All Classical Radio | On Deck with Young Musicians

Violinist Leena Karmarkar was only 4 years old when her parents signed her up for music lessons. Now at 17, she’s the concertmaster at the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Leena talks about losing motivation during the pandemic, and how she got her joy back. A junior at Portland’s Lincoln High School, she enjoys being challenged. Leena is working toward an IB diploma, and in her spare time she runs cross country and volunteers at YouthLine, a teen-to-teen crisis line. Raul Gomez-Rojas hosts.

Rachel Modlin is a senior at Reed College, studying collaborative piano performance and French. She studies piano privately with Jean-David Coen and Monica Ohuchi. She is a member of the Reed Piano Trio, has soloed with the Reed orchestra, and frequently performs collaborative works with Reed students. As a collaborative pianist, Rachel performs a variety of gigs from musical theater auditions at Portland Playhouse to subbing cantata rehearsals for the Bach Cantata Choir. Outside of her studies, Rachel is the Administrative Assistant for Fear No Music and teaches ballet at Classical Ballet Academy.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Saori DeBruyn is an opera singer based in Eugene, Oregon. In this bonus “Where Are They Now” episode Saori shares her thoughts about her past interview, her career, and talks more about her special performance with her husband, conductor Jonathan Debruyn. Saori also shares advice for young musicians.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Jonathan DeBruyn is a conductor and violinist based in Eugene, Oregon. In our tenth episode, Jonathan shares his thoughts on his past interview, his career, and a special performance with his wife, Saori Debruyn. He also shares advice for aspiring conductors.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. PJ Hummelt is a data analyst and French horn player based in Berkeley, California. In our ninth episode, PJ discusses his thoughts on his past interview and his career. He also talks about thoughts on his upcoming performance at the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s Concert-at-Christmas on December 26 and then he shares advice for young musicians.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Daniel Kim is a former cellist, now photojournalist based in Seattle, Washington. In our eighth episode, Daniel talks about how he became a photojournalist and the art of storytelling through photography. He shares a story about a photo that helped him to connect with his Seattle community and then he shares advice for young musicians.

Dina Biggs is a 14-year old clarinetist, and a freshman at West Linn High School. Though Dina has only been playing clarinet for 3 years she is already quite good: she is the only freshman in her school’s Symphonic Band, and she plays first clarinet in the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Fun fact: her first clarinet was purchased for $49 on Amazon.com.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Anna Louise is an opera singer based Rochester, New York. In our seventh episode, she shares her thoughts on her interview from 10 years ago and also talks about her work with nonprofits to create positive change in the arts community. Anna Louise also shares advice with young musicians on finding a community of trusted advisors.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Emma Simmons is a violinist based in Eugene, OR. In our sixth episode, Emma shares her thoughts on her interview from 10 years ago. She also talks about her interest in baroque music and advocating for herself as a queer, neurodivergent artist.

All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret. Jimmy Brown is a baritone singer and Elementary Music Educator based in Portland, OR. In this episode, Jimmy shares his thoughts on his “On Deck” interview from 10 years ago. He also talks about his work as an educator, his favorite performance, and advice to young musicians to find their place in the music world.