Robyn Bell Interviews Episodes

He is the recipient of the 2019 Arts Leadership Award for Artistic Achievement for Sarasota County, freelance writer and music critic, author of a new vocal pedagogy text, mountain climber, and conductor and artistic director of Sarasota's symphonic chorus, Key Chorale. Joseph Caulkins didn't get his start as a singer or choral conductor, but his jazz saxophone major in college wasn't quite working out for him. Hear how his musical journey of choral conducting brought him to the Suncoast of Flo...

A fifth generation Sarasotan was working at the Packinghouse Cafe and Leroy Selmon's Restaurant when she noticed that area musicians needed a place to interact, engage, and learn from each other. After several years of research, a business plan was hatched and Jenny Townsend is now in her sixth year of running the Music Compound, a performance-based music school that caters to all ages, any level, and any interest. Hear her story of entrepreneurship, perseverance, a year of mask making, and all ...

He walked into Music Theory class at Juilliard on day 1, sat next to the prettiest girl in the room, and they have been making beautiful music together for the past 53 years. In Part II of the Romm Family series, Ronnie Romm, founding and former trumpet player of the Canadian Brass, and wife Avis Romm, collaborative pianist extraordinaire, tell us their stories, share their experiences, brag on their talented sons, and share their love of each other and the Suncoast, living on Siesta Key since ...

When Rex Willis' son Ryan joined some friends for a "Dumpster Diving" excursion a decade ago, Rex never knew it would lead to him composing his second musical. During the last ten years, Rex's extensive research on homelessness in our area, the real people who experience this plight, and the stories that got them in that situation led him to write a rock opera entitled "Worthy Souls." Take a listen to this week's Suncoast Culture Club podcast as we learn about the process of writing, producing,...

Well, if your dad was one of the founding trumpet players in the Canadian Brass and your mother is one of the foremost collaborative pianists on the planet, your destiny maybe laid out for you. Oh, while you're at it, why don't you marry this brilliant violin player you went to doctoral school with at the University of Illinois and move to the Suncoast to make beautiful music together all the rest of your days! Want to hear how Suncoast music power couple Dr. Aaron Romm and Dr. Sun-Young ...

From Kentucky, to New York City, to our beloved Florida Suncoast, Rick Kerby, Producing Artistic Director of the Florida Cultural Group, says his whole life has been a rehearsal for this job. Take a listen at how the events of 9/11 led him to take the helm of the Manatee Players and learn about their amazing upcoming season of shows. All that and more on this week's episode of the Suncoast Culture Club podcast. Come along and join the club! • Manatee Performing Arts Center Website & Facebook & ...

Her ancestors came to Manatee County in 1840 and now she works for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to support arts and culture in her beloved hometown. Hear Aimee Blenker's story of her life, career, passion for Manatee County, and the many ways she champions the arts people, organizations, and events in her home town (and find out the BEST seafood restaurant in Bradenton!). All that and more on this week's episode of the Suncoast Culture Club podcast. Come along and join the c...

What does a creative, imaginative theatre junkie do during a pandemic? Well, establishes a new theatre company on the Suncoast, of course! Come join the founder of the new Dingbat Theatre Project, Luke McFatrich, and the project's choreographer, Brian Finnerty, as they share with us the mission, philosophy, and purpose of the Dingbat Theatre Project, as well as tell us all about Dingbat's second production, Shrek, being performed at the Bazaar on Apricot & Lime May 6 through May 15. Come along a...

For the past 20 years of his 32-year teaching career, Dr. Owen Bradley has been the band director at North Port High School in Sarasota County. Looking back on his career choice, he says he can't remember a time when he didn't want to a band director and now, as his final years in the profession draw to a close, he is reflecting on the changes that have occurred: "In the past, the most meaningful thing about my job was making music, now...it's about the relationships I get to build with students...

To celebrate its 5th season, the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra brings you Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No. 5, Stamitz’s Clarinet Concerto No. 5 featuring soloist and SCF clarinet instructor Eric Anderson, and Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 5. Join us on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. SCF students, faculty, and staff can attend live in the Neel Performing Arts Center, while all others can view the performance on the SCF Music Facebook page. • Dr. Robyn L. Be...

In a brilliant collaborative project, the SCF Theatre students have chosen monologues to act out while the SCF Music student composers have written original compositions to accompany the readings. Listen to composition instructor Rex Willis and theatre assistant professor Amanda Schlachter explain how this project came about, the learning process and experience for the students, and the rewarding end product that will be presented on Friday, April 16 at 11:00 a.m. in the Neel Performing Arts Cen...

The Sarasota Orchestra's upcoming concert, "Mozart and Mendelssohn," features its first guest conductor and soloist since March 12, 2020! Maestro Stephen Mulligan, violin soloist David Coucheron, concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the string section of the Sarasota Orchestra will present Mendelssohn's Sinfonia No. 9 and Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 live in Holley Hall April 15-18, with streaming viewing April 22-27. Take a listen as Stephen and David tell us about their mus...

Don’t let the SCF Symphonic Band fool you, this music may be unbelievable, but it is true! Featuring band works such as Godzilla Eats Las Vegas, Voodoo, Snakes, and more, this concert will have you fooled into thinking you have entered a new reality. Fun, scary, and unbelievable! If you are a member of the SCF family (student, staff, or faculty member), you may join us live and in person (up to 100 people) in the Neel Performing Arts Center, free of charge, on Thursday, April 1 at 7:30 PM – emai...

For the past four years, she has been the leader of the visual and performing arts teachers for the the Manatee County School District by helping them devise curricula, working with principals to understand scheduling, and seeking professional development workshops specifically for arts educators, but Julie Hebert quickly realized there was a funding issue for her many initiatives. So what did she do? She started an organization called the Manatee Arts Education Council that helps raise funds fo...

The SCF Guitar Ensemble presents music from all four corners of the earth: east, west, above and below the equator, music inspired by Thailand, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, the Northern Lights of Alaska, who knows where the sounds will take you! This feast for the ears will include never before heard, newly commissioned works and a few popular favorites. The SCF Guitar Ensemble creates an orchestra-chamber sound like none other. You'll not want to miss this unique performance! • Dr. ...

On the Suncoast, you've seen her as Queenie in Showboat and as Fannie Lou Hamer in Fannie (both at the Asolo Repertory Theatre), but you may have also seen her as the Narrator in the PBS production of A Christmas Carol, the Concert and, if you are from Chicago or Washington D.C., you have seen her in hundreds of other productions. Though while training to be an actress at a conservatory, she was told she would only get small "maid" type roles, she has found her own voice, made her mark, and sha...

How has the pandemic affected the Suncoast's most culturally relevant artistic organization? How has Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's founder Nate Jacobs seen the color barriers of our area's cultural arts offerings change over the past 25 years? What's next for this ever changing organization and its creative and imaginative leader? And...let's settle the score...Smokey Robinson or Marvin Gaye? All that and more on this week's Suncoast Culture Club podcast.  Come along and join the club!

Strap on your cowboy hat and boots to join the SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra for Boots, Banjos and the South on Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. Selections will include Aaron Copland’s Hoedown and Buckaroo Holiday from Rodeo, Donald Grantham’s Southern Harmony, which is based on four southern shape note tunes, and featuring Dr. Jon Godfrey as composer and soloist on the premier of his Okeechobee Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra. Come along and join the club! • Aaron Copland Website • Dr. D...

Nate and Erin Mayland have been making a living playing on Broadway in pit orchestras for the past decade. Nate plays jazz and orchestral trombone having toured with the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Platters, and Frankie Valli, as well as performing for over 10 Broadway shows including Beetlejuice. Erin played violin in many Broadway shows and for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Show with the Rockettes, until she auditioned for this unknown, off-Broadway show called Hamilton, which becam...

Dr. Dan Burdick "retired" to Lakewood Ranch about a month ago. He is a world-class tuba player and teacher, was on the faculty of Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, has two degrees from Boston University and his doctorate in tuba performance from the University of Michigan. He has performed with the Canadian Brass, the Detroit Symphony, the John Philip Sousa Band, and has soloed on tuba all around the world, including Austria, Italy, Germany, Scotland, and Canada. He is now the new tuba euphon...

From shooting the Worker Project at the Sarasota Art Museum to hanging from the ceiling by her belt to shoot for the Sarasota Ballet, to taking photos of political figures such as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama, Suncoast native Barbara Banks tells stories through pictures. Her skill and eye for light and pose make her photos remarkable, memorable, and iconic. Take a listen to her story of growing up in Sarasota, her path to photography as her art form and business, and her fav...

Ever wonder what the state of Florida does to support music education? Listen to this episode as Melodie Dickerson and Robyn Bell explain what the state sponsored "Student Artist Competition" is and meet SCF Music's eight students who will be competing this January for the $2000 scholarship. These eight students will be presenting their competition pieces in a recital on Thursday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. live-streamed on the SCF Music's Facebook Page. You won't want to miss these fine musicians:...

In the halls of the SCF Music building, you often hear, "Ms. Aza! Ms. Aza!" as student affectionately call her. To her colleagues, she is simply known as "Aza, piano player and teacher extraordinaire." Her road from Russia led her to an unfamiliar place, hearing an unfamiliar language, but performing very familiar music. Take a listen as Aza Torshkoeva describes her upbringing, early piano successes, navigation of the immigration system, and love of teaching the piano students at the State Colle...

The Suncoast Culture Club podcasters Robyn Bell, Kelly Burnett, Katherine Bzura, Melodie Dickerson, and Amanda Schlachter chat together about their experiences in the cultural arts and the semester in the arts at SCF over the past five months. How close did we come to someone getting COVID? Closer than you might think! What's in store for the SCF Art Gallery, Theatre Program, Dance Company, and Music Program in the spring semester? Take a listen and get the scoop! Come along and join the club! ...