PODCAST · arts
Agile Vocalist
by Rachel Medanic
Agile Vocalist is a podcast about sound and the performing arts with a California connection. Explore artist stories and learn music history, get inspired, and learn about how sound and the arts impact our lives. Created and hosted by Rachel Medanic, Agile Vocalist is for the curious, the creative, and for anyone willing to explore the connection between sound and our shared humanity. Agile Vocalist episodes, liner notes, and additional visual materials also available at: https://www.agilevocalist.com
Episodes
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From Opera to Negro Spirituals and Beyond with Alexander Taite
Send us Fan Mail Oakland born Alexander Taite has had the passion and talent for music all his life. He started on piano at age 8 and by age 16 had completed high school studies and went on to teaching at Oakland School for the Arts right after college. He's known as an opera and choral singer...
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Folk and the Appalachian Sound with Evie Ladin
Send us Fan Mail Evie Ladin, is a dancer, banjo player, singer/songwriter, square dance caller and so much more. Her childhood was rooted in the then emergent world of folk music and dance, and the sounds of Appalachian traditions. Her art brings the light of these many talents together as a...
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Banjo, Bass, Body and Band with Evie Ladin and Keith Terry
Send us Fan Mail It's often said of living in the city (any city really!) that we can't have nice things. Well, for Oakland, California that's not the case when it comes to Evie Ladin Band. Evie and Keith are 2/3 of the act that explores the depths of banjo, vocals, bass and strings with songs…
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A World of Percussion with Keith Terry
Send us Fan Mail A performance art of rhythm, claps, slaps, stomps and sounds that is a feast for the senses--especially if you're actually doing it--is something Keith Terry calls body music. He describes it as music that can be seen and dance that can be heard and in this conversation he shares...
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What's Your Frequency? Dive in with Vocalist, Destani Wolf
Send us Fan Mail From her current role as a MOTION vocalist and improviser sharing the stage every Monday with Bobby McFerrin in Berkeley to her 3 Grammy nominations Destani Wolf's sound has been on over 40 albums. During the pandemic, this original Cirque du Soleil vocalist delved into sound...
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Combining the Performing Arts with Tachíria Flamenco
Send us Fan Mail Mx. Flamenco is a dancer, actor, singer and comedienne who shares her unique blend of performance with the San Francisco Bay and beyond. In this conversation we explore the sounds of flamenco as a dance form and how she brings it together in her ongoing series of world premiere...
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Part 2 with San Francisco Bay Area Salsa & Latin Musician, Edgardo Cambón
Send us Fan Mail Part two with Edgardo covers the power of music that's connected to dance forms, origins of Edgardo's band, Candela, and his eye-opening process of how he used to create original music as he was waiting tables in a restaurant. If you find yourself in the San Francisco Bay Area in...
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Salsa and Latin Music Powerhouse, a Conversation with Edgardo Cambón
Send us Fan Mail Edgardo Cambón is a Uruguayan-born singer who fell in love with percussion after setting aside guitar and getting early exposure singing as a young boy. As a teacher band leader and Latin music business man now, Edgardo continues to perform. His musical career has taken him...
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The Language that Connects Us With Poet Ali
Send us Fan Mail Poet Ali is a poet, compelling performer, lyricist, performance artist and inspirational speaker whose performances and presentations focus on connection with ourselves and our environments. As a soulosopher and entertainer, he is a inspires us to use our gifts to catalyze...
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Learn How to Unleash Your Agile Vocalist, The Podcast Turns Three!
Send us Fan Mail 21 Guests and 27 episodes later, Agile Vocalist has hit its three year mark (which is kind of amazing for a podcast). Thank you to my season 3 guests: Cellista, Alphabet Rockers, Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, Sonic Runway creators, sound healer & instructor, Melissa…
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The Mysterious Carillon with Simone Browne
Send us Fan Mail The sound of bells in towers is a common experience to many around the world. But the reality is there is an entire profession devoted to carillons-- actual lever and pedal instruments that make the sounds you hear. Carillons exist all over the U.S., Europe and the world and are...
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Taiko Beat of Collaboration with Janet Koike
Send us Fan Mail Janet Koike is the Founder of Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda, California. She is also the Artistic Director of Maze Daiko ensemble. In this episode she shares her journey from textile fashion design to tap dance to playing taiko, the Japanese drum. Janet's experiences…
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Sound Healing with Melissa Felsenstein
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever pondered what it might be like to experience a moment of tranquility amidst the chaos of daily life? Melissa Felsenstein, the founder of Innersounds Meditation, reveals how sound healing can be your haven. Melissa used this therapeutic technique to conquer her...
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Visualizing Sound with Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, Creators of Sonic Runway
Send us Fan Mail What does it take to synchronize light and sound? Co-creators Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, talk about their work creating Sonic Runway, an art installation conceived at Burning Man. Sonic Runway immerses the spectator in colorful synchronized visuals that animate the speed of...
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Liminal Space: Summer Frequencies
Send us Fan Mail What did you do this summer? What's left still to experience? Better yet, what did you hear? July is a liminal space and time to dive into the creative. This summer soundscape is an annual season pause so you can listen to July. Traveling through California, Oregon, and landing…
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Hip Hop for Change with Grammy-Winning Alphabet Rockers
Send us Fan Mail In 2007, Tommy Soulati Shepard and Kaitlin McGaw formed Alphabet Rockers to make music that makes change. This episode discusses how they met, the wide variety of their performing backgrounds and how they, 3 professional children artists and a host of other artist collaborators…
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Taking Cello to New Vibrations with Cellista
Send us Fan Mail Exposed to cello at an early age, Cellista broke away from her classical cellist training to follow her calling to create and collaborate with other art forms including beatboxers, spoken word artists, dancers, and musicians. Her work continues to reflect on and engage the…
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Grace Note: Season 2 Wrapped and You!
Send us Fan Mail Season 2 has concluded. This episode is how you can (wherever you are!) share in the podcast festivities (listening, sending me an email). Listen as I review the guests we had over the past year, sing you a little song, and recognize some of the amazing people who've supported me...
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From the Mississippi Delta to the Board of the Grammys with Chelle Jacques
Send us Fan Mail Chelle Jacques is a career musician, bandleader, educator and more. In this episode she shares the story of her recently launched Daughters of the Delta Project featuring the musical contributions from the women artists of Louisiana we so rarely hear about. She also shares how…
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Animal Sounds: Metamorphosis and Frida
Send us Fan Mail I talked to Frida the parrot as she was on exhibit as part of a larger an immersive art experience. This Agile Vocalist episode dives into animal sounds and share a one-of-a-kind recording of my interactions with a parrot I went to “interview.” Our interactions proved some of the...
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From California to Tiny Desk Entry with Folk Musician, Moira Smiley
Send us Fan Mail Folk and classical musician, composer, arranger, instrumentalist, and vocalist Moira Smiley has a broad repertoire of mystical and passionate music that pulls your heart strings. And if you sing, you may find yourself learning something she's written. Her songs, arrangements,...
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Reimaging Opera at Burning Man with Marisa Winter
Send us Fan Mail What’s it like to lead the edge of change in the arts? Vocalist, Marisa Winter (Diva Marisa) has done that with her career and she remains driven to offer new audiences music in context. As a classically trained opera singer and Burning Man performer, she shares the impact…
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The Touch of Music with Dr. Pianist, Makiko Hirata
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Makiko Hirata (“Dr. Pianist") is on a mission to promote the power of music to heal and unite. In this episode, she talks about reconciling her training in classical piano with being a woman in music as well as how musicians have a role to play as first responders in times of...
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Music for Refugees with Betsy Blakeslee
Send us Fan Mail Betsy Blakeslee’s work has connected refugees with the healing power of music for two decades. She directed expressive arts programs for refugee youth in Bosnia and Croatia during the wars of the 1990s. Since 2016, her Expressive Arts Refuge team and Moira Smiley have been…
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Agile Vocalist Epilogue, Season 1: Bathrooms, Cars & the Future
Send us Fan Mail In celebration of Agile Vocalist's 1-year anniversary, this epilogue takes you back through an unexpected trend that emerged with many of my guests about creativity. The theme was this: people are often most creative and get their sound practice and ideas... in the bathroom,...
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Disc Jockeying to Engage with Justin James
Send us Fan Mail What is it like to be a modern-day disc jockey(DJ) artist? How, with sound alone, does a DJ engage people they’ve never met to celebrate, raise the energy, hop onto a dance floor, and come together for a shared experience? I talk engagement and the craft of DJing, including the...
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British Angel for Gospel Music with Opal Louis Nations
Send us Fan Mail Growing up in England, Opal Louis Nations was passionate about soul music and followed his calling to perform it amid England’s soul and blues scene. In this interview Opal shares the roots of the painful history of gospel music and its evolution through decades of the 20th…
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Music as Accompaniment to Life, Work & Feelings with Vidya Srinivasan (Part 2 of a 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail This continuing conversation with Indian classical music vocalist, Vidya Srinivasan gives us insights into how she balances a multi-dimensional life with music and how music is a tool as frequently used in her work life as it is in her personal life as a creator and performer....
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An Indian Classical Voice for Modern Times with Vidya Srinivasan (part 1 of a 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail Working in technology, it’s rare to find someone whose passion is as deeply embedded in the arts as it is in the sciences. With very early life training in Carnatic music, Vidya Srinivasan’s career journey is filled with insights about how she uses a music as a tool for…
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Interfaith Gospel for Life and Health with Mary Ford
Send us Fan Mail Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir singer Mary Ford talks about her career with the group and her life roots with the art form. Mary chose the gospel at a crossroads after nearly losing her life on her honeymoon. The power of music on and inside the body as well as the unifying…
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Making Music Synchronously via the Internet with Brian Walker
Send us Fan Mail In this conversation with audio engineer, Brian Walker, we talk through Brian's work learning the JackTrip technology. Use of JackTrip dramatically reduces audio latency while preserving original audio quality. The technology allows musicians to make music together synchronously...
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Virtual Music for People Who Are Dying with Jennifer Hollis (part 2 of a 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail In this continuing conversation about Jennifer Hollis's music-thanatology work (part 2 of a 2-part episode), she shares her perspective on the future of music-thanatology and Harps of Comfort, an organization she formed that has adapted with virtual music to the circumstances of...
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An Art to Comfort the Dying with Jennifer Hollis (part 1 of 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail There is a little-known branch of the performing arts that brings harp and vocal music to the bed side of the dying. It’s called music-thanatology. In this part 1 episode with music-thanatologist Jennifer Hollis, she shares what music-thanatology is and the amazing discoveries…
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How the Blues Liberated Women with Pamela Rose (Part 2 of a 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail Part 2 of my 2-part conversation with San Francisco Bay Area vocalist, Pamela Rose. Originally published: March 2021 as a celebration of International Women's Day. Pamela Rose is a jazz and blues vocalist who has thrilled local and international audiences for decades with her...
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The Screaming Fields, Re-examining the Function of Screaming as an Emotional Sound
Send us Fan Mail Agile Vocalist's inaugural compact audio memoir episode. This episode is a personal reflection on and for our world navigating Covid-19 and the treacherous realities of 2020. This compact audio memoir was created as an expression of gratitude for all the people who powered us...
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Women Who Created the Blues with Pamela Rose (part 1 of a 2-part episode)
Send us Fan Mail San Francisco jazz and blues vocalist, Pamela Rose has thrilled local and international audiences for decades with her swinging, soulful style. Rose has performed at clubs and jazz and blues festivals throughout the United States, Germany, and Denmark. She has six recordings to…
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Beatboxing a Path to the Sound Arts with Joshua Silverstein
Send us Fan Mail Joshua is an award-winning actor, comic, writer, beatboxer, and educator whose path into the arts was punctuated by overcoming a speech impediment. The episode also includes his live improv soundscape performance as a meditation for 2021. Joshua’s various performances have…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Agile Vocalist is a podcast about sound and the performing arts with a California connection. Explore artist stories and learn music history, get inspired, and learn about how sound and the arts impact our lives. Created and hosted by Rachel Medanic, Agile Vocalist is for the curious, the creative, and for anyone willing to explore the connection between sound and our shared humanity.
Agile Vocalist episodes, liner notes, and additional visual materials also available at: https://www.agilevocalist.com
HOSTED BY
Rachel Medanic
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Agile Vocalist have?
Agile Vocalist currently has 37 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Agile Vocalist about?
Agile Vocalist is a podcast about sound and the performing arts with a California connection. Explore artist stories and learn music history, get inspired, and learn about how sound and the arts impact our lives. Created and hosted by Rachel Medanic, Agile Vocalist is for the curious, the creative,...
How often does Agile Vocalist release new episodes?
Agile Vocalist has 37 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Agile Vocalist?
You can listen to Agile Vocalist on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Agile Vocalist?
Agile Vocalist is created and hosted by Rachel Medanic.
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