Episode 17: Lesley Leighton

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Lesley Leighton is the Associate Conductor for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Artistic Director of the Los Robles Master Chorale. She is also a certified chef and a former member of Michael Bloomberg’s inner circle, during his mayorship of NYC. Lesley is interesting, candid and a nice lady to spend an hour with. I hope you enjoy our chat- Thanks for listening!

Episode 13: Jeff Beal

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Composer Jeff Beal is widely known for his work on such films as Blackfish, Appaloosa, and Pollock, and for his work in television- Monk, Carnivàle, Rome, and the current HBO hit, House Of Cards. Jeff is a generous, magnanimous fellow, and one hell of a great musician and composer. He records his work in the living room of his expansive, comfortable, tuscan-style villa in Agoura Hills, and mixes/masters/delivers it all from home. It’s a pretty sweet setup. Jeff is also scheduling more live performances, one of which I saw the terrific premier of late last year, entitled, “The Salvage Men”. Jeff’s upcoming engagements include “Blackfish Live” at the Hollywood Bowl (7/1/16) and a reprise of “The Salvage Men” later this year, in London, England, which is being conducted by our pal, Eric Whitacre. I hope you enjoy our chat, and thanks again for listening to Living With A Genius with yours, truly: Omar Crook.

Episode 11: Christopher Allen

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Conductor Christopher Allen became a friend of mine through this interview, I can safely say. We got on so well, we’re getting together outside of work, now. It’s one of the best things about this podcast for me- meeting people I connect with. Despite my outgoing personality, I’m prone to melancholy and sometimes, meeting people can be hard. Anyway, Chris offers a lot of insight into the behind-the-scenes part of classical music, and I hope you like hearing it as much as I liked producing it. Thanks for listening!

Episode 10: Georgia Stitt

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Pianist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and friend: Georgia Stitt. What can I say- she does it all. Oh, and she juggles a busy home life with Jason Robert Brown and their two beautiful daughters- I swear, my guests usually give me a deep, lingering inferiority complex, but whatever. Georgia is a delight, and I’m so flattered she decided to come over for some lemonade and a chat- Enjoy!

Episode 6: Robert Istad

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Robert (Rob) Istad is one of my favorite folks. We were housemates in college… I can still remember his audition at CSUF, and boy, has he come up the ranks. He is the current head of choral studies at Cal State Fullerton, Artistic Director of the Long Beach Camerata Singers, and soon-to-be Artistic Director of the venerable Pacific Chorale. All that being said, as you’ll hear in my intro, I wanted to hear stories. Stories that have nothing to do with his life in music, but the stories that split my gut way back when. You can Google his name for all that other stuff. Enjoy.

Episode 2: Eric Whitacre

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Eric Whitacre is one of my oldest friends, so why not give it a shot with him early on? It was his idea, anyway. All the things you hear about him are true- he’s a sweet guy, for real. He’s super-smart, interesting, funny, candid and an extraordinarily considerate friend. And handsome. Eric is really, really fucking handsome. I suspect he’ll be a returning guest, especially if it’s an excuse for us to hang out in the middle of the day again.

Episode 1: James Martin Schaefer

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For my pilot episode, I picked James Martin Schaefer. I’ve known Marty for twenty years and we’ve been through a lot together. We both perform regularly at the Los Angeles Opera Company as soloists and choristers. This was my first-ever in preparation for this podcast series, so it’s weird and sometimes not-so-great. I’m posting it anyway.