Let's Talk Off The Podium

The mission of this podcast is to create discussion on a variety of topics in music, culture, and arts. In my discussions there will be many questions, answers, comments, critique and ideas. For far too long many in the media, musicians, and artists from all backgrounds have been hesitant in their approach to criticism. As Wole Soyinka said, “The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.” Alongside my observations I will invite guests from a variety of artistic backgrounds to tell their story, ideas and perspective on all things in the world of music.

Hope you join me on this journey and raise awareness to topics that have been buried for decades.

Past guests include: Kronos Quartet founder David Harrington, Christian McBride, George Walker, Robert Dick, Ian Pace, Martin Bresnick, Project Trio bassist Peter Seymour, Andrey Kasparov, Craig Sheppard, Adrienne Albert, Juan Maria Solare, Marc Yeats, Mark Rowan-Hull, Stanford Thompson, The Villiers Quartet, Dr. Haig Mardirosian, Frances Wilson, James Gardner, Daniel Rosenboom, Sylvia Hinz, Joan Arnau Pàmies, among others.

Ep. 145: Zartonk Academy with Anna and Artyom

Jun 6, 2022

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Guests: Anna S. Demerjian and Artyom Manukyan In this episode we talk about Zartonk Academy with Anna and Artyom. Anna is the Development Director of Zartonk Academy and Artyom is a cellist, composer, and rapper who will be teaching at the academy. This year, the...

Ep. 144: Joseph Bohigian, composer and performer

Jan 26, 2021

Joseph Bohigian is a composer and performer whose cross-cultural experience as an Armenian-American is a defining message in his music. His work explores the expression of exile, cultural reunification, and identity maintenance in diaspora. His music, described as “delightfully accessible and...

Ep. 143: Eugenia Forteza, "We don't just make pretty music, it has a message."

Jan 13, 2021

Ep. 143: Eugenia Forteza, opera singer and founder of 360 of Opera.

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

Eugenia Forteza joins the podcast for a second time during the pandemic (recorded on Dec. 21, 2020). In this podcast we talk about Eugenia's busy schedule during the pandemic, what various...

Ep. 142: Joe Kinzer, ethnographer, archivist, and ethnomusicologist

Dec 16, 2020

Ep. 142: Joe Kinzer, ethnographer, archivist, and ethnomusicologist

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

From Joe Kinzer's website:

I am an ethnographer, archivist, and ethnomusicologist specializing in issues of identity and religious expression in Asian musical contexts. I am the Senior Curatorial...

Ep. 141: David Korevaar, "You can access the world, it's not easy to reach the world..."

Dec 8, 2020

Ep. 141: David Korevaar, "You can access the world, it's not easy to reach the world..."

Let's Talk Off The Podium with Tigran Arakelyan.

In this episode Korevaar talks about his studies with Earl Wild and David Diamond, recordings, teachings and much more.

Hailed for his “wonderfully warm, pliant, spontaneous...