Spirit, Body, and Soul: Pianist & Composer David Berry on Virtuosity, Creativity, and Artistic Identity

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Welcome back to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song.

Today marks the season finale of Season 6. And what a journey it has been. Under the theme Creativity and Connection, we've explored the many ways artists use music to bridge cultures, disciplines, and communities. And I can think of no better guest to bring the season to a close than David Barry. Cause a pianist, composer, arranger, educator, and scholar, David is an artist whose musical life resists easy labels. Equally at home with Liszt, George Walker, James P. Johnson, contemporary music, improvisation, and his own original works, he embodies the spirit of creativity and connection through his performances, compositions, curation, and deep engagement with students and audiences. In this conversation, we explore creativity beyond categories, the relationship between improvisation and composition, the music of George Walker and James P. Johnson, contemporary music and living composers, and what it means to bring one's full musical self to the stage. Along the way, David shared stories from his musical upbringing, his studies at Eastman and Juilliard, and the artistic philosophy behind his upcoming album, Spirit, Body, and Soul: Concert Spirituals or solo piano. This is Season 6, Episode 20 of The Piano Pod with Spirit, Body, and Soul, pianist David Barry on virtuosity, creativity, and artistic identity. Please enjoy the show.

You are listening to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the future. And thriving in a complex, ever-evolving world. David, welcome to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. Thank you for being here today.

It's a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

It is truly a pleasure. And where are you joining us from?

Um, I am in Harrisonburg, Virginia. That's where my home is, and that's where I make my life.

Oh, great, wonderful. So this is such a meaningful way to, you know, close out Season 6 of The Piano Pod centered on creativity and connection, which your artistry truly embodies. And Dr. Nana Ogbo, founder and artistic director of Juneteenth LP, who was also a guest in Season 4 and a featured artist at our first Piano Pod with Yukimi Song live event last fall, encouraged me to reach out to you and spoke— she spoke so highly of your work.

So she's amazing. So it's a mutual feeling.

It's truly an honor that you're here. So You're widely recognized as a concert pianist, but your recent work also reflects a clear shift toward authorship through your original compositions on spirituals, your arrangements, your improvisational language— amazing— in your upcoming solo album.

Yeah, yeah, it's exciting, and it's been an exciting part of this, this part of my journey, my artistic journey.

Oh, that's amazing. I can't wait to talk more about that. So, but I would love to begin with this. When you look at all the things that you do, you know, from pianist, composer, arranger, professor, and so what is the through line that connects everything you do? Meaning what's the mission and passion in what you do?

Yeah. Obviously music is my passion and all of those things are connected to music, my background, my training, you know, it's what I've decided I want to make my life in as is the case for probably all of us who are, uh, listening to this, or, you know, here. And, um, I think for me the through line, if I, if I were to say one thing, is just heart. The tasks are different, right? If as an administrator, a university, or a professor or anything, the, the daily work looks different, you know, whether you're dealing with spreadsheets, or as a pianist, whether you're on stage or you're composing. What That is different. But what is not different is the idea of how do you put your heart and soul into this, that whatever the task is that you're accomplishing, how do you shine through? How is it something that you feel proud of and something that you feel like you're giving your soul to? And I feel like in all of those things, learning the systems, learning the tasks, is important, but for me, that's always sort of been a driving factor.

Wow, beautiful. Thank you so much for saying that. So today is especially timely because Brigham Young University's Untold Story album is being released. Today is May 1st, so, you know, this episode will be released on June 16th, But we're recording on May 1st, and your composition, Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, is one of the featured works for this album. So first of all, congratulations. And can you tell us about this album, how your piece became part of it?

Yeah, no, it was really interesting. So in 2022, I believe it was, and they just have a wonderful piano faculty at Brigham Young. Some pianists I've known for a long time, Stephen Buse and Jihae Hong Park, had this really wonderful idea of creating a piano competition there called Untold Stories. And so all of the pieces played were by underrepresented composers, you know, who would be considered underrepresented or, you know, you don't hear on the stage all the time. And so I had gotten to know Jihae, and we had worked together. In various contexts. I did something for, you know, Utah, and she did something at my university and taught my students. And so it was about that time that I had sort of released this composition or the score, you know, that others could play it. And she said, you know, this is great. I actually want my student to play it and play it for the competition. So I said, that's wonderful. And so her student learned it. As soon as I sort of released it, Jihae scooped it up and her student learned it, and the student won, won a prize in the competition. I got to hear the student play, play the piece for me, and she was amazing. I loved it. And yeah, and as that, that they kind of lived through this experience of having run this competition, I think had this idea of developing an album from it. And so, yeah, that's— here we are now where, you know, there are pieces by all sorts of composers on there, some living, some composers who aren't with us now currently. You know, William Grant Still is on there. And so it's really an honor that my piece would be a part of this project.

Wow. Well, it's an incredible arrangement. But for listeners who may not know the backstory or you know, this Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, or some people say Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho, right? And so this is a very standard spiritual song. So can you tell us a little bit about this spiritual?

Yeah, the spiritual itself is definitely one of the ones from the tradition. You know, the idea behind a lot of spirituals is this connection that enslaved African Americans felt to the narratives of the biblical stories and arising from oppression, sort of working through barriers. Sometimes it's being in the mire of the everyday oppression and looking towards your heavenly home. There are all sorts of of narratives in the Bible that these spirituals come from and enslaved African Americans connected with. So in the case of Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, this idea of there's this giant, seemingly impenetrable empire fortress, and that the people could overcome that and bring that down and literally bring down these walls is such a pictorial image. Um, and so, uh, that's sort of, uh, in the context of that, that spiritual and those lyrics, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down, um, you know where it comes from.

It's such a powerful message behind it and it's so timeless, right?

Like, absolutely.

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And your arrangement has such a strong sense of virtuosity instead of fantastic range, and I could hear Beethoven-like, you know, Beethoven sonata-like structure or style, or Brahms-like texture, you know, and with even elements of jazz language as well as Franz Liszt style. Sometimes I can hear even Debussy-like colors. So maybe the way you play.

So I love hearing you talk about it. Yeah.

So how do you approach creating that kind musical world around Spiritual.

Yeah, it's interesting because, um, after the fact, like, hearing, hearing you talk about it, you have a great ear obviously for, you know, hearing these styles and things. Um, it's sort of easier after the fact to pull out what, um, you know, the, the styles are and everything, even for me. In the composition process, it definitely never it never is, and wasn't it for this arrangement, for me, I want a little bit of this or I want a little bit of that. It was, I think, just a, is just a part of my soul and the different influences in my musical life that all come together to create from, for me, what's organic next. So, I never in my life thought once, I need a little jazzy part right here, or I need a little impressionist part. It sort of is like, this is the texture that expresses this moment, um, or this is the type of virtuosity, or the type of structure, or the, the way to deal with the motives that express this moment. And that might come from something that sounds more like B.B. King, or it might be something that sounds like late Brahms' Intermezzo. So I couldn't describe it different than that. It's all together in me, I think.

You know, being a pianist is one thing, and to be able to actually create your own language is another. So that's quite impressive. And later we can pinpoint and say, oh, that's an inspiration from this composer and that, you know?

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

So, and then your—

I think, I don't know if it was your playing or someone else's, but this piece, "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho," of your arrangement or composition was also released on Tiny Glass Tavern's album. Is that correct?

Yeah. Yeah. So the Tiny Glass Tavern is an arts collective. So that sort of eclectic, they do all kinds of things. They're classical musicians. Wonderful group. Sophie, the artistic director, is just amazing, and had heard a video of me playing this piece and wanted it on her album. Her album's all about dance, and I guess the rhythmic element of it caught her ear. And so I ended up recording that with them for Navona Records, and so yeah, that was the first commercial sort of release of that. Piece before the competition album sort of came about. So it was me playing on that one, but it's exciting to hear, you know, another pianist and how it hits them and how they feel it. So yeah.

Wow, wow. So that's amazing. What it's like for you to be recognized that way, you know, on that album by Tiny Glass Tavern, but also being in the, you know, album of Brigham Young University, you know? How do you feel?

Yeah, no, it's really exciting. Um, you know, I think for one, just the connection to different musicians, you know, I hadn't known, um, the work of Tiny Glass Tavern or Sophie, uh, up there in Boston, and So to get connected and sort of make that connection, I went up to Boston to record it. And those engineers and producer I really loved, and they end up being my team for my own projects. And so it's a whole ecosystem of connection besides just the notes. I think that's the really exciting part about your music being out in the world and connecting with others is those connections and relationships that start with the page, start with the score, but move into so much more.

Yeah, yeah, it's a very difficult— sounds like a very difficult advanced piece, but I'd love to try. But if for anyone who listens, and I'm sure there are so many people who are listening, would love to listen to your— this piece, but is the score available?

It is, yeah. That one, I think— so on my website you can find the link to buy the score, but that one's currently self-published.

Oh, great. So it's davidbarry.com?

Davidbarrypiano.com.

Piano.com. Okay, fantastic. So I will make sure to list that. Now, before, you know, we go deeper into your work as a composer and arranger, I want to begin with you as a pianist. So composing, as I said, composing at the level of dexterity and musical depth from, you know, hymnal tune requires a real pianistic command. And your recent Eastman recital at the Gateways Music Festival, that titled Spirit, Body, and Soul: A Musical Journey Through the Piano Music of George Walker Franz Liszt and African American spirituals really shows the kind of artist you are and artistic world that you are building. So I understand the program brought together something old and new, almost a revival of earlier keyboard traditions, beginning with improvisation. That's so cool. And then moving into two large-scale sonatas and concluding with your own work and improvisation again. So first of all, tell us what pieces you performed and could you walk us through how this program was conceived and how these elements connect? Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, it was an honor to be able to play that recital at my alma mater, where, you know, where I'd gone to undergrad. The way the— I'll start with how the recital was structured. So I began with a prelude of my of my own in the moment, so I improvised sort of a blues prelude, sort of a bluesy voice, bluesy style, and then kind of, um, I didn't go immediately into the George Walker Sonata, but left little space, right, and then played George Walker's Second Piano Sonata, which is an amazing dramatic, uh, work in modern musical language, modernist musical language, I played a set of my own spirituals, including one which was a premiere for that performance. So I played the Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho. I played Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, which was premiered, you know, I'd written then for that. And then I have a set of variations on Ride On King Jesus in That Great Gettin' Up Morning. So I played those, and that was the first half. After intermission, the second half, I played the Liszt piano sonata and then went directly into my composition on "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," and then directly into an improvisation on "Lift Every Voice and Sing." So it was a little bit of work in that second half, no doubt. In terms of how that came together, Again, it's just the different— it's music that has hit my soul and meant something to me and stayed with me throughout my life. And as you get older, as you live with music, you start to understand it in different ways and dig into it in different ways. You're a different person as you grow. Your emotional relationship and your experiences relate differently. But analytically, your analytical mind and your understanding of structure and phrasing and intervals and line and all of those things change as well. And I think for me at this point in my life, I start to hear a lot more connections between all of those things. Some of it's through sort of the worlds that those musics inhabit. Franz Liszt and spirituals would come from the same time in history, different places culturally, obviously, where Liszt was and then where spirituals were coming from. But in terms of where— what— in the grand span of time, this is a moment in time, the 19th century, and there's a zeitgeist to that time, right?

I'm sorry, I never connected those two together in terms of time-wise. You're right.

Certainly.

I mean, you know, you think of the Industrial Revolution affects everyone during that time. What that meant for enslaved people in the 19th century is different than what that meant for Liszt, maybe. But those are things you're dealing with in that time period, right? And the reaction, the way you write, the way your soul is expressed. You know, that's why we have broad categorizations, but we do have them because they mean something, a Romantic era or a classical era or whatever. And so I think it's a time where people really express their soul in a certain type of way, and that's part of the connection I saw, even though Liszt was in a different part of the world than where the spirituals were. It's this idea of you connect from your soul and your, and your heart in a deep way. And so that's one aspect is sort of that soul.

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Emotional connection, but then, um, as the analytical brain moves and you listen to structures and and overtones and dissonances, I start to see, you know, in George Walker's very modernist musical language, a kinship to the sound world of the blues. The way dissonance is used, the idea of what we'd call cross relations, the major and the minor, and existing simultaneously. Um, some of the types of gestures and sort of the power and force, um, all of those, those things. So I found them to be similar sound worlds. And he is a very modernist composer, but he, he uses spirituals and jazz and blues influences, probably in ways a lot of people wouldn't necessarily hear, you know, in, in there. But if you dig into the structures, the intervals, the sound world there is a kinship there that I heard. And then with Liszt, also, if you listen to what, like, many contemporary gospel pianists are playing now, parallel diminished chords and things like that, you hear— and you only get it when you're sitting in front of a piano working through the Liszt Sonata— that this sound is a sound that I hear now, and, uh, you know, that's a texture that Liszt used. Um, and so it was sort of in the work that the inspiration came. It definitely wasn't like, I want to put this and that together. Sort of sitting there with the pieces, being influenced by that, you see connections.

Wow, that's deep. Why? But then you mentioned about the connection between enslaved African Americans at the time with Franz Liszt in timeline-wise, but also I feel like there's the spiritual— so because Liszt was a very spiritual man. Oh, yeah, that connection too, don't you think?

Of course, yeah. No, so at the concert, I actually, I spoke. So I think in some respects the music speaks for itself, but in a concert like this, I thought, some sort of helping the audience to know how to at least begin to think through it would be helpful. So I explained a little bit about what I was doing with the, the Blues Prelude and the Walker, both before and after the experience of it. And in the beginning, um, talked about Liszt and his spirituality and, um, how that sort of connects with where the spirituals came from. So absolutely, that connection's there.

That's fantastic. Would you like to do this program again sometime in that similar sort of way?

Oh, for sure. Yeah. No, it was a really, really amazing experience to be able to bring things together in that sort of a way. I had never quite done it exactly like that. You know, I've incorporated my compositions and things, but I wanted something really integrated. Yeah.

Wow.

But where does this, um, you know, starting from improvisation and ending on improvisation come from?

Um, yeah, well, you know, some of these things have always been a part of my life, and I think what was your career and what's your life aren't necessarily by default the same thing unless, you know, you find ways to merge that. There's plenty of things we, we're interested in and do and love that aren't necessarily the main thing, parts of what people ask us to do. I think improvisation and has always been something I've loved, has always been something I've been done and been interested in, and at the same time I'm practicing, you know, my Rachmaninoff or Beethoven, and sort of intensely with the metronome, and I need a mental break, I will improvise. So literally, there, those, all of those pieces came to be as a part of the same process as the improvisation, no matter what the concert was going to be. So they've, it's always been a there. This, I think in this concert, it was just a matter of bringing my full musical self to the stage. And then I'm— improvisation offers you the unique opportunity to be totally present with that experience and that audience and what the spirit in this room right now? Um, what, what, what is it I need to do that speaks to the spirit right now?

You know, I was gonna ask these questions later, but you know, why not? I think, you know, you are really trained musician at, you know, at Eastman, and then later went on to Juilliard and got your master's in DMA as well from Juilliard, right? So But at the same time, you do this improvisation. I mean, you shouldn't separate those two, but at the same time, I think it's still people have this ideas about this is classical music and this is improvisation. But I hope one of these days we— these two sort of merge again together because just like Baroque time, you know what I mean?

Of course.

Anyway, if you think back to your earliest musical memories, uh, where, where did you start your musical journey?

Uh, yeah, well, the first piece I'd ever learned on the piano, uh, my father taught it to me. Uh, yeah, my father, he actually passed away just last year. Um, yeah, yeah, but he was— taught me the first piece I'd ever learned on the piano. And it was a Ray Charles blues that you could play all on black notes. He was a self-taught guitarist, played the blues, kind of gospel, Southern tradition, but he knew this one song on piano. And I always mention this is that, you know, years, years later, I'm studying, you know, at these places and, you know, advanced studies in piano pedagogy and all of these things. And, you know, One of the things they teach you is about the white keys and the black keys and playing something only on the black keys and how students can learn and, you know, the rainbow and the arc and all, all of these things. And that's an important connection for me because now that I'm in the academy, you know, to not forget that that first piece I learned was pedagogical brilliance. And that part of my training is equally as important and valid as what I'm being taught here and was first. I wouldn't be here without that. So the first thing I learned, I'm black keys. I went to a piano teacher. My parents took me, this wonderful Greek piano teacher and conductor, George Scafides, who was obsessed with Beethoven. And so we mentioned Beethoven earlier, really put the bug in me for Beethoven. And, you know, just his whole life and his story and everything about him musically, resilience, perseverance, fiery, all of the things. And so, you know, my piano lessons were always classical with that teacher. But in my whole life, you know, I had my father who played the blues and gospel. You know, the cars driving down the street in the neighborhood might play hip-hop, you know. In the church, I'd have, you know, gospel music and be listening, what exactly was that chord progression, and go and play my Beethoven Sonata and then try to figure out what those chords were I heard in church or whatever. And so those were all a part of my musical life. And so not just the part you go to piano lessons for, right? They're all part of your musical makeup. Up. So they were for me.

Wow, that's great. But sounds like you also had a lot of opportunities for you to sort of do a lot of improvisational stuff growing up.

Yeah, well, um, I had always been sort of interested in that, and, you know, I play the blues and stuff with my father, um, I think as I grew in my knowledge of music, so it was sort of interesting because, um, you know, I'd take the piano, classical piano lessons and music theory, and then I'd hear this music around me and try to figure out what, what it is from the, the classical theory I had learned. So I wasn't completely a process of I was just improvising by ear and then became a classical— it was sort of like they grew simultaneously, but the classical gave me an analytical, um, yeah, ability. Yeah, yeah.

But you know, I'm asking you this because, you know, as we both are trained pianists, and but improvisation part was just not really encouraged, or even, you know, making, composing, like, that's like, oh, for those who want to pursue composition, that's a completely separate track. And a real pianist just stay in the practice room and then do your Hanon and do your Czerny. And yeah, you see, you see, so that's why I asked.

Yeah, yeah. So, um, that same piano teacher I had, he was also a composer. And so, um, you know, he— I think I actually just brought to him one day a fully fleshed composition I had been working on, you know, a piano piece. And he was like, "You compose music?" You know, 'cause it was sort of like that. You know, I'd go to my lessons, Hanon and Czerny and all of that. And then in my practice time on the side, it was all of these other things, you know? And then, but when I brought that into that space, you know, he was thrilled, right? Because he's a composer.

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Um, so it was definitely encouraged. I would say, um, it wasn't necessarily a part of my musical training early on. I was trained as a pianist.

I see. Okay. Wow, interesting. Then you went on to Eastman for your undergraduate degree, followed by Juilliard for your master's and doctoral studies. Those are such prestigious schools, and I'm sure you had mentors who trained you and shaped who you are today.

I started with my teacher at the Eastman School of Music Douglas Humphreys, it is. Amazing pianist, amazing professor and mentor. Um, I started taking lessons with him when I was in high school because I'm, I'm from Syracuse, New York. It's about an hour and a half from the Eastman School in Rochester.

Oh, you're originally from New York? Okay.

Yep, upstate, upstate New York, um, born and raised. And so I'd had— I'd done a, you know, they'd had a summer pre-college competition I participated in. And so I met him through that. And then I started taking lessons with him and, you know, my family, we drive up there, I'd take my lessons, my mom take my sisters over to the science museum or something like that while I'm in my lessons. And so started with him then. So he really helped me form the foundation of what, you know, I would become as a pianist in terms of here's the conservatory level or this road to concert pianist that if you're interested in pursuing what that looks like, you know, as a young— younger pianist, that's something we all have to understand the level of commitment and discipline and, Sensitivity. I think that, that part is true too. Your ear sensitive in that way, your soul sensitive in that way, all of those things. So I'd hate to describe it as boot camp. That sounds so unartistic after saying, you know, we're talking about nuance and sensitivity, but really what it takes. And so I think That was amazing to go through that process and him being a mentor. And I had a lot of others along the way at that college, you know, music history professors. I've always had a love of history and like I said, with Beethoven, understand the composer's life and, you know, sort of all these elements around music. Other chamber music coaches, all of those things. I think when I went to Juilliard, all of those things continued, but also just the environment of being right there. You know, it sits right at Lincoln Center, and the Met is across the street. And I always love telling these— some of the, you know, friends you have. There's so many talented, amazing people of all kinds of disciplines, you know, dance, music, acting. So it's just the whole atmosphere of being in a place like that just feeds you and motivates you. I always tell this funny story of like, you know, you'll be walking past a practice room and hear like Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 or Rock II or something, and you look in the window and you don't see anybody, and it's because it's a preparatory kid who's too short. You can't see them, but they're playing, you know, the Tchaikovsky. You know, you just see who's in there. And so, um, just being in that kind of environment, right, where there's so much, um, amazing talent in the city, in the, in the school, is just amazing experience. So I think that, that was also a huge part of that, that experience. And I love my teacher there, Martin Cannon, one of the great American pedagogues, um, and just learned so much from him about the tech— technical details of piano playing, but you know, one of his great gifts was he just demonstrate in a lesson and it's like, um, music from heaven. The sound, you know, effortlessly, just beautifully. So I'll net that— the impression of just simple, beautiful, from the soul musicality without pretension was something that, uh, I felt like, um, will never leave my, my mind and soul from watching him play.

Wow.

Yeah. Then did any of classes or teachers maybe encourage you to compose more or improvise more, or any inspiration from that era?

Yeah, it's interesting. Like I said, in my early life, I, um, was sort of already doing those things separately from my training, kind kind of. And, um, they'd sort of been— they'd— it'd peek its way into the sort of classical part of my life here and there. I'd won a composition award at the NAACP AXO competition. This, um, it's, it's this amazing competition to encourage youth. Um, it's sort of like you start in your region and then there's a national competition in all sorts of categories. You know, music, contemporary music, um, computer science, um, literature, acting, oratory. And so I won an award for, um, my piece then. I was 15. Um, but, but it was still not what I was focusing on in my, my lessons and all of that. And I would say when I, when I went to conservatory, that was much more about becoming a pianist. So, um, so I think maybe even then the composition, um, wasn't something that was on the forefront of my mind as opposed to being a pianist. So it was always sort of there and in the mix, and I was always still arranging and writing and things. Um, but it was really sort of, um, in all of these other areas of my life that I was utilizing those skills. You know, whether it was as a church music director, um, while I was doing my training, or, um, playing with singers or bands or— and all of that kind of a thing. Um, and then it was sort of— I feel like more after I'd finished that I started merging those into what I did on the stage as a classical artist. So it's an interesting journey for me.

Yeah, it is an interesting journey. I'm just going to go back a little bit, you being a pianist again. I want to know your, um, recording of, uh, James P. Johnson, Yamacraw.

Yeah, um, that one wasn't a recording, that was a live performance.

Um, I see. So who is playing in this, uh, With the Harlem Chamber Players.

Yeah.

Album, or was it an album, or?

That was for a concert we did in 2024, which is like the 125th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington, obviously a worldwide important figure, but especially to Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance and all of that. So the Harlem Chamber Players, a magnificent group, collective of musicians run by Liz Player, based in Harlem, classical music organization, but always has always been diverse musically and in the composers and musicians and all of that. So this was this anniversary concert, and we— it was called Duke Ellington in a Symphonic Mood. You know, there's a standard in a sentimental mood, so he sort of played off of that title. And it incorporated some of Duke Ellington's orchestral compositions. And then also sort of in his same world and sphere was James P. Johnson. And so he had this piece, "Yamacraw," that was a part of that concert as well. So I think the full title is "Yamacraw: Negro Rhapsody" or an Ebony Rhapsody. I see.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so tell us a little bit about this James P. Johnson. And he was known as a Harlem stride pianist.

Yeah.

And stride is a very hard thing to do. I, you know, I tried Mary Lou Williams, what is it, Nightlife? Yeah, I have the score and I tried— well, left hand is is so difficult.

Yeah, yeah, it's tricky, um, the stride. Uh, yeah, James P. Johnson is a super, um, a really important figure, um, who had not been as, as celebrated widely as, you know, maybe a Duke Ellington was, but certainly in that, that world of, um, the Harlem jazz scene and in the 1920s, all of that, a seminal figure. So he's really important in helping the transition in sort of from ragtime, you know, which you think of with like Scott Joplin and Maple Leaf Rag, to this stride piano we're talking about. He's sort of the father of it and what we call like Harlem stride. So there's other pianists, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Fats Waller was a sort of pupil of his. So he's sort of the father of that tradition. He was a really interesting figure in that he was interested in all kinds of music. He did the stride and jazz, but he was also really interested in classical music and sort of studied independently. European classical music, wrote musicals. Probably the most famous song of the 1920s, The Charleston, is his composition. His music was featured in film. So he really was a Renaissance figure in terms of musically. The piece itself is— Bubba Wallace here from 2311 Racing. You know what's slower than a pace car? Waiting at the car wash. That's when I fire up Chumba Casino. It turns those slow minutes into fast fun.

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Um, yeah, has a really amazing story to it as well.

Oh, tell me.

Yeah, yeah, okay. Well, um, so he did know George Gershwin. They were, you know, contemporaries. And so Rhapsody in Blue was written in 1924, um, and, and James P. Johnson decided to kind of write his own rhapsody And so this piece was the Yamokra, and Yamokra is named after like a community, a sort of rural outskirts community of Savannah, Georgia, African American community. So, you know, a lot of Gershwin has Charleston as a— Charleston, South Carolina as a cultural inspiration. But this one's Yamakra. So the piece is sort of in a similar vein, what we might call third stream music that sort of brings together classical and jazz in a way like Rhapsody in Blue does, but it was his own way to do that. And I think it's very different than Gershwin's way. You know, Gershwin, I think is amazing in this sort of Tin Pan Alley and jazz roots. But James P. Johnson also had something that was a little further south, a little more gritty, a little bit more blues-infused. And so it's a different— it's definitely a different sound, a different tradition of this sort of third stream. It's not a monolith. His own voice.

Surely. I mean, his music is unique and just not quite being able to pinpoint, obviously the stride is a very, very distinctive feature, but I did not know this artist or composer. Yeah.

Yeah. So he originally played it as a piano piece, but then it was orchestrated by William Grant Still, amazing composer. And so that's where this version came from as sort of a piano concerto, you know, with full orchestra and piano soloist, and it's really intertwined. It's almost like a symphony of piano and orchestra.

Right. And did you play this as a solo piano piece then?

No, I played it— we played it as the— in the orchestra, in the version, you know, with the orchestra. So, you know, the Harlem Chamber Players Orchestra played it, and I was the piano soloist for the piece. And it was a dream to do it in Harlem and the anniversary of Duke Ellington. Damien Sneed, amazing artist, sort of in gospel, classical, and jazz, brings all these things together, conducted the performance.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow, that's fantastic. When was this? Like several years ago?

Yeah, this was in 2024.

Oh, not too long ago. So building on these perspectives, and I'm curious how your work extends into the present, especially your engagement with contemporary contemporary music and living composers. So you premiered works by James Lee III. Oh, I love his piano works. And then Adolphus Hilstorg. Yeah, his chamber music. I listened to— I think you were with the Harlem Chamber Players, right? Were you the pianist in that album?

I am, yeah. It was another— on Navonia.

That is a fantastic work.

Oh, it is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how would you describe your relationship to contemporary music and what draws you into it? Because you also play, you know, Liszt, for example, and the other so-and-so-called classical pieces too.

So yeah, well, um, sort of interesting, right at the beginning of my professional career, you know, and I'm sort of getting out of school and everything really 3 organizations I sort of played with a lot as a regular member, and they were all committed to diverse representation of composers and musicians on stage and also new music. So they all— all of them commissioned pieces by composers of various backgrounds and underrepresented composers. And so it was sort of by built into sort of the concerts and things that I had that this relationship with working with composers and contemporary music right at the very beginning, you know, when I was first sort of starting. And so I think that process for me is definitely different than coming to a piece that has a longstanding tradition of how it's played, right? And finding your own voice within that, even still in most cases, is sort of like, find your voice within that, but the tempos in this section is typically between here and here, you know, 80 and 120, You could go outside it if you want to, but you might sound a little— you know, there's— we have some sort of sense of here's parameters and here's things and here's the style. But when you're coming at a composition that no one's ever played before, maybe the composer's never even heard anyone play before, it's a mutual process and a different interpretive process. I think I've learned you definitely have to come at it with your own convictions of what you think this music is saying and bring that to the composer, and they can tell you, you know, I do believe that, or I don't, or I don't, or you have it right or wrong or whatever. But certainly it's hard for a piece to come to life if you're just starting from, "Here's the notes, spoon-feed me everything I need to know." You have to kind of have some idea. And so it's that process of engaging, dissecting, finding like, having conviction about what the music means when you've never heard it before to bring something to life that I think is the most exciting part and the part I love the most.

Yeah. I know I want to focus now finally about your, you being a composer and an arranger. And then I think you mentioned somewhere, maybe guest form you filled out for me or something, and that one of your recordings or video clip gained significant attention, went viral basically. It went over 40,000 40,000 views and widely shared. So did that sort of ignite your passion toward like, oh, I want to do this, I can do this? Yeah, yeah.

Um, so it was a video of a, the, you know, it was the Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho. And I'd, um, that, you know, I think I'd— it was 2020 and it was, um, right after sort of of George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd, that I'd posted a video of that composition. And the post was, you know, something like, walls, justice must stand, walls of oppression must fall. And, you know, I talked about the meaning of that spiritual, Joshua at the Battle of Jericho, and the walls and all of that. So that, that was the connection there. And yeah, it was sort of to my surprise. I hadn't posted it for any other reason than what I was feeling, you know, in the moment. And I'd been writing a lot of my own compositions as a faculty person for my faculty recitals, for my other concerts I'd had going on, just for me to play in my concerts. And things like that. So I, you know, had a number of things I've been working on. But that video, yeah, for some reason sort of caught on and people ask, you know, hey, where can I find that and play, you know, this piece and, you know, other things, you know, I posted of mine. That made me think, hey, you know, I've always done this throughout my life, you know, that I can't think of a time where I wasn't arranging and writing and composing at some level. And that, yeah, my full authentic self musically, this is a part of me that probably needs to be in my life, my professional life. And so, yeah, it was really around that time that I really started. Merging those things in terms of what I do on stage and making that available for others.

Do you plan to spend more time on being a composer from now on?

Good question.

Yeah. Yeah.

I think definitely so. I think I all, like I said, it's like, what is your authentic musical self? And for me, that is being a concert pianist, and that is this composition. As I said, they'd always been happening together, you know, and I was learning my Clementi sonatinas back when, or, you know, the Czerny etudes. I was always still The practice session would involve the improvisation and the Hanon exercises. So they'd never not been together, you know. It's just a matter of bringing the full self to the stage than where I am now in my life. So I think definitely in terms of that aspect, seeing those things and bringing those things together more is where my passion is now.

Yeah, down the road. I know we're gonna talk about the album that comes out in October too, but do you plan to compose like extensive work like sonatas and the preludes, 24 preludes? Yeah, maybe.

Um, yeah, I will see what the future holds in that way. I, I love sonata form. I absolutely love sonata form. And Brahms is one of my absolute favorite composers. And I think my compositions do tend to be— I love the arc, the narrative arc of structure and form and figuring out how to be organic within that. And all the things we talk about with Beethoven and Brahms and how they made those forms breathe and come to life. And so, yeah, that absolutely is—

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Something that, uh, may come, you know, we'll see.

Oh, that's exciting. That's so exciting. So let's talk about your upcoming album, right? So you told me, uh, just to me, that the title of the album is official. So what is the title of this album?

Yeah, the title of my upcoming, uh, album is, uh, Spirit, Body, and Soul: Concert Spirituals for Solo Piano.

Fantastic. Which will be out in October of 2026.

Yeah, it'll, it will release on, um, um, Navona Records. So the Parma label, which is, um, amazing label, been promoting all kinds of unique music and diverse composers and everything. So it was a real honor to be able to do this album with them. And yeah, it'll be all my own compositions on spirituals.

So I'm curious about the title, right? The Spirit, Body, and Soul, because you use the same title for the concert you gave in, uh, was it Rochester, right?

Yep, yep, yep.

So where does this— I mean, Spirit Body Soul, I have to say that. Yeah, tell me.

Yeah, where did that title, um, come from? I think it— that title for me came from, um, just the way I experienced, um, writing this music and what of myself I put into this music to bring it to life. So yeah, the pieces themselves are— and it's interesting with that word arrangement or transcription or composition. Sometimes I think people struggle with some of my pieces, where to, how to, how that lands. Because I do, I definitely write things that are more like, I would say, an arrangement. Here's the tune and you do it a few times and you add in different textures and make it sparkle. But there are a lot of them that are more akin to the process of Lieder, where you're finding what's the psychological underpinnings of what the text is saying and what's the compositional structures that bring that to life. How do you derive the theme organically from motives you've taken from the theme, but the theme doesn't just start, you know, some— there's things like that. There are processes of development sections and things. So, um, they're definitely more, they feel to me more like compositions from my soul than I'm throwing some piano texture onto verses, you know, so to speak. So, though I love those too, you know, and so the pieces are very, I would say, personal. It's just how, I've realized my preferences, um, I may even stronger than that, my, uh, where I'm drawn to as a composer is, um, I, I love her. I like writing fun things, you know, there are these things on Elf, but I'll have things where I'm, you know, um, the Ode to Joy theme and I take it through different world music styles and all. I love writing fun things and then there's music that It's just like from the depths of my soul and my body in terms of like the virtuosity and the way to use the piano and the physicality. The music I don't write as much is sort of like ceremonial march music. And it's great. There's a place for that in the world. It is everything. But my music has to mean something deep to me. And so all of these spirituals, that I've written these pieces come from that place of really living with the spirit of what the lyrics communicate and the culture and the place and time from which they come from, the physicality of the relationship to the instrument and using that to draw out just an emotional essence and conviction. And the soul is the— I think sonically, the sound of my music contains the blues, and it contains rhythm, and it contains fire, and sort of all of these things that come out of that spiritual tradition is, for me, the sound world. And the gravity of it and the textures that are also a part of it. So that's where that title came from. It was sort of organic. I didn't spend a lot of time trying to think it up. It sort of came naturally after thinking about the music.

It's wonderful. Then, you know, one would expect you to maybe produce an album or a CD of playing Liszt Sonata with— some other classical pieces, but you just went with your composition.

I did.

That's awesome. Wow, you really did.

Yeah, yeah. Um, you know, I, I could have, I could have done that, and that's certainly what I do. Like, I love, um, playing.

You may do in the future, who knows.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, yeah, I totally may. Um, but for this one, I just felt like I had something I wanted to say with these pieces and my relationship to, uh, these spirituals throughout my whole life. And so it felt like I think this is the place to, to say it and in my voice throughout the album.

And then Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho is part of it?

It is, yeah. So, um, this will be the third, I guess, commercial recording of it, um, because I'd recorded it once before and then the wonderful BYU album, but then I re-recorded it for, um, this, this album, you know. I was just like, um, I think I did it the first time by itself, but in the context of me living in the world of all of these pieces and doing them all together I think it might come out a little differently. So, so I did it again, re-practiced all my parallel chromatic thirds that are in that piece and went back in the studio.

And then what are the other pieces, if you can, only if you can share?

Yeah, sure. No, I definitely can. So Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho is on there. I have a set of variations on Ride On King Jesus. And it's really two songs, "Ride on King Jesus" and "In That Great Gettin' Up Mornin'." In the gospel tradition, those are often put together and choirs sing them together. So the variations are on those. "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," um, "There Is a Balm in Gilead," "Go Down Moses," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," and then there's a bonus track. Yeah, Lift Every Voice and Sing, uh, also, um, which isn't a spiritual technically, but almost an honorary one. It's such a summary of—

yes, it's an anthem.

It is, it is. So, so it felt like that one needed to be on there.

Oh my goodness, so that's a lot. That's a lot that you offer. Generous. And wow, I can't wait for the album to come out. So will it be available on streaming and also available as a CD?

Um, yeah, uh, it will, um, mostly digitally, you know. I'll have the, um, hard copies too, but they're all, you know, major streaming platforms, um, obviously the label site.

But how about score, scores?

Um, yeah, I'm working on that part as we speak, um, to, to release those. So it might not happen exactly simultaneously, but, um, yeah, I definitely want to get the, the scores to everyone as well.

Yeah, that'd be— that would be great. So what do you hope the listeners to take away from this album?

Yeah, I think, like I said, the meaning of these pieces is so deep. I mean, the spirituals themselves and the soul and heart in those pieces as they are. And so for me, this was bringing sort of, um, living those through the lens of my own life and, and heart. Um, so what I hope, uh, is for something very human. Um, the range of those spirituals, if you think about the topics, um, Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho, and you relate that to sort of fighting against, you know, seemingly insurmountable oppression. You think of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, a Long Way from Home," the darkness, the isolation of that sentiment of being away from home, motherless. You think of something like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," you know, the the sense there of coming for to carry me home. I looked over Jordan, what I see, a band of angels coming for me from being in heaviness to transporting to a realm beyond this world. And so that piece literally does that, starts in the depths and then moves into this beyond. And so it's the full gamut of the human experience in those spirituals. And so I tried to live deeply into the spirit of each one through the lens of what I can bring and what I know on the piano. So that's what I hope the takeaway is, a human journey, a journey of emotion, experience that touches hearts. I mean, that's really for me what my music is. Like I said, someone else can write the marches that we need them, but this is what I have to write.

Amazing. So we look forward to the release. So best way for my audience to sort of get the, uh, the latest news from you would be the social media, Instagram?

Yeah, um, you can find me on, uh, Instagram, Facebook. I'll often post you know, my arrangements on my website as well. And then, you know, there's a YouTube channel also. And a lot of my— I think I failed to mention that, but a lot of my pieces you can hear on any of those.

Thank you.

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Now you're also a dedicated educator and you're teaching at the college. You're Associate Professor of Music and Chair of Music Department at Eastern Mennonite University. You also wrote pieces for young, young students, young pianists, like, what is it, Since Jesus Came Into My Heart, 10 Stylish Arrangements for Solo Piano. Yeah, tell me.

Yeah, so those pieces were— so it was an interesting story with those. I talked to a music publisher who sort of worked in that realm of church music and everything, and, you know, he listened to my Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho piece, which is the one he, you know, and he said, "This is amazing. I love it. I'm not sure your average church pianist could pull this off for offertory on a Sunday, you know, might take a little bit more than every one of them has. So would you be willing to do a book of intermediate level pieces?" So it was a little bit different than what I was doing in my pieces I was writing for me on the concert stage or for other, you know, other pianists sort of in this same world of concert piano, um, we're doing. So that, that, that sort of was what the challenge was. And so, um, playing in church was a big part of my training growing up and, you know, in my childhood, um, So it is a book of solo piano arrangements of different hymns, and so different styles. Some of them are really influenced by Brahms and Rachmaninoff and composers like that, and then some of them are jazzy, some of them are sort of Southern church gospel, but all at the intermediate level. I think for me the challenge was I'm not writing for myself, and here's what I hear, here's what I can do to, you know, in this case. So it makes you a better composer in some ways because you— economy, right? You learn to do, um, say what you want to say with less, um, in some cases, uh, and yeah, I think for me, in a similar way as I was talking about in terms of my concert arrangement, spirituals, um, even in this context, I want to write music that I felt I believed in, you know. I think sometimes in the church music, um, I've played growing up, you know, the arrangements I'd gotten to play in church, um, some really great ones, some were like key changes for no reason and glissandos up and down, you know. There's a lot of that out there too. And, you know, I'm playing these things at the same time I'm studying the Pathétique Sonata, you know, and there's a disconnect there between sort of a musical, um, language, sometimes integrity of the pieces. And, and so for me, it was important to— even at this level, if it's for a 10-year-old pianist, it's for an 80-year-old retired pianist, whatever it is, um, that the music speaks and, um, is organic. So, so that's sort of something I impose on myself in addition to make it easy enough, right?

Sure. It's hard to balance though, the technique, you know, how far you can go versus, you know, you don't want to compromise the style or taste even, right? Right, cheesy.

Right. You just, you said, you put it the right way. Yeah, cheesy. So, so yeah, for me that was sort of the, um, the leading, uh, the guideposts for how I was going to write, you know, at this level.

What do you think about, uh, teaching improvisation in piano lessons?

Oh yeah. Well, um, in terms of what I do, you know, and I teach, um, I definitely have, um, students with a range of interests, and I think that's not uncommon in our, um, current world of piano teaching. Um, no longer— and I think this is a wonderful thing— is it every sort of piece, your entire relationship to the piano is through your teacher and what pieces they give you. Um, you know, people are going on YouTube and learning piano and can play, um, pieces. I had students come to me with, you know, they'd play Für Elise because they'd learn it by, you know, video, but they don't know any scales and everything. What do you do as a piano— it's a different landscape of teaching piano. But you certainly— I think for me, the last thing I want to do is discourage passion or interest. So somehow continue to do, like, invest in all of those things that you find interesting. And let's also learn a D major scale.

Yeah.

And, and all of those things together. So, you know, I really try to, um, when my students come to me, see what their passions are and, um, help them to become a better pianist in the tried and true ways we all know, and, and Hanon and Czerny and all of those, and at the same time, how can you kind of pursue other things you're interested in at the instrument? And a lot of that has to do with improvisation. So, so I do incorporate that into my lessons. I'll have some students, we're working on Chopin, and that'll be 30 minutes, and then 20 minutes is a piece they're sort of working on on their own, or I'm teaching them jazz improvisation. Or, um, in a way it mimics some of my early years where I was doing my Clementi sonatinas and sort of taking breaks and improvising, but now it's become a part of my pedagogical life.

Wow.

Do you— you teach college students, but also do you teach younger ones too?

I have some I have some younger students, not a ton right now. And the only— the primary reason for that is just because I have kids too. And so, oh, I see. Yeah, it's the challenge of piano teacher, right? Like the teaching times are, you know, times where you— you know, my kid has a basketball game or I coach my kid's baseball team and things like that. So, um, so I tend to not take too many students outside of, um, the university hours I teach, um, right now. But I definitely love, um, I've sort of worked with the younger ones in master class classes. And, um, you know, sometimes they'll come to me because they will— their piano teacher's more used to the classical, and then they'll— their teacher wants them to learn improvisation, and so they'll send them to me for a little while and and things like that too. And I teach my son piano.

Yeah, yeah. You teach your son?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah?

Yeah, yeah. Wonderful. That's so fantastic. Okay, so I mean, from today's conversation, you know, I think you inspired us to sort of to find your own voice through what you do. And I think your work, you showed us that, You're very intentional about what you do. And so how was it to— was it difficult to find your own way, own path, own voice?

Yeah, no, that's a good, good question. I, um, finding and, um, sort of, uh, living into are two different things maybe. So I think all of those elements of my musical life had always been in the picture and been there. But I think at certain times it'd be sort of siloed, right? Like I want to focus on being a concert pianist. This. So that means put this to the side and that to the side and do these things. Um, and I think as I've, um, grown older— I'm not that— I still got some ways to go, hopefully.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, um, but I've got a few years behind me, uh, that, um, they can live together And that's— that is my authentic musical self. Um, and, um, all of my passion for, um, the great composers, for contemporary music, for, um, good old church music, for, for jazz, all of those things, they can find a way to, to live together in, um, my identity as an as an artist, not just in the practice room, but for others. So I think that part of my self and professional career is something that's taken a while to see how those all come together. But it was never knowing what I was passionate about, you know, for me.

Now, I know that October is a big, big month for you, but other than that, is there any other exciting projects or collaborations coming up for you?

Oh yeah, well, I have, um, other concerts on, um, coming up that are, uh, I'm looking forward to. Um, piece I've loved all my life is the Schumann Piano Quintet, so I have that coming up around the same time in the fall. I have a Bach D minor um, concerto coming up in the fall, uh, as well. So I'll have a lot, a lot to do at the piano. And I'll also play, um, I have some performances of this, this album, live performances sort of coming up, and a lot of different sort of other, other things like that that I'm looking forward to just kind of living into, um, doing, doing all of those different things because they all are passion projects for me.

Wow, from Bach to Schumann to spirituals. Wow, yeah, that's so cool.

An interesting connection there, um, and I've got to write something about this maybe someday. If you think of, um, Schumann— so I've played, uh, Carnaval, and, um, in there, there are passages that, I mean, It's the same technique as stride piano, literally the same, uh, jump— jumping technique and all of that. There's this idea of there are certain textures, there's certain types of things that universally means this idea of like just joyfulness and the, the liveliness and the energy, whether that's James P. Johnson or Schumann. There's something about that left-hand note jumping up to a chord quickly that kind of captures that, that feeling. So, um, all kinds of connections, you know, they're not as far apart as we think.

So for listeners, I encourage you to visit David Barry's website at davidbarrypiano.com and follow him on Instagram at @dberrr4, and be sure to look for his upcoming solo album of Spirituals on Nirvana and Parma Records, and scheduled for release this October. So before I let you go, David, we have one more thing to do— The Piano Pod's rapid-fire questions. Now, we take this segment very seriously, and we— you've shared wonderful stories about an expertise of your artistry today, but these questions, carefully curated by our team, which is me, will give our listeners a glimpse into who you truly are. So let's do this. I want you to answer each question with the shortest response possible. You don't have to explain anything.

Okay?

Okay.

All right. So question number 1, what is your comfort food?

Comfort food. Oh, I'm going to say mac and cheese.

Ah, yes. Good one.

Yeah.

How do you like your coffee in the morning?

Milk, couple sugars, just two.

Yeah, just two. All right. Cats or dogs?

Oh, I'm gonna go dogs.

Sunrise or sunset?

I'm gonna say sunset. Yeah.

Okay. Summer or winter?

Summer. Yeah, I'll go summer.

Okay. What skill have you always wanted to learn but haven't had a chance to?

I would love to learn how to, like, sword fight. Weird one. Yeah, not fencing, not like fencing, but like, like samurai sword.

Really?

Oh, that's cool. No, no judgment. That's cool. What is your word or words to live by?

Passion and heart.

Favorite venue you have ever performed in or dream venue?

It may sound, uh, like everybody might say this, but there's something about that first time of stepping on the Carnegie Hall stage when you've been dreaming of it your whole life, you know.

Yeah, Weill Hall.

Oh, um, or that— I would say Zankou, you know, that furniture, just seeing Horowitz and all of those guys, you know, and then I'm here. You know, you can feel it.

Yeah. What is the most important quality you look for in other people?

Just an honest spirit.

Name a composer you wish more people knew about.

Oh, well, we've talked about him a lot. George Walker. I cannot preach about George Walker enough.

Great. Name one piece in your current playlist. Doesn't have to be classical music.

I'm gonna go with, um, "It's the End of the Road," Boyz II Men. Great.

If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Investigate everything and love everything you do.

Great. The last one, fill in the blank: music is blank.

Is life.

Ah, great. David, thank you so much for joining us today for our season finale.

Yeah, it's been an honor. Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you. What a wonderful way to close out this season of Creativity and Connection. Thank you for sharing your artistry, your journey, and thoughtful reflections on performance, composition, spirituals, and improvisation, and so on. Your work reminds us that the artistry does not have to be one-dimensional. It can be rooted in you know, tradition while still being personal and current, culturally engaged and deeply human. So for our listeners, please follow David Barry's work at davidbarrypiano.com and on Instagram @dberrr4, and stay tuned for his upcoming solo album of spirituals on Navana Parma Records this October. And be sure to like this video, subscribe to The Piano Pod, and leave a comment to let us know what stayed with you from this conversation. We will see you next time on The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with David Heathfield. Thank you, David. Thank you.

And before we say goodbye, I want to leave a personal message to our listeners. Thank you. Thank you for making this such an incredible season. What began with Chad Lawson, and our theme of Creativity and Connection grew into a year of thoughtful conversations, new friendships, and unforgettable moments. Together, we celebrated curiosity, creativity, and the many ways music helps us connect across cultures, disciplines, and generations. We also took a leap of faith and hosted our first-ever live event at Manis Prep's Stiefel Hall. Seeing so many people gather in one room for music and conversation remains one of the proudest moments in the history of the show. Now, The Piano Pod will be taking a short summer hiatus and will return in September with Season 7 centered on a new theme, Culture and Courage. Until then, I'll be sharing weekly excerpts and "In Case You Missed It" moments from this season, so be sure to keep an eye on our YouTube channel and social media throughout the summer. And if there is an artist, educator, composer, or creative voice you would love to hear on the show next season, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, keep listening, keep creating, keep practicing, to sing the piano, and most importantly, keep finding ways to connect. Have a wonderful summer, and I will see you in September for Season 7 of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song.

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