Kelly Thoma: Lyra Player and the Magic of the Labyrinth Musical Workshop
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
07/08/23
•111m
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Kelly Thoma is a Greek musician who plays the Cretan lyra player and this episode has beautiful music and a wide-ranging conversation including Kelly’s personal story of becoming a musician after training as a dancer, Cretan culture, the influence of Ross Daly and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop which he founded in 1982. Kelly speaks so eloquently about her love of music and collaboration; I really appreciate this opportunity to have in-depth conversations with my musical guests; please use the timestamps if you want to jump to any topics or music, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to the whole episode on your favourite podcast player or the video on my YouTube. Show notes and transcript linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kelly-thoma
Please support this series! I really do need my listensers' help and every dollar is appreciated: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:12) Crete, the lyra, Ross Daly
(12:13) lyra duo Kelly with Ross “Anamkhara”
(18:49) how Kelly discovered the music of Ross Daly and changed her life
(33:24) learning and teaching music
(43:34)cellist Mayu Shviro
(44:43) duo with Mayu Shviro “Kontylies”
(51:04) Mayu Shviro
(53:29) “Flutter” Kelly Thoma quartet from the album Anamkhara. Mayu Shviro, Paavlos Spyropoulos, Kirill Osherov
(57:28) TOKSO quartet
(01:01:18) TOKSO compilation video clip
(01:06:24) different bowed instruments I’ve featured on this series
(01:07:52) Cretan culture, history, food, language
(01:18:28) tours to Australia, Linsey Pollak, Tunji Beier, Philip Griffin
(01:28:52) the pandemic, teaching online
(01:33:27) the importance of performing and why Kelly stopped studying dance
(01:40:42) the importance of performing for music students
(01:45:41) Labyrinth Musical Workshop opportunites to study in Crete
Previous Episode
Verna Gillis: Ethnomusicologist, Producer, Manager, Writer
July 1, 2023
•102m
It’s hard to sum up how important Verna Gillis has been for music lovers. First of all, she is an ethnomusicologist who recorded traditional music around the world including in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Surinam, Ghana, and the United States. This episode will bring you along on some of these journeys. 25 of these recordings are available through Smithsonian Folkways and Lyrichord, and I’m very grateful to Smithsonian Folkways for allowing us to use some of these tracks for this specific episode. The albums that this music comes from are linked here in the show notes, where you'll find the video version, transcript, and photo gallery from Verna's career: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/verna-gillis
In 1979 Verna opened Soundscape, the first multi-cultural performance space in New York City, which put on hundreds of performances over 5 years. You’ll also hear Verna reminisce about her work on career development with phenomenal international musicians including Youssou N’dour from Senegal, Salif Keita from Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. As a producer, Verna was twice nominated for a GRAMMY award for two of the albums she produced with Roswell Rudd. She’s also a writer and spoken word performer. We’ve included in this episode one of her recent spoken word videos with British musician Jennifer Maidman. There’s so much more in this episode, and I hope a wide audience will be inspired by Verna Gillis’ reflections on her remarkable life in music.
Next Episode
Kavisha Mazzella: Building Community and Finding the Fearless Note
July 15, 2023
•98m
I have in-depth conversations with a fascinating diversity of musicians worldwide, and I hope these personal stories highlight the incredible breadth and depth of a life in music for listeners everywhere. Like all my episodes, you can listen to all this on your favourite podcast player, watch the video, and read the transcript, all linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kavisha-mazzella Kavisha Mazzella is a renowned Australian songwriter and singer who has won both an ARIA award and an Australia Day Honor. We talked about her work through the lenses of social justice, community building, and the search for deeper meaning and connection. This is a personal, in-depth conversation with lots of beautiful singing in both Italian and English. You can use the detailed timestamps to jump to a song or a topic, but I encourage you to listen through and listen to the stories behind “The Fearless Note”. I’m an independant podcaster who needs my listeners help to keep this huge project going; every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Kavisha Mazzella website: https://www.kavisha.com/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:09) Italian songs, “The Joys of the Women” (10:34) Italian song: “Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire” (15:13) emigration, Kavisha’s family’s migration stories (25:13) Kavisha’s childhood and music, I Papaveri, “The Joys of the Women” (28:23) Kavisha’s projects with refugees, children, Musica Viva (33:14) song: “My Brown Yarra” by Frank Jones, dealing with sadness and trauma through music (35:26) I really do need my listeners’ help: Ko-fi link in description (35:42) learning confidence as a performer (38:29) intro to “Philosophy Man” (40:42) “Philosophy Man” by Kavisha Mazzella (45:39) teaching singing to community groups (52:11)experiences of the benefits of meditation, Empty Sky album and performances (59:32) art school and why Kavisha turned to music full-time (01:04:08) ARIA award Fisherman’s Daughter, Mick Thomas (01:05:23) intro to Sing for No One, Sing for Everyone (01:07:24) Sing for No One, Sing for Everyone by Kavisha Mazzella (01:11:07) Kavisha’s song-writing process and influences from Italian songs (01:15:18) Linsey Pollak (01:17:42) Women’s Anthem “Love and Justice” commission The Victorian Women’s Trust (01:23:21) great advice from Liam Clancy, Luka Bloom, Ronan Ó Snodaigh (01:28:36) “The Fearless Note” by Kavisha Mazzella (01:34:41) the importance of community
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