“Entering a competition is like going to a 7-11 and buying a lottery ticket.”

Distinguished pianist Emanuel Ax won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and several Grammy awards, and has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987. He has had works written for him by John Adams, Christopher Rouse, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bright Sheng, and Melinda Wagner, and as teacher, performer, and recording artist receives uniform praise throughout the world. During a visit to Zsolt's Cleveland home, the irresistibly charming maestro chats about competitions, practicing, and finding a zone for balanced living. (Episode 56)

“For me, life is beginning at ninety.”

Coaxed into public life again by actor Ethan Hawke after a 37-year hiatus, maestro Bernstein plays, in his own words, "better than I ever did." At age 90, Seymour is full of humor, charm, enthusiasm, and fascinating observations about music, psychology, and creativity. (Episode 52)

“I never saw music as a career.”

Since his first solo appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra in 1977, Mr. Cohen has been featured as soloist in nearly 200 performances — at Severance Hall, Carnegie Hall, Blossom Music Center, and on tour throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. He has also been a featured artist with many of the world’s leading chamber groups. His former students hold principal positions in major orchestras in North America, Europe, Mexico and Asia. (Episode 29)

“How early do you really need to be a virtuoso pianist to succeed as a pianist in life? At one time people assumed that the world was flat—by a function of agreement.”

Filmed at his home in Philadelphia, Durso discusses misconceptions about musical promotion in the world today, the importance of balance, the role of teaching in a musician’s life, and describes his own encounters with the work and life of Dorothy Taubman as well as the controversies surrounding her work. The episode ends with a performance excerpt of Bach-Kurtág. (Episode 12)

“I was totally against competitions— I didn’t allow Lang Lang or Yuja Wang to compete.”

Filmed at home in New York, Gary Graffman shares his thoughts on the musical world and anecdotes from his long and storied life as a pianist and teacher. He discusses the fostering of first-rate talent, the dangers of doing too much too soon, and nurturing the individual voice of a student. Along with vivid accounts of Horowitz and his illustrious students, Maestro Graffman describes the effect of focal dystonia on his performing career at a time when the condition was barely understood. (Episode 53)

“Mozart is hard.”

Winner of the 1996 Leeds Competition, pianist and teacher Ilya Itin is a respected presence throughout the musical world. He shares with us his recollections of a life on stage in one of the most involved and thoughtful conversations about stage psychology that our show has presented — how to find focus, combat distraction, and discover the nature of inspiration. In discussing a musician's role in the larger world, Ilya explains his take on social media presence and ends with a beautiful tribute to the great Russian teacher Lev Naumov. (Episode 70)

“I spent my whole life trying to make the harp sound like a piano.”

Yolanda Kondonassis is the first classical harpist nominated in the category of Best Classical Instrumental Solo for a concerto with orchestra (in 2020, for Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto). Her lively, inspiring conversation with Zsolt ranges from mastering a uniquely challenging instrument to strategizing success. The world-renowned artist explains how being a “pianist at heart” explains her instrument’s electrifying sound; she reveals her “obsession with timing,” and attributes her stellar career to a love for “18-step, labor-intensive processes,” turning daily practice into a high-stakes undertaking, and to using a yellow pad to avoid “false economy.” (Episode 74)

“My mother said, ‘I never wanted you to become a pianist.’"

Distinguished pianist, recording artist, and eminent Juilliard faculty member Jerome Lowenthal discusses the changing musical world, his legendary teachers William Kapell and Alfred Cortot, the positive side of participating in competitions, and the young musician's path to success through personal and musical well-being. (Episode 26)

“Chamber music was like a narcotic for me.”

Merry Peckham has toured extensively throughout the US and abroad, and won the overall string category as well as the cello division of the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition. She is a founding member of the award-winning Cavani Quartet, Director of The Chamber Music Workshop at The Perlman Music Program, and is on the cello and chamber music faculties at The Cleveland Institute of Music. She is also host of the radio program Offbeat, aired weekly on WCLV, 104.9 FM. (Episode 27)

“The people who seem to have the best and most fulfilling musical careers are the ones who are warm human beings—good people—and attract people to their human qualities as well as their musical ones.”

Paul Schenly, winner of the Avery Fisher Prize, discusses the founding of Pianofest, the importance of friendships in careers, the role of competitions in musical development, the different types of stage fright, and dealing with reviews. He also shares his own personal reasons for becoming a musician. (Episode 6)

“Something always leads to something; nothing always leads to nothing.”

As a professional horn player, Kate Sheeran has performed with a wide range of ensembles and recorded for a variety of labels, and for television and film. In 2018, she became Executive Director of the Kaufman Music Center, home to New York City's largest community arts school. In this conversation we discuss the fostering of dynamic thinkers and leaders in an academic setting, and address the question, "Are we in a music bubble?" (Episode 82)

“Musicians are so incredibly well-equipped to be successful.”

The President of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music explains why trained musicians thrive in the business world. In a compelling discussion about what is required of conservatories to train the new musician of the 21st century and what students must do to cope with changing models of success, David Stull discusses what he did to raise funds and create a dynamic new curriculum, at a time when the cost of higher education has reached crisis levels — and why a classical musician is the best-equipped individual in any field. (Episode 33)

“So many of us musicians play with pain-- even if it's the pain of not being able to express ourselves.”

Brian Thornton, longtime cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra, teacher, and founder of the Lev Aaronson Legacy Project festival in Texas, joins Living the Classical Life for a discussion about balance in life and music, emotional and physical wellness, and social activism. Filmed in Cleveland, he discusses his influential teacher, and how he leads a uniquely passionate life. (Episode 58)