In this episode of The Piano Pod, concert pianist Han Chen joins TPP for a deep conversation about virtuosity, vision, and what it means to build something meaningful in today’s classical music landscape.

Han Chen is a GRAMMY Award–nominated pianist known for his fearless approach to some of the most demanding repertoire in the piano canon — from György Ligeti’s Complete Piano Études to Beethoven’s Hammerklavier. His recent recording of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with conductor John Jeter and the Malmö Opera Orchestra has brought renewed attention to one of the most compelling American concertos of the 20th century.

Beyond performance, Han is also a curator and creator. His large-scale project Infinite Staircase pairs all 18 Ligeti Études with 18 newly commissioned works by living composers, expanding the repertoire while rethinking what a piano program can be.

This episode offers a rare look into the mind of a pianist who is not only performing at the highest level, but actively shaping the future of classical music.

In This Episode, We Talk About

• Florence Price and the legacy of her Piano Concerto
• Ligeti’s Complete Piano Études and technical/interpretive challenges
• Infinite Staircase — a 36-work project pairing Ligeti with new commissions
• Creative programming as artistic identity
• Commissioning new music and working with living composers
• Juilliard training and mentorship under Yoheved Kaplinsky
• Expanding the role of the pianist in today’s classical music world

Learn More About Han Chen

• Website
• Instagram
• Meet Our Guest: Han Chen

The Piano Pod

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• Subscribe to the Season 6 Piano Playlist — a collection of every piano work mentioned throughout the episodes
• Join Our Newsletter
• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

🔗 All Links

Here is the trailer for our upcoming episode with GRAMMY-nominated pianist Han Chen.

From mastering Ligeti to building Infinite Staircase, this conversation goes beyond performance — into vision, risk, and creating something that lasts.

🎥 Premieres tonight at 8 PM ET: https://youtu.be/2JqDeHYSk58?si=QgFPTfWf0ch_7WBl

🎧 Audio: https://linktr.ee/thepianopodaudio

Read Our Blog: https://open.substack.com/pub/thepianopod/p/meet-our-guest-han-chen-concert-pianist?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Accents of Love: Vivian Fang Liu on Artistry, Belonging, and Music for the Next Generation

The Piano Pod — Season 6, Episode 13

In this episode of The Piano Pod, pianist, singer-songwriter, composer, educator, and music researcher Vivian Fang Liu joins host Yukimi Song for a powerful conversation about identity, creativity, and the role of music in shaping the next generation.

Vivian Fang Liu is a classically trained pianist whose work spans classical performance, cross-genre songwriting, children’s music, and music education research. Her award-winning children’s album Accents of Love (2023) invites young listeners to celebrate their voices, languages, and identities through imaginative storytelling and vibrant musical production.

Throughout the conversation, Vivian shares the inspiration behind her children’s music, her journey immigrating to the United States at age fifteen, and how themes of belonging, cultural identity, and resilience shape both her artistry and her educational work.

This episode explores how music can empower children to embrace who they are while also building bridges across cultures and communities.

Listen to Vivian Fang Liu

• Chinese Pop Original

Children's Music

• Belong
• I Is Love
• Talk to the Fishes with Your Inner Voice
• Silence
• All Accents Are Art

Learn More About Vivian Fang Liu

• Website
• Instagram
• Spotify

Meet Our Guest: Vivian Fang Liu https://substack.com/home/post/p-190096545

The Piano Pod

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• 📫 Join Our Newsletter
• 🌐 Website

Here is the trailer for our upcoming episode of The Piano Pod.

Concert pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer Vivian Fang Liu joins us for a powerful conversation about music, identity, and belonging.

From her award-winning children’s albums to cross-genre artistry shaped by classical piano, Vivian shares how her work brings together performance, storytelling, and education to empower the next generation.

🎥 Full episode premieres tonight, March 17, at 8 PM ET on YouTube.https://youtu.be/bH4YCXAZX5M

🎧 The audio episode will be released simultaneously on all podcast platforms.

We hope you’ll join us for this inspiring conversation.

#ThePianoPod #VivianFangLiu #AccentsOfLove #PodcastPremiere #MusicAndIdentity

Composer Sean Hickey joins The Piano Pod to discuss Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — his monumental piano cycle inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling book.

From imagined orders and human cooperation to empire, biology, AI, and the future of artistic sustainability, this episode explores what it means to create — and remain human — in a rapidly changing world. Performed by pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev, Sapiens translates big philosophical questions into sound, structure, and silence.

This conversation moves from macro-history to the deeply personal — from Detroit and electric guitar to leading major recording labels — and ultimately asks: What allows music to endure?

• 📺 Watch the 2/1/24 premiere of A Brief History of Humankind at Klavierhaus, NYC (Vladimir Rumyantsev) HERE
• 🎧 Listen to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind for Solo Piano
• 📺 Watch the Trailer for Recorder Concerto “A Pacifying Weapon” (Recorder: Michala Petri | Royal Danish Academy of Music Concert Band | Jean Thorel)
• 📚 Read “Release Rationale, Why and Why Now”

From Harari’s sweeping vision of human history to the realities of AI in today’s music industry, this episode centers on one enduring question: How do we remain authentic — and human — in the age of acceleration?

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share to support independent classical media.

[SEAN HICKEY - Composer and Record Label Executive]

• 🌐 Website: https://seanhickey.com
• 📝 Read our blog about Sean

[THE PIANO POD]

• 💖 Become a VIP Member / Unlock Exclusive Content https://thepianopod.substack.com
• 📫 Join Our Newsletter https://thepianopod.substack.com/subscribe/
• 🌐 Website https://thepianopod.com
• 📱 Follow The Piano Pod https://linktr.ee/thepianopod

Subscribe for more conversations on creativity, mentorship, and the future of classical music.

🎥 Here is the trailer for our new eps featuring Sean Hickey, Composer/Record Label Executive

Composer Sean Hickey joins The Piano Pod to discuss Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind for the Piano — his monumental piano cycle inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling book.

From imagined orders and human cooperation to empire, biology, AI, and the future of artistic sustainability, this conversation explores what it means to create — and remain human — in a rapidly accelerating world.

Performed by pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev, Sapiens translates sweeping philosophical questions into sound, structure, and silence.

This episode moves from macro-history to the deeply personal — from Detroit and electric guitar to leading major international record labels — and ultimately asks:

What allows music to endure?

📆 Join the premiere tomorrow, Tuesday, February 24, at 8:00 PM ET.

📺 Set a reminder and join us live via YouTube: https://youtu.be/sx0nR48wNYg

🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platforms: https://linktr.ee/ThePianoPodAudio

📖 Read our blog review on Substack: https://thepianopod.substack.com/p/meet-our-guest-sean-hickey-composer

This surprise bonus episode was created in collaboration with Mannes School of Music at The New School.

In this conversation, I sit down with Pavlina Dokovska — internationally active concert pianist, Chair of the Piano Department at Mannes School of Music, and Artistic Director of the Mannes International Piano Festival — to explore what it truly means to build artists in today’s musical and cultural moment.

We discuss serious piano study, long-term mentorship, artistic identity, and the role institutions play in shaping the next generation of musicians.

Toward the end of the episode, you will also hear from Jiwon Yang, current Mannes graduate student and First Prize winner of the George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition, sharing her experience studying in downtown Manhattan and participating in the festival.

• 🎹 Mannes International Piano Festival
• 📝 Festival Application
• 🏫 Mannes School of Music at The New School
• 📝 Meet Our Guest — Pavlina Dokovska:

ABOUT THE PIANO POD

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• 📫 Join Our Newsletter
• 🌐 TPP Website
• 📱 Follow The Piano Pod

🎧 Available on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Subscribe for more conversations on creativity, mentorship, and the future of classical music.

🚨 Bonus Episode Drops Tonight

Here’s the trailer.

Building Artists Through Music & Mentorship with Pavlina Dokovska

What does it really take to build an artist?

In this special collaboration, The Piano Pod sits down with Pavlina Dokovska — internationally active concert pianist, Chair of the Piano Department at Mannes School of Music, and Artistic Director of the Mannes International Piano Festival — for a candid conversation on serious piano study, mentorship, and artistic formation.

We discuss:

• Why long-term training still matters • Balancing rigor and humanity in teaching • How community shapes resilient musicians • The vision behind the Mannes International Piano Festival

You’ll also hear from Jiwon Yang, a Mannes graduate student and First Prize winner of the George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition, on what it feels like to train in an environment defined by intensity and support.

🎧 Premiering tonight at 8:00 PM ET 📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/pMt6Jb-zOD4

🎙 Audio platforms: https://linktr.ee/ThePianoPodAudio

A conversation about leadership, responsibility, and how artists are formed.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with pianist, composer, visual artist, and poet Asiya Korepanova for a wide-ranging conversation on extreme repertoire, transcription as a creative act, long-form artistic commitment, and what it means to think at scale as a musician today.

Born into a deeply musical family in Izhevsk, Russia, and now based in the United States, Asiya’s career is defined by projects many would consider “impossible”: performing the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff during the composer’s 150th-anniversary year, Liszt’s 24 Études, and Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier. In this conversation, Asiya reflects on what draws her to repertoire that unfolds over years rather than hours, and how long-form thinking shapes her artistic identity.

A central focus of the episode is Asiya’s work as a transcriber. She speaks candidly about transcription as a form of composition—an act she once described as “taming a wild animal”—and how her deep understanding of orchestral, vocal, and chamber music informs the way she reimagines works for solo piano. We hear excerpts from her transcriptions of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, alongside reflections on craft, risk, and responsibility.

The conversation also explores Asiya’s work beyond performance: her compositions, her multidisciplinary projects that integrate visual art and poetry, her commitment to education and access through her nonprofit Music for Minds, and her curatorial leadership at Festival Baltimore and Festival Flatiron NYC.

This episode offers a rare, unfiltered look into the inner life of an artist whose work is driven not by spectacle, but by depth, rigor, and fearless vision.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES

• Asiya Korepanova — Official Website
• Asiya's Merch on Etsy
• Sounds of Inspiration — Piano Works from Season 6 (Music mentioned in this episode)
• Read the accompanying blog on Substack

🎧 THE PIANO POD

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• 🌐 Website: https://thepianopod.com
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🎬 Official Trailer — Fearless Visionwith Asiya Korepanova

For our upcoming episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with Asiya Korepanova — pianist, composer, visual artist, and poet — for a deep conversation on long-form artistic commitment, transcription as a creative act, and what it means to build a life in music shaped by depth, curiosity, and fearless vision.

Asiya is known for her daring piano transcriptions and for taking on extreme repertoire, including the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff and Liszt’s 24 Études. In this episode, she reflects on why she is drawn to projects that unfold over years rather than hours, and how imagination, rigor, and responsibility intersect in her artistic life.

📅 Episode Premiere: Tuesday, February 10 ⏰ 8:00 PM ET

• 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thepianopod
• 🎧 Audio episode drops simultaneously: https://linktr.ee/ThePianoPodAudio
• 📝 Meet Our Guest — Asiya Korepanova (Blog)

🌐 Asiya Korepanova — Official Website

Join us for a conversation that goes beyond performance — into process, scale, and artistic vision.

In this episode of The Piano Pod, host Yukimi Song sits down with pianist, recording artist, and multidisciplinary creator Aïda Lahlou for an in-depth conversation on Ravel’s Miroirs, sound as physical reality, and what it means to build an artistic life through curiosity, risk, and purpose.

At the center of the conversation is Aïda’s debut album, Mirrors and Echoes—a recording that places Ravel’s Miroirs as its reflective core, surrounded by carefully curated piano miniatures from across cultures and centuries. Rather than treating the album as a collection of pieces, Aïda speaks about programming as experience: sequencing, resonance, and how sound can function as landscape rather than emotional narrative.

We also explore her broader artistic practice—from environmental engagement and rethinking institutional success, to her one-woman show blending stand-up comedy with solo piano performance, and her advocacy for the return of the modern impresario / creative producer in today’s classical music ecosystem.

• 🎧 Listen to Aïda's album, Mirrors and Echoes, on Spotify
• 📝 Meet Our Guest — Aïda Lahlou: Read the accompanying blog exploring Mirrors and Echoes and Aïda’s artistic vision

🎧 THE PIANO POD

• 💖 Become a VIP Member / Unlock exclusive content HERE.
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• 🌐 Website: https://thepianopod.com
• 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thepianopod