WHY I COMPOSE -- Excerpt from Season 6 Eps. 15 Michael Ostrzyga

9 Apr 2026 · 2 min

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This content was created by The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. This content was uploaded by The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. This is a YouTube excerpt titled "WHY I COMPOSE -- Excerpt from Season 6 Eps. 15 Michael Ostrzyga" (published 2026-04-09). It is an interview episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song featuring guest Michael Ostrzyga, a composer and conductor. The excerpt captures a conversational discussion about why Ostrzyga composes, his creative process, the need to reinvent music while respecting tradition, authenticity in composition, and encouragement to persist despite self-doubt. It also includes promotional lines directing listeners to watch the full episode on YouTube and subscribe.

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That's not the reason why I write, to compete. The reason is that I communicate what is inside me and wants to be said.
In The Piano Pod's latest episode, I interviewed Michael Ostriga, who is known for his unique versatility as a world-class conductor, an award-winning composer, and a scholar who breathed new life into the classical canon through both his research and his original works.
You know, composing is like, in a way, creating worlds. And creating provocations or reactions, how we live. And I think we need those reactions to know who we are and to know where we want to go and what kind of community we want to have and want to be. I believe that we need to try to reinvent ourselves and our music constantly. Not that we have to discard what has come before, but as much as possible can interact and being involved actively in modern arts. Very often I don't know how I would do it or I can do it, but my compositional activity is sort of my humble attempt to seek out how I can do all what I just said. Maybe here it's important for you to just don't give up when you feel this. You know, I very often feel I can't compete with what I just heard or with what other composers have written so far. But then on the other hand, that's not the reason why I write, to compete. The reason is that I communicate what is inside me and wants to be said. And that's what I think is sort of the authentic aspect of it. That it needs, of course, to be in your own language, but put in a way that others can, can react to it and can be involved.
In case you missed our latest episode featuring composer and conductor Michael Ostriga, you can watch the entire conversation on our YouTube channel or listen on your favorite podcast platforms.
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