In this candid, wide-ranging conversation, Kara sits down with internationally renowned pianist, composer, author, and educator Sara Davis Buechner for a deeply personal discussion about music, identity, aging, politics, and what it means to stay creatively alive in an increasingly hostile cultural climate.

From growing up in a Baltimore suburb to entering Juilliard on her 17th birthday, Sara reflects on the mentors who shaped her, the musicians who taught her how not to grow old, and why great artists never truly retire — they simply keep discovering.

The conversation moves seamlessly between humor and gravity, touching on trans visibility in the arts, political disillusionment in the United States, and why Beethoven’s Ninth might just become a sing-along event in Hiroshima.

** Special thanks to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for its lovely rendition of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9: Ode to Joy Excerpt 1

SARA DAVIS BUECHNER

Sara’s upcoming performances: https://saradavisbuechner.com/

Instagram: @sdbfan1959

Substack, Facebook, and YouTube: @saradavisbuechner

BlueSky: @sdbue.bsky.social

KARA KAVENSKY

Website: Kara Kavensky

@karakavensky on Substack, FB, IG, LinkedIn and Threads

Receive updates on Kara's new memoir release, TELL ME ABOUT JOY

Sponsored by: Adam Gibson Design and Remain Relevant, a corporate storytelling masterclass

Produced by: Marilou Marosz

Original music written and performed by: Adam W. Gibson

CHAPTERS

[01:00] Introduction: Sara Davis Buechner

[03:28] Great musicians don't retire

[05:51] Nurturing a child prodigy

[07:44] Pianos and pig farming

[09:16] Reynaldo Reyes, more than a mentor

[11:19] Teaching others

[12:44] Upcoming projects, no trans biography

[15:40] Doing all the same things, just in a new key

[16:51] Anti-trans sentiment

[19:20] Living and traveling around the world

[20:56] Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Hiroshima