Between The Barlines With Jonathan Tsay

After a performance by Alex McDonald of the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata op. 2 no. 3, we wrap talking about Alex's battles with injury and his experience at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, discuss our favorite Darwin Awards, and hear Alex's best/worst gigs and pieces of advice. We finish with a rousing game of "Serial or Aleatoric."

Jonathan Tsay sits down with Dr. Alex McDonald, 2013 Van Cliburn IPC competitor, to talk about competitions/judging competitions, overcoming injury, Lang Lang, and more! Featuring a performance of Alborada del gracioso by Maurice Ravel. Plus, Jonathan reads all of the comments and answers all the questions you left on the BtBl iTunes page over the winter break.

Pianist, pre-concert lecturer, and classical music Renaissance Man Shields Collins Bray sits down with Jonathan to talk about growing up in a small town in Louisiana, learning how to play piano at church alongside classical music studies, and performing at the Hollywood Bowl. Near the end, they play a rousing game of "Serial or Aleatoric" - the game where the guests whether the music playing was actually written out or not.

For the second episode of Between the Barlines, Jonathan talks with Eunice Keem, the associate concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. They talk about competition life in her teens, auditioning for orchestras, preparation, and composer Rebecca Clarke. They close with the first run of a fun game with Jonathan playing short snippets of three works, and has Keem guess the unifying theme.

For the first interview of Between the Barlines, Tsay talks with Stirling Trent, the Associate Principal Second Violin of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, who is also a longtime friend of Jonathan. They go in depth about finding a message in personal performances as well as discussing longboarding and baseball. Stirling also plays a game of Simon.

Jonathan Tsay introduces the podcast and the reasons for jumping into this project, and throws in a few shout outs.