The interviews below were conducted during the Spring of 2007, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Judith Alstadter (bio) is a virtuoso pianist who trained at both the Julliard School and the Yale.
She has a particular genius for French and Viennese music. Judith talks to us from her winter home in St. Petersburg, Florida. We discuss her most recent CD, "From Vienna to Broadway," and her thoughts on classical music and American culture.
An Interview with Jack Barrett: Tampa Bay's Painter to the World
In my creative odyssey over the last 40 years, I have lived in six major American metro areas and met many hundreds of artists and other talented people. Although the interactions were often exciting at the time, most have faded from my memory. There was no long lasting impression. That is life in the big city.
But every once in a great while, one meets a person who makes a real impression. Such an individual is Jack Barrett — Tampa Bay's painter to the world.
My wife and I were stunned by Jack's exhibit three years ago at the St. Petersburg Arts Center. It was our first visit to the area and made quite an impression.
That a small southern city like St. Pete has an outstanding painter could be chalked up to chance — but that the community art center chose to so elegantly and prominently display a local artist's work says volumes about the state of the art scene in Pinellas County.
I made a cold call to the Barrett residence. Did not promise to buy anything or do anything. Just wanted to chat about painting. That was four years ago. Now Jack and his charming wife, Louise, are close friends.
According to research, over 57% of American workers get an idea for a start-up business each year, but only 8% of the daydreamers actually manage to become independent business owners.
It is my pleasure to introduce two local entrepreneurs, Shawn Hooker and Kendra Rodriguez, who are making their creative commercial vision a reality at The Hooker Tea Company in St. Pete.
Before opening their specialty shop and website, both successfully toiled in the real estate title field. Their jobs were steady, had defined prospects, and paid the rent. But it was not enough. They wanted their working lives to more fully express their creativity, individuality, and range of abilities.
The Hooker Tea Company demonstrates that fledgling creative businesses
My wife and I enjoy Kendra and Shawn’s exotic beverages and deeply appreciate what they are doing to make a St. Pete an increasingly urbane and cosmopolitan place. Hooker Tea is diagonally across from the Museum of Fine Arts.
Here are MP3 excerpts from an interview in the Spring of 2007.