It has been a while since I sent a newsletter like this to your inbox.
I have continued to share stories and behind-the-scenes updates on Substack, but I stepped away from the monthly newsletter. Now I’m bringing it back for our growing Piano Pod community.
Once a month, I’ll share new episodes, upcoming events, and selected behind-the-scenes news.
And there could not be a better time to begin again.
This season, we will release one full-length conversation each month, along with several shorter Alumni episodes. Yes, The Piano Pod is now old enough to welcome alumni back!
Beginning with Season 5, each season of The Piano Pod has been guided by two connected ideas: Authenticity & Joy (Season 5), Creativity & Connection (Season 6), and now Culture & Courage.
Season 7 turns toward the histories and cultural forces that shape artists, and the courage required to move beyond what we are “supposed” to do.
We will meet artists whose lives and work cross cultures, disciplines, traditions, and established career paths. We will explore how identity informs creative work, what artists carry from their histories, and what it takes to build a life on their own terms.
Season 7 opens on September 22 with Ukrainian-born American pianist and author Inna Faliks. Watch the introductory video above for a first look, and read more about the episode below.
While the Newsletter Was on Pause: Season 6 Highlights
A few of the artists and creative voices featured last season.
Last season, Season 6: Creativity & Connection, brought more than 20 pianists, composers, educators, and creative thinkers to the show.
Our guests included Chad Lawson, Mădălina Dănilă and Hugh Sung, Stefania de Kenessey, David Berry, Asiya Korepanova, Han Chen, Anna Shelest, and many others.
Together, we explored collaboration, artistic reinvention, cultural identity, entrepreneurship, technology, and the changing realities of building a life in music.
On October 4, 2025, The Piano Pod stepped onto the stage for the first time at the Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall at The New School in New York City.
Presented in partnership with Mannes Prep, the event featured performances and conversations with Dr. Jee-Hoon Krska, Eleonor Bindman, Dr. Nnenna Ogwo, and Donna Weng Friedman. I also had the pleasure of performing alongside Eleonor and Donna, while serving as the program’s curator and host.
The afternoon brought together music, personal stories, a panel discussion, and questions from the audience. It was the live expression of what The Piano Pod has always sought to create: a space where artists and audiences can engage with the ideas and experiences behind the music.
Highlights from The Piano Pod Live at Stiefel Hall: an afternoon of performance, conversation, and community. Photography by Vincent Carvalho.
Since launching in 2020, The Piano Pod has grown to more than 100 episodes, surpassed 400,000 downloads, reached listeners in more than 25 countries, and attracted nearly 3,000 YouTube subscribers.
The show was also named a finalist for Best Video Podcast at the 2025 Quill Podcast Awards and ranked No. 2 among the Top 25 Piano Podcasts of 2025.
Season 6 showed me how far the podcast has traveled and opened new possibilities for where it can go next.
Now, we begin our next chapter.
Season 7 Opens with Inna Faliks
What do we carry from childhood, especially when childhood is interrupted by displacement?
Ukrainian-born American pianist, author, and educator Inna Faliks joins us for the opening conversation of Season 7.
Her latest album, Stranger Things: Piano Works from a Young Refugee’s Backpack, places music from her childhood alongside works by Brahms and Schoenberg, creating a deeply personal exploration of memory, migration, and artistic identity.
We also discuss Inna’s journey as a young Jewish refugee from Soviet Ukraine, her memoir Weight in the Fingertips, and why so many of her recordings begin with an idea, story, or larger concept rather than simply a collection of repertoire.
And we get into one of the most unexpected projects of her career: performing Gabriel Prokofiev’s Synthesizer Concerto No. 1. Prokofiev writes at the intersection of classical and electronic music, and Inna premiered the concerto on a Minimoog synthesizer with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. We talk about what it was like to learn an entirely new instrument, perform standing up almost like a DJ, and take on a piece that brought her far outside the traditional image of a concert pianist.
Premieres Tuesday, September 22, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern
As always, the audio episode will be released simultaneously on all major podcast platforms. VIP members can listen one day early on Substack.
Arriving October 20, our featured conversation is with Blair Boone-Migura, Executive Director of the Art Song Preservation Society of New York.
We discuss ASPSNY’s next chapter following its ten-year residency at Manhattan School of Music, the partnerships now shaping its future, and Blair’s own journey as an arts leader. We also explore the relationship between language, culture, and identity in art song; how singers and pianists can form more meaningful collaborations; and what it will take to make this intimate art form more accessible to new artists and audiences.
On October 6, pianist Anna Shelest (Season 6, Episode 17) returns with her duo and life partner, Dmitri Shelest, and Maestro Michael C. Hall. Together, they premiere the Ukrainian Cultural Festival 2026 and the U.S. premiere of Oleh Bezborodko’s Steel, Violet, Rage at Carnegie Hall on October 18.
This special Alumni Series episode is presented with the support of the Alexander & Buono Foundation.
The Piano Pod Live Returns in Spring 2027
Following last year’s inaugural concert, another Piano Pod live event is now in development for spring 2027.
I can’t share all the details yet, but I hope you will join us when The Piano Pod returns to the stage for another afternoon of music, conversation, and connection.
Newsletter subscribers will be among the first to receive the date, location, featured artists, and ticket information.
I will also be joining more public conversations and speaking engagements during the coming year, bringing ideas from the podcast into concert halls, classrooms, and conferences.
Stay Connected Between Newsletters
Follow The Piano Pod on Substack for behind-the-scenes stories, episode reflections, and updates between our monthly newsletters. Paid subscribers also receive VIP-member posts and early access to audio episodes.
The Piano Pod explores the people, ideas, and cultural forces shaping classical and contemporary music today through candid conversations with artists, composers, educators, and creative thinkers.
