Pianist Katherine Dowling: Memorization, Emotion & New Music

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

03/30/25

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75m

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Katherine Dowling is a brilliant Canadian pianist and in this conversation we talked about her album of solo music by Alice Ping Yee Ho, mentors including Gil Kalish and Henk Guittart, and how and why she’s developed her exceptional musical memory. Katherine shared fantastic insights into teaching and learning, the importance of inclusivity and access to arts education, and how she uses the Pomodoro technique in the practice room. She explained how sound production on the piano is about the speed of attack and we discussed different skill sets and career paths for pianists. Dr. Dowling shared many inspiring musical memories, and how she developed her ambitious Elegy project to follow her personal path through grief. You’ll be hearing some clips from the album Awake and Dreaming, which you’ll find linked below, and you can use the timestamps to navigate the eipsode. Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website Katherine Dowling websiteWhere to listen to Awake and Dreaming I wanted to let you know about some other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you, with: pianist and musicologist Samantha Ege composer Frank Horvat organist Gail Archer Cheng2 Duo with Bryan and Silvie Cheng pianist Jeeyoon Kim Original Merch for saleCan you buy this independent podcaster a coffee? ⁠Complete Catalog of Episodes Newsletter sign-up Linktree for social media ⁠photo: Jiyang ChenTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:54) Eckhardt-Gramatté competition, composer Alice Ping Lee Ho, regional music festivals(7:18) album Awake and Dreaming, solo piano music by Alice Ping Lee Ho(11:34) Elegy project, coping with grief(16:09) excerpt from There is No Night Without a Dawning from Awake and Dreaming(18:59) Memorization, Suzuki method(25:15) limitations of learning on electronic keyboards(27:08) mentor Henk Guittart, Schoenberg(29:48) appreciation for modern music in the Netherlands, Ellen Corver(32:31)connection to visual art with Alice Ho’s compositions (34:20) excerpt of Shade(35:51)experience of funnel couds on the Prairies(37:34) Cyclone by Alice Ping Lee Ho(41:12) valuable teaching experiences in Regina(42:37) other episodes you’ll like and ways to support this series(43:32) positive teaching experiences(46:48) new parent(48:18) Gilbert Kalish(53:49) Tanglewood experience, different skills and careers for pianists(56:45) sound production for pianists(01:04:31) inspiring concerts for different audiences(01:07:48) practice strategies, The Artist’s Way, Pomodoro technique(01:12:05) mentoring the next generations

Previous Episode

Kala Ramnath: Music Without Borders & the Legacy of Zakir Hussain

March 23, 2025

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77m

Kala Ramnath is a world-renowned Indian violinist who performs in both the Hindustani classical tradition, and in collaborations that incorporate many styles with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer , Hilary Hahn, Kronos Quartet with Reena Esmai l and veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh, and leading orchestras such as my own National Arts Centre, to name but a few. You’ll hear about her childhood, and how she became a disciple of the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, leading her to revolutionize her approach to Hindustani violin technique. As a teacher she has put together an incredible resource with an extensive video library that she’s created of Indian music, Indianclassicalmusic.com

When I recorded this interview with Kala, she had just the day before returned from the celebration of life for the legendary tabla master Zakir Hussain, who died this past December, and was one of the most important musicians in both Indian music and in bringing a global audience to Indian music. He had moved to San Francisco in the 1960s and was involved in too many projects to begin to list; in 2024 he was the first musician from India to receive 3 Grammys at one ceremony, including his collaboration with Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Zakir Hussain was an incredibly important mentor of Kala, and you’ll hear in her words about what his guidance and collaborations meant to her.

Kala talked to me about some of her many cross-genre collaborations, including her fantastic albums with tabla master Bikram Ghosh and her inventive trio with George Brooks and Gwyneth Wentink and you'll hear some of that music as well (albums linked below).

Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript : YouTube and Transcript

Kala Ramnath Website Indianclassicalmusic.com

Raag Ahir Bhairav Paperboats album Elements trio album

Other episodes I’ve linked directly to this one, which I think may interest you: Karnatic violinist Suhadra Vijaykumar

Sitar and tabla player Mohamed Assani

Bansuri player Milind Date

Sarod player Avi Kishna

It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you every week, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Please buy me a coffee? Or check out my merch store Sign up for my newsletter and get exclusive sneak peeks!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:41)Zakir Hussain, Triveni with Jayanthi Kumaresh

(10:53) Kala’s childhood

(15:17) Indianclassicalmusic.com resource

(17:56) Kala Ramnath Collective world music

(19:13) albums with Bikram Ghosh

(20:28) A Better Place from Paperboats with Bikram Ghosh

(26:30) Pandit Jasraj, changing her appro

Next Episode

Juliana Soltis: Cello, Women Composers & Forgotten Music Stories

April 6, 2025

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82m

Juliana Soltis is an innovative cellist who has done extensive research to connect listeners with some forgotten stories of classical music. In this episode we talked about her recent album American Woman which features cello and piano music of women composers; you’ll hear Juliana’s insights into the lives of Mary Howe, Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Helen Crane, Dorothy Rudd Moore and Florence Price and hear excerpts from this album which Juliana recorded with the wonderful pianist Ruoting Li. Many listeners will be familiar with Juliana’s playing as a Baroque cellist, and it was fascinating to hear about how the French relinquished their beloved viol relunctuantly to the Italian cello. I really love Juliana’s recording of the complete Suites for solo cello of J.S. Bach and you’ll hear some music from her album Going off Script: the Ornamented Suites for cello.

Juliana shared great advice about performing from an athlete’s perspective and also the joy of connecting with audiences. This interview begins with one of her beautiful greyhounds, and for those of you watching this on YouTube, hopefully you’ll enjoy this comforting canine presence throughout this inspirational conversation. Like all my episodes , you can watch the video or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website, everything linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/juliana-soltis

Other episodes: Samantha Ege, Julia MacLaine, Dorothy Lawson of ETHEL, Edwin Barker, Euclid Quartet

Juliana Soltis Website

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photo: Teresa Tam

(00:00) Intro

(02:37)the greyhounds, American Woman album

(05:16) archives New York Public Library, Helen Crane

(10:42) clip of Ballade Fantasque by Howe

(12:20) Mary Howe

(16:51) racist divide between Black and white composers

(20:47) clip of Troubled Water by Margaret Bonds