The Mindful Musical Life Podcast

Cognitive Science and Musical Performance with Dr. Katy Carnaggio

This week's guest is Dr. Katy Carnaggio. From recording studios to live television, concert hall stages to a canopy of trees overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Dr. Katy Carnaggio has enjoyed performing professionally for audiences across the United States. Katy is Creative and Managing Director of Fearless Performance, coaching performers of all specialties to share the best versions of themselves in performance and to make their best better.  A cognitive science researcher, Katy has done work on the psychological, developmental, and neurolinguistic underpinnings of music performance. Her cutting-edge, research-grounded methods in practice, preparation, and execution were awarded by the Presser Foundation in 2020. Katy has worked with Jeff Nelsen over the past four years to create tools to fill the gaps in musicians' training, including online courses, a performance training podcast called Performing Beyond Doubt, and most recently, an innovative online performance academy and lab called Elevate. Links and Contacts for Fearless Performance * Website: www.fearless-performance.com [http://www.fearless-performance.com] * Instagram: instagram.com/fearless_performance [http://instagram.com/fearless_performance] * Facebook: facebook.com/FearlessPerformance [https://www.facebook.com/FearlessPerformance]

Deepening our Self-Knowledge through Performance Training with World-Renowned Hornist, Jeff Nelsen

Our guest this week is has to be my favorite Canadian, pig-farm-raised magician horn players in the world: Jeff Nelsen is the current horn player with the world famous Canadian Brass and has spent a total of over 10 years touring and recording with them, Jeff has also performed concerti and chamber music on six continents, and in the horn sections of dozens of orchestras including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Montreal, and St. Louis Symphonies. He is professor of horn at the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and is founder of Fearless Performance LLC, a company that focuses on training musicians and more to consistently perform their best.  Jeff knows how important one’s mental approach is to high-level performing, and in this interview we discuss his Fearless performance training system and online learning community, as well as Jeff’s experiences with the mental and emotional challenges present in performing, and how he has trained himself to overcome these challenges. I have spent a lot of time in my life listening to Jeff and working with him, but there is something new or excited that I discover every time we talk, and I am sure you will feel the same way after this conversation. Links and Contact Information * Website: www.fearless-performance.com [http://www.fearless-performance.com] * Instagram for Fearless Performance [https://www.instagram.com/fearless_performance/] * Instagram for Jeff Nelsen [https://www.instagram.com/jeffreynelsen/] * Performing Beyond Doubt podcast [https://performingbeyonddoubt.com/]

Mindful Inspiration in Composition with Graham Campbell

My guest this week is composer, arranger, guitarist, and producer, Graham Campbell. Based in Toronto, Canada, Graham’s colorful and melodic chamber music grounded in jazz, folk, and cinematic styles has been heard at many major festivals across Canada and Europe, including the Ottawa Chamber Fest, The Festival of the Sound, and the Tiberius International Chamber Festival. He collaborates often with his father, world renowned clarinetist James Campbell, including on the full-length album As You Near Me, which features Graham as a composer, arranger, guitarist, and producer. His film scoring credits include the post-apocalyptic sci-fi "My Girl, Skelly", which was an official selection at the Markham International Film Festival and a finalist at the Vancouver Independent Film Festival, and the animated short "Predestination" for which his orchestral score won Best Original Score at the Anatolia Film Festival in Istanbul. Graham also has extensive experience as an educator spending over 10 years working with Strings Across the Sky, a program that teaches traditional fiddling to indigenous children. Graham’s experience as a meditator plays a roll in his life as a performer, educator, and composer. In this interview we discuss his background in mindfulness meditation and Alexander technique, including what his daily practice looks like now, and how meditation directly influenced several of his pieces on his new album, “Palms Upward.” We also discuss how mindfulness has helped him with performance anxiety as a professional guitarist.  Links and Contact Information * Website: www.grahamcampbell.ca [http://www.grahamcampbell.ca] * Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090053194466 [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090053194466] * Instagram: www.instagram.com/grahamkcampbell/ [https://www.instagram.com/grahamkcampbell/] * Email: graham@grahamcampbell.ca

Working with Stress and Anxiety Through Transcendental Meditation

Jessica Escobar is a longtime violinist with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and other ensembles all around Nevada and beyond. By day, she works across the street from the Pioneer concert hall as a full-time certified court interpreter for the Second Judicial District Court of Nevada. In her job as interpreter, she helps people oflimited English proficiency gain access to justice by bridging the language gap in court proceedings.  In addition to her current career as an interpreter, Jessica used her double major in French and Anthropology to teach English and French classes first in France for two years, then here in Reno at the University of Nevada and Truckee Meadows Community College. She has translated and interpreted for regional police departments, hospitals, mental health facilities, courts, and even the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair as a freelancer for ten years before obtaining her current position. After learning more about the role of interpreters, its easy to see why a 2001 study placed interpreters in thecategory of "high-stress professions," which included first responders, military personnel, neurosurgeons, and air traffic controllers. So in July 2017, Jessica decided to take up Transcendental Meditation, or TM for short, in hopes of improving her quality of life and preventing future health problems caused by stress and anxiety. In our conversation we talk about how Jessica first was introduced to Transcendental Meditation and what drew her to that practice specifically, how she views her musical life and meditation, and some recommendations for how to get started if you are interested in TM. Jessica has seemingly boundless energy and kindness and brings such a wonderful presence with here to every situation. It was a pleasure to talk with her and I am sure you will all get a lot out of this conversation.  Links and Contact Information * More info about Jessica: www.renophil.com/jessica-escobar/ [https://www.renophil.com/jessica-escobar/] * Reno Transcendental Meditation center: www.meditationforlifereno.com/ [https://meditationforlifereno.com/]

Exploring your Musical Mental Health with Gary Mayne, Licensed Therapist and Professional Musician

I am very excited to announce this week’s guest and Reno local, Gary Mayne.  Gary has performed, recorded, taught, presented clinics and provided masterclasses at Universities, public schools, conferences, and festivals around the world.  He regularly presents on topics of mental health at universities such as the Eastman School of Music, Arizona State University, University of North Texas, University of Iowa, and the University of Nevada Reno. Gary served as the trombone teacher at the LeBam Music Camp in Beirut, Lebanon as well as an ensemble director at the Cyprus Jazz Workshop in Nicosia, Cyprus.   As a big band performer he has performed and recorded regularly with groups such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Ben Markley Big Band, The Arturo Sandoval Mambo Big Band the David Caffey Jazz Orchestra, and many more.  As a symphonic musician, Gary has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the Reno Philharmonic, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Opera Colorado, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, the Wyoming Symphony and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and has toured as a member of the SPARK Brass Quintet. Gary also spent 10 years as the trombonist with Big Head Todd and the Monsters and has performed and recorded with them in Colorado, Florida, and the Caribbean as well as performing at numerous festivals with multiple headlining shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater. In addition to his impressive musical credits, Gary is a licensed therapist in Reno and owns Sound Minds Mental Health PLLC. Gary specializes in treating trauma and working with couples, but also works with general needs like anxiety, depression, grief, and other human experiences.  Gary attended the University of Northern Colorado and Trinity Washington University in Washington, DC.Gary has a truly unique and special combination of experiences that provides deep understanding into the mental health challenges that musicians face. He valuable suggestions in this interview are applicable to just about everyone, musician or not, but can easily be applied to the specific challenges that musicians face.