Sound Mind

Russell Rybicki: A Journey To Balance & Transformation

When the symphony of life hits a dissonant chord, how does a musician find harmony again? This is just one of the soul-stirring questions Russell Rybicki answers as he joins us for a rich tapestry of tales on personal transformation, mental health, and the art of self-discovery in the demanding world of classical music. From playing horn and arranging to finding silence in meditation, Russell unveils the intricate journey of an artist seeking balance amid professional peaks, personal trials,...

Alana Wiesing: The Importance of Wellness

Percussionist Alana Wiesing joins us on the podcast to talk about her musical journey (which included almost walking away from music entirely), the importance of taking care of your body and brain, the ability to compartmentalize and focus, and much more. Alana Wiesing is the principal Timpanist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Percussion at the University of Arizona. She’s an alumni faculty member at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, and serves as the P...

Elizabeth Rowe: Both/And

Happy 2024! This January we are joined by Elizabeth Rowe (principal Flute, Boston Symphony & Leadership and High-Performance Coach) to discuss her stepping down from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to pursue coaching full-time, her year of “both/and,” letting go of what no longer serves us, and much more. Elizabeth Rowe is a Leadership and High-Performance coach, working at the intersection of personal and professional development. She helps high achievers across all industries learn to thri...

Eric Terino: "Innovations of Grave Perversity"

Happy December! This holiday season, we welcomed songwriter Eric Terino to the Sound Mind podcast. Eric is a multi-disciplinary artist from the New England region whose third LP “Innovations of Grave Perversity” blends elements of Folk, Classical, and Alternative together while talking about his life journey. Eric opens up about his experiences with agoraphobia, what it’s like to be a songwriter, and much more! Learn more about Eric at www.ericterino.com. 

Jarrett McCourt: Self-Care & Processing Trauma

Tubist Jarrett McCourt (Tuba & Euphonium professor, UMKC) joined Alex on the podcast this month to discuss self-care, recharging, how trauma is processed, and much more!  Learn more about Jarrett at www.jarrettmccourt.com. Our previous episode with Jarrett can be found here. 

Adam Sadberry: "Feelin' It"

This month we welcomed back flutist Adam Sadberry to the pod to talk about being in the present, trusting our instincts, and following our heart, even when that path looks different from those around you. Adam is currently developing his workshop, “Feelin’ It: Tools to Help Musicians Expand Their Humanity.” You can donate to his GoFundMe at the link below. https://www.gofundme.com/f/career-shift-and-funding-an-equitable-workshop/donations IG: @adamhappyberry  www.adamsadberry.com

TRU: Leo Fotos & David Gosz

Leo Fotos & David Gosz (www.goszandfotos.com) are musical theatre creators based in New York City. On this month's pod, I sat down with David and Leo to discuss their musical, "TRU," a musical that shines a light into the life of Truman, a man living with mental illness personified as a toxic relationship with the manipulative “Her”.  TRU will be performed LIVE in Chicago on September 10th as part of The Hope For Us Network's "Conclave 2023." Conclave 2023: https://www.hopeforusnetwork.org...

Practice: Noa Kageyama

Musical performance and improvement expert Noa Kageyama talks with Dan Monte about breaking down commonly held perceptions on musical and technical growth. Working outside of typically binary narratives of success or failure, they discuss tactics and research toward a goal of musical development and progress.

Tricia Park

Violinist, writer, educator, and podcaster Tricia Park joins Dan Monte for a discussion on relationship with one’s inner critic as a practicing musician.

Compassion with Erica Bondarev Rapach

Acting Executive Director of The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland Erica Bondarev Rapach speaks with Dan Monte about compassionate practices in team leadership from her perspective as an arts administrator.

Adrienne Thompson

Current project advisor to the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative Adrienne Thompson speaks with host Dan Monte about creating communities around young artists to foster musical success. 

Karen Bluth

Dr. Karen Bluth joins host Ben Manis to discuss methods and frameworks of compassionate behavior to better address life's challenges.

Clara Donaldson

Guest Clara Donaldson discusses self compassion through her experience both as a performer and a certified clinical professional counselor.

Compassion: Dr. Mary Welford

Author, Clinical Psychologist, and Compassion expert Dr. Mary Welford joins host Dan Monte for a conversation on compassion's role in a musical life. Compassion is explored from all angles, from the interpersonal to the deeply personal, as well as strategies for framing self-compassion in a competitive field.

Season 2 is Here! 2022 Update

Dan and Alex deliver an important update regarding the upcoming 2022 Sound Mind Podcast season, changes within the Sound Mind Organization, and the exciting future ahead.

Loren Meeker: the emotional space

Guest Loren Meeker talks with host Benjamin Manis about the anxiety,  judgement, and trust in the classical music sphere, through the perspective of her career as a stage director.

Brianne Borden: In the Studio

Guest Brianne Borden talks with host Dan Monte about her experiences both as a visiting assistant professor of trumpet at SUNY Potsdam, as well as in her role as a yoga instructor with her online studio Yoga for All Musicians. Brianne and Dan reflect on the classical education experience and the teacher-student relationship, as well as mental health practices in the yoga studio environment.

Adam Sadberry

Memphis Symphony Orchestra Acting Principal flutist Adam Sadberry joins host Alex Hoffman for a wide ranging conversation covering mental health struggles in college, being an African-American Orchestra Fellow at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, his family history, and reflections on his current home in Memphis.  More about Adam can be found on his website at https://www.adamsadberry.com Podcast episodes are released often and can be found on soundmindmusician.org, via Instagram at https://...

Mindfulness and Meditation: Jarrett McCourt

Jarrett McCourt discusses his mindfulness and meditation practices. Hosted by Alex Hoffman, the two also discuss some techniques that Jarrett uses as a crisis hotline texter.  If you have any thoughts you'd like to share with us, or if you are interested in getting involved with sound mind, please send an email to [email protected].

Perfection and Fear: Dr. Karen Cassiday

Dr. Karen Cassiday discusses how fear and perfection plays a role in our lives as performing musicians. Karen gives great insight on how perfection can stand in our way. She mentions techniques that can help us be kinder to ourselves in the practice room. Hosted by Ben Manis, they also discuss CBT, joy in our music making, self-worth, and the role of medication. Karen's talk can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7OaAO4H_Pc Please write us at [email protected], or ch...

New Members: Buddy Deshler, Jeannette Lewis, Diane Yang

This episode introduces new staff members of our organization: Buddy Deshler, Jeannette Lewis,  and Diane Yang. Hosted by Ben Manis, listening to this episode is a great way to get acquainted with these brilliant new members, and what brought them to work with us at Sound Mind.   Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! @soundmindmusician Want to write us? Please do! [email protected] We are currently accepting donations for our upcoming plans. You can donate at soundmindmusician.org/D...

Quinn Delaney

Quinn Delaney talks about a recent professional transition - leaving his orchestral position and pursuing a career in jazz and vernacular music. Alex Hoffman hosts this conversation and asks Quinn what it was like making this courageous decision, and how he got himself through this epic transition.   To learn more about our organization and see how you can play a part, visit: https://www.soundmindmusician.org/

Priscilla Rinehart

Priscilla Rinehart talks about her new job as horn player for Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Hosted by Alex Hoffman, this episode discusses the mental challenges that can come with a job that is so demanding. They discuss the benefits of taking care of their mental space while in a high pressure professional situation. They share a common bond in The New World training orchestra, and plenty of audition experience. They also talk about their relationships with therapy. 

New Members: Mario Bastea-Forte and Bethany Pereboom

This episode features a discussion with new members of the organization about their own missions, and their individual journeys with classical music and mental health.

Sound Mind Update: Alex and Dan!

Alex Hoffman and Dan Monte sit down to discuss Sound Mind's latest development. We've been doing a lot, check it out! We'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line at [email protected] To support our mission, please visit https://www.soundmindmusician.org/donate

Kyle Shiver

Sound Mind team member Eric Goldberg talks with psychotherapist and former music teacher Kyle Shiver about his approach to therapy and what his work has been like during the pandemic. We are incredibly close to reaching our Spring Fundraising goal as we wrap up the spring months. You could be the contributor that puts us over the edge! See how you can help us and our mission at www.soundmindmusician.org/donate.

Renée-Paule Gauthier

Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier (The Mind Over Finger Podcast) and Sound Mind team member Kevin Gupana discuss mindfulness, cultivating self-compassion in the practice room, and how musicians should move forward as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are close to reaching our $3,000 goal for our spring fundraiser! See how far we've come and see how you can help us reach our goal at www.soundmindmusician.org/donate.  Any gift is transformative to us at this moment.  Visit our website www.sound...

Group Pod #2!

The whole Sound Mind team gets together to have a grand conversation about what we have in store for the months ahead. We also discuss why mental health is important and why we believe our work should be supported. Our Spring fundraiser was launched about a week ago, and we need your help reaching our $3,000 goal! You can help us out at www.soundmindmusician.org/donate  Any gift is transformative to us at this moment. Visit out website www.soundmindmusician.org for more information.

Elizabeth Rowe

Boston Symphony Orchestra principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe talks with Alex Hoffman about career fulfillment and how her work in coaching relates to mental health.

John Rine Zabanal

Eric Goldberg talks with Dr. John Rine Zabanal about education and living a whole life.

Casey Bozell

Team members Ben Manis and Alex Hoffman talk with Casey Bozell (Keep Classical Weird) about being a professional performer and young mother.

Anish Pandit

CMRT member Laura Yawney interviewed oboist and friend Anish Pandit about his experience in college and how it has shaped his view on mental health as a musician.

Jon Boen

"It's sort of like us living on Zoom these days. If the connection is good, we can do a lot of things, but if that connection breaks down, it's just chaos and distracting as can be. That's what presence [addresses]. Just get out of the way of yourself and let your body do what it's designed to do. For me, that's where we have to be with the mind-body connection when playing our instrument." Jon Boen's album recording linked below: https://open.spotify.com/album/7AF3PIx1yhpEbv23gi4eG5?si=T_o...

Carl Alexander

Kelsey Williams has an illuminating conversation with Carl Alexander about his experience as a Black classical musician. "Expectations of a Countertenor are not exactly me. Countertenors tend to be - especially the ones getting hired - skinny white men... It's about what people can see on stage. If your body is different from what people are expecting, some directors feel that it can take people out of the story. I personally don't believe that's true. If anything, it just gives people a di...

Michael Heaston

This week Ben sat down with Michael Heaston, Artistic Administrator of the Metropolitan Opera, to discuss his career, working with young artists, and how to foster positive mental health habits in our communities. 

Kelsey Williams

In this interview, CMRT co-founder Kelsey Williams sits down with Ben to talk about her life in music, imposter syndrome, and anxiety in all its shapes and forms.  Heads up, this podcast contains content relating to suicide and suicidal ideation, which might be a sensitive topic for some listeners.

Mallory Thompson

"Nobody is broken. It’s about your expectations for the quality of your life. How do I want to feel? How do I think I deserve to feel? I just want to be able to be me and be as comfortable and as happy as I possibly can. And that’s what I wish for everybody." - Dr. Mallory Thompson Dr. Mallory Thompson is director of bands, professor of music, coordinator of the conducting program, and holds the John W. Beattie Chair of Music at Northwestern University. She conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensem...

2021: Group Pod!

In this episode, the whole team got together to reflect on 2020, talk about exciting things happening in 2021, New Years' Resolutions, and much more. “The magic really comes from the individual interactions, and the people that reach out and ask us to do things or who are excited about something. It’s about the listeners — it’s about you at home. So, reach out! Keep talking to us. Let us know what we can do, cause that’s what this is all about.”

Tamara Wilson

This week, Ben sat down with soprano Tamara Wilson to talk about her experiences with anxiety and depression, and the way they interact with her life as a musician. 

Holding Space

This week Alex and Ben sat down with the rest of the CMRT team to discuss holding space for ourselves and each other. 

Eric Goldberg

Laura Yawney sat down with new CMRT member Eric Goldberg for their thoughts on music, career, and therapy. 

Larry Rachleff

Conductor Larry Rachleff joins us for a broad discussion on mindful practice, healthy progress, cultivating positive culture, and much more. 

Akshat Jain

Ken-David Masur

Ken David Masur sits down with Classical Musicians Roundtable to discuss mental health both in and outside of the music world, what it’s like to conduct an ensemble while being aware of those with mental illness, and much more.

Gail Williams

Carl Evans

Carl Evans is director of programs and operations for Hope For The Day, a non-profit that "empower[s] the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education."

Steven Banks

This week, we sat down with Steven Banks, Young Concert Artist, assistant professor of saxophone at Ithaca College School of Music, and member of award-winning Kenari Quartet, to talk about his experiences with mental health as a black musician in the world of classical music.

Ben Manis, Kevin Gupana, and Alexandra Nelson

This week, co-founder Alexandria Hoffman sat down with the three newest members of the team to talk about their goals for CMRT, what brought them here, and much more.

Laurie Williams

Laurie Williams, elementary general music teacher, shares how the pandemic has impacted herself and her career.

Kelsey Williams, Laura Yawney, Alexandria Hoffman

This week, new team member Ben Manis sat down with the co-founders of Classical Musicians' Roundtable for an update on all the exciting things on the horizon for this organization! Alex, Kelsey, and Laura talk about how their passion for mental health and music began, what the big plans are for CMRT in the coming years, and what they are bringing to the table.