I’m excited to revisit the very first episode of the “Is it Recess Yet?” podcast, from 2018. My dear friend and colleague, the wonderful violinist and human, Miki-Sophia Cloud, graciously agreed to be my first interviewee. In our chat, we talk about her former life as a strolling ‘gypsy violinist’; playing by ear versus playing from sheet music; her musical studies and mentors at Harvard, Yale, and the New England Conservatory of Music; the importance of finding one’s purpose as a musician, beyond the intense competitiveness of classical music and the need for approval or being “special”; and how she answers the question: “why am I doing this?” and what motivates her to make music.
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Miki is a core member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble, A Far Cry
The Boston Globe profile on Miki’s “Little Criers”concerts for families and children. Find “Little Criers” on A Far Cry’s Facebook Page.
Miki and I play in the Solera Quartet together: MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE is from Mendelssohn’s String Quartet, Op. 80, from the Solera Quartet‘s debut album, EVERY MOMENT PRESENT.
Robert Levin, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Ronda Cole, Director of NVSMS , Violin Teacher, Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA)
Ricardo Cyncynates, Assistant Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra
Ani Kavafian, Professor of Violin, Yale School of Music
Miriam Fried, Professor of Violin, New England Conservatory of Music
Donald Weilerstein, Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies, New England Conservatory of Music
