One of the wisest pieces of advice I’ve gotten is that success is about knocking on as many doors as possible. As in: If you aren’t wanted in one place, try another. And while a place might be a particular company or theatre or agency - it can also be a city or even a country. But how do you know it’s time to seek greener pastures? And how should you prepare for the journey?
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript and sources for this episode: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2025/03/03/episode9/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
Ah, networking…not to be confused with the network effect, though perhaps there are some similarities. Let’s examine the ever-befuddling Human Element of the arts, and how to keep your soul intact while navigating it.
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript and sources for this episode:
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2025/02/24/episode8/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
Writers throw away drafts, painters paint over botched canvases. But where can classically-trained performers try and fail and try again?
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript and sources for this episode:
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2025/02/17/episode7/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
I got some feedback on Classically (Un)Trained over the time I was on break and I need to address it. The issue: This podcast is too pessimistic! Before proceeding with the rest of the season, I’d like to make the case for why I'm actually wildly optimistic.
I'm also going to talk about how Classically (Un)Trained is the right THING but might be in the wrong MEDIUM.
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript for this episode:https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2025/02/10/intermezzo/
Newsletter:https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous):https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community:https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist:https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website:https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ema_katrovas_podcast/
The first thing I learned about marketing for performers is: “You are a product.” But is that really the right message for young performers? And might there be a better alternative?
The season will resume on February 3rd. You can find the full schedule here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/episode-schedule/
Transcript and sources for this episode: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/12/09/episode6/
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
If you’ve never heard of the network effect, prepare to get disillusioned. But don’t despair – knowing how the internet works can help you put focus in the right place as an artist. And there are also aspects of this new world we live in that are full of possibility.
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript and sources for this episode: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/12/02/episode5/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
Let’s get a basic understanding of the five basic ways the arts get funded, how funding influences the nature of the art being made, and what that means for you as a performer.
This episode became rather long - here are some timestamps in case you want to listen to just parts:
00:17:06 - what I think I did wrong in my funding attempts
00: 28:54 - The 5 Types of Arts Funding
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Transcript and sources: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/25/episode4/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave response (can be anonymous): https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/message-box/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: @ema_katrovas_podcast
What can you do with a performing arts degree, you ask? Well, according to some educators within the performing arts, you can be a great realtor if your performing career doesn’t pan out. Let’s articulate why that sort of thinking is counterproductive but also how exactly academic training DOESN’T prepare us for the real world and which skills to focus on to fill in what academic training leaves out.
Transcript and sources: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/18/episode3/
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
To leave a rating for this podcast, follow the instructions for whichever podcast app you are using.
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave an anonymous answer: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/anonymous-answers/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
What can you do with a performing arts degree, you ask? Well, according to some educators within the performing arts, you can be a great realtor if your performing career doesn’t pan out. Let’s articulate why that sort of thinking is counterproductive but also how exactly academic training DOESN’T prepare us for the real world and which skills to focus on to fill in what academic training leaves out.
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
Transcript of episode:
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/11/episode2/
Footnotes & sources for this episode:
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/11/episode2/#footnotes&sources
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave an anonymous response: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/anonymous-answers/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ema_katrovas_podcast/
Let’s start this first season with the assumption that what you do as a performer is valuable beyond bringing you joy or status or distraction. It’s a radical thought, I know. But without it, there’s no point in your listening to this podcast. So let me make a case for why you matter as a performing artist and how what I want to share on this podcast can help you make the best use of it.
Music composed, recorded and produced by Silvia Berrone
Cover art by Kateřina Krejcarová
Transcript of episode:
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/04/episode1/
Footnotes & sources for this episode (including some pretty extensive arts employment data for the EU):
https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/11/04/episode1/#footnotes&sources
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Leave an anonymous response: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/anonymous-answers/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ema_katrovas_podcast/
The first episode will launch a week from now, Monday, November 4th!
In this pre-season episode I want to tell you a little about how to listen to the podcast and how I envision it to be useful. I’ll also talk about who I imagine my audience to be, how I’m using the term “classical,” and why I decided to create the show in the first place.
Links:
Episode transcript: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/2024/10/28/pilot/
Season schedule: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/episode-schedule/
Newsletter: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/newsletter/
Anonymous answers: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/anonymous-answers/
Community: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/community/
Sponsor an artist: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/sponsor-an-artist/
The first season of Classically (Un) Trained will run from October to December 2024.
Music: Silvia Berrone
Cover art: Kateřina Krejcarová
For more information visit: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Video version here: https://youtu.be/v1pvdmWkQ90
A spirited chat with William Deresiewicz, author of /Death of the Artist: How Creatives Struggle to Survive In the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech/. This book argues that artists have a harder time making a middle class living today than in previous generations - but is this true? And how does it effect the art and entertainment made today? 00:00:00 Intro: The two stories told about being an artist 00:01:05 Why did /Death of the Artist/ need to be written now? 00:02:31 But hasn’t it ALWAYS been hard to be an artist? 00:05:03 How is all this unique to artists? Aren’t a lot of middle-class professions in danger? 00:06:08 What is Art with a capital “A” and why is it under threat? 00:09:06 The TV Renaissance is Over (Amending the section on TV in /Death of the Artist/) 00:11:06 Is it helpful for individual artists to look at the bigger picture of the arts industry ? 00:13:21 Is the sample of 140 artists used to write Death of the Artist really representative? How were they selected? What about other research? 00:15:37 What are the goals of the book? What does William Deresiewicz want artists to know? 00:17:49 Is art really “boring” now? And why does William Deresiewicz not watch movies in movie theatres? 00:22:49 The chilling effect in the arts - is THAT why everything is boring? 00:27:24 What if you’re depressed after reading /Death of the Artist/? Is there an actionable takeaway? 00:30:59 How do you value an arts education? How do you repurpose creative skills? And why William Deresiewicz would encourage you to go for the artists life despite everything! 00:38:09 Accepting that some art just doesn't have much market value. 00:40:16 The 1000 true fans model - does it work? 00:41:45 “Everyone is an artist”: The Romantic myth that led to the Silicon Valley myth (ft. David Graeber and Nicka Dubrovsky’s essay “Another Art World”) 00:46:41 The lifecycle of an artist and how artists are discouraged as children Links to stuff we talk about: The Death of the Artist by William Deresiewicz: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250125514/thedeathoftheartist “We’re all Bored of Culture” by William Deresiewicz: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/bored-of-culture-william-deresiewicz “On Not Drinking the Kool Aid” by William Deresiewicz: https://salmagundi.skidmore.edu/articles/434-on-not-drinking-the-kool-aid 💋👁👂🏼 Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/ 👀 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ema_katrovas_podcast/
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Melissa Watkins is a writer, mostly of non fiction and science fiction. She’s also one of the most truly cosmopolitan people you'll ever meet. Originally from the US, she spent a substantial portion of her life first in the UK then in South Korea, putting into practice her specialisation in multiculturalism through non-colonial lenses in a multitude of ways in both corporate and academic spaces. She decided to return to the US after the pandemic which ended up being an eye-opening experience, one which becomes a major theme of the interview. The other major themes of the interview emerge from the host's first conversation with Melissa, about the internet and AI as it pertains to artists. Some links:
Melissa's blog Equal Opportunity Reader: https://equalopportunityreader.com/ Melissa's article "A Repat's Guide to Boston": https://statesider.us/repats-guide-to-boston/ For other publications by Melissa a good place to go is the "about" section of her blog: https://equalopportunityreader.com/about/
The music track for this episode is Alsad suugaa eej by the Earthling vocal troupe (which Melissa sings in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lTqLrthvKQ
*(Apologies for background noise due to the host being post-illness and having to suck on a lozenge to keep from having coughing fits.)*
💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: https://artists-on-the-verge.com/ 👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
This episode is a conversation with composer and Web III researcher Reilly Smethurst - who thinks the internet is just about the worst thing that happened to artists. Is it a pessimistic episode? I actually don't think so.
My take: The fact that the internet does not replace real-life communities and live gatherings around art, and hurts artists by creating global, algorithmically-moderated competition, is an empowering bit of knowledge which I hope inspires listeners to find ways to make art outside the internet and use the internet in smart ways to their advantage.
Reilly and I talk about the strange disbalance between the number of viable career paths for artists and the number of people studying creative disciplines, the absurdities of arts funding, the difference between the Dionysian and Apollonian approach to creating, artificial scarcity, how regulation may be the only answer to the excesses of the online arts market, and Reilly’s one actionable solution to the predicament posed by the internet, among other things.
All music in this episode by Reilly Smethurst:
Inheritance (2019)
Uterus (2016)
Organised (2019) Angel (2018)
During the interview, we mention the essay “Another Artworld” by Nika Dubrovsky and David Graeber. Here are some links:
My interview with Nika Dubrovsky: https://youtu.be/j9TyYRo0OQQ
Reacting to “Another Art World” Pt. 1: https://youtu.be/ufgK9PJszYY
Reacting to “Another Art World” Pt. 2: https://youtu.be/9QnxN425yyw
Timestamps (add 30 seconds to account for intro):
00:00 Intro
02:28 Arts careers on the decline but more people studying arts
08:32 The problem with electronic music and Reilly's "Apollonian reactionary phase"
20:00 Mocking the arts funding bodies
23:37 Web II and Web III - almost the same and both bad for artists + failures of Audius and OpenSea and the difference between music industry and art industry
40:57 Reilly's advice about how to face a world impacted by the internet
💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: www.artists-on-the-verge.com
👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge
About the host ✌🏼: www.emakatrovas.com
💌Newsletter (best way to stay in touch): https://mailchi.mp/45b402876641/artistsontheverge
😇 Become a patron and gain access to "backstage" videos: https://steadyhq.com/en/opera-on-the-verge
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
David (aka Dev) Devereux's story is one of carving out a space of freedom online. A full-time sound engineer by profession, Dev is the founder of Tin Can Audio, a Glasgow-based audio fiction company which has become home to all the strange sounds and stories Dev wants to make.
Community is important to Dev’s story – from the community of wonderful voice actors and creators around Tin Can Audio to the online community, which Dev has engaged in interesting ways by opening up the creative process to the public (for example by making an entire audio fiction drama, from script writing to sound editing, live on Twitch.)
Dev and I talk about the origins of and funny stories from the series made under Tin Can Audio, about the more unexpected inspirations for stories from video games to music to popular TV shows, the idea of demystifying the creative process and showing audiences how things are made, and about how much time goes into making something that’s actually good, among other things.
This episode features music from Dev’s audio fiction (The Tower and Middle:Bellow, respectively) as well as excerpts from the audio fictions Tin Can, Middle:Bellow, The Tower, The Dungeons Economic Model, and Anamnesis featuring the voices of (in order of appearance):
David Devereux
Charlotte Ryder
David Pellow
Katrina Allen
Mark Gallie
Roger Best
Links :
https://daviddevereux.carrd.co/
https://www.tincanaudio.co.uk/
💋👁👂🏼 Artists on the Verge website: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/ 👀 Instagram: @artists_on_the_verge About the host ✌🏼: www.emakatrovas.com 💌Newsletter (best way to stay in touch): https://mailchi.mp/45b402876641/artistsontheverge 😇 Become a patron and gain access to "backstage" videos: https://steadyhq.com/en/opera-on-the-verge
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
In this conversation with director Vivian Säde and producer Eve Tisler we talk about a short film we’ve been working on (named Echo and created around the monodrama Sentiment by Juliana Hall and Caitlin Vincent) in order to talk openly about all the work that goes into any creative project, even when things never actually "click" to make the project to happen. We also talk about "women filmmakers," budgets, artists and mental health and how opera on film is gatekept, among other things.
YouTube version (with supplementary images): https://youtu.be/7nKWWPi-pWg A blog post talking more deeply about the EU grant escapade: https://soprano-on-the-verge.blogspot.com/2021/11/was-ist-kunst-on-bureaucracy-and-work.html
Contents (add 30 seconds to accommodate intro):
00:00:00 Intro 00:00:18 The Logline 00:01:29 The First Two Years: From Test Shoot to EU Grant Escapade 00:09:28 New Beginnings: Teaming Up with Vivian 00:13:15 Eve Comes on as Producer 00:13:59 Choosing the Right Collaborators
00:16:27 A Detour with a Czech Producer
00:18:48 Women in the Film Industry 00:24:45 Echo: The Producer's Point of View
00:27:11 What IS a producer, anyway?
00:34:53 Our Estonian Experimental Film Fund Application
00:36:15 The Realities of Short Film Budgets and Paying Your Crew
00:41:21 Women Aging IN to the Film Industry
00:45:48 Artists and Mental Health 00:52:32 The Committee Evaluation of the Estonian Experimental Film Fund 00:58:36 The Particular Difficulty of Funding an Opera Film
01:02:52 Reinventing Opera, the Voice, and the point of making Echo 01:08:23 Final Thoughts (and a Final Plaint About the American Funding System) 💋👁👂🏼 Website: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Nika Dubrovsky is an artist who believes everyone is an artist.
Originally from Russia, where, after an education in visual arts, she was involved with the cultural underground of the 80s, she immigrated to the United States in 1989, right after the communist regime fell. Interestingly, once in the US, Nika seemed to take up the same position she had under totalitarianism, in circles of cultural critics and activist.
One of Nika’s recent projects is the Museum of Care, the concept of which comes from an essay of the same name which she wrote with her late husband, David Graeber, during the pandemic of 2020. The essay imagines a world in which the office buildings left empty by lockdowns are turned into communal spaces, or Museums of Care, after the pandemic, the way royal palaces were turned into state museums after the French and Russian revolutions. The idea of art, and the place of art and the artist, are important to Nika Dubrovsky’s, and for that matter David Graeber’s, cultural critique, which is why I wanted to interview Nika for this podcast.
Nika and I talk about the underground art scene in Soviet Russia, the Proletkult, in which everyone is an artist, the idea of direct vs. indirect action, the creation of autonomous zones, like the Zapatista communities or Rozhava, and at the end I ask Nika three questions about her article, co-written with David Graeber, “Another Art World” which critiques art institutions as they exist today – among other things.
❤️ Time stamps (please add 30 seconds to account for the intro):
03:14 – Nika’s origins and Samizdat
06:27 – The Museum of Care
10:50 – “The Government is the Government, the State is the State” (and meeting David Graeber)
13:29 – Visual Assembly, the Role of the Artist, Proletkult and how Everyone is an Artist
20:02 – The War Against the Imagination
23:20 – Storytelling, Creative Refusal, Schizmogenesis
24:44 – Technology
26:39 – Extinction Rebellion and Direct vs. Indirect Action
30:50 – Taking direct action and autonomous zones
40:15 – The Mona Lisa and Its Value
42:09 – Three Questions About Another Art World
42:47 – A Summary of “Another Art World”
44:17 – Question 1: Isn’t the internet a social experiment in what happens when everyone can be a creator and, if so, why are there still winners and losers?
01:00:40 – Question 2: Even if everyone should have the access to the means of producing art, isn’t art also an act of service which requires expertise?
01:12:29 – Question 3: Why use the word “communism”?
👁 Links:
The Museum of Care website: https://museum.care/
The Museum of Care (article): https://davidgraeber.org/articles/the-museum-of-care-reimagining-the-world-after-pandemic/
David Graeber Institute: https://davidgraeber.org/
Another Art World (essay): https://www.e-flux.com/journal/102/284624/another-art-world-part-1-art-communism-and-artificial-scarcity/
Music:
Dieter van der Westen: The Balkan Night Train
💋👂🏼👁 Podcast website: onthevergetrilogy.com
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
This is the audio from the anniversary livestream I did on January 13th, 2023. I fixed some of the audio issues from the livestream so it's a bit easier to listen to.
You can also watch the original livestream here: https://youtu.be/gGUW5q1IIDI
Livestream schedule:
Vivian Säde (director and screenwriter, co-host) - 19:00 - 20:30 CET (1pm-2:30pm EST) 1
9:20 - 19:40 CET (1:20-1:40pm EST) - Jason Cady (composer, co-founder of Experiments in Opera) and Christoph Ogiermann (composer, improvisor)
19:50 - 20:10 CET (1:50-2:10pm EST): Elena Floris (violinist, actress at Odin Teatret) and Felicita Brusoni (vocal experimenter)
20:10 - 20:30 CET (2:10-2:30pm EST): Darja Lukjanenko (visual artist and communicator) and Helena Mamich (psychiatrist and singer)
Omar Shahryar (composer of music for and by children, co-host) - 20:30 - 21:20 CET (2:30-3:20pm EST)
20:40-21:00 CET (2:40-3pm EST): Kate Gale (writer, founder of Red Hen Press) and Richard Katrovas (writer, ex-poet, father of the host)
21:00 - 21:20 CET (3-3:20pm EST): Cassandra Kaczor (classical-composer-turned-pop-music-artist) and Deyiş Görgülü (singer of Ottoman music)
💋👁👂🏼 Website: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/
👀 Instagram: @soprano_on_the_verge
💌Newsletter (best way to stay in touch): https://mailchi.mp/79f46429dcce/operaontheverge
😇 Become a patron and gain access to "backstage" videos: https://steadyhq.com/en/opera-on-the-verge
This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/
Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/
Deyiş Görgülü was 9 years old when she swore off music. She was 30 when she decided to take it up again. So, what makes someone refuse music for 20 years?
Deyiş grew up in Turkey as part of the Alevi Bektashi community. In fact, her name, Deyiş, is the name for a type of Alevi spiritual music. But, in the mid-90s, as a child, she lived through one of the flareups of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. The tension surrounding this conflict, which started way back in the early 70s, meant that her father, a trumpetist for the Turkish army, forbid her from singing Alevi songs, since Alevi culture is fundamentally pacifist and therefore anti-military. It wasn’t until she moved to France, as an adult, that she felt she could sing again and, eventually, founded an ensemble called Evden with viola d’amore player Isabelle Eder and flautist Marie Ploquin. They perform a kind of fusion between European classical music and Ottoman music – and just to give you an idea of the vastness of Ottoman music, Deyiş sings in Ladino, Turkish, Greek, Assyrian, Armenian, and Arabic among other languages.
Deyiş and I talk about Alevi culture and the cem gathering, which Deyiş likens a to jam session, about the vast world of Ottoman music, about the meaning of the word Evden, the name of her ensemble, about a song Deyiş is writing for the women of Iran, and about one problem shared by music and baklava, among other things.
Evden’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evdenmusique/
Musique:
Evden Musique - Yeniliğe Doğru (text by Rumi) (live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0TnNth-1tM
Erdal Erzincan - Bugün Bize Pir Geldi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Yfvj6e0t0
Evden Musique - Evden Musique - Στο ’πα και στο ξαναλέω (Sto 'pa Kai Sto Ksanaleo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTriUPjSQQk
