Anthony Plog on Music

Hornist Amy Sanchez is a very successful and very busy freelancer living in Los Angeles. But she is so much more than that. In addition to all her various activities as a musician, she has also done a 99 day trip around the United States visiting all the National Parks, has become involved with NkombeRhino, a South African organization that focuses on the protection of endangered species (and in the process founded Horns for Rhino), has a pilot's license, and is probably the only freelancer in Los Angeles to have bought a house in Sitka, Alaska!

During the week of our conversation, Amy had a VERY busy week, flying to San Francisco to play offstage in a Vienna Philharmonic concert, playing on a Thomas Newman session for a Pixar animated movie, playing Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, and also teaching 12+ lessons at UCLA. So we begin by talking about that week and what the life of a freelancer is like. We end with Amy talking about the beginning of her career, studying at Ithaca College and the University of Southern California and touring with Blast.

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In the Bonus Room, we first discuss the difference between stress and distress. And then we discuss how to relieve distress in performance situations, with Jason talking about “flipping the script.”

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A large portion of this second part of our conversation deals with performance psychology and dealing with Covid and the groundbreaking research Aaron is doing at the Royal College. In discussing that research we do a deep dive into distributed simulation, where students can perform before a simulated situation of either a performance or audition, a unique lab that I hope can eventually be used by a large number of schools around the world.

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Aaron Williamon is Professor of Performance Science at the Royal College of Music in London and is joined in our conversation by Jason Evans, who is head of the brass faculty at the Royal College and also principal trumpet with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Together we tackle the subject of performance psychology and specifically, performance anxiety. This is a very far ranging, open, and revealing conversation. I think it will be of interest to student and professional alike.

We begin our conversation with Jason talking about the road he traveled to become the youngest person to be appointed principal trumpet in a major UK orchestra and his experiences dealing with nerves during his early playing years. Aaron follows up by speaking about his research at the Royal College of Music and the projects he is currently working on. We end with Jason discussing the pressures of a high level performance job.

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In the Bonus Room, Daniel talks about the tight-knit nature of his team and how he views the success of a product. He discusses balancing priorities while still keeping an eye toward the future and what he thinks about the potential of tech advancements on the future of notation software. He briefly talks about his friendship with the prolific composer Derek Bourgeois, and finally, Daniel and Eddie geek out about a beloved style of Digital Audio Workstation from 1990s.

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In Part 2, Daniel talks about the beginnings of working for Steinberg and their culture. He then goes over the initial years of building Dorico from the ground up and the shift in focus once the product was available to the world. He discusses innovation and the goal of not just "building a faster horse." Finally, he talks about a day in his life as a product marketing manager.

Dorico
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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

When I first began the podcast, producer Eddie Ludema and I thought our main goal would be to dig deeply into what makes a great musician, and we had many fascinating interviews in that vein. But as time progressed, we noticed that our interviews were with subjects that didn’t concern themselves directly with performance and practice techniques (Hamido Fujita on A.I. and music, biographer Jan Swafford, Anne Midgette on music criticism), and so we have been expanding our interviews to explore as many different aspects of music as possible. And since I am a composer who uses an engraving system (first Sibelius and now Dorico, which sponsors the podcast), who better to ask about behind the scenes of working on engraving systems than Daniel Spreadbury?

Daniel is product marketing manager for the Dorico Music Notation System (Music and Composition Software for macOS, Windows, and iPad). After graduating from Oxford, he worked for around 12 1/2 years at Sibelius, and when he and his team were let go by Avid, most of them moved to Steinberg and started work on Dorico. In Part 1 of our conversation, Daniel first talks about his beginnings in music and tech, and how that eventually led him to Oxford University, which then eventually led him to Sibelius. We end Part 1 with Daniel talking about his team leaving Avid and their move to Steinberg.

Dorico
Professional music notation and composition software from Steinberg. Download a free 30-trial today!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

When I first began the podcast, producer Eddie Ludema and I thought our main goal would be to dig deeply into what makes a great musician, and we had many fascinating interviews in that vein. But as time progressed, we noticed that our interviews were with subjects that didn’t concern themselves directly with performance and practice techniques (Hamido Fujita on A.I. and music, biographer Jan Swafford, Anne Midgette on music criticism), and so we have been expanding our interviews to explore as many different aspects of music as possible. And since I am a composer who uses an engraving system (first Sibelius and now Dorico, which sponsors the podcast), who better to ask about behind the scenes of working on engraving systems than Daniel Spreadbury?

Daniel is product marketing manager for the Dorico Music Notation System (Music and Composition Software for macOS, Windows, and iPad). After graduating from Oxford, he worked for around 12 1/2 years at Sibelius, and when he and his team were let go by Avid, most of them moved to Steinberg and started work on Dorico. In Part 1 of our conversation, Daniel first talks about his beginnings in music and tech, and how that eventually led him to Oxford University, which then eventually led him to Sibelius. We end Part 1 with Daniel talking about his team leaving Avid and their move to Steinberg.

Dorico
Professional music notation and composition software from Steinberg. Download a free 30-trial today!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

An important aspect of any chamber music group is repertoire, so we talk about how Seraph Brass chooses theirs and how they go about rehearsing before and during a tour. We end with a discussion of a concert done the night before our conversation... a work by Anthony DiLorenzo (Chimera) performed with the U.S. Army Band, Pershing's Own.

Dorico
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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

The members of Seraph Brass are entrepreneurs in addition to being musicians, and we begin Part 2 by discussing the workshops they give on entrepreneurship. We then move on to touring and what it is like to play in different countries with varying cultures. We close this part with a discussion of how the group goes about commissioning works.

Dorico
Professional music notation and composition software from Steinberg. Download a free 30-trial today!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.