“I attracted what I was looking for. I exuded what I wanted to happen.”

Zuill Bailey is a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, professor, artistic director, and sometime actor (as seen on the HBO series Oz and NBC's Homicide). He talks with us about taking up the cello as a child; a transcendent and life-changing moment on stage; making a living as a musician; finding an instrument and artistic voice; and what he's learned from the recording process. (Episode 22)

“I feel a lot less shy on stage.”

Young cellist Oliver Herbert talks about what it means to explore the pathways to becoming a soloist on world stages while remaining true to one's self. Oliver shares how overcoming shyness can open pathways to artistic freedom on stage, and discusses wellness, joy, practicing, and how to pace artistic growth with career growth. From San Francisco, Oliver Herbert has made recent debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, and has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas. (Episode 79)

“My career didn’t really start to take off until I was thirty. I was by no means a prodigy.”

Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. The recipient of many awards, Steven Isserlis’s honors include a CBE in recognition of his services to music, and the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau. He is also one of only two living cellists featured in Gramophone’s Hall of Fame.

Episode 36

“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)

“I did what I had to do: I challenged myself.”

In their conversation, longtime friends Zsolt Bognar and cellist and Senior Ted Fellow Joshua Roman revisit the heady mix of early bravado, vulnerability, and the path to consistency and success. In his disarmingly candid way, Joshua describes how his personal challenge to master the forty "Etudes" by David Popper accidentally turned into a social media phenomenon, culminating in “The 2019 Popper Challenge,” a safe space for a huge cello community to share their most vulnerable moments of practicing. (Episode 75)

“I don’t believe in time zones.”

Award-winning young American cellist Joshua Roman discusses the challenges of a musician's travel, health and injuries, the world of competitions, and the role of mental practice. The episode concludes with host and guest in a rehearsal of Schumann's "Five Pieces in Folk Style." (Episode 1)

“I try to not wait until I am too comfortable.”

Cellist Astrid Schween is the newest member of the Juilliard Quartet and a new member of the Juilliard School faculty. An active juror and panelist, she was recently featured in Strings and Strad magazines and on NPR, and was an invited speaker at the Library of Congress on the role of women in music. In our exclusive interview, she discusses the learning she experienced after she left school, cultivating an individual voice, finding joy and ease on stage, recollections of Mstislav Rostropovich and Jacqueline du Pré, and many other fascinating topics. (Episode 41)

“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)

“It's impossible to be loved by everybody.”

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein shares personal stories from her childhood, when her first cello was a cereal box with a chopstick for a bow. She discusses the pressures of the music industry, and how to cope psychologically with the stage, sharing that most of her pressures are self-imposed. She discusses the nature of criticism, whether from one's self or others, her strategies in the recording studio and the practice room, and how to set limits in a musical world of high demands. (Episode 49)