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PODCAST

The Cello Sherpa Podcast

Do you dream of someday getting to perform at Carnegie Hall, or wonder what it takes to be a professional musician? The Cello Sherpa Podcast is for anyone who enjoys the tales and scales in the life of a classical musician, or for the young classical musician who dreams big! We explore all aspects of the climb to the summit from student to the professional stage! Joel Dallow, the Cello Sherpa, interviews experts in the field covering a wide range of topics surrounding this challenging career choice,

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All Episodes

32:26

"Suite Beginnings" - An Interview with Cellist Tate...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/10/02

A world-class string quartet can look effortless on stage, but the reality is closer to running a small business with no off switch, and doing it with the same three people for years. We’re joined by cellist Tate Zavadiuk, founding member of the Viano String Quartet, to get honest about how a professional chamber music career is actually built: one relationship, one rehearsal, and one hard conversation at a time. Tate takes us back to his earliest days with the cello, Suzuki training, and the...

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38:32

“Something Borrowed, Something Bach” - An Interview...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/09/18

Bach’s cello suites are some of the most recorded, most studied music ever written, which raises a risky question: can you add anything to them without breaking what makes them timeless? We explore that question with Brick House Duo, cellist Jennifer Kloetzel and violinist Peter Wilson, as they share the story and craft behind their album The Bach Wilson Project and the life partnership that powers it. Peter’s path is anything but standard: he spent 30 years as a Marine violinist with “...

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32:48

"Defining Your Own Voice" - An Interview with Cellist...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/09/04

He had the conservatory training, the orchestral chops, and the “proper” classical path laid out ahead of him, but Sebastian Plano couldn’t ignore the stronger call: make his own music. We sit down with the Grammy-nominated cellist and composer to trace the real turning points, from leaving Lisbon on a one-way ticket to Boston, to realizing that interpretation alone was not enough, to building a creative life where the cello becomes both voice and laboratory. We dig into the craft behin...

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34:49

"The Hair of the Frog" - An Interview with Bowmaker...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/08/21

Your bow is the only part of your rig you touch every second you play, yet most of us shop for one like we’re guessing in the dark. We sit in a room, try ten options, get overwhelmed by “better” and “worse,” and somehow leave with more confusion than we started with. That’s why we brought on Evan Orman, a working cellist who became a full-time bowmaker and now spends his days repairing, restoring, and building bows for real players. We talk through Evan’s path from serious conservatory traini...

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33:19

"Audition Methodology: Cracking the Code" - An...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/08/07

The audition screen can make great players feel powerless, but it also reveals something encouraging: the results often go to the musician with the most repeatable process. We’re joined by cellist Charles Zandieh, fresh off a one-year position with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and heading into a tenure-track role with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, to talk about what actually moves the needle in professional orchestral auditions. Charles walks us through his real audition path. From the ...

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31:57

"Shut Up and Play" - An Interview with Cellist...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/07/24

The fastest way to get better is not a secret scale system or a new bow hold. It’s learning how to think like a musician who can last. We sit down with cellist Natasha Brofsky, chair of the Juilliard School cello department, to trace the real arc of a life in music: early obsession, world-class training, hard choices about career paths, and the daily mindset that keeps artistry alive under pressure. We talk about growing up in New York City, studying with influential teachers, and why she cho...

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38:38

"Etiquette Essentials: The Dos and Don'ts for...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/07/10

Your audition might win you the seat, but your day-to-day behavior decides whether people actually want to sit next to you for the next 20 years. The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, is joined by cellist Jennifer Humphreys, currently with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, to talk about the orchestra etiquette music school rarely teaches: the quiet, practical choices that signal professionalism the moment you walk on stage. From the “fake five” being in your seat early to simple introdu...

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35:54

"Last BOW" - An Interview with Carter Brey, Principal...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/06/26

Thirty years in the principal chair can look effortless from the audience, but it rarely feels that way from the stage. We’re joined by cellist Carter Brey as he steps back and takes stock of a remarkable run leading the New York Philharmonic cello section and why he’s choosing to retire at the end of the season while his playing still feels strong. We get into what most people never see: how long it can take to truly feel “at home” in a top orchestra job, how you learn to handle pressure and...

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28:40

"Called Up to the Majors: Orchestra Fantasy Camp" -...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/06/12

You’ve heard of side-by-side concerts, but what happens when adult amateur musicians don’t just drop in for a night, they move into the orchestra for an entire week? We sit down with conductor Nicholas Hersh to unpack the Baltimore Symphony Academy, a rare program where participants rehearse and perform shoulder to shoulder with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians in a true “fantasy camp” for orchestra lovers. We talk through what the week actually feels like: immediate sectionals, deep co...

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33:26

“From Vision to Commission” - An Interview with...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/05/29

A cello career can begin in the most unlikely place and still end up on the world’s biggest stages. We sit down with acclaimed cellist Seth Parker Woods, a fearless advocate for contemporary classical music and a leading voice for commissioning new works, to trace the real steps behind a life in music: the early spark, the teachers who mattered, and the moment the path starts to click. We talk about what draws him to living composers, why electronics and electroacoustic experimentation can ex...

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35:54

"Seven Feet Long and Nearly Silent" - An Interview...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/05/15

Cello and piano can be a brutal matchup when nobody makes room, but when the balance is right it becomes one of the most revealing duo formats in music. We sit down with cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley to trace how their partnership started, why it clicked so fast, and what they’ve learned from years of turning rehearsal into a kind of shared research lab. We talk about building programs that cross borders without losing rigor, from Shuffle Play Listen to projects that ...

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37:23

"Playing Outside the Bach(s)" - An Interview with...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/05/01

One missed signup and a burst of kid-level courage can set an entire life in motion. Cellist and composer Dorothy Lawson grew up in Toronto surrounded by classical music and strong school music programs, but she didn’t “choose” cello in some grand, cinematic way. She simply chose to participate a day late, and the next opening happened to be cello. From there, the path becomes a masterclass in how musicians are formed: early access, social learning, and the kind of training that turns curiosi...

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28:12

"Building One Measure at a Time" - An Interview with...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/04/17

A kid gets asked to “play a scale” by one of the greatest cellists who ever lived and has no idea what a scale is. That moment could have ended in embarrassment and retreat, but for Ole Akahoshi it became the beginning of a lifelong education in craft, taste, and what it really means to make the cello sing. The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, sits down with Ole Akahoshi, cellist and faculty at the Yale School of Music and Manhattan School of Music Prep Division, to trace his path fro...

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36:05

"No Drums, No Frets" - An Interview with Cellist...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/04/03

He picked orchestra because he thought there would be drums and that mix-up changed his life. Cellist Tommy Mesa joins us to trace the real arc from an accidental start in Miami to major career milestones, including joining the Manhattan School of Music faculty, winning the Sphinx Competition, and earning top honors like the Avery Fisher Career Grant. Along the way, we talk about what makes a classical music career sustainable when you don’t begin at age four and how the right environment can...

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42:02

"The Dynamics of Equity" - An Interview with Stanford...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/03/20

Classical music can change a life, but it can also quietly decide whose life gets changed. The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, sits down with Stanford Thompson, founder of Play On Philly and executive director of Equity Arc, to talk about the moment he realized music isn’t neutral and why “work hard” is only part of the story when access to training, instruments, time, and insider mentorship is so uneven. Stanford takes us from a childhood shaped by disciplined music educators, to hi...

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29:34

"Bach from the Land of the Haka" - An Interview with...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/03/06

A tiny sixteenth-size cello, a stubborn toddler, and a violin shop tantrum, that’s how this story begins. From there, Inbal Megido grew into an international soloist and chamber musician, studied with the legendary Aldo Parisot at Yale, and ultimately built a rich artistic life in Wellington, New Zealand. We explore how a childhood steeped in music became a fluent language, how cross-continental moves shaped identity, and why a liberal arts education can sharpen a performer’s ear and mind as ...

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35:24

"Sit Happens: From Suzuki to Systems" - An Interview...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/02/20

A seven-year-old chooses the cello because “you get to sit,” and decades later becomes a sought-after pedagogue who reshapes how students think about practice, expression, and careers. That’s the arc that The Cello Sherpa Podcast host, Joel Dallow, explores with cellist and educator Melissa Kraut, equal parts heart, humor, and hard-won clarity. We dive into the early thrill of playing by ear and the long road to loving theory, including candid stories about faking through parts and finally d...

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36:00

"In Time and In Tune" - An Interview with Cellist...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/02/06

What does it really take to move from a childhood in a Soviet special music school to the principal chair of a top American orchestra? The Cello Sherpa Podcast Host, Joel Dallow, sits down with Ilya Finkelshteyn to trace that journey, through refugee camps, early months in Minnesota with two suitcases and $300, a total technical rebuild at Juilliard with Harvey Shapiro, and a relentless audition circuit that demanded both resilience and precision. Ilya opens the curtain on how committees act...

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27:46

"Global Resonance" - An Interview with Cellist...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/01/23

A single question—“Can I have it?”—nearly sent a child’s cello out the door. Instead, that moment lit a fuse that carried Hee-Young Lim from piano lessons and packed Korean school days to principal chair in Rotterdam and a teaching home at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music. The Cello Sherpa Podcast host, Joel Dallow, interviews Hee-Young, and they take a deep dive into the chain of choices that shaped her artistry: the advantages of piano-first training for cello technique, how small h...

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37:08

"The 3 Cs of a Lasting Career: Curiosity,...

The Cello Sherpa Podcast ·

2026/01/09

A cello can feel like an escape, a calling, and eventually a limb. That’s how Johannes Moser describes the moment the instrument clicked for him and why, decades later, he still loves the daily work most players dread. Our conversation traces his path from messy youth concerts and amateur orchestras to major stages, revealing how real leadership grows when the horn enters early, the violas miss a cue, and the soloist still carries the story. We dig into what actually sustains a modern career...

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