The Guest List
Thursday October 9th, 2025 with Joe Reilly
Interviews with Yosuke Kawasaki of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Nick Blacka of Go Go Penguin and Suzie Ungerleider

A great show with a wide variety of music featured today and more great interviews. We open in conversation with Yosuke Kawasaki, the ConcertMaster of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He tells us about his work with other orchestras and how that work impacts his appreciation for what he has here in Ottawa as a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He also talks about the two major pieces the NACO will be performing on Oct. 15th and 16th - Dvorak's New World Symphony and Brahms's Violin Concerto, for which Yosuke will be the soloist. For information about Yosuke Kawasaki use this link: https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/yosuke-kawasaki And for tickets to see the NACO on October 15th or 16th use this link: https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/38405 Then we connect with Nick Blacka, the bassist with the UK group GoGo Penguin. We talk about how the group merges elements of jazz and electronica to create a unique blend that is frequently bright and uplifting. Nick tells us how they worked in the studio on their new album Necessary Fictions and what we can expect when they perform live at the National Arts Centre in the Babs Asper Theatre on Friday, October 17th. For more information and music by GoGo Penguin use these links: https://gogopenguin.co.uk/ https://gogopenguin.bandcamp.com/music And for tickets to see GoGo Penguin at the National Arts Centre: https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/38781 Finally, it's always a pleasure to reconnect with Suzie Ungerleider and talk to her about her music. She has just released a very personal collection of songs on the album Among The Evergreens. Suzie talks about the themes explored in the two songs we feature and how her family made its way into many of the songs. Suzie is playing three shows in the region next week: Thursday, Oct. 16th in Westport; Saturday, Oct. 18th in Shawville; and Sunday, Oct. 19th at Red Bird LIve here in Ottawa. https://suzieungerleider.com/shows For more information about Suzie and her music: https://suzieungerleider.com/ https://suzieungerleider.bandcamp.com/music If you enjoyed what you heard with Suzie today, you can check out The Wavelength this Monday evening (Oct. 13th at 9 p.m.) when we will feature a full hour about the album Among The Evergreens and play more interview segments with Suzie. Join us! Thanks for listening to the Guest List today. Support independent music in any way that you can and get out to see some live music this week... or any week! And don't forget that The Guest List is sponsored by Spaceman Music, located at 388 Gladstone Avenue, just west of Bank. Visit Spaceman for all of your music making needs and don't forget they have a great repair shop and offer music lessons. Check out Spaceman online at: https://www.spacemanmusic.com/