Experience as a Listener39:19 Beauty in the Unseen41:36 External Distractions Grabbing your Attention43:44 Importance of Live Performance44:38 What Makes a Great Piece of Music?48:48 - What Makes a Great Composer’s Magnum Opus51:51 - Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection”55:22 Most Famous Classical Music Composers and Pieces56:10 Symphonies as the Epitome of Classical Music58:38 Chamber Music1:01:35 Discovering New Composers1:04:16 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:07:46 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview0:45 Why is Classical Music “boring”?8:43 Why has Classical Music Culture “fallen”?12:00 The Power of Great Art16:30 YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels18:51 How Classical Composers Conceived Music25:30 Development of AI and Technology28:19 How to Appreciate Classical Music30:57 Expressing Yourself through Art34:05 Having a Powerful Experience as a Listener39:19 Beauty in the Unseen41:36 External Distractions Grabbing your Attention43:44 Importance of Live Performance44:38 What Makes a Great Piece of Music?48:48 - What Makes a Great Composer’s Magnum Opus51:51 - Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection”55:22 Most Famous Classical Music Composers and Pieces56:10 Symphonies as the Epitome of Classical Music58:38 Chamber Music1:01:35 Discovering New Composers1:04:16 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:07:46 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview0:45 Why is Classical Music “boring”?8:43 Why has Classical Music Culture “fallen”?12:00 The Power of Great Art16:30 YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels18:51 How Classical Composers Conceived Music25:30 Development of AI and Technology28:19 How to Appreciate Classical Music30:57 Expressing Yourself through Art34:05 Having a Powerful Experience as a Listener39:19 Beauty in the Unseen41:36 External Distractions Grabbing your Attention43:44 Importance of Live Performance44:38 What Makes a Great Piece of Music?48:48 - What Makes a Great Composer’s Magnum Opus51:51 - Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection”55:22 Most Famous Classical Music Composers and Pieces56:10 Symphonies as the Epitome of Classical Music58:38 Chamber Music1:01:35 Discovering New Composers1:04:16 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:07:46 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Overview1:07 Qualities of a Great Teacher3:27 Schools We Applied to for Undergrad9:24 Danielle Belen10:52 New England Conservatory12:06 Colburn Conservatory of Music15:48 Curtis Institute of Music19:45 Studio Culture30:20 Learning from Other Students in the Studio32:05 Three Qualities of Undergrad Teacher40:26 Choosing Teacher as a Graduate Student47:50 Where We Applied for Masters52:00 Jaime Laredo54:15 Pre-College Teachers1:02:20 Finding Your First Teacher 1:06:00 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:07:52 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Welcome1:23 iPad Pros 5:40 Sheet Music Pros7:58 M4 iPad Pro10:49 Aaron Rosand Memory13:20 iPad Page Turning Woes19:49 Getting Distracted on iPad25:45 Physical vs Digital Media29:45 Markings in the Music36:30 Sight Reading38:42 Playing Piano41:39 Piano Improvisation in Different Styles46:22 Playing Sonatas from Memory47:40 Glenn Gould Story49:13 Writing on iPad52:11 Magic Keyboard for iPad53:53 Sheet Music as a Work of Art57:00 Digital Screen Effect on Eyes58:22 - Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:01:16 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction1:00 Ilkhom Musical Journey13:00 Practicing in America14:50 How We Met27:00 Preparing Rite of Spring as Concertmaster31:30 Practice Tip of the Week - Ilkhom34:10 Life in Pittsburgh Symphony43:00 Beta Blockers48:10 Winning the Pittsburgh Symphony Audition53:55 Manfred Honeck and Shostakovich 557:30 Soloing with Pittsburgh Symphony58:45 Excerpt vs Solo Playing1:05:13 Dreaming Big1:11:32 Embracing Failures as a Part of Success1:19:50 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Ilkhom

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Overview0:52 Current Strings6:25 Evah Pirazzi Green vs Gold8:37 Dynamo Strings10:14 Larsen Il Canone Strings12:50 Rondo Violin Strings14:30 Peter Infeld Violin Strings23:42 Dominant Pro 25:35 Vision Strings26:45 Vision Titanium Solo vs Vision Solo29:58 TI Strings30:58 Dominant Strings35:00 Gut Strings - Pirastro Oliv and Passione46:02 Obligato Strings47:30 Helicore Strings48:27 Alphayue Strings51:15 Lenzner Goldbrakat E String55:36 Pirastro Gold E String59:07 Maintaining Strings1:01:18 When to Change Strings1:03:19 Buying Strings1:05:53 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:08:00 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Overview0:43 What Makes Mozart So Hard2:54 Intonation in Mozart5:18 Articulation in Mozart9:10 Mozart like an Orchestral Excerpt11:05 String Crossings in Fast Passages17:12 D String20:23 Getting Tense in Mozart23:34 Being Specific in Technique33:20 Slow Movements in Mozart40:00 Mozart 4 2nd Mvt Ending42:38 Mozart as a Musical Genius44:36 Leopold Mozart’s Treatise on Violin Playing45:37 Wes Anderson and Mozart50:23 Rules in Mozart51:57 Joseph Haydn and Humour55:25 Bela Bartok58:14 Playing Mozart under Pressure1:02:02 Sincerity in Mozart1:04:10 Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:08:20 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven1:11:27 Surprise Movie Recommendation - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Welcome0:55 Steven’s Bow Journey5:15 Pierre Simon13:00 Zach’s Bow Journey17:00 Sartory and Voirin20:42 Charles Peccatte21:50 Tourte Bow Story24:54 Dominique Peccatte25:47 François Tourte28:40 Persoit and Kittle30:54 Francois Peccatte31:55 Nicolas Maire36:18 Buying a Bow46:40 What Makes a Great Bow48:40 Light vs Heavy Bows55:50 Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:03:43 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Overview5:00 Big Picture vs Small Picture15:00 Music as an Internal Experience18:19 Saint Saens Havanaise26:07 Detailed Work31:00 Dividing Time Equally33:20 Figuring Out Your Own Fingerings and Bowings36:00 Having Different Ideas From Your Teacher43:16 Combining Detailed Work and Big Picture48:20 Performance Anxiety55:20 Manifesting Expression to the Audience1:00:20 Music Like an Actor1:03:15 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:06:29 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction1:00 Steven’s Violin Journey6:20 Steven’s Antoine Nedelec11:28 Johannes Cuypers21:00 Zach’s Violin Journey30:55 Zach’s Antoine Nedelec38:35 Carl Becker45:30 Franz Kinberg46:31 Joseph Curtin49:41 Stradivarius53:19 Guarneri del Gesu57:00 Guadagnini1:01:51 Amati1:04:51 Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:09:42 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven

Timestamps:0:00 Intro and Overview1:00 Stage Fright9:35 Nathan Cole Bow Shake Tip14:00 Nervousness in Performance15:10 Accepting your Worst Performance as your Level19:35 The Confident Mind Book23:35 Steven Posture Journey27:00 Mathis Constantly Reinventing31:31 Augustin Hadelich34:10 Right Arm Position37:57 Michael Cleveland Bluegrass Fiddler 39:29 No Shoulder Rest42:58 Violin as Singing and Breath45:13 Donald Weilerstein46:15 Fear and Anxiety in Performance48:30 Art is Not Life Threatening50:00 How to Embrace the Moment53:13 Jaime Laredo Thunderstorm Story54:34 Reframing Fear as Excitement57:52 David Lynch Movie Recommendation59:36 Mindset Before Going on Stage1:00:29 Pre-Concert Routine1:04:09 Will Stage Fright Go Away?1:08:48 Communicating as Artists1:10:06 Practice Tip of the Week - Steven1:15:29 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Zach

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview1:35 Geneva Competition2:10 Confucius Competition2:50 - Sejong Competition8:38 Carnegie Hall Competition10:44 Society of American Musicians (SAM) Competition14:22 Local Concerto Competitions 17:02 DePaul Concerto Competition Story20:10 Chicago Symphony Concerto Competition22:49 Prokofiev 2 with Orchestra25:40 Walgreens National Competition28:00 Not Doing Well in Competitions31:50 Winning Walgreens Competition33:46 Stulberg Competition37:46 Klein Competition41:35 Fischoff National Chamber Competition45:47 Dealing with Results50:23 Facing Strong Competitors53:35 Judging a Competition58:15 Yes No System vs Point System1:00:55 International Competitions1:08:42 Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:15:53 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven

Hosted by Zachary Brandon and Steven Song :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview1:20 Recording Bach Tips3:20 Competition Prescreenings6:33 Editing in Recordings8:20 Video Quality11:58 Audio Quality13:18 Mic Placement15:54 Playing For the Mic17:50 Microphone Recommendations21:10 Playing Softly in Recording24:20 Arthur Grumiaux25:39 Good Playing Translates to Good Recordings29:25 Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition Recording31:22 Bach Stylistic Choices34:00 Recording Paganini38:40 Recording Mozart43:02 Michelangelo “David”48:32 Fun in Mozart50:08 Concertos and Showpieces53:54 How Many Takes When Recording?1:00:00 Mindset When Recording1:10:20 Fear as the Enemy of Creativity1:15:09 Being Grateful for our Journey1:19:15 Practice Tip of the Week - Zach1:23:30 Recording Recommendation of the Week - Steven

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Introduction and Overview0:50 - Our First Memorable Performances10:40: Zach’s Emotionally Intense Performances13:14 - Being in Performance Mode15:52 - Performing a Concerto with Orchestra21:00 - Memorable Chamber Music Performances24:00 - Clicking with Duo Partner26:33 - How Steven and Zach Met and Playing Together32:00 - Brahms Second Violin Sonata36:54 - Memorable Performance We’ve Heard41:19 - Yefim Bronfman Rachmaninov 3 Cleveland Orchestra45:00 - Daniel Trifonov49:23 - Midori Goto51:15 - Why an Artist Must be True to Oneself1:04:45 - Tai Murray, Mozart Piano Concerto1:08:34 - Practice Tip of the Week1:17:11 Recording Recommendation of the Week

Hosted by Steven Song and Zachary Brandon :)Timestamps:0:00 Welcome + Opening Banter0:50 Why We Love the Violin3:50 Choosing Violin Over Piano11:15 First Encounters With the Instrument15:57 The Violin, the Human Voice, and the Other String Instruments24:00 What Makes the Violin So Special?37:23 Why the Violin Becomes Part of You39:25 Physics of the Violin 50:23 Life Without the Violin1:01:57 Practice Tip of the Week: Never Give Up1:08:30 Recording Recommendation of the Week

Hosted by Zachary Brandon and Steven SongTimestamps:0:00 Overview0:56 - Paganini 1 4:00 - Paganini 24 Overview12:58 - Theme15:34 - Variation 120:14 - Variation 222:55 - Right Arm Position34:09 - Variation 338:25 - No Vibrato42:12 - Variation 342:39 - Variation 447:55 Variation 551:30 - Variation 653:54 - Variation 7 (pizzicato)56:51 - Variation 8 (chords)57:15 - Variation 9 (Slow)57:38 - Finale 58:58 - Practice Tip of the Week1:03:02 - Recording Recommendation of the Week

Hosted by Zachary Brandon and Steven Song :)Timestamps0:00 Welcome and Intro0:25 Aspen Music Festival and School12:20 Cons of Aspen24:12 - Sounding Point Academy28:10 - Brian Lewis Young Artist Program30:57 - Heifetz International Music Institute35:11 - Meadowmount School of Music41:55 - Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival44:42 - Music Academy of the West47:55 - Concertmaster57:27 - Practice Tip of the Week58:51 - Recording Recommendation of the Week:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a84oRQa7oQw&t=310s

Hosted by Zachary Brandon and Steven Song :)0:00 Welcome and Overview1:19 - Debussy Violin Sonata 4:50 - Pablo Picasso La Vie6:20 - Impressionist Movement8:47 - Music as Painting10:25 - Mark Rothko’s Color Fields12:30 - Franck Violin Sonata 19:20 - Jackson Pawlak26:27 - Johann Sebastian Bach31:58 - Bach Fugues39:40 - Bach Partita No. 3 in E Major 43:22 - Bach Sonata No. 2 Andante46:02 - Mahler, Sibelius, and Nature47:37 - Beethoven Sonata No. 4 vs 554:41 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart1:02:18 - Wes Anderson1:07:17 - Béla Bartók1:11:32 - Practice Tip of the Week - Grouping Notes1:13:43 - Recording Recommendation of the Week - Tibor Varga Mozart Rondo in C Major⁠https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ns2-qMmJiQ⁠Recording of Steven and Zach playing Beethoven Spring Sonata: ⁠https://youtu.be/tSwvXFLGt_E?si=xTJorReFBGtHPXj1⁠

Hosted by Zachary Brandon and Steven Song :)Timestamps:0:00 WelcomeMusical Inspirations:0:40 Thomas Zehetmair2:56 Jascha Heifetz4:40 David Oistrakh7:19 Christian Ferras11:14 Robert Schumann13:05 Isaac Stern16:26 Nathan Milstein19:23 Yehudi Menuhin21:45 Eugene Ysaye23:49 Sayaka Shoji25:39 Maxim Vengerov29:27 Itzhak Perlman31:25 Pinchas Zukerman33:46 Fritz Kreisler41:00 Menuhin & YsayeMentors:44:18 - Jin Zhang45:22 - Julia Tsien46:22 - Gerardo Ribeiro48:00 - Tai Murray50:20 - Jim Butler53:28 - Audrey Lipsey, Renata Knific54:56 - Almita Vamos, Hye-Sun Lee1:04:53 - Robert Lipsett, Colburn School1:12:56 - Jaime Laredo, Jan Mark Sloman, CIM (Cleveland Institute of Music)1:16:03 1:19:33 - Stephen Rose1:20:29 - Jessica Lee1:24:31 - Yale, Augustin Hadelich1:27:29 - Steven’s Recording Recommendation of the Week - Thomas Zehetmair Bach Violin Concerto in E Major1:29:13 - Zach’s Recording Recommendation of the Week - Belcea Quartet Janacek String Quartet No. 1&2, Ligeti String Quartet Métamorphoses 

Timestamps:0:00 Welcome1:00 - How to Prepare for an Audition22:10 - Technique and Musicality51:35 - Mindset for an Audition1:07:42 - The Day of the Audition1:16:00 - Practice Tip of the Week