Andrew Simon, the renowned principal clarinet player with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has not only gained a worldwide reputation for his performances on the concert stage but also has a growing global fan base of podcast listeners.
Andy's Licorice Talk
During the Coronavirus pandemic he set up a series of interviews called 'Andy's Licorice Talk' with leading professional woodwind players across the world — but has now decided to dip his toes into brass.
On Saturday 19th September he'll be turning the spotlight on a trio of classical trumpet stars; Michael Sachs (Principal of the Cleveland Orchestra), Mark Gould (former Principal of the Metropolitan Opera) and Esteban Battalan Cons (Principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) to find out what inspires them and what makes them tick.
Wimbledon champion
However, what also makes his interviews a bit different from the norm is that Andy is also a massive sports fan — and tennis in particular — and for this episode he will also be joined by Vania King, 2010 Wimbledon Doubles Champion tennis player to facilitate a discussion on parallels between elite musical and sporting performance.
Talking about the programme and the sporting link, Andy told 4BR: "Michael Sachs often draws comparisons between musical and sporting performance in his teachings and writings — and so including an elite athlete in a discussion about performance anxiety, nerves, and delivering under pressure should prove very interesting.
Vania is someone who has performed at the very highest level of professional sport, so being able to connect with her for this particular programme was too good an opportunity to miss.
It may be something that is of interest to brass players in general and to those I know enjoy 4Barsrest.
All brass players follow what is going on in the brass band world — they think it is an amazing set-up that produces incredible brass players."
All this and there is tennis on top — and especially the insight to how the two elements are linked in terms of performance. We hope everyone enjoys it — it will certainly be plenty of fun!Trumpeter Chris Moyes
New Yorker
Andy is a proud New Yorker and has been the principal clarinet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra over 30 years. He's also one of the great raconteurs of the orchestral world and with his sidekick Lorenzo Iosco has made friends all around the musical globe.
'Andy's Licorice Talk' began during the lockdown and has gone for 17 episodes so far — although this is the first time he has ventured into brass as his friend and trumpet associate Chris Moyes told 4BR.
"Andy is a font of great stories and has an encyclopaedic musical knowledge. He really wanted to do a trumpet feature as he was a student with Michael Sachs at Juilliard and worked with Esteban Battalan Cons during his time here in Hong Kong.
He's also a big fan of Stravinsky's chamber piece "The Soldier's Tale"which has a famously tricky cornet part, so he wants to know more about how that would be approached too."
He added: "All this and there is tennis on top — and especially the insight to how the two elements are linked in terms of performance. We hope everyone enjoys it — it will certainly be plenty of fun!"
