French flautist Julien Beaudiment has enjoyed a remarkable career, having been appointed principal flute of the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon when he was still a student at age 22, as well as being the only French flautist to have held a principal position at a major British Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
This past November, I had the wonderful privilege of performing together with Julien Beaudiment at the Riverside Cathedrale in New York, presented by SKP Consulting and Management. Right after rehearsing for the concert, I had a chance to sit down with Julien for an intimate conversation. In 2013, Julien became the principal flute of the LA Philharmonic, but then left abruptly in 2015, citing personal reasons. In this special interview, Julien shares the reasons why he left LA and returned to his principal position at the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon.
Jeffrey Biegel is a pianist who truly thinks outside the box. Not only is he an incredible musician with astounding technique, but he also has an innovative approach to his career and is one of the most prolific recording artists and champions of new music from contemporary composers and even pop stars like Keith Emerson, Neil Sedaka, Billy Joel, and Peter Tork from the Monkees.
Ever since winning first prize in the 1985 William Kappell competition, pianist Jeffrey Biegel has been an unstoppable musical phenomenon. “Prolific” doesn’t even begin to describe his artistic output - Jeffrey plays everything, from traditional classical repertoire to brand new works from new and established composers. Jeffrey has pioneered the idea of creating consortiums of orchestras to help create and perform these new compositions.
Manhattan Intermezzo, featuring new concertos by Neil Sedaka, Keith Emerson, and "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin
Most folks can't wait for Friday's to get out of their day jobs and do something else. But for the musicians and music lovers of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, music is a way of life, and you'll find them gathered together every Friday night reading through symphony orchestra works just for fun.
On a cold Friday night in winter, associate producer Allison Pokras and I visited Presser Hall on the campus of Temple University to sit in on one of the weekly reading sessions of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, one of the oldest community orchestras of its kind in the USA. The Orchestra Society of Philadelphia was founded in 1964 by Morris Goldman and Sidney Rothstein as a place where professional musicians, teachers, students and a wide variety of folks with varying "day jobs" could get together to read through various symphonic orchestral music under the baton of a rotating roster of conductors.
At the end of my interview with classical music radio host Jill Pasternak, we decided to have a bit of fun and turn the tables where Jill interviewed - me! How strange to have a show where I'm my own guest!
So - here's my "official" bio:
Pianist Hugh Sung started to learn to play the piano with his mother at the age of 3. At the age of 13, Hugh entered The Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Eleanor Sokoloff, Jorge Bolet, and Seymour Lipkin. Hugh teaches piano to hundreds of students online through ArtistWorks, a website that features video lessons from some of the world's leading musicians. His passion for technology led to him co-founding AirTurn, a company that creates digital accessories for musicians like the DUO page turning pedals for tablets and computers.
Hugh's Website (www.hughsung.com)
Hugh's Online Popular Piano School at ArtistWorks (www.artistworks.com/hugh-sung)
How to play "Clair de lune" from Scratch https://youtu.be/QczTcXvEC7o?list=PL23BA4D8592904FB0
Listen to my interview with Jill Pasternak