Skip to content
Practice Break podcast artwork

PODCAST · arts

Practice Break

by Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng

Classical music may not be new, but it's certainly never gone out of style. Join college music students and PCM alums Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng as they talk about life as music students, performance anxiety, musical movies and TV shows, and anything to do with— you guessed it— music by tuning into Practice Break on your practice breaks.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Jan 21, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. Erica and Ashley's Classical Picks for Every Situation

    For the season 2 finale of Practice Break, Erica and Ashley share their favorite classical pieces once again, but this time with a twist! Hear excerpts from beautiful classical works as they pair favorite works with an assortment of scenarios. And as a thank you for spending your practice breaks...

  2. TV Show Review: Your Lie in April

    Longing for a new musical watch to take over your life? Fear not— Erica and Ashley are here to the rescue with the second installment of their classical TV show reviews. In this episode, they explore the first ten episodes of the Japanese animated series Your Lie in April, share first…

    more
  3. Virtual Music Making w/ the Student Symphony Orchestra of USC

    Ever wondered how orchestras play together while apart? In this episode, Erica and Ashley are joined by Elaine Huang, Linda Diaz, and Adam Karelin from the Student Symphony Orchestra of USC to share their experiences with virtual music making. Tune in to hear how they navigate running an online...

  4. A Virtual Trip to the Opera

    Ah, opera— the drama queen sister of the classical music family, in the best possible way. This week, Erica and Ashley take you on a virtual trip to the opera house to review its history, discuss exoticism in famous works, and gush over angelic arias and dreamy set design. You won't even have to...

  5. 2020 Wrap-up

    2020 has been... a very long year. To wrap it up, Erica and Ashley review moments from Season 1 and share goals for the new year. The best part: to spread some love for music before the year closes, we asked our friends, family, and the PCM community why they're thankful for music this year. To...

  6. Holiday Special: Deck the Halls with Music from Christmas Past and Present

    What better way to kick off the winter season than by talking about holiday tunes? In this episode, Erica and Ashley recount the history of Christmas music from the pre-1700's to the 21st century, share holiday favorites, and reminisce on the best musical festivities to celebrate the season. (Hot...

  7. Winter Season Trailer

    Winter means hot cocoa, holiday cheer, and a new season of Practice Break with Erica and Ashley! Join us for a sneak peek of what we're cooking up for our winter season and catch us every week on Wednesdays starting on December 23.

  8. A Film Music Finale: Classical vs. Film, Favorite Scores, and Joe Hisaishi

    A season finale deserves an epic topic, so for the last episode of Season 1 of Practice Break, Erica and Ashley are joined by guests Andrew Zhao and Sam Ostroff to talk about the distinctions between film and classical and share all their favorite scores. Check out our film music Spotify playlist...

  9. College App Survival Guide (the music stuff): Tips on prescreening recordings, writing personal statements, and live auditions

    To those considering music school— this episode is for you! This week, Erica and Ashley recount their experiences with the intense college application process for prospective music majors, from prescreening recordings to live auditions. Tune in to hear their audition success (and horror) stories,...

  10. Let's Talk: The Classical Canon vs. New Music

    Although it may evoke associations limited to the likes of Bach and Beethoven, classical music is very much a living, ever-changing thing. So today, Erica and Ashley are joined by guests Sarah Koo and Sam Ostroff to discuss the implications of the classical canon and the importance of new works…

    more
  11. How to Survive Social Distancing: Online Learning, Plant Parenting, and Animal Crossing

    It's time to get real — as schools across America are officially declaring online plans for the fall semester, many performing arts students and faculty will be staying home again and facing new challenges. But fear not! This week, Erica and Ashley are discussing their thoughts on online music...

  12. Erica and Ashley's Top Classical Picks

    What's a classical music podcast without playing actual pieces? In this episode, Erica and Ashley share their current favorite classical works and play a few excerpts. Get to know new gems or revel over old favorites through a truly immersive, euphonious experience. If you enjoy hearing from…

    more
  13. TV Show Review: Nodame Cantabile

    TV binge session, but make it classical. You've heard about what it's like to be a musician in college, but what about watching it? This week, Erica and Ashley will be reviewing the first episode of Nodame Cantabile, a Japanese live-action adaptation of the original animated series. If you enjoy...

  14. Practicing 101: Everything from music learning and practicing strategies to performance anxiety

    Practicing — love it or hate it, every musician's gotta do it. So this week, Erica and Ashley will be discussing the tUmUlTuOuS process of tackling a piece of new repertoire, from cracking the score open for the first time to performing it in a recital hall. Tune in to hear their learning tips,...

  15. Growing up: From kids at a pre-college conservatory to collegiate music students

    Welcome to the first episode of Practice Break! To kick things off, Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng recount their studies at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music starting way back in 2007 and share some of their experiences as musicians in college. If you enjoy hearing from Erica and Ashley, make sure…

    more
  16. Practice Break Trailer

    Join us (Ashley Cheng and Erica Lee) every week starting on July 22 as we dive into our experiences with music study during this time, music performance and practice, classical music in entertainment, and much more with occasional interviews with guests. For the lowdown on life as a music…

    more

Type above to search every episode's transcript for a word or phrase. Matches are scoped to this podcast.

Searching…

We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.

No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.

Showing of matches

No topics indexed yet for this podcast.

Loading reviews...

ABOUT THIS SHOW

Classical music may not be new, but it's certainly never gone out of style. Join college music students and PCM alums Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng as they talk about life as music students, performance anxiety, musical movies and TV shows, and anything to do with— you guessed it— music by tuning into Practice Break on your practice breaks.

HOSTED BY

Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng

Produced by Erica Lee

CATEGORIES

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Practice Break have?

Practice Break currently has 16 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Practice Break about?

Classical music may not be new, but it's certainly never gone out of style. Join college music students and PCM alums Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng as they talk about life as music students, performance anxiety, musical movies and TV shows, and anything to do with— you guessed it— music by tuning into...

How often does Practice Break release new episodes?

Practice Break has 16 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Practice Break?

You can listen to Practice Break 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 Practice Break?

Practice Break is created and hosted by Erica Lee and Ashley Cheng.
URL copied to clipboard!