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...

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 resear...

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,...

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 homelessne...

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...

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 o...

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...

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 proj...

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...

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 Er...

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 instru...

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 ...

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 ha...

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 se...

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 ...

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 C...

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 …

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 R...

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 V...

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 ...

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 O...

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 stu...

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 le...

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...