So, A Seat at the Piano is essentially a platform to raise the voices of a lot of composers
who have been less heard or historically excluded or underrepresented.
So, it is a database, it is a resource, it's a blog, it's kind of a lot of different things
that we've combined into one kind of a one-stop shop for a lot of pianists, teachers, students
to go to if they're seeking different kinds of repertoire that are outside of the normal
kind of canon.
The mission of ASAP is to promote and include the music of composers that hasn't necessarily
been in the forefront, you know.
So, basically we're trying to catch up with the inclusion of works of piano music from
composers from historically excluded groups.
Hello piano enthusiasts, you're tuned into the PianoPod with me, Yukimi San.
We're diving into part two of this season's second episode with the brilliant minds behind
A Seat at the Piano, aka ASAP, Annie Zhang, Brendan Jaclyn, Evan Hines, and Susan Yang.
If you missed our intriguing conversation in part one where we explored ASAP's mission
and how they support fellow classical pianists and educators, make sure to catch up on your
go-to podcast platform.
A warm welcome to our new listeners and viewers.
This podcast is your all-access pass to the captivating world of piano.
In each episode of the PianoPod, I interview a guest speaker, or for this case, guest speakers
who have been breaking exciting new ground in the music industry.
Please rate the show and review it on your favorite podcasting platform because every
rating review will help people find my show.
So dear friends, here is part two of the PianoPod's season four, episode two, with the team of
A Seat at the Piano.
Please enjoy the show.
You know, since the summer of 2020, you've been working on this, so it's been over three
years, right?
For me, it's the same thing.
This is the fourth season, so I am very grateful for this opportunity.
So what's been like?
What's the impact of ASAP in our industry, in our community that you started to feel
after three, four years?
Brendan?
This will be a little egotistical.
It's okay.
One of my favorite things to do every once in a while is I just Google a seat at the
piano just to sort of see what else is out there.
And it's really neat how many different universities and organizations and competitions have just
started listing us as a resource, and we had no idea.
And like every couple of months, I'll just do a check just out of curiosity, and there's
always a few more that have added us.
And so I think just even that sort of growth with these institutions of various types offering
these very different resources for people, I think, does show that it is having an impact
through that way at the very least.
Maybe Brendan can correct me if I'm wrong, but our website gets about, on average, 1,000
unique visitors a month.
Yeah, we're between 1,000 to 1,500 unique visitors a month right now, which has grown.
I believe the first month our website, I remember it took about four months to break 100.
And so this is a pretty good growth.
I feel like we're also seeing the change amongst local and national state organizations, whether
or not they have performance festivals.
And a lot of these organizations will have required repertoire that students have to
pick from when they're doing these festivals and seeing that they're also utilizing our
database and adding more diverse works.
What we've noticed a lot is that if you don't require it, sometimes people aren't really
going to do it.
And sure, we'd like to say that we don't need those kinds of requirements, but unless people
are at least exposed to it in a certain kind of way and in this way by requiring certain
repertoire for competitions or festivals, that really ensures and guarantees that people
are at least listening to it or learning it.
And that's a really, really great start.
So even my own studio, my students at my university at University of North Carolina at Greensboro,
my students have to learn at least one of their pieces each semester is of a non-traditional
composer either of a genre or of a different background.
And I've found that students actually are very excited about this, maybe a little bit
hesitant at first, but then they're really, really excited.
Now, Susan is doing a bit of this as well, and all of us are just encouraging our students
and those around us to really be exploring these works.
And sometimes that just little slight nudge of gentle requirement is what you need to
do.
Yeah, yeah.
That's exactly.
Yes.
Okay.
Oh, Susan, your baby.
Oh, so cute.
Baby is awake.
I guess a fun fact, I don't know if you know, but Brendan and I are married and this is
our baby.
Oh, really?
Okay.
Yeah, it's our first ASAP baby.
ASAP baby.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
So you are in a different room right now.
He's at work and I'm at home.
Gotcha.
I hope your baby is okay.
Evy's sleeping well.
Yeah.
Yeah, mostly.
Yes.
Yeah.
Wonderful.
Now, so then since you started, did you receive any recognition or awards?
Yes.
We've definitely, I feel like, received a lot of attention and everything from a couple
different organizations.
This past March, we were given the MTNA and the Francis Clark Center have teamed up to
give a National Pedagogy Award and we were honored enough to be given that this past
year, which is really exciting.
And we've been in talks with both Francis Clark Center and the Music Teachers National
Association as well, just to sort of integrate our ideas into these big national organizations.
And I think that is also sort of indicative of the institutional understanding of the
importance of a project like this, which was really exciting.
Yeah, that is very exciting and congratulations.
I mean, double congratulations, Brandon, because you are now a father of the little baby girl
too, but also with these awards and recognition that your organization is receiving.
Yeah.
Annie, you want to add something?
I think just that we were very honored, of course, to get this award, but we were just
kind of shocked.
Like a lot of this work that we've done and maybe you can empathize with this of having
started during the pandemic and getting things off the ground.
It's like you don't really see the fruits of it until much later.
And so we've just been kind of doing this, you know, casually for the past two and a
half, three years now, and then all of a sudden to have all this talk about it, whether or
not it's on the internet or now nationally through these two organizations, it was really
kind of just jaw dropping.
Like, oh, wow, people see what we're doing.
I had no idea.
Or like, you know, at these conferences and people reference us of saying like, oh yeah,
I got this information from a seat at the piano.
We're like, oh my God, like, this is amazing.
So that's just been really, really lovely.
And also the most recent NCKP National Conference for Keeber Pedagogy Conference, we were also
featured as like a PEDx talk.
And so Brendan was over there and he gave a really great talk about our organization
and competitions and festivals and things like that.
So yeah, it's really amazing to see all the work that we've done.
Like, we really have put a lot of work into this and so much of it has just been volunteers.
So like, we're not getting paid.
And which, yeah.
So to get that recognition is like, oh, that's really, that's really lovely.
And Annie, really, really congratulations on that.
Yeah, it's the hard work, but also I admire your passion too, right?
Because we are all passion driven people and being able to see that, you know, visually
in tangible way is so encouraging for not only just you guys, but also for me as well
to hear that wonderful news about your organization.
So throughout this journey, what did you gain and what important life lesson did you experience
from building this organization?
For me, it's been a really amazing experience doing this podcast, being able to meet you
guys.
Otherwise, there's, you know, I would never have, right?
In a virtual way like this.
And eventually I would love to meet you in person too.
But what sort of important life lesson did you receive by building this organization?
I think for me, an important lesson I've learned is focus on the quality and progress, not
success.
So you know, earlier when you were asking us, oh, how are you achieving your mission?
But I'm thinking, I'm thinking, well, I don't know if we're ever going to be completely
achieving our mission.
This is like, it's about the process.
It's not about the end goal.
And I don't even know what the end goal is going to look like.
Yeah, for me, you know, and like Annie said, we did three years of this work and then we
finally got recognized.
Not that we were looking for this recognition, but it's about our passion.
It's about what we're trying to do instead of seeing like an achievement and accomplishment.
So I think that's been the biggest lesson.
I'm sorry.
I'll end with that.
Okay, thank you.
She is agreeing with you.
She's like, amen.
Annie?
Yeah, I love that, Susan.
Yeah, I think process is everything.
And like our process, even with this project, it goes in ebbs and flows.
Like I think one of the big things that we've realized as a group and as a team is that,
you know, we don't have the luxury of time that we had during the pandemic.
Of course, there are lots of other things that we had to be occupied with as well, but
we really were able to devote a lot of time to researching and adding to this database.
We all have full time jobs or being a doctoral student.
And you know, it's busy.
And so having to fit this in, we do as much as we can.
And so like the little bits of progress that we're able to make either with this, with
the research that we're doing or how much we're able to share is I think the little
successes that we can celebrate.
Something I really have learned a lot is just like how much passion and curiosity can drive
people.
And so just in sharing some of these works with my students, like a lot of my students,
they have never even traveled outside of the state of North Carolina.
And so by sharing these kinds of works, it's able to enhance their perspective of the diversity
of the world through music.
And that's a really kind of incredible thing that we're able to do as musicians and artists.
And you know, like anyone is capable of making this kind of change.
We say this all the time.
It's just a matter about doing the work.
You've got to show up and you've got to do the work.
And just being excited to share that with others.
A lot of times we've talked a lot about vulnerability.
And when we started this, like, oh my goodness, are we even the right people to be doing this
kind of work?
And it's uncomfortable at times.
But I think as long as we continue doing it and to be passionate about it and to see how
fulfilling it is in going through this process, it's worth doing it.
Amen with that.
You have no idea how many times it's like, what am I doing?
But then, you know, it's a passion that drives, right?
Yes.
Totally agree.
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Now let's go a little deeper into our conversations.
Now it's a little bit more philosophical question.
So what is your thought on keeping classical music relevant and industry thriving in this
fast paced society?
You know, we hear, oh, I live in this, you know, sports oriented town and nobody cares
about music.
And to encourage my students to continue piano lessons is just so difficult.
I hear sometimes like this.
Or you know, I live in a really big city where everybody is so busy and just to have one
focus on one instrument really sometimes seems so impossible.
So what is your thought on that?
Wow.
Did I catch you off guard?
No, it's just like, it's so, it's, it's hard, right?
We all have our own lives.
We all have, you know, just like things to do.
Who am I to be telling you what to do?
Right?
However, I think what's more important is that every little bit counts.
I just think the more that we remain just ambassadors for this kind of work, you never,
you never know what little thing you might say to someone that can totally change the,
it sounds so dramatic, but like the literally the trajectory of their life, you know, like
I think of back when I was an undergrad, all it took was one conversation to sort of completely
change my direction in music.
I think also be willing to kind of have to talk to people.
I think for a long time, I've been the kind of person that I'm a, I would say rather reserved
individual.
So a lot of the time I'll say, well, I'll let my work speak for itself or like, I love
being especially a collaborative pianist because I'm like not the only one on stage.
Sometimes yeah, all it takes is one little conversation to really, to make a lasting
change in someone.
And that one person knows a whole different set of people, right?
So it's overwhelming, as it looks.
Yeah, we are more affected than we might think sometimes.
What is your thought on our duty or gift as classical musicians to society at large?
I mean, part of it is, I think the joy and the hardest thing, I think, as well as about
being like any type of artist, musician, you know, actor, whatever, is that I think the
best thing you can do is just be sort of true to yourself when you're doing your art, whatever
that might look like.
I don't personally, I don't know if I have a, would describe it as a duty to an audience
because I think it's more of a duty to your own artistic integrity and just kind of like
looking at it that way.
And then people might like it and people might not.
And that's okay, you know.
And then the other thing is just to realize that like, there's so much more out there
as well and just to be constantly exploring new things.
So right now, I am not by any means a jazz musician.
My dad is.
And I can do some basic stuff, but I have a lot of students at Fisk right now who want
to study piano and they want to learn to improvise.
And this is new for me to do, even though I've listened to jazz my whole life.
And so I think part of my sort of shifting identity as an artist and sort of what I'm
doing right now is I'm also just reacting to the needs of the community and I'm like
studying how to improvise right now.
And so that way I can be a more effective teacher.
And I don't know if I'll ever be what I would consider as a good improviser, but I think
that sort of reflection of you have to present yourself and you have to sort of react to
your community.
That sort of duality of being an artist is really important to hold on to as you're sort
of going through this work.
Yeah, I agree.
So now next question would be, what sort of innovative approaches can classical musicians
employ to connect with contemporary audiences?
I mean, I think that audiences today are very different from audiences that we've had a
hundred years ago.
We have shorter attention spans.
We are all about our devices and phones and scrolling, endless content, yet never exactly
do they want endless classical music concerts.
And so I think that the interacting with our modern day audience today is all just about
engagement and how to make it either having a really thoughtful and genuine theme or idea
that you're trying to convey through performance.
I think a lot of times, especially young students get into that mindset of I program a recital
to hit all the check boxes that I have to play for my recital jury, you know, your Baroque
piece, classical, romantic, contemporary.
But there are more creative ways, I think, to program, whether or not that's thematic
or whether or not that's based on a genre or some kind of idea, a quote that inspires
something.
I do find like visual elements, sometimes they can be extremely helpful, sometimes not.
But you know, if it's done well, it's done effectively.
I think it can be very, very engaging.
Or I've had friends who've done concerts that have apps that go along with the concert
with like live time kind of program notes.
So you know, I think of sportscasters all the time, like if when they were watching
sports and they like tell you detail by detail, I do not really understand sports.
So like, I appreciate that a lot.
So if someone was doing that for me and listening to classical music, that's fantastic.
That's great.
Or having like interactive things.
I've done some concerts where I've had people like write down words through also an app
and it gets projected onto a screen.
And so people get to share their ideas and create a word bubble of, you know, the way
it's like kind of anonymously too, which is nice because you don't have to like speak
out loud of what does this piece make you think of?
How does it make you feel?
Maybe like putting up an image or a video that also kind of accompanies a piece.
I think that we, especially as pianists, we tend to be very kind of solitary in the ways
that we work.
But the more that we're able to collaborate, whether or not that's with other people or
other terms of media, that's always going to be, I think, a lot more effective.
And of course, like, yeah, we wish like the music could just speak for itself, like kind
of, you know, we do art for art's sake.
But I think that's kind of just it's a romanticized kind of way to think about how we operate
as musicians and artists today.
And we need to do a little bit more.
Right.
Absolutely.
I agree with you.
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Now let's continue with the show.
What's the next phase and short term goal of ASAP?
So we have a couple of things on the docket that we want to get to.
One is the anthologies that Annie mentioned previously, which would be just exciting for
us to figure out how publishing works.
And also more importantly, serves as a tangible resource based on our database that just makes
finding this music even easier.
And then we do want to expand the types of music in our database.
And so we are hoping to build up our data on works for piano forehands or for piano
chamber, including two piano works and then piano with other instruments to sort of keep
expanding what we can that way.
And I know those are two big things that we want to sort of work towards in the future.
Wonderful.
So the last question is any advice?
This is just from the perspective as you being the music teachers, piano teachers, but any
advice for young musicians?
We all work with students every single day.
And there are moments when I'm teaching where I like to think of myself as being optimistic,
but it's very easy to think like, oh, being a musician is really hard.
Like what am I preparing you actually for?
What kind of career are you looking for after this?
And the only thing that kind of helps me to keep going, and I like to think that it's
the same for students, is that they are pursuing these interests for curiosity, for enjoyment,
and also for hope.
Because I think a lot about the Brazilian pedagogue, Paul Freire, he wrote this book,
Pedagogy of Hope.
And he says something along the lines of like, there's no change without a dream, just as
there is no dream without hope.
So if you don't have that hope and you don't have, it can be kind of abstract in any kind
of way, but we have to have something that's driving us.
And my hope being for them is that they're able to impact someone's life, whether or
not it's through their music or through their interests in art in some kind of way.
And I like to pull quotes from other people because I feel like they say it much better
than I do.
But like another person I think of is Brene Brown, who's just a really wonderful speaker.
And we talk about this too within our group and our team of we're not here to be right,
but we're here to get it right.
And so it's all about process and the process is going to be forever going.
You know, it's not a sprint.
We did actually a whole presentation about this, that like our process in this is really
an ultra marathon, the longest distance that you could go because our goal really is to
keep on doing this for as long as we can.
Right, right.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I'm going to hand this question to everybody, but time is running out, so we have to go
to the next segment.
But before we go, give a special mention to all the pianists and piano teachers and students
tuning in today who might not be familiar with your organization.
So just the last like a quick promo that you can do.
Yeah.
Come visit us at acetothepiano.com or visit us on social media.
There's a lot to explore and I can promise you that you will find something that interests
you.
Thank you.
So all of us can go to acetothepiano.com, right?
Yes.
And you can get their ASAP.
Okay.
Yeah.
You get their ASAP.
Yes.
That was perfect.
Great.
This has been such a fun, inspiring conversation, everyone.
Annie, Evan, Brendan, Susan, thank you so much for being here.
But before I let you go, we have one more thing to do.
So it's called the Pianopods rapid fire questions.
And this is the part of the show where I get to ask fun questions to every one of you.
And here's a little twist.
As silly as these questions may sound, your answers may reveal who truly you are.
So ready or not?
Question number one, what is your comfort food?
Annie.
Tacos.
Evan.
Fuh.
Okay.
Brendan.
Uh, ooh, chips.
That's probably bad.
Okay.
Susan.
Ice cream.
Yes.
How do you like your coffee, Evan?
A little bit of soy.
Brendan.
A lot and black.
Susan.
Okay.
So, I'm going to ask you a question.
What is your favorite food?
I like the
Black sometimes with milk.
Annie.
Black and bold.
Okay.
Wow.
All right.
Cats or dogs, Brendan?
Dogs.
We have a dog.
Okay.
Annie.
Dog.
All right.
You're your old dog people here.
Great.
Now, uh, summer or winter, Susan?
Winter.
Annie.
Oh, definitely summer.
Evan.
Winter.
Brendan.
Uh, winter in Nashville, but summer where it's somewhere not as hot.
Yes.
Amen.
All right.
Now, what is your word of words to live by, Annie?
Curiosity.
Evan.
Pick your battles.
Brendan.
Um, I guess be willing and flexible.
Right.
And Susan.
Be nice.
Okay.
Now name one unknown composer whom you discovered through your work at ASAP and admire.
So one unknown composer.
Uh, start with Evan.
Oh, I can't remember their name.
I just felt like found their A-tubes the other day.
Okay.
I'll get back to you.
So Brendan.
I would hate to call her unknown because I think she's actually really well known except
to me, but Sarah Kirkland Snyder is somebody that I found and love her music.
Okay.
Susan.
Vyacheslav Koplovov.
Okay.
Oswald Russell.
He's a Jamaican composer.
Oh, wow.
I need to check him up.
See, I'm really learning.
Evan.
I can't remember.
I'll say, um, I'm not sure.
I'm not sure.
I'm really learning, Evan.
Okay.
I'll say, um, Shimonovska.
Okay.
Great.
Thank you.
So name one piece in your current playlist, Brendan.
Um, uh, Snarky Puppy's newest album.
Uh, Entraact, I think it's called.
Okay.
Susan.
Florence Price concerto.
Wonderful.
Annie.
Um, Hozier's new album, Eat Your Young.
Okay.
Great.
Evan.
Uh, Mahalia's new album, IRL.
Great.
So now last question.
Fill in the blank.
Music is blank.
Susan.
Powerful.
Annie.
Music is empowering.
Amen.
Evan.
Profound.
Indeed.
Brendan.
Um, music is necessary.
Ah, so good.
Ding, ding.
You're done.
So you're all passed.
Congratulations.
Yes.
All right.
So this concludes this episode of the piano pop.
Thank you, Annie and Evan, Brendan for, and Susan for joining and, uh, you're the baby.
I didn't want to interrupt you.
Uh, you're the baby.
I didn't want to ask the name because sometimes, you know, you want to hide, you want to be
anonymous with the little ones, but, um, thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Little girl, little baby for joining.
So, um, sharing your stories and insights and expertise that you can learn more about
a seat at the piano through their website at a seat at the piano.com and also through
Instagram and Facebook.
Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in today.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform
you use.
Remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe to my YouTube channel and then also follow
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I will see you for the next episode of the piano pod.
Bye everyone.
And thank you so much, everyone.
Annie, Evan, Brendan, Susan.
Thank you.