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This is the Legend Of...

This is the Legend Of...

By: Amos Vang
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 Have you ever wondered about what it takes to be a great investment banker? Or how you can be a broadcaster for the Olympics on national TV? What about becoming a famous world-renowned musician? Or how about making it to a pro sports league such as the NHL? Join Amos Vang, a Canadian lawyer, broadcaster, and podcaster, as he tells and features the untold real-life stories of professionals and people from all walks of life, as well as the lessons that they have learned from their careers. Real-life stories, timeless lessons, rising legends. Find them all here on "This is the Legend Of...".Amos Vang Career Success Economics
Episodes
  • He's a JUNO AWARD NOMINEE! | Ep. 26: This is the Legend Of Iman Habibi

    He's a JUNO AWARD NOMINEE! | Ep. 26: This is the Legend Of Iman Habibi
    Nov 7 2025

    He almost got kicked out of school in Iran for playing piano. Then, he and his family fled Iran because of war. After years of tribulation and difficulties, he would become a world-renowned, award-winning composer, with a JUNO Award nomination in 2024.This is the legend of Iman Habibi, an Iranian-Canadian composer who served as the commissioned composer for the recently concluded 2025 Honens International Piano Competition. Even though Honens has concluded, it’s still a great time to hone in on Iman’s career and newest composition, “Fracture”. Join Amos Vang and Iman Habibi as they discuss the unique experiences and challenges of musicianship during Iman’s early life in Iran, the most important lessons that Iman learned from all of his composition teachers, the direct connections between “Fracture”, current events, and the metacrisis, and the importance of musicality in defining culture.#honens #honens2025 #neurorecital #verbier #chopincompetition #imanhabibi #classicfm #neuroscience #cliburn #piano #janinafialkowska #classicalmusicIman’s website: https://www.imanhabibi.com/Iman’s Instagram: @iman.habibi.composerTomorrow by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

    Other music composed by Amos Vang, with a special excerpt of “Fracture” by Iman Habibi-- CHAPTERS --0:00 – Introduction3:27 – What inspired Iman Habibi to pursue music?8:31 – Tehran, Iran was very influential to Iman Habibi’s early artistic pursuits, in polarising ways that showed the power of music10:00 – Iman Habibi was almost expelled from school for playing piano in Iran!12:47 – In Iran, classical music was viewed ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY compared to Canada, the U.S., and the West!15:43 – Iman Habibi describes the most important lessons that he learned from his early teachers!22:15 – Performing and sharing music with an audience is a unique experience.24:01 – Chopin’s music really speaks to people, especially in times of conflict.27:00 – What inspired Iman Habibi to become a composer?28:53 – What were the most important lessons that Iman Habibi learned from his composition teachers?38:07 – Every performer and composer has their own signature: they imbue a bit of themselves into their performances and compositions.39:17 – Chopin, Iman, and every other composer is a product of their own time. Authenticity is important in music!40:49 – What is a commissioned composition?42:07 – What is Iman Habibi’s planning process for each commissioned composition?46:23 – What is “Fracture”, Iman Habibi’s commissioned composition for the 2025 Honens International Competition?49:59 – Iman mentions the Metacrisis, which is coincidentally related to some of Amos’s work at Stanford University’s MAHB!53:57 – There is a cultural problem that is preventing humanity from understanding the problems that affect it.59:30 – How should pianists approach “Fracture” by Iman Habibi?1:05:55 – What is musicality to Iman Habibi?1:10:31 – What is the Complete Artist to Iman Habibi?1:17:23 – Music appreciation is losing ground in Canada and the U.S. This is isolating people.1:28:21 – How can people enjoy music competitions such as Honens?1:31:33 – What is Iman Habibi’s advice to those who want to pursue a career in music?
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • Meet the CEO and President of Honens | Ep. 25: This is the Legend Of Amanda Smith

    Meet the CEO and President of Honens | Ep. 25: This is the Legend Of Amanda Smith
    Oct 15 2025

    The semi-finals of the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition begins tomorrow, and as we hone in on the competition, it's time to get the organizational and professional perspectives on the success of Honens!

    Meet Amanda Smith, CEO and President of Honens! Join Amos Vang as he features Amanda's career and pathway to Honens, along with behind-the-scenes organizational elements of the competition and festival, Honens's unique perspective on musicality and artistry, and the ways in which you can enjoy Honens this year!

    Honens's competition website: https://www.honens.com/competition/

    Tomorrow by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au Other music composed by: Amos Vang

    -- CHAPTERS --

    0:00 – Introduction

    2:41 – What inspired Amanda Smith to pursue music?

    4:18 – Amanda did her music degree at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

    5:40 – Amanda took marketing courses, which would inspire her to pursue an MBA with a specialization in charitable organizations at Trinity Western University.

    7:09 – How has Amanda’s music training prepared her for the transition into the corporate world and on her perspective of business management?

    11:38 – People have many professional interests in the present day!

    13:30 – How have each of Amanda’s professional chapters prepared her for Honens?

    14:45 – What inspired Amanda to Hone In on Honens? I.e. What inspired her to join Honens?

    17:53 – Trust and healthy communities have been sadly lacking in much of the world today.

    19:30 – A day in the life of Honens CEO and President Amanda Smith 21:58 – How has the pandemic changed Honens?

    25:20 – What is musicality to Amanda Smith?

    26:12 – How does Honens market musicality?

    27:35 – Storytelling is important. Amos Vang himself tackles the issue of storytelling in many different areas of work.

    29:51 – In music, particularly piano, storytelling is shown through the pianist’s hands.

    32:22 – Ryan Wang: a pianist is at their best when they are at their most vulnerable.

    33:27 – How does Amanda support Jon Kimura Parker’s artistic vision at Honens?

    38:34 – Amos Vang calls Honens the Canadian Grand Slam of international piano competitions!

    40:54 – How does the Honens organisation differ between a competition year and a non-competition year?

    43:21 – Amanda: the largest gaps in Canadian musical education are largely cultural.

    45:55 – Dang Thai Son’s lifelong devotion to music is legendary.

    47:32 – Canadians are to hockey as the Chinese are to piano!

    49:10 – What is Honens’s “Keys for Newcomers” programme?

    51:42 – What is Honens’s “Artistic Development” programme? What makes this programme unique from other competitions’ programmes?

    54:00 – What are the similarities and differences in managing the post-Honens early careers of Illia Ovcharenko and Nicolas Namoradze?

    59:27 – What are the most rewarding things that Amanda has experienced at Honens?

    1:01:23 – How can people watch and enjoy Honens?

    1:03:40 – What is Amanda’s advice to former musicians who have decided to change career paths?


    #honens #honens2025 #illiaovcharenko #nicolasnamoradze #neurorecital #jonkimuraparker #virtuosity #cliburn #chopin #chopin2025
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • HE SHOWED HIS BRAIN ON MUSIC | Ep. 24 - This is the Legend Of Nicolas Namoradze

    HE SHOWED HIS BRAIN ON MUSIC | Ep. 24 - This is the Legend Of Nicolas Namoradze
    Sep 26 2025
    The finest instrument is the mind. He showed exactly why, by recording his own brain on music! Meet Nicolas Namoradze (known as “Nico” to friends and colleagues), a pianist, award-winning neuroscientist, and 1st prize winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. In this episode of This is the Legend Of…, Amos features Nicolas’s unique career, pathway to Honens, and fascinating research after Honens. His most recent research, the “Neurorecital”, records the neural activity of a musician’s brain while the musician is performing music. Nicolas just debuted the “Neurorecital” at the world-renowned Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and by using the University of California – San Francisco’s revolutionary “Glass Brain” technology, Nicolas has broken new ground into musical performance’s musical, neurological, and psychological effects on both the performer and the audience! Looking forward to featuring Nicolas’s research updates in the future! Nicolas's Instagram: @nicolasnamoradze Nicolas’s website – https://nicolasnamoradze.com/ #honens#honens2025 #chopin #chopincompetition#nicolasnamoradze#cliburn #cliburncompetition#vancliburn #piano #janinafialkowska #fialkowska #carnegie #classicalmusicTomorrow by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.auOther music composed by: Amos Vang-- CHAPTERS --0:00 – Introduction4:16 – What inspired Nicolas Namoradze to pursue piano?6:58 – What is the music culture like in Tbilisi andBudapest?11:01 – North America has growing centres of rich pianoculture.11:25 – Nicolas made his solo debut at 10 yearsold and his orchestral debut at 12 years old!12:49 – How have the music cultures of Budapest, Vienna, andFlorence shaped Nicolas Namoradze’s musical style and philosophy?16:27 – It is important to consider both musical ANDnon-musical influences on a composer’s style!20:48 – Chinese music has A LOT of rich cultural references! Amos Vang explains the Cantonese and Mandarinlinguistic influences on music!24:04 – There are parallels between musicianship and acting! Tony Leung Chiu-wai is a great example of that.27:37 – Nicolas brings a scientific perspectiveinto piano performance!28:44 – Music teachers would benefit greatly fromunderstanding the scientific perspectives behind piano performance.35:47 – Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do can be applied into musicalperformance!36:55 – Is there a kinesiological explanation for good armmovement in piano performance?42:23 – Michael Phelps spent more time on mental practicethan on swimming! Could musicians learnfrom that?51:34 – What inspired Nicolas Namoradze to compete inHonens?57:48 – Honens has a unique scoring system.1:02:29 – Music does NOT operate in a vacuum. There must be dialogue and adaptation.1:05:41 – Justice Rosalie Abella, a former judge of theSupreme Court of Canada, was a performing pianist.1:14:52 – Music and law have one thing in common: theirstudents learn about THEORY and THEME!1:15:10 – Justice Rosalie Abella actually read Amos Vang’sfinal law school paper about her!1:15:47 – What is musicality to Nicolas Namoradze?1:19:32 – Can there be objectivity/universality in beauty(and by extension, in musicality)?1:24:28 – What is the Neurorecital? What are the most important research findingsthat Nicolas Namoradze has found in the Neurorecital?1:28:16 – How can the Neurorecital contribute to our current knowledge of effective musical performance?1:30:31 – Amos Vang describes his own experience withobserving musical therapy in senior patients with dementia.1:34:52 – The gradual decrease of music education in Canada’spublic education systems1:40:01 – Look at the brain on music! There are NO BAD SIDE EFFECTS!1:40:55 – What is the Complete Artist to Nicolas?1:42:36 – How do new audience members watch and enjoy Honens?1:45:48 – What are the most rewarding aspects of NicolasNamoradze’s career?
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    1 hr and 51 mins
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