For 23 years, Jill Pasternak has been the voice of classical music on radio stations such as WHMT in Schenectady, NY, and WFLN and WRTI in Philadelphia, PA. Jill has also been the host and executive producer for the award winning show, “Crossover”, where for 18 years she interviewed legendary musicians from a wide range of musical genres.
In this interview, Jill shares the story of her early studies on the harp with legendary teacher/composer Marcel Grandjany and at the Juilliard School; her serendipitous start in radio; and the legacy of her interviews from her show, "Crossover".
Jill has been a Classical Music announcer and host at the following radio stations:
WFLN in Philadelphia (WFLN was sold and stopped Classical Music broadcasts in 1997)
Daron Hagen and Gilda Lyons are versatile composers, musicians, and artists. They’re also husband and wife, and frequently collaborate together. Daron has written symphonies, operas, art songs and chamber works, and is also a contributing writer to the Huffington Post. Gilda is a vocalist and visual artist in addition to being a prolific and incredibly creative composer.
David William Hearn is an English composer and music producer based in London. He’s worked on scores for TV shows such as American Idol and The Voice, as well as film scores for Les Miserables, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Ron Howard’s upcoming film, In The Heart Of The Sea. He’s also the developer of StaffPad, a fascinating app for Windows tablet computers that lets composers create handwritten scores that get transformed into digital music. In fact, Microsoft was so impressed with StaffPad that they invited David to share the stage with Satya Nadella for the 2015 Microsoft Build conference keynote address.
Video of StaffPad Demo at the 2015 Microsoft Build Conference Keynote Address
Violinist David Kim was one of the prizewinners of the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Competition, one of the most prestigious events in the international music community held once every four years. Even with this extraordinary achievement, he had a difficult time getting a job in an orchestra. Now, as Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, David has partnered with Cairn University to create a unique institute to help aspiring violinists master what it takes to not only win an orchestra position, but also to survive and thrive musically, emotionally, and spiritually.
If you haven’t had a chance, I’d like to invite you to listen to my interview with David Kim in episode 2. What makes getting a job in an orchestra unique is that a musician’s resume doesn’t really matter much - it all depends on how a musician plays in an audition, behind a screen for a panel of musicians from the orchestra. The screen is designed to ensure anonymity, but playing for an impersonal audience you can’t see or hear and having your career depend on a performance lasting anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes can be one of the most frustrating and terrifying experiences for any musician. Despite David Kim’s incredible talent, he soon found that playing auditions required a completely different skill set when he lost the first 5 orchestra auditions he attempted. Now, as Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, David has collaborated with Cairn University to create a special program to give musicians the critical professional as well as life skills they will need but - surprisingly - are not taught in most music schools.
David Kim Orchestral Institute at Cairn University