With cancelled gigs and the disappearance of live performances due of Covid-19, why are we still having performance anxiety dreams? Franny and Jeannette discuss the underlying anxieties for these recital nightmares. Note: We actually recorded t

Season 4, episode 39: Intermezzo: you gotta listen to this edition

Jan 5th, 2020 19m 56s

The first of our listening series, in which we report with recordings we’ve been recently enjoying in hopes that you’ll share in the fun Max Richter: Vivaldi Recomposed: Daniel HopeKonzerthaus Kammerorchester BerlinAndré de RidderInt. Release 2

Holiday Quiz Time

Dec 22nd, 2019 22m 21s

In this edition of our holiday episode, Jeannette quizzes Francis on weird Holiday facts, like the real meaning of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, how much it would cost to put on the 12 Days of Christmas, who invented … Continued

S4, episode 37: Prison with Cellos?

Dec 8th, 2019 45m 37s

Fresh from his time at Juilliard, Francis and Jeannette take the opportunity to talk about both their experiences of having studied there.

S4, episode 36: We’re Baaaaack

Nov 24th, 2019 46m 49s

So so sorry for the ridiculously long break! But we’re back, and we’ve got various news items to report as we catchup over the last year.

S3, episode 35: Stijn De Cock, part 1

Feb 25th, 2019 38m 34s

Jeannette sits down with pianist and pedagogue Stijn De Cock for a conversation on teaching, work/life balance, and much more. Stijn teaches at Florida State University, and is the founding director of the Brancaleoni International Music Festiv

S3, episode 34: Rhetoric!

Feb 3rd, 2019 49m 16s

Jeannette interviews Francis on Rhetoric in Music for a look into the origins and philosophies of it in historical performance, and how musicians today can apply it to their own performances.

S3, episode 33: Holiday weird facts edition

Dec 25th, 2018 41m 3s

Happy Holidays everyone! We hope you all had a relatively stress-free gigging season and your travels went without snafu. For this special holiday episode, we find out about a whole bunch of weird facts about Christmas Carols, Bach, and Christm

S3, episode 32: Money money money

Dec 7th, 2018 41m 12s

Who likes to talk about money? No one. Especially musicians. Ew. Gross. So low. Don’t sully yourself with this dirty money talk. Leave that to Franny and Jeannette in this episode. Except, they just think that everyone should be more … Continue

Season 3, episode 32: Stephen Fang (part 1)

Dec 4th, 2018 40m 31s

Jeannette sits down with her big brother Steve, a brilliant cellist who grew up surrounded by pianists. They talk about the battle of choosing to be professional musicians in a Chinese family, psychological hurdles, difficult life choices, and

S3 – episode 31 – Bad Teacher (part 2)

Nov 4th, 2018 31m 34s

We continue our conversation on teaching piano, getting into topics of favoritism, drawing boundaries, and their latest obsessions. For the cardboard creations that are mentioned, go to Jeannette’s facebook or instagram

Season 3, ep.30: Bad Teacher (Part 1)

Oct 22nd, 2018 34m 31s

Whats makes a good piano teacher? Franny talks with Jeannette about growing up as the daughter of NJ’s piano nazi, their teaching philosophies, influential teachers of their lives, and bushels more.

Season 3, ep 29: Fang and Yun, catch up edition

Oct 1st, 2018 28m 33s

In which we talk about our summers at various music festivals, being at Garth Newel, and give belated thanks and replies to our listeners. Special thanks to Shi-An Costello, who left us our very first review! Thanks for listening!

S3, Episode 28: Aisslinn the Rockstar, part 2

Sep 16th, 2018 35m 36s

We continue our conversation with the fascinating Aisslinn Nosky with part 2 of our interview, romping through tuningland, conductor-less orchestras, how to talk to your keyboardist, and of course, stupid questions!

Season 3 – episode 27: Aisslinn the Rockstar, part 1

Sep 6th, 2018 34m 3s

Franny and I interview the brilliant Aisslinn Nosky, the baroque violinist extraordinaire whose electrifying performances get everyone buzzing. She has coming to Garth Newel Music Center for the past three summers to lead our Emerging Artist Fe

S2, episode 26: Richard Egarr

May 27th, 2018 38m 54s

Francis sits down to talk with harpsichordist/conductor Richard Egarr! They talk about the harpsichord sound, creating dynamics on the instrument, and thoughts on continuo playing. And he only says f*ck once…(maybe it’s twice) To find out more

S2, ep. 25: Being Asian in music

May 14th, 2018 45m 49s

Ok, so we’ve been REALLY wanting to do an episode about BEING ASIAN in music. But every time we recorded something about this topic, we hated how tiresome and preachy we got. This is actually an episode we did awhile … Continued

S2, episode 24: Harry Doss

Apr 15th, 2018 51m 26s

Our piano tech series continues with Harry Doss, piano technician at Virginia Tech, and also the guy who also makes the 2 hour trek to Garth Newel Music Center before every concert weekend to make our pianos sound concert worthy. … Continued

S2, episode 23: Garrett Schumann

Mar 26th, 2018 1h 3m

Jeannette sits down with composer, teacher, and music observer Garrett Schumann. Garrett is someone who’s constantly thinking about music and its place in society and culture, and conversation with him is always interesting and thought provokin

S2, episode 22: Shi An, part 2

Mar 11th, 2018 41m 51s

Here’s the second part of the interview Francis did with musician, writer, actor, and activist Shi An! They talk about the intricacies of the composer/performer relationship. Remember to check out Shi An’s album, Rounded Binary!

S2, episode 21: Shi An, part 1

Feb 26th, 2018 46m 27s

Francis interviews fabulous pianist, composer, writer, and activist Shi An! We talk about the importance of names, how we feel about the canon, and performance. You’ll find out much more about Shi An in the second part of our interview … Contin

S2, episode 20: piano technician “Boomer” Harold

Feb 11th, 2018 50m 22s

This episode is the first part of a series of episodes we’ll be doing on the unsung heroes of the piano world: piano technicians. William “Boomer” Harold is the piano technician at Yale School of Music, and we have a … Continued

S2, episode 19: The future! Francis interviews two rising talents

Jan 29th, 2018 53m 58s

Last year, I sat down with two talented high school students who I met while working at Friends Music Camp. They’re two of the most musical kids I’ve met and was happy that they were both attending performing arts high … Continued

S2, episode 18: Joe Gascho-part 2

Jan 9th, 2018 42m

My conversation with Joseph Gascho was so interesting that we couldn’t fit it into just one episode. For the 2nd part of our interview that started with episode 7, Joe talks about the instinct to go above and beyond as a teacher, … Continued

S2, episode 17: Holiday Question Time!

Dec 25th, 2017 46m 16s

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! And what better way to deal with the festivities than with a slew of stupid questions. We talk about everything from Christmas traditions, Mr. Hanky’s Christmas Classics, best gifts, Haley Joel Osmen