Welcome to the Knowledge Project. I'm your host Shane Parish, Curator Behind,

Fernham Street Blog, which is an intellectual hub of interestingness covering topics like

human misjudgment, decision-making, strategy, philosophy, and today, beauty and music.

The Knowledge Project allows me to interview amazing people from around the world to deconstruct

why they're good at what they do and get inside their head. It's more conversation than

prescription. It's both seeing the world the way they see it. On this episode, I have

Alexander Shelley, the music director for the National Arts Center's orchestra. This

conversation took place in his office at the National Arts Center in downtown Ottawa.

Shelley is leading a new era for the National Arts Center's orchestra, is currently in his

seventh year as chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, and in January

2015, he was the principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alexander is simply amazing, and this conversation is off the charts. We're going to explore a

host of fascinating topics, including what goes through his mind as he walks out of the

dressing room and assumes the podium, the architecture of music, the necessity of art

and beauty and culture. He's even going to break down the beauty of Beethoven's fifth

symphony for us and explain why it's so famous. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much

as I did.

Before I get started, here's a quick word from our sponsor. This podcast is supported

by Slack, a messaging app bringing all your team's communication into one place. Slack

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Visit slack.com slash fernam to create your team and receive $100 in credits that you

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