Trailer for Season 4 Episode 15: Danny Holt - Pianist, Percussionist, Composer and Producer

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I am clear about the things that matter to me. The most important thing is performing. I'd always juggled performing and teaching and, you know, wearing lots of different hats, but I've always been really passionate about performance.

Engage, enthrall, and enlighten. In our upcoming episode, immerse yourself in the journey of Danny Holt. A virtuosic pianist, percussionist, composer, and producer, as he unfolds the tale of rekindling his passion for performing live, reinforcing his conviction in music's unique ability to connect, heal, and inspire like nothing else.

I need to be in a room with other people making music. I actually love it when I see and hear the audiences engaged. I feed off of that, and that combined with whatever kind of nervous excitement I'm already feeling will often inspire me in the moment to do something, to take it, to take a risk, to do something maybe that I don't normally do.

Transitioning from his roots in classical piano performance and conservatory education, Danny expanded his musical horizons, fueled by a fascination with percussion instruments. This evolution steered him beyond solo piano performances, leading to the creation of his distinctive piano percussion project?

Well, you know, the initial stages of learning a piano percussion piece involves a lot of very careful planning and choreography. I mean, some of the pieces are quite complex and I have not memorized them, but I've found that some of them I end up memorizing them just kind of by mistake, kind of out of necessity, because I have to be in so many different places at once. And sometimes it's a matter of like very quickly, like playing something on the piano with this hand and then picking up this mallet and holding it in just the right way to go hit this instrument and then putting it down so that I can play the piano again. Or figuring out a way to keep a mallet in my hand while I play something on the piano because I have to very quickly go over to this instrument. So there's a lot of incredibly painstaking work that goes into the initial stages of figuring out the choreography. And then it really is just about, I mean, you know how to practice. It's about lots of slow, careful, repetitive practice of, I mean, oh my God, there are passages of music that I have spent hundreds of hours practicing just to do something that takes like a second or a fraction of a second.

Oh, really?

I do find sometimes I have to remind people that as performers that we are creative, that we are not just passive conduits.

Tune in tomorrow, April 2nd, at 8 PM Eastern time for an inspiring conversation with pianist, percussionist, composer Danny Holt on The Piano Pod's YouTube channel. The audio version of this exciting conversation will be split into two parts, with part one available simultaneously on your preferred podcasting platforms alongside the YouTube premiere. Hit that subscribe button, spread the word, and don't forget to follow The Piano Pod on social media. The links are in the description. Catch you tomorrow!

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You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this, even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com.