PODCAST · music
The Lonely Cello Podcast
by Emily Wright
Conversations about music, life, and learning with cellist Emily Wright and basically anyone she can rope into coming on.
Episodes
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Episode 34: Thoughts on holding the bow & going pro
Today, I'm answering two questions I saw sparking discussion on another forum. The first one deals with the prospects a serious adult learner realistically has when they want to become a professional musician. Second, I talk about bow hold devices. While I think they have some limited utility…
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Episode 33: Why is the cello SO HARD???
A listener sent me a simple question. Because it's the cello, there is a simple response...that still took about 20 minutes to answer! Thank you to Aran in Dublin, Ireland for sending this in. You can ask questions for next time in the comments or by sending an email to contact at emily wright…
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Episode 32: The Incredible Katie Berglof
Join me for a conversation with the multi-talented Katie Berglof. Katie is a French horn player, educator, arts administrator, HR professional, and an activist/advocate—and she's just getting started. In today's episode, we talk about musical origin stories, how much a support system matters,...
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Episode 31: minisode! 10 minutes, 3 Lesson Habits to install
It's not uncommon to feel like you're drinking from a firehose during lessons: so much information is on offer and it's overwhelming. No instructor expects you to return each week with 100% of the concepts mastered. One of my formative teachers said the number is about 15% for solid growth, and I...
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Episode 30: Dear Lara
Today, I'll be talking about Lara St. John's new documentary, Dear Lara. Content warning: non-graphic discussion of sexual assault. Would you rather read this? Go here: https://emilywright.net/teaching-and-learning/dear-lara/ Rather watch it on YouTube? Enable captions! Here you go:...
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Episode 29: Blog 29 Jan 2026: Range, Part 2
Chapter 2 of David Epstein's Range has A LOT going on. This episode talks about the ways we try to understand intelligence, in particular how we test for it. This one goes a little off the rails in a predictable way, so stay tuned if you want to hear about Kyrgyz wool sorting, panic attacks at...
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Episode 28: Blog 7 May 2025: Range
This is a readout and tiny discussion of the post from 7 May 2025. These episodes are meant to be put out quickly, and as such, are not edited. Pauses and "ummms" are left in. If you would prefer to watch this content, head over to my YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/@EmilyWrightCello. And of...
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Episode 27: Blog 1 Jan 2026: TV practice
This is a readout and discussion of the post from 1 January 2026. These episodes are meant to be put out quickly, and as such, are not edited. As such, pauses and "ummm"s are left in. If you would prefer to watch this content, head over to my YouTube page…
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Episode 26: Rachel Gawell Burns on the importance of being LOUD and WRONG
Rachel Gawell Burns dropped by to chat about her extraordinary life in music. She is a working musician based in New York City, doubling on cello and guitar on the Broadway circuit and beyond. She also happens to be a phenomenal teacher, and I could listen to her play (and talk about playing) all...
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Episode 25: Ben, Sam, and Miranda on the making of music
The first ever panel discussion on Lonely Cello! Miranda Wilson, Benjamin Whitcomb, and Sam Bergman join me to talk about the way time and texture come together to create musical impact. Rachel Gawell Burns was going to come on, but the brief for this episode was too unhinged. But, as promised…
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Episode 24: Miranda Wilson on repertoire, performance anxiety, and AI
New Zealand American cellist and professor of cello at the University of Idaho (making her my favorite Vandal) chats with Emily about, well, lots of stuff. This is a pretty special episode, as I've been a fan of Miranda's work forever, and we have both written for Strings for a long time. I had…
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Episode 23: Erica Sipes on Practicing in the Face of Perfectionism and Other Symptoms of Being Human
Music maven, practice scholar, and generally excellent person Erica Sipes joins me to continue chipping away at the edifice of performance anxiety. How can we have high standards and still be at peace with imperfections? Have a listen! Erica's website: https://www.ericaannsipes.com/ Her wonderful...
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Episode 22: Carly Jacques on Performance Anxiety, the Window of Tolerance, and EMDR
We are BACK! This is Episode 1 of a new series talking about performance psychology, where it comes from, and new approaches to mitigate it. In this episode, I speak with Carly Jacques, LCSW about how clinicians see performance anxiety and how it relates to perfectionism. We also talk about EMDR...
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Episode 21: Nick Revel
NYC based violist Nick Revel joins me to chat about structuring practice, new thinking in scale study, and all kinds of other nerdy shit. Some links: Nick's website: https://www.nickrevel.com/ Grammy-nominated PubliQuartet: https://www.publiquartet.com/ Quick link to Dragon Scales:...
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Episode 20: Cello Sherpa Joel Dallow!
Many of you will recognize the name of this installment's guest: Joel Dallow; cellist in the Atlanta Symphony and founder of the Cello Sherpa podcast. Here's his website! https://www.thecellosherpa.com/#/ Here's an example of the BEMER device he mentioned (not a promotion)....
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Episode 19: Women Composers with Wendy Velasco
Join Wendy and me for a chat about women composers. Wendy Velasco is an absolute BOSS in the Los Angeles string scene, and gave me real encouragement early on in my career. She is a treasure, and I have so much respect for everything she does in service of the music community. Wendy's database:...
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LC Mini Episode: Before Your Lesson
This is a short track designed to be listened to just before you attend your lesson. Over a background of muted ambient music, I offer a few mind decluttering statements to give you the space to learn openly, without anxiety or judgement. I hope you have a wonderful lesson. ❤️
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Episode 18: Performance Psychology with Noa Kageyama
Noa Kageyama's (MM, PhD) blog Bulletproof Musician has been essential reading for a lot of us since it began. It was such a treat to sit down and chat with Noa about how he got started, studying with Shinichi Suzuki, challenging the Gladwellification of performance psychology data, and so much...
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Episode 17: Ailbhe McDonagh and Katie Tertell
Listen to this episode to hear Emily become an immediate and fervent fangirl of the two women behind PopperEtudes.com. Katie Tertell and Ailbhe McDonagh's insightful, fun, and helpful video tutorials for each of the 40 studies comprising Popper's High School are available now! Highly, highly...
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Episode 16: John Hanifin
John Hanifin is an old soul with a new album, called Clean House. Come eavesdrop on our conversation about formative experiences, cello philosophy, and general music nerdery. John's Website: http://johnhanifin.com Clean House on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/20hbg4XG3zdWlEf8Xx75vl…
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Episode 15: More Chats with Adult Learners: Karen Brasch
This episode, I chat with pioneering Navy pilot and aspiring cellist Karen Brasch. Audio note: I am working on sound dampening in the new house! I understand that it sounds like a cave- thank you for your patience!
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Episode 14: Chatting with Adult Learners, part 1
I'm joined by two wonderful adult learners today to talk about life, learning, and their journeys with the cello. Today's episode is sponsored by Benjamin Whitcomb's new series of books exploring chords and their function for violin and cello. Check them out here!...
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Episode 13: Meet Lovely Cellist Ragnhild Eskeland Wesenberg
Last week, I had the chance to talk to a wonderful emerging cellist in Sweden, Ragnhild Wesenberg. I feel like she’s a bit of a hidden treasure: certainly not the most famous cellist on the internet, but one of the most thoughtful, original, and interesting. Listen to our conversation and when...
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Episode 12: Shop talk with Eric Sheaffer
My friend and colleague Eric Sheaffer comes on to chat about his journey on the instrument and all things teaching, learning, and playing. Eric had an early start at music but got serious about the cello at what some would consider to be a "late" age. Now a thriving performer, he is proof yet…
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Episode 11: Composing Curious with Thom Limbert
Thom Limbert is a composer and professor at Sonoma State University in California, and today we're talking all about entry points to writing music. It's never too late or early in your musical journey to start gathering the tools you need to progress. Links: Anna Meredith on Ableton Live:...
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Episode 10: DAS UBER episode with Denis Jiron
My old friend and CSUN compatriot Denis Jiron talks candidly about the ups and downs of being a professional musician. With humility, soul, and humor, he shares his story, from the highest highs (this man played regularly with the LA Phil) to some difficult lows (Bells palsy and unsupportive...
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Episode 9: Trauma Informed Teaching with Emily Ann Peterson
A conversation between two trauma survivors who decided to learn as much as possible about the way it changes us and the way we see the world. Best selling author Emily Ann Peterson's School of Bravery consultancy is devoted to freeing tender folks from the traps trauma sets and empowers them to...
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Episode 8: Shop Talk with Sandra Halleran
Rochester, NY based cellist Sandra Halleran joins me to get into the weeds about teaching, learning, the music industry, and the books and podcasts she find interesting and helpful. She's also new faculty at Tamarack Arts! At the end, Benjamin Whitcomb plays a movement of Britten Suite for Cello...
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Episode 6: David Aks and entry points to improvisation
A delightful romp down memory lane and extensive conversation about the nuts and bolts of learning to improvise on a stringed instrument. Joyce Pan and David Aks' new album: https://joyceanddavid.bandcamp.com/releases Joyce and David's FB page: https://m.facebook.com/JoyceAndDavidMusic/ Valley of...
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Episode 5: A conversation with Cari Ann Souter
What did we learn in music school? This episode is all about the stuff learned at music school that we use every time we sit down to play or teach. Includes: encouragement, advice, weirdness/silliness, and Cari doing magic tricks with her voice!
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Episode 4: The Inner Game of Tennis
A quick peek into the legendary self-help text that spawned dozens of (lesser, in my opinion) alternative titles. I promise I will use a pop screen next time, apologies to anyone's eardrums that succumb to the repeated assault when I say the letter "p" in the first few minutes!
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Episode 3: What's a professional musician, anyway? With Jeremy Boersma
A casual conversation between colleagues about the label "professional musician" and whether it's important, and to whom. Part of an ongoing series, not at all definitive.
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Episode 2: Q & A
Today's episode is a quick Q & A. Among questions: how do you teach emoting and musicality? Are Starker trills worth it? What would you do over if you could?
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Episode 1: Effortless Mastery with Benjamin Whitcomb
In this episode, we talk all about how Kenny Werner's landmark text has applications for the practical musician. My guest is Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb. For more info about him, go to http://www.benjaminwhitcomb.com.
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Episode 0: Hello!
Just a quick hello.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Conversations about music, life, and learning with cellist Emily Wright and basically anyone she can rope into coming on.
HOSTED BY
Emily Wright
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Lonely Cello Podcast have?
The Lonely Cello Podcast currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Lonely Cello Podcast about?
Conversations about music, life, and learning with cellist Emily Wright and basically anyone she can rope into coming on.
How often does The Lonely Cello Podcast release new episodes?
The Lonely Cello Podcast has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Lonely Cello Podcast?
You can listen to The Lonely Cello Podcast 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 The Lonely Cello Podcast?
The Lonely Cello Podcast is created and hosted by Emily Wright.
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