Created and hosted by Ben Laude and featuring Garrick Ohlsson’s insights in every episode, The Chopin Podcast is a 12-part deep dive into the unparalleled piano compositions of Frédéric Chopin, set to premiere on October 2. The series will also include special guests from renowned Chopin scholars to past Chopin Competition medalists.

Produced in partnership with the Chopin Foundation of the United States, The Chopin Podcast comes on the eve of the 11th National Chopin Competition, which takes place January 4-12, 2025 in Miami, FL. Held every five years, the National Chopin Competition is a launching pad for the best young American pianists, with the top two prize-winners earning automatic admission to the live rounds at the 19th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in October 2025. Garrick Ohlsson will serve on the juries of both competitions next year.

In 2022 Garrick Ohlsson was named Honorary Chairman of the Chopin Foundation, affirming their joint dedication to the mission to make Chopin’s music accessible to everyone. The Chopin Podcast embodies this ideal and offers a platform for Ohlsson to communicate the universality of Chopin’s music to popular audiences.

Each episode of The Chopin Podcast is dedicated to a different compositional genre: the Preludes, Nocturnes, Ballades, Scherzos, Etudes, Impromptus, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Polonaises, Sonatas, and Concertos, as well as an episode dedicated to singular masterpieces like the Fantasy, Berceuse, and Barcarolle. The inaugural episode, Preludes, will feature special guest Alan Walker, a leading Chopin biographer.

Listeners can tune in weekly this fall on Spotify, Apple, and other major podcasting platforms. Video versions of each episode will also be available on Ben Laude’s YouTube channel.