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Yamaha Artist, pianist, and researcher Jarred Dunn returns to The Piano Pod for our second alumni conversation of Season 7.
Two seasons ago, Jarred appeared with his teacher and collaborator, pianist Anna Górecka—the daughter of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki—to discuss their landmark recording, Górecki’s World of the Piano. The album later became a Prix Opus finalist in the Contemporary Album of the Year category.
This time, Jarred joins us to explore his latest album, Schumann Daydreams, released by Lexicon Classics.
What if one of classical music’s most renowned composers has been reduced to a diagnosis—his distinctive musical language too often explained away as a symptom of mental illness—and we have been missing both the poetry in his music and the extraordinary imagination behind it?
In this conversation, Jarred invites us to reconsider Robert Schumann beyond the familiar myths surrounding his mental and emotional life. We discuss daydreaming, poetry, trauma, spontaneity, and the abrupt changes of direction that make Schumann’s music feel so deeply human.
Jarred also takes us inside the album piece by piece, explores the emotional journey of Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11, and shares what happened behind the scenes during the recording sessions at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.
We also discuss his recently published book, Górecki’s Solo Piano Music, and the Kallmünz Summer Piano Festival in Germany, where he serves as Artistic Director.
CORRECTION
During the introduction, Górecki’s World of the Piano is mistakenly described as Jarred’s first album. It is his fourth album.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Performance excerpt and episode preview
0:35 Introduction
4:28 Introducing Jarred’s latest album, Schumann Daydreams
10:18 Rethinking Schumann’s mental and emotional life: personality or mental illness?
19:21 Spontaneity in Schumann’s music
24:18 Inside the album: piece by piece
29:39 Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor
35:08 Behind the scenes: the recording process and venue
41:15 Kallmünz Summer Piano Festival
44:20 Closing performance excerpt
LISTEN TO SCHUMANN DAYDREAMS
🎧 Stream the album:
https://sym.ffm.to/schumanndaydreams
WATCH THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES FILMS
🎥 The Making of Schumann Daydreams:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcKHEJiyu64I&si=hWeFH3LFLOa53XEY
Jarred’s behind-the-scenes series explores the album’s conception, his evolving relationship with Schumann, the F-sharp-minor Sonata, and the roles of poetry, spontaneity, and surprise in interpreting this music.
READ JARRED’S BOOK
📖 Górecki’s Solo Piano Music
MUSIC PLAYLISTS
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