Artistry with Heart: A Musician’s Wellness Podcast

In this episode, I speak with NYC-based contralto Emily Geller, whose lower extension has to be heard to be believed.

In our conversation, Emily and I pull back the curtain on what it really takes to build a career in opera—from navigating identity and voice type, to facing rejection, to finding strength in self-trust. Her honesty and grit are contagious, and I walked away fro...

In this deeply moving episode, I speak with legendary vocalist, The First Lady of Portland Blues herself, LaRhonda Steele, who talks about her inspiring journey through music, resilience, and self-discovery. From navigating life with albinism to battling cancer, LaRhonda shares how music became her lifeline, healer, and source of strength. 

She opens up about the inner critic, self-doubt, and the power of embracing one’s true voice...

“When we sing together, our heartbeats synchronize.”

In this episode, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Landsverk shares how music can be so much more than the sum of its parts — it can be a gift to the audience, the space, and even the artist themselves.

From composing for The Daily with Wonderly’s Jim Brunberg, to leading Portland’s Low Bar Chorale, to founding Voices Unlimited – a n...

“Your mind, body, and spirit are your primary instrument—your musical instrument is secondary.”

Violinist, Alexander Technique teacher, and bestselling author Jennifer Roig-Francolí talks about the deep connection between music and well-being, as well as the transformative effects of The Alexander Technique.

She shares her methods on helping musicians overcome pain, performance anxiety, and...

"Creation is not linear. Ideas orbit us like stars and moons—we grab them when we’re ready, and they reveal their purpose in time."

2024 Music Educator Grammy Nominee, Prof. Coty Raven Morris is a versatile musician and educator at Portland State University, takes us through her early life in New Orleans and how the loss of her mother and grandmother shaped her passion for music and social justice.

This holiday season, Artistry with Heart is spotlighting Being Human Together, a non-profit founded by Coty Raven Morris.

In Coty’s words, “Love is a Verb” - and as teachers, we need to be preventative about oppression as we embrace and learn about our beautiful and diverse community around us.

In a world that seems so divided right now, we need more resources for our communities to learn from, and teach the next generation how to ...

Sofia von Trapp is an internationally renowned vocalist, performer, songwriter, and producer who has a deep-rooted musical gift that is both empowering and magnetic. She studied voice and music business at the Berkeley College of Music, toured the world as a professional musician for 15 years with her three incredibly gifted siblings, The von Trapps, and is now producing and songwriting music of her very own. 

This episode was prod...

In Episode 5 of Artistry with Heart, I dig in to an insightful and inspiring conversation with Dr. John Pickett, a virtuoso classical pianist who received his doctoral degree at Indiana University, and was a professor of piano for 33 years at Central Washington University. Since his retirement, John has dived into composing and singing his own original material which can be found at johnpickett.bandcamp.com.

In this conversation,...

In this episode, we dig into an inspiring conversation with Professor Lisa Ann Marsh, an incredible pianist, instructor and composer who is notorious for her ability to lead injured musicians to healing.

Lisa has a striking ability to write compositions that fuse the natural and supernatural worlds while deeply embodying the complexity of human emotion. 

In this conversation, we talk about dreaming big, debunking perfectionism, put...

In Episode 3 of Artistry with Heart, I dig into an insightful and inspiring conversation with Matt Meighan, a deeply poetic, insightful and profound songwriter whose soul radiates from his lyrics, vocals and compositions.

Matt inspires musicians of all levels and genres to tap into their musical voice through the medium of songwriting, and always from a place of authenticity and truth.

In this conversation, we talk about trusting y...

In Episode 2 of Artistry with Heart we hear from Cynthia McGladrey, an incredible vocalist, emeritus instructor of studio voice, and body mapping educator with so much wisdom and insight to share.

She teaches throughout the northwest in workshops, master classes and music educator consultations, specializing with vocal and handbell musicians. 

Her emphasis is sharing Body Mapping information with fellow musicians to promote balance...

You’re listening to Artistry with Heart, a Musician’s Wellness podcast. Today we are having a conversation with Justin Copeland, an incredible jazz trumpeter, educator and composer whose improvisations and original compositions exude incredible intentionality, virtuosity and depth. He has studied and performed all the way to the doctoral level and has been an active performer both locally and internationally with many incredible mu...

No matter who you are, or what you do, if you’ve ever created something that you’ve put your heart and soul into, you’ve felt the fear of the Creative. Artistry with Heart is a musician’s wellness podcast that goes beyond the curtain and into the musician’s mind.

We are building a support community for creatives. Putting yourself out there takes courage, and this podcast was created to help support you! If you have any questions or...

This is a bonus episode featured in A Journal for the Musician's Soul featuring Jack Budekke, a pianist, guitarist, composer and educator whose improvisations and compositions come straight from the soul. He holds several music degrees with an emphasis on jazz, and has a wealth of wisdom, bravery and grit that makes everything he does as a musician incredibly inspiring. The piece featured in this episode is his original composition...

In this episode we’ll be talking about the first of sixteen intentions in A Journal for the Musician’s Soul. This interactive journal is a co-authored collaboration between Stephanie Bernards and Ashlee Young. If you haven’t heard of this journal yet and you’d like to, check it out here! We would absolutely love to have you be apart of this experience with us!

In this episode, Stephanie digs in to the purpose of this journal: which...

This is a bonus episode featured in A Journal for the Musician's Soul featuring Jay Cosnett, a sound engineer for Low Bar Chorale who has an expansive musical history. In this episode, we hear how Jay got involved in the music scene as a musician and as a sound engineer. Jay also shares his story of a time that he was pulled away from music, and what brought him back.

Enjoy this conversation with Ashlee Young, Stephanie Bernards an...

Featured in A Journal for the Musician's Soul, we hear from Arietta “Mz. Etta” Ward, an incredible vocalist and inspirational human being. In this episode, we hear Arietta's inspiring story of coming back to music and owning her truth. Arietta reminds us to keep our vision and our truth. 

For more information on Arietta, visit her website at mzettasworld.com.

If you have loved this conversation you can follow Ms.Arietta on social m...